So, Little Z's third competition was on our home turf. We were hosting the competition, the parents and kids had spent the evening the night before getting the gym converted to host a meet (removing equipment, laying down plastic sheeting, bringing in chairs, etc.). Z was excited! It was even more exciting because her old gym was coming to compete, including one of her best friends from school. It was fun for me because I had gotten to know the girls on the other team and it would be the first time that I had seen them since we had left.
The best part about this meet? Z's dad was going to be there! All the other meets are pretty far away (three or more hours) and Z's older sister is a cheerleader who has football games on weekends. As a result, I'm the one that drives with Z and dad stays and drives her sister.
We got to the gym plenty early and the girls from Z's old gym all ran up and gave us hugs. A few asked why she wasn't there anymore, and we just said that she had chosen to move. Luckily, there wasn't a lot of time to talk before the meet began.
Since we were the home team, we got to do the traditional rotation of vault, bars, beam and then floor. Normally vault is a pretty good event for Z, but she had had problems at the last meet. I was a bit concerned as to how she would do. Unfortunately, the first vault was not good--apparently her hands slipped on the mat and she came down hard on her stomach. I could see tears in her eyes, but she got back up and did her second vault. She scored an 8.650, which was her lowest score on vault yet. I was truly hoping that she would brush it off and be able to move on without dwelling on it.
Bars was next. Zienna loves bars and had done really well at her first meet. Of course, this event was the one that didn't video tape and I truly regret it. She was fabulous! She got a 9.400, which ended up being her highest score all season. She even stuck the landing.
Beam was next. Her nemesis. She had fallen at each of the last two meets, on different skills and never on the one skill she was always nervous about. I was a bundle of nerves, but again, she impressed me to pieces. She scored a 9.100--again, a score that would end up being her highest for the season and no falls.
Finally we were on floor. She is so pretty and graceful on floor. I love to watch her. Sometimes it is hard to remember that she is only 8 when she is out there. She pulled off an almost flawless routine (from my perspective) and scored a 9.250. That meant her all around score was a 36.400. Her highest yet. She ended up placing third on floor, and first on bars, beam and all around. She didn't place on vault, but that was ok.
Z had a great time sharing her day with her dad. I loved that he was able to see her compete and see her excel and get her medals. The rest of the day, the level 3 girls got to help out with the Level 4 & 5 competition. At the end they helped hand out the medals, which she loved to do.
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