Wow, this was our fourth meet of the season. Only one left until States. I know little Z is getting bummed there aren't more competitions--she lives to compete. And with meets like Disco-Tech, she wants to compete even more.
We competed at Disco-Tech last year and it is a fun meet. The introductory march in is done in the dark with a disco ball, glow necklaces and disco music. The girls love it. Last year was not Z's best meet at Disco-Tech. But she wasn't going to let that bother her. She said it didn't matter what happened last year, instead it matters what happens now. She had a great attitude going into the meet and it paid off.
Once again we were in the first session, which means being at the gym at 7:30am. Luckily, my sister lives 20 minutes away, so we spent the night there. After the 3 hour drive to her house, I put Z in the shower and did the front part of her hair so that we didn't have to get up quite so early. We made it in plenty of time and beat the coach (so, yes, I could have stopped for coffee after all).
We were in the traditional rotation, starting on vault. I love being in this rotation as it means we are on floor last, which is typically the best event for all of our girls. Z warmed up on vault and looked pretty good. She ended up with an 8.900, not her best, but definitely not bad and it earned her a second place medal.
Bars was next. Bars has been her nemesis all season. The first two meets she fell--hard. It wasn't until the last meet that she completed her routine. Then we saw who one of the judges was--a judge who is typically very tough. Z's coach was nervous, but Z only remembered that he had given her a 9.150 on vault at her first meet this season. Her attitude before she was up? I'm on his 9.100 team, I'm getting a 9.100. Her warm-up looked rocky and I was nervous. But I think I'm always nervous because of the falls that she has had. No fall this time--nope! In fact, her routine was good and she did, in fact, make the 9.100 club, getting a 9.125, and another second place medal.
Next is beam. Beam has never been her strong event, but she has been getting better. The beam was pretty far from where we were sitting and I was trying to record it. The first half of the routine looked really strong. She made her cartwheel and all her dance skills looked good. Then she had to do her handstand. It looked really good when she was up, but when she came down, she fell and fell hard. One of those falls that makes you shake because you are sure there was a serious injury. From my vantage point it looked like she landed on her neck. But she shook it off and got back up. She did go over time, but the rest of the routine looked as strong as the beginning. She managed an 8.525--would have been at least a 9.125 without the fall and going overtime. It gave her seventh place, but the judges complimented her fall. They wanted to know if her coach teaches his girls how to fall because she did the right thing--didn't put her hands out and rolled her back. She said it didn't even hurt!
Finally floor. Again one of her strongest events. She looks so pretty on the floor and made a point of starting in the corner that would allow her ending pose to have her looking right at the judges and she flashed them a huge smile! She wound up with a 9.275 and first place. Her all around score was 35.825--not the 36.000 that she had hoped for, but pretty darn good and she was in first place all around!
As a team, her team placed first. This is a big deal because we only had six girls competing where some of the other teams have fifteen. We took first place all-around in all three age groups. Z scored the highest out of her team on bars and floor and only missed the highest all around by 0.250. If she had not fallen on her beam routine, she would have gotten her 36.000, and had the highest all around score of the entire session regardless of age.
After our session, we stayed to watch our Level 3 team. They also did well, placing first as a team again. I was able to also watch a friend's daughter do her best floor routine and finally qualify for States.
After taking a much needed Spagetti Factory trip, we went back to watch two other friends compete. One was on our team last year, but switched gyms. The other is the daughter of a friend from high school. Again, I was very glad that my sister lives 20 minutes away so that we could go crash before driving home on Sunday.
One more meet and then States!!!
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