So this one deserved a post all its own. This was a big deal--the first time Z was going to Regionals and the first time that she could remember going on an airplane. Because the meet was the same weekend as her sister's Junior Prom, this was going to be a very fast trip.
Our flight left on Thursday, since Z was competing on Friday. I had arranged the flight so that she was on the same plane as three of her teammates and her coaches--with our seats together with the two coaches. Dad drove us to the airport, with her coach, and we met up with the rest of the girls. We had taken great care to make sure that our carryon was all airline friendly, nothing over 3 ounces, etc. One of her teammates and her sister weren't so smart--or I guess maybe they weren't smart to change from checking their luggage to carrying it on. All the full size Bath & Body Works stuff got tossed. :(
Once we landed in Arizona, we took a quick uber to the hotel and got everything unpacked. I had a client in town and met up with her for a short time. Z stayed with her coaches and then we all met up for dinner. We did not stay out too late, knowing that we were competing on Friday.
Friday we met for breakfast in the hotel. Then it was a matter of killing time since Z didn't compete until 4. I was able to get her to take a short nap, then lunch, shower and hair. We met the coaches downstairs and one of her coaches added the glitter to her hair and we were off!
Since this was Regionals for Level 6 and 7, we had a level 6 teammate competing at the same time (the reason both coaches came with us). But for Z, she was all alone with her coach. The rest of her teammates were competing on Saturday. I had hoped that some of them would have come to watch, but no one did.
Z started on bars. After States, I was a bit nervous. But she killed it, scoring a 9.375. There was even one person behind me who said that Z had a great save on her giants/handstands. Unfortunately, I hit the wrong button on my phone (had just gotten a new phone the day before we left) and didn't record the routine. Her dad won't let me live that down.
Beam was next. I thought her beam routine looked good--a few little wobbled, but not much. She scored an 8.800, which her coach said was in part due to the judges reducing her start value. They felt that she did not connect her back walk overs, but to me they were more fluid and together than any others.
Then came floor. And boy did it come! I was watching and recording and just loving her routine. She had her flashy smile and I almost cried watching her. I really wish that I had my phone recording when her score was posted because the hug between her and her coach was awesome. She scored a 9.700--and wound up being the Regional Floor Champ!
Finally, we had vault and she was one of the very last to compete. She scored a 9.400, which was good, but still 14th place. Ultimately, she wound up with 5th on bars and 8th on all around with a 37.275.
After getting awards, t-shirts and packing things up at the venue, we headed to Spaghetti Factory for dinner. It was nice being at dinner with just the coaches and we enjoyed discussing the meet and basking in her Regional win!
In order to make it back in time to help with her sister's prom, we were at the airport by 5:30 the next morning. Dad and sis picked us up at the airport and we headed back home (still a 2 1/2 hour drive).
Several hours later, after getting sissy off to the prom, I took Z to the mall where she cut her hair from her tush to above her shoulders--the goal is that it will grow by next season--and got her ears double-pierced. Two things she had been wanting to do since early in the season.
All in all, this was a very successful season!
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Balance of Level 7 Season . . .
Wildflower Invitational:
This is a meet that is held closest to our home and in a great facility. The viewing area is raised all around the competition floor. You always have a good seat! Or, if you are like me, you can pace during the whole meet and still watch. The other nice thing about this gym is that two of Z's old teammates are there and we are able to see them and their families. One is also a level 7, so again they get to compete against each other.
We started on beam, which has started to be Z's favorite event to begin with. She had one of her most solid routines that I've seen in awhile. She ended up scoring a 9.350 and took 4th place.
Floor was, as usual, strong. :) She scored a 9.525 which was enough to tie for 2nd place.
Vault and bars were fine with a 9.375 (3rd place) and a 9.250 (5th place) respectively. All around was a 37.500 for 3rd place.
The team again took first place. Four meets in a row!
Spirit of the Flame:
This is another meet that Z likes--primarily because they get a leo instead of a t-shirt! I like it because it is near where we used to live and I can go see people and check out the changes in the area.
The meet started on vault. For the first time this year, Z stuck her landings on vault. They looked great to me, but she only scored a 9.300. I guess that was ok though, since she took first place.
On bars, she looked really strong and scored a 9.475, which was 2nd place.
Beam was rough. She fell and just was not herself. In addition to the fall, her start value was reduced and she scored a 7.950. While beam has never been her strongest event, this was only the 3rd time she scored less than an 8.00.
Luckily, she rallied back on floor scoring a 9.400 and taking third place. Her all around score was 36.125 which was enough for 6th place.
Unfortunately, the team only took third place. Z took this really hard and put the blame on herself. In part because her beam score was used for the team score. I reminded her that it is a "team" score and the fact that they used her score meant that two other people on her team scored lower than her (one of which hasn't competed beam since the Judge's Cup Invitational). It didn't make her feel any better and took quite a bit of time for her to get over it.
Level 7 State Championships:
The State Championships were held at the same facility as the Level 6 Championships last year and a facility where Z has competed a lot. We are very familiar with the area. This year was different though, because in addition to wanting to do well, Z knew that she had to score at least a 34.500 all around to qualify to go to Regionals. Her lowest all around this season was a 35.675 so I wasn't too concerned.
We started the day on floor. Not a normal starting rotation for us. She did great and scored a 9.525. Despite the high score, she took 4th place.
Vault looked good, but the scores were low. She scored a 9.275, which was consistent with her team, but only 7th place.
Bars, which has been one of her strongest events this year, was not good. She ended up falling twice and only scoring an 8.050. This was the same score as at the Judge's Cup Qualifier. I could see that she was upset and crying. I also knew it meant that she was going to have to pull out a good score on beam to qualify for Regionals.
There was quite a delay before they were up on beam. Luckily, at one point I saw her smiling and could tell that her coach and teammates had worked their magic to cheer her up. When she got up on beam she looked as strong as I've seen her. She scored a 9.375, enough for 7th place and an all around of 36.200--definitely qualified for Regionals.
Awards were fun because after handing out all the medals, they announced everyone who qualified for Regionals and gave them special grip bags to use.
We are on our way to Arizona!
This is a meet that is held closest to our home and in a great facility. The viewing area is raised all around the competition floor. You always have a good seat! Or, if you are like me, you can pace during the whole meet and still watch. The other nice thing about this gym is that two of Z's old teammates are there and we are able to see them and their families. One is also a level 7, so again they get to compete against each other.
We started on beam, which has started to be Z's favorite event to begin with. She had one of her most solid routines that I've seen in awhile. She ended up scoring a 9.350 and took 4th place.
Floor was, as usual, strong. :) She scored a 9.525 which was enough to tie for 2nd place.
Vault and bars were fine with a 9.375 (3rd place) and a 9.250 (5th place) respectively. All around was a 37.500 for 3rd place.
The team again took first place. Four meets in a row!
Spirit of the Flame:
This is another meet that Z likes--primarily because they get a leo instead of a t-shirt! I like it because it is near where we used to live and I can go see people and check out the changes in the area.
The meet started on vault. For the first time this year, Z stuck her landings on vault. They looked great to me, but she only scored a 9.300. I guess that was ok though, since she took first place.
On bars, she looked really strong and scored a 9.475, which was 2nd place.
Beam was rough. She fell and just was not herself. In addition to the fall, her start value was reduced and she scored a 7.950. While beam has never been her strongest event, this was only the 3rd time she scored less than an 8.00.
Luckily, she rallied back on floor scoring a 9.400 and taking third place. Her all around score was 36.125 which was enough for 6th place.
Unfortunately, the team only took third place. Z took this really hard and put the blame on herself. In part because her beam score was used for the team score. I reminded her that it is a "team" score and the fact that they used her score meant that two other people on her team scored lower than her (one of which hasn't competed beam since the Judge's Cup Invitational). It didn't make her feel any better and took quite a bit of time for her to get over it.
Level 7 State Championships:
The State Championships were held at the same facility as the Level 6 Championships last year and a facility where Z has competed a lot. We are very familiar with the area. This year was different though, because in addition to wanting to do well, Z knew that she had to score at least a 34.500 all around to qualify to go to Regionals. Her lowest all around this season was a 35.675 so I wasn't too concerned.
We started the day on floor. Not a normal starting rotation for us. She did great and scored a 9.525. Despite the high score, she took 4th place.
Vault looked good, but the scores were low. She scored a 9.275, which was consistent with her team, but only 7th place.
Bars, which has been one of her strongest events this year, was not good. She ended up falling twice and only scoring an 8.050. This was the same score as at the Judge's Cup Qualifier. I could see that she was upset and crying. I also knew it meant that she was going to have to pull out a good score on beam to qualify for Regionals.
There was quite a delay before they were up on beam. Luckily, at one point I saw her smiling and could tell that her coach and teammates had worked their magic to cheer her up. When she got up on beam she looked as strong as I've seen her. She scored a 9.375, enough for 7th place and an all around of 36.200--definitely qualified for Regionals.
Awards were fun because after handing out all the medals, they announced everyone who qualified for Regionals and gave them special grip bags to use.
We are on our way to Arizona!
Sunday, February 11, 2018
Roseville Invitational
Another meet at the Jackson Sports Academy--Z competed there three or four times last year and is doing this meet and States here again. I think we are getting used to it.
Even though our Level 7 girls got moved to later in the morning, we decided to spend the night near the venue. The hosting team had asked everyone to wear teal ribbons in support of all the Larry Nassar victims, so I made hair ribbons for all the girls and ribbon pins for all of the parents and coaches. Although I made a point of giving the coach all the ribbons for him and the Level 6 girls, he forgot them at the gym. Luckily I had extra ribbon, so he stopped at our hotel and picked them up and got a lesson on how to tie them in the girls' hair.
I ended up having two friends come to this meet. My old next-door neighbor who I have known for about 40+ years and a client. The client has a friend whose granddaughter is doing gymnastics and wanted to see a meet. It was fun to have other people there to watch.
We started on bars. The seats were right next to the bar set up so we had a great view. Warm-ups looked good and other than losing her balance on her squat on, Z's routine looked great. She ended up with a 9.575, so if she hadn't had the arm swings and the step on the dismount, who knows what the score would have been. She took 2nd place on bars.
Beam was a different story. Warm-up looked good, but during the actual routine, you could see right away that her back walkover was off. She fell, and when she got back up did the handstand to a back walkover. One of the judges gave her the full credit, but one reduced her start value to a 9.500. She wound up with an 8.325. Again, not bad considering the fall.
Floor was great. Her teammate that went right before her scored a 9.775 and Z saw the score before she started. She did seem a bit off on some things but overall was good. She scored a 9.375, and was in third place.
Vault was a bit scary. It took me a bit to get over to the vault area and when I saw her warming up, Z looked upset. She mouthed she didn't know what was wrong and since I didn't see her first warm-up vault, I had no idea. When she went, she balked, which is apparently what she did the first time. The third vault, she made it over the vault table, but barely, arms were bent, etc. She was very upset and went to talk to the coach. She appeared to be crying and I was afraid that he was going to have her scratch vault. He let her do another warm-up vault and it definitely looked better. When she finally competed, she looked great, scored a 9.500 and took first place. She told me after that she had a stomach cramp and couldn't remember where she was supposed to start her run. That put her off, but she pulled it back together.
She scored a 36.775 all around which was good enough for 4th place.
Once again, for the third meet in a row, her team scored first place!! It appears at this point that our team is unstoppable.
Even though our Level 7 girls got moved to later in the morning, we decided to spend the night near the venue. The hosting team had asked everyone to wear teal ribbons in support of all the Larry Nassar victims, so I made hair ribbons for all the girls and ribbon pins for all of the parents and coaches. Although I made a point of giving the coach all the ribbons for him and the Level 6 girls, he forgot them at the gym. Luckily I had extra ribbon, so he stopped at our hotel and picked them up and got a lesson on how to tie them in the girls' hair.
I ended up having two friends come to this meet. My old next-door neighbor who I have known for about 40+ years and a client. The client has a friend whose granddaughter is doing gymnastics and wanted to see a meet. It was fun to have other people there to watch.
We started on bars. The seats were right next to the bar set up so we had a great view. Warm-ups looked good and other than losing her balance on her squat on, Z's routine looked great. She ended up with a 9.575, so if she hadn't had the arm swings and the step on the dismount, who knows what the score would have been. She took 2nd place on bars.
Beam was a different story. Warm-up looked good, but during the actual routine, you could see right away that her back walkover was off. She fell, and when she got back up did the handstand to a back walkover. One of the judges gave her the full credit, but one reduced her start value to a 9.500. She wound up with an 8.325. Again, not bad considering the fall.
Floor was great. Her teammate that went right before her scored a 9.775 and Z saw the score before she started. She did seem a bit off on some things but overall was good. She scored a 9.375, and was in third place.
Vault was a bit scary. It took me a bit to get over to the vault area and when I saw her warming up, Z looked upset. She mouthed she didn't know what was wrong and since I didn't see her first warm-up vault, I had no idea. When she went, she balked, which is apparently what she did the first time. The third vault, she made it over the vault table, but barely, arms were bent, etc. She was very upset and went to talk to the coach. She appeared to be crying and I was afraid that he was going to have her scratch vault. He let her do another warm-up vault and it definitely looked better. When she finally competed, she looked great, scored a 9.500 and took first place. She told me after that she had a stomach cramp and couldn't remember where she was supposed to start her run. That put her off, but she pulled it back together.
She scored a 36.775 all around which was good enough for 4th place.
Once again, for the third meet in a row, her team scored first place!! It appears at this point that our team is unstoppable.
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Flips Invitational - 2018!
This was by far one of Z's favorite meets last year--the travel, the fun hanging out with her friends and the meet itself was fun. Last year she competed on Friday afternoon, so she took the day off school and we left early in the morning (it's a 4+ hour drive depending on the snow levels). This year she didn't compete until Saturday, but since the coach had to be there for an earlier session on Saturday morning and was planning on leaving on Friday, he moved Friday's practice to the morning for those who could make it. We decided to take the day off school, go to practice and then leave on Friday afternoon. Although there was forecasted snow and possible chain controls, the drive was perfect.
We got into Reno around 6pm and waited for the rest of the team, including her coach. The entire group ended up going to Round Table for dinner and playing games while we were there. Z proved herself to be the Connect 4 master, winning I think 6 games before one of the coaches finally beat her. :)
We got up the next morning and Z did homework to pass the time. We got lunch, did hair and then headed down to the venue. The session before us was behind schedule so we got to watch our level 6 girls on beam. I was a little concerned because one of the girls had a fall on beam during warm up, but it was before we got there and Z didn't see. Sometimes the falls affect her and sometimes they don't.
After the warm up, we found out that we were starting on beam. I'm always happy to start on beam since it gets it out of the way! :) Warm up looked good and Z had a couple of wobbles, but overall it appeared to be one of her best routines. Her score was a 9.225, which was good enough for 6th place.
Floor was next and I was determined to record her routine. Last year she had a great routine and I had hit the wrong button on my camera. I achieved success this year and I'm glad I did since she scored a 9.525 (just slightly less than her 9.550 from last year). This earned her 2nd place.
Vault looked good. It is hard to see since the vault is so far back from the viewing area, but other than a small step on the landing I didn't see much. She scored a 9.300, which tied for 4th place.
Bars was last. Again, it has been inconsistent at best for the whole team. I hadn't had a chance to watch much practice before the meet, but I know that Z had changed her bar routine from the last meet. During warm up, one of the girls hit her feet on the high bar and had a pretty good fall, which of course did concern me. Z got up, did her routine and I almost thought she was going to fall on her clear hip to handstand but didn't. I really was not expecting the 9.625 score that flashed up--I couldn't see it and when someone else told me what it was I started crying. Z got a hug from a team mate and also shed a tear, it was so exciting. She ended up in 2nd place. She now holds her gym's record for the highest Level 7 bar score.
Her all around score was a 37.675--the highest she's ever had--and placed her in 2nd place on the podium. And for the second meet in a row, our team took home first place as a team!
Our Level 8 girl competed in the session after us, so we were able to relax a bit. Then we ended up doing mexican food with her coach and a few other teammates and coaches. Z's coach was turning 21 the day after the meet--we had them sing happy birthday to him during the awards for Level 8. :) And, in a repeat of last year, the girls and coaches all played laser tag as the arcade was closing for the night.
We got up the next morning, ate breakfast and headed home! It was a great weekend!
We got into Reno around 6pm and waited for the rest of the team, including her coach. The entire group ended up going to Round Table for dinner and playing games while we were there. Z proved herself to be the Connect 4 master, winning I think 6 games before one of the coaches finally beat her. :)
We got up the next morning and Z did homework to pass the time. We got lunch, did hair and then headed down to the venue. The session before us was behind schedule so we got to watch our level 6 girls on beam. I was a little concerned because one of the girls had a fall on beam during warm up, but it was before we got there and Z didn't see. Sometimes the falls affect her and sometimes they don't.
After the warm up, we found out that we were starting on beam. I'm always happy to start on beam since it gets it out of the way! :) Warm up looked good and Z had a couple of wobbles, but overall it appeared to be one of her best routines. Her score was a 9.225, which was good enough for 6th place.
Floor was next and I was determined to record her routine. Last year she had a great routine and I had hit the wrong button on my camera. I achieved success this year and I'm glad I did since she scored a 9.525 (just slightly less than her 9.550 from last year). This earned her 2nd place.
Vault looked good. It is hard to see since the vault is so far back from the viewing area, but other than a small step on the landing I didn't see much. She scored a 9.300, which tied for 4th place.
Bars was last. Again, it has been inconsistent at best for the whole team. I hadn't had a chance to watch much practice before the meet, but I know that Z had changed her bar routine from the last meet. During warm up, one of the girls hit her feet on the high bar and had a pretty good fall, which of course did concern me. Z got up, did her routine and I almost thought she was going to fall on her clear hip to handstand but didn't. I really was not expecting the 9.625 score that flashed up--I couldn't see it and when someone else told me what it was I started crying. Z got a hug from a team mate and also shed a tear, it was so exciting. She ended up in 2nd place. She now holds her gym's record for the highest Level 7 bar score.
Her all around score was a 37.675--the highest she's ever had--and placed her in 2nd place on the podium. And for the second meet in a row, our team took home first place as a team!
Our Level 8 girl competed in the session after us, so we were able to relax a bit. Then we ended up doing mexican food with her coach and a few other teammates and coaches. Z's coach was turning 21 the day after the meet--we had them sing happy birthday to him during the awards for Level 8. :) And, in a repeat of last year, the girls and coaches all played laser tag as the arcade was closing for the night.
We got up the next morning, ate breakfast and headed home! It was a great weekend!
Golden State Classic
So our second meet and "first" of the season was the Golden State Classic. Z loves any meet held at this facility, and didn't mind that she was going to get to spend the night at her aunt's house the night before. Having her aunt come watch was a bonus. Hard to believe it has been over a year since Z has competed at this gym and I just realized that we didn't compete any meets there for Level 6.
The girls started on beam. It was hard to see the warm-up as the beam is in the far corner of the gym. She seemed a little shaky and a bit off, but didn't actually fall. She scored an 8.500, which was a little confusing to me. Talking to her coach later, he told me that she paused too long between her back walkovers which reduced her start value to a 9.500. She had a couple of big wobbles and she told me later that she had forgotten her mount and missed a little bit at the front of the routine.
On floor, I thought she looked great, and she scored a 9.375--I thought it was a little low, but her coach pointed out that her split leap was a bit off and her front tumbling pass was low. She took 3rd place.
Vault was weird as they used a vault going the opposite direction of what we are used to. It was nice because the video shows her running towards me and you could see the actual vault a lot better. While she did take a step on her landings, she scored a 9.400, which wound up being 1st place.
Bars was last. As a team, bars has been inconsistent this season. I've seen some really good days and some not so good days. The girl right before Z fell on her cast to handstand on the high bar and I was afraid that it would affect Z. And, I was right. She never quite hit handstand on the low bar and then didn't complete her giant and fell. She still scored a 9.000, and took 4th place.
Z's all around score was a 36.275, which was good enough for 4th place. The team took first place as a team--the girls were so excited! This is only the second year that we have had enough girls on the optional team to even be considered for a team award.
This wasn't the best meet that she has had, but it was an improvement over Judge's Cup and a good starting point.
We have two weeks until the next meet when we are Reno bound!
The girls started on beam. It was hard to see the warm-up as the beam is in the far corner of the gym. She seemed a little shaky and a bit off, but didn't actually fall. She scored an 8.500, which was a little confusing to me. Talking to her coach later, he told me that she paused too long between her back walkovers which reduced her start value to a 9.500. She had a couple of big wobbles and she told me later that she had forgotten her mount and missed a little bit at the front of the routine.
On floor, I thought she looked great, and she scored a 9.375--I thought it was a little low, but her coach pointed out that her split leap was a bit off and her front tumbling pass was low. She took 3rd place.
Vault was weird as they used a vault going the opposite direction of what we are used to. It was nice because the video shows her running towards me and you could see the actual vault a lot better. While she did take a step on her landings, she scored a 9.400, which wound up being 1st place.
Bars was last. As a team, bars has been inconsistent this season. I've seen some really good days and some not so good days. The girl right before Z fell on her cast to handstand on the high bar and I was afraid that it would affect Z. And, I was right. She never quite hit handstand on the low bar and then didn't complete her giant and fell. She still scored a 9.000, and took 4th place.
Z's all around score was a 36.275, which was good enough for 4th place. The team took first place as a team--the girls were so excited! This is only the second year that we have had enough girls on the optional team to even be considered for a team award.
This wasn't the best meet that she has had, but it was an improvement over Judge's Cup and a good starting point.
We have two weeks until the next meet when we are Reno bound!
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Level 7 . . . Judge's Cup Qualifier (12/10/2017)
Well, I'm really bad about this blogging business. Good thing it isn't my job.
Z has been working hard at all of her level 7 skills. She had her back walkover-back handspring series on beam, but now is struggling with it. Giants on bars used to be no problem, but again, she is struggling. Floor, luckily remains her passion and her coach choreographed a beautiful routine.
This year our team has grown. We actually have six level 7 girls--so it will be fun at competition and we can qualify for team awards. I think Z is probably one of the top two or three in the level and everyone seems to be struggling with something. It is going to be an interesting year to say the least.
Like last year, we did an in-house meet on November 30th. We had the same judge come and it was a lot of fun with all of the girls (11 competing optionals this year). Vault was good with a 9.350. Bars, where she has been struggling was decent with a 9.050. I was happy with her beam score of 9.250. She has some bobbles, but she is the only one doing a switch leap and hopefully by January will have her series back. Floor was great with a 9.550. I'm hoping that this will be representative of her scores for the season, but I'm still concerned with bars and beam. I think she will get it, it is just a matter of working--and maybe a couple of privates. ;)
The season doesn't actually start for our team until the first week in January, however, on December 10th, four of the level 7 girls competed in the Level 7 Judge's Cup Qualifier. At stake was the possibility of being selected to the "state" team to compete at the National Judge's Cup meet in Portland. We had considered that as one of our meets this year, but is 8 hours away and we opted against it. There were 64 girls competing in the Qualifier portion of the meet--no age groups, just everyone competing together. There were girls who are new to level 7 (our whole team) and some that are repeating the level. There were girls from some very good clubs, including one that won the gym of the year award. Competition was going to be fierce--the top 6 and one alternate would be selected for the state team, and medals were only given out to the top 10 places. While I knew competition was going to be hard and it might be a stretch, I still was hopeful. I did tell her coach that I'd be happy with one medal!
The biggest issue for Z at this meet, other than the series and giants, was that it was at a gym where she typically has not performed well. Her worst meets ever were at this gym, the last one being in level 4 where she fell twice on bars and scored a 6.800. She wasn't particularly excited about returning. ;)
We drove down the day before, after having an early morning practice and ended up staying at the same hotel at most of the girls and having a team dinner. We woke up in the morning, got showered and hair done-I forgot how long that actually takes--and headed to the gym.
Warm up seemed to go well, and there were a LOT of girls. Our first event was bars. Z looked good on warm-ups. Not always hitting vertical on the handstands, but made a few of her giants. She was the first of her team to go. On her cast to handstand, she was slightly over vertical and couldn't pull it back and fell. When she tried again, it was great and did her free hip to handstand and again fell. She then got up and had a strong finish, decent giant and perfect stuck landing. But, she fell twice on bars, again. This time though her score was an 8.050. So definitely would have been a decent score without the falls. Her coach texted later and said she had moved on and was actually happy with the score. But, this meant there was no way she was going to qualify as the top 7, maybe that took some pressure off.
Beam was next--no falls, but quite a few bobbles. Her score was an 8.650, which wasn't bad all things considered.
Floor was up third. The funny thing was that while Z was on bars, another girl was on floor with her music. The coach and I were watching and both felt that our choreography was better. Z got up and she looked great! She didn't quite complete her double turn and her leap/jump pass was a little off--not quite even on the straddle jump, but man her smile was beaming throughout the routine. She looked happy and strong. Her score came up with a 9.550. It looked amazing to me, but I'm biased. There was another girl later who also had her music, but scored a 9.050--the choreography wasn't quite as dynamic.
Vault was last and she finished strong with a 9.425 (although there were a lot of higher scores since that ultimately tied for 26th place!).
Normally by the time awards come around I already know how Z has done and what she has placed, but the computer system wasn't working so I had no idea. I was just hopeful that her score on floor was enough for a medal. One of the dads said he had seen a couple of 9.7s, so I just wasn't sure.
When it came time for the awards for floor, the announcer said that first place was a 9.550, and I knew it was her. I was shocked and gave a little shriek (ok, maybe more than a little since a lot of people turned to look at me). She was thrilled. One of her teammates tied for 9th place. And those were the only medals that our team took home that day. I don't think I've been more proud of her--she started hard, but she finished well and was happy.
Now we have the official start of the season for the whole team coming up on January 6th. It is at a gym where Z enjoys competing and then two weeks later we will head back to Reno!
Z has been working hard at all of her level 7 skills. She had her back walkover-back handspring series on beam, but now is struggling with it. Giants on bars used to be no problem, but again, she is struggling. Floor, luckily remains her passion and her coach choreographed a beautiful routine.
This year our team has grown. We actually have six level 7 girls--so it will be fun at competition and we can qualify for team awards. I think Z is probably one of the top two or three in the level and everyone seems to be struggling with something. It is going to be an interesting year to say the least.
Like last year, we did an in-house meet on November 30th. We had the same judge come and it was a lot of fun with all of the girls (11 competing optionals this year). Vault was good with a 9.350. Bars, where she has been struggling was decent with a 9.050. I was happy with her beam score of 9.250. She has some bobbles, but she is the only one doing a switch leap and hopefully by January will have her series back. Floor was great with a 9.550. I'm hoping that this will be representative of her scores for the season, but I'm still concerned with bars and beam. I think she will get it, it is just a matter of working--and maybe a couple of privates. ;)
The season doesn't actually start for our team until the first week in January, however, on December 10th, four of the level 7 girls competed in the Level 7 Judge's Cup Qualifier. At stake was the possibility of being selected to the "state" team to compete at the National Judge's Cup meet in Portland. We had considered that as one of our meets this year, but is 8 hours away and we opted against it. There were 64 girls competing in the Qualifier portion of the meet--no age groups, just everyone competing together. There were girls who are new to level 7 (our whole team) and some that are repeating the level. There were girls from some very good clubs, including one that won the gym of the year award. Competition was going to be fierce--the top 6 and one alternate would be selected for the state team, and medals were only given out to the top 10 places. While I knew competition was going to be hard and it might be a stretch, I still was hopeful. I did tell her coach that I'd be happy with one medal!
The biggest issue for Z at this meet, other than the series and giants, was that it was at a gym where she typically has not performed well. Her worst meets ever were at this gym, the last one being in level 4 where she fell twice on bars and scored a 6.800. She wasn't particularly excited about returning. ;)
We drove down the day before, after having an early morning practice and ended up staying at the same hotel at most of the girls and having a team dinner. We woke up in the morning, got showered and hair done-I forgot how long that actually takes--and headed to the gym.
Warm up seemed to go well, and there were a LOT of girls. Our first event was bars. Z looked good on warm-ups. Not always hitting vertical on the handstands, but made a few of her giants. She was the first of her team to go. On her cast to handstand, she was slightly over vertical and couldn't pull it back and fell. When she tried again, it was great and did her free hip to handstand and again fell. She then got up and had a strong finish, decent giant and perfect stuck landing. But, she fell twice on bars, again. This time though her score was an 8.050. So definitely would have been a decent score without the falls. Her coach texted later and said she had moved on and was actually happy with the score. But, this meant there was no way she was going to qualify as the top 7, maybe that took some pressure off.
Beam was next--no falls, but quite a few bobbles. Her score was an 8.650, which wasn't bad all things considered.
Floor was up third. The funny thing was that while Z was on bars, another girl was on floor with her music. The coach and I were watching and both felt that our choreography was better. Z got up and she looked great! She didn't quite complete her double turn and her leap/jump pass was a little off--not quite even on the straddle jump, but man her smile was beaming throughout the routine. She looked happy and strong. Her score came up with a 9.550. It looked amazing to me, but I'm biased. There was another girl later who also had her music, but scored a 9.050--the choreography wasn't quite as dynamic.
Vault was last and she finished strong with a 9.425 (although there were a lot of higher scores since that ultimately tied for 26th place!).
Normally by the time awards come around I already know how Z has done and what she has placed, but the computer system wasn't working so I had no idea. I was just hopeful that her score on floor was enough for a medal. One of the dads said he had seen a couple of 9.7s, so I just wasn't sure.
When it came time for the awards for floor, the announcer said that first place was a 9.550, and I knew it was her. I was shocked and gave a little shriek (ok, maybe more than a little since a lot of people turned to look at me). She was thrilled. One of her teammates tied for 9th place. And those were the only medals that our team took home that day. I don't think I've been more proud of her--she started hard, but she finished well and was happy.
Now we have the official start of the season for the whole team coming up on January 6th. It is at a gym where Z enjoys competing and then two weeks later we will head back to Reno!
Monday, April 10, 2017
Level 6 State Championships
This was really weird since we had four weeks between the last season meet and the State Championships. Obviously this allows lots of time for practice, but also allows for time to stress out. While I felt confident that Z would do well, she waffled back in forth between believing in herself and not. We did have a private lesson the Wednesday before the meet since she wanted to work on her layout for floor--she had told me two weeks earlier that she was going to do the layout at States, but then became insecure over it. The next day (Thursday), she came home from practice clearly upset. Apparently the girls had been "goofing off" and doing their floor routines to different music or sped up music. She was wanting a serious practice and was afraid that by goofing off and laughing, she might do the same thing at the meet. The coach promised, and delivered, a serious practice on Friday. We then had Saturday free because we didn't compete until Sunday.
Sunday was an interesting day--or at least the morning was. All four of Z's teammates were competing at 8:00am, but Z didn't compete until 5:00pm. So, we had plenty of time to get ready, do hair and drive the 2 1/2 hours to the meet. While we were waiting, I was able to watch Z's teammates scores. There were definitely some good points, but it looked like each of the girls had struggled on something. Since Z never asked, I didn't tell her and I told her coach the same thing.
We did something a little different with her hair, and while we were waiting to leave, she was complaining that it hurt. Part way down to the meet, we pulled over and I started to partially undo her hair, which helped. We also played a game and took her mind off things. We were able to make it work that her dad got to come watch as well, which I think helped keep her mind off things.
When we got to the meet location, we went in to change and finish her hair. As we were coming out of the bathroom, we saw the dad of one of her teammates. It turns out they decided to stay and watch and cheer on Z since she would be competing alone. It was really sweet, especially since this girl and Z were the only level 5 girls that competed last season. Two other rec coaches from the gym had also come to see what a girls meet was like--so Z had a little bit of a cheering section, in addition to me and her dad.
Just before the meet started, he coach let me know that Z would be starting on vault and was in the first rotation. This meant that she was doing the traditional rotation and would be done a bit earlier than everyone else. Since it was going to be a late night anyway, this made me happy. And I know Z was happy because she prefers to start on vault.
The vault was literally right in front of our seats. If I wanted to I could have reached out and touched Z as she walked by. Her warm up looked really good and I was impressed. I was more impressed with the fact that she stuck her first landing--she has never done that in competition before. Her second vault had a small little step, but she wound up scoring a 9.300.
Bars looked good during warm up. She did go over once on her cast to handstand, but I was more worried that Z might be watching the other girls in her rotation because they were almost all struggling. She was the last to go on bars and several of the girls either fell or made major mistakes in their routines. Luckily, it didn't seem to phase Z at all and she scored a 9.325.
Beam was next and her warm up looked pretty good. She has struggled a bit in the past and at the last meet the judges commented that her split leap and split jump needed work. She did work on them during her private and during her routine it showed. They were split nicely and fairly high. She still had some wobbles, but scored a 9.150.
Her last event was floor. She is normally strong on floor and I expected it to go well. The main question was whether she would do her layout or keep the tuck. She ended up doing the tuck--she said she wanted to make sure that she had a good landing--and scored a 9.450. This gave her an all-around score of 37.225, her highest of the season and her second highest overall.
During awards, she placed in every event. The funny thing was that she tied for everything except all-around. She was 7th on vault, 5th on bars, 6th on beam and 2nd on floor, with a fourth place finish in all-around, and only a tenth of a point away from second. Overall this was a great showing for her. She was competing against girls from the Bay Area and she placed higher than several who have beat her during the season. I'm very proud of her for all of her hard work and effort.
Sunday was an interesting day--or at least the morning was. All four of Z's teammates were competing at 8:00am, but Z didn't compete until 5:00pm. So, we had plenty of time to get ready, do hair and drive the 2 1/2 hours to the meet. While we were waiting, I was able to watch Z's teammates scores. There were definitely some good points, but it looked like each of the girls had struggled on something. Since Z never asked, I didn't tell her and I told her coach the same thing.
We did something a little different with her hair, and while we were waiting to leave, she was complaining that it hurt. Part way down to the meet, we pulled over and I started to partially undo her hair, which helped. We also played a game and took her mind off things. We were able to make it work that her dad got to come watch as well, which I think helped keep her mind off things.
When we got to the meet location, we went in to change and finish her hair. As we were coming out of the bathroom, we saw the dad of one of her teammates. It turns out they decided to stay and watch and cheer on Z since she would be competing alone. It was really sweet, especially since this girl and Z were the only level 5 girls that competed last season. Two other rec coaches from the gym had also come to see what a girls meet was like--so Z had a little bit of a cheering section, in addition to me and her dad.
Just before the meet started, he coach let me know that Z would be starting on vault and was in the first rotation. This meant that she was doing the traditional rotation and would be done a bit earlier than everyone else. Since it was going to be a late night anyway, this made me happy. And I know Z was happy because she prefers to start on vault.
The vault was literally right in front of our seats. If I wanted to I could have reached out and touched Z as she walked by. Her warm up looked really good and I was impressed. I was more impressed with the fact that she stuck her first landing--she has never done that in competition before. Her second vault had a small little step, but she wound up scoring a 9.300.
Bars looked good during warm up. She did go over once on her cast to handstand, but I was more worried that Z might be watching the other girls in her rotation because they were almost all struggling. She was the last to go on bars and several of the girls either fell or made major mistakes in their routines. Luckily, it didn't seem to phase Z at all and she scored a 9.325.
Beam was next and her warm up looked pretty good. She has struggled a bit in the past and at the last meet the judges commented that her split leap and split jump needed work. She did work on them during her private and during her routine it showed. They were split nicely and fairly high. She still had some wobbles, but scored a 9.150.
Her last event was floor. She is normally strong on floor and I expected it to go well. The main question was whether she would do her layout or keep the tuck. She ended up doing the tuck--she said she wanted to make sure that she had a good landing--and scored a 9.450. This gave her an all-around score of 37.225, her highest of the season and her second highest overall.
During awards, she placed in every event. The funny thing was that she tied for everything except all-around. She was 7th on vault, 5th on bars, 6th on beam and 2nd on floor, with a fourth place finish in all-around, and only a tenth of a point away from second. Overall this was a great showing for her. She was competing against girls from the Bay Area and she placed higher than several who have beat her during the season. I'm very proud of her for all of her hard work and effort.
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