Sunday, March 20, 2016

State Gymnastics!!

Kay is very proud of her performance at state despite the extreme nerves.  To cut to the chase, she placed as follows at level 7 in the 12 year old age bracket...

~ Tied for 2nd in floor with a 9.4 and the 1st place winner got a 9.45 - holy cow that was close and her best floor routine this year - its such a fun unique routine with music from macklemore - I love it!!
~ Tied for 10th in the bars with a 8.5, she made her giant but took a bit of a step on her landing and was arched in her giant (see how much I am learning?!)
~ Did not place in vault with a 9.1, they go to 10 places and its shocking she didn't place with that score since thats a killer score. The #1 place got a 9.4 so the scores here were really really tight
~ Did not place in beam with a 8.55, not her best beam performance, serious wobble on her back handspring but she managed to not fall and stayed on the beam, thats our girl!!
~ 9th overall for the all arounds!! Her comment "thank god I got a great score not the vault, that made all the difference!"

For comparison, she was 12th overall at state last year so, she's moving up:) And, she was the only one from her level and her gym that made state.

Also, interestingly enough, at level 7 you aren't able to go to regionals but ... at level 8+ you can. In order to get to regionals you need a 34.  Kay had a 35.6, so, if level 7s could go to regionals, she'd be totally in.  For perspective, the #1 all around girl, level 7 age 12,  had a 36.2, thats 1 wobble on the beam away from 1st and that tells you how close these competitions are. She's definitely in the hunt:)

Her coach said she continues to work hard, have fun, learn new skills and push herself - his philosophy is not mastery, its "good enough" and we love that! He doesn't require mastery at every level (if he did, she'd be in the same level multiple years in a row) rather he wants the kids to stay challenged, keep learning and have fun. His goal is that they enjoy a LONG career in gymnastics and doesnt push them to get 1st or 2nd - he said he's seen too many gymnasts push too hard early, taking top honors in level 4,5,6,7 and when they get to 8,9,10, they are burned out and quit, right before they start high school or college competitions. He wants Kay to be able to (and have fun) competing in high school and then college so he wants her to keep improving but not win and still learn new skills and have fun.  I really like that.

Here's some good snaps of our very competitive serious lover of gymnastics:)