Best Of...

With the end of the school year finally three days away, I want to share some of the bests of my freshman year. The year has been full of great things, but I am going to try to choose my favorite or best in each category!

Best Class: Although I loved all my classes this year, I think that my favorite class was English. I always looked forward to it, one reason being that I had the best English teacher that I have ever had. Along with improving my writing skills a lot, I got out of my comfort zone a lot. This class gave me a lot of confidence in myself and in my writing, and I am definitely sad to see this class go.

Best Teacher: This category is impossible to choose a best for. All of my teachers were wonderful this year, and I learned a lot from each and every one of them. I will always remember Mr. Jeffrey, Mr. Parker, Ms. Duis, Mr. Murphy, Ms. Payne, and Mr. Fairbanks. It is too hard for me to choose a best for this category More on teachers later!

Best Friend: Again, I am not going to choose a best friend. I have many, many friends, and many people who made my ninth grade year complete. Check my last post to see the blogs of all of my friends!

Best Coaches: I can't choose between my two coaches for the award of best coach. Charity and Amanda, you do not know how much you mean to me, and just how glad that I am that you are in my life. You have taught me so much, and not just gymnastics skills. Thank you so much for all of your support!

Best School-Related Memory: My best memory from school this year would have to be the AP study party. I had so much fun studying with my friends while we laughed and helped to get each other's minds of the big test. All of my study buddies and I sent the picture below to our AP teacher with the subject, "Are we going to pass????" and a caption of, "Look what you did to us!!!!" The responses that we got were terribly funny! He had many comments, ranging from French related answers to osmosis.

I'm sorry for posting it again, but it just fit so well! I am so glad that this picture will always remind me of one of my best memories!

Best Gym Memory: I think that this would have to be my meet in New Orleans. Click here for the link to that post! My teammates and I bonded a lot at this meet, and I got to know one of my younger teammates a lot better. Besides this, we had lots of fun wandering the city, stopping for a photo-op, and then laughing at the photos later!

One of the many pictures my team took in New Orleans!

Best Academic Achievement: I think that my best achievement for me academically was never having lower than 100% in my AP geography class. Since this is a college level class, this was a very big accomplishment for me!

Hardest Goodbye: Mr. Fairbanks, my orchestra teacher, will be leaving the Park City School District after this year. He made a decision to pursue his dreams to earn a PhD, so this summer he will be moving to London to attend the University of Cambridge. I will miss him a lot, but I wish him the best in his journey!

The end of the year is full of memories, goodbyes, and reflection. These are some of the best things for me this year, but I am very grateful for all of my experiences. I don't know how much I will be posting over the summer, but I will try to keep it up! Have a great summer everybody!!!

---Jamie---

Goodbye School, Hello Summer!

The school year is finally coming to a close. In nine school days, I will officially be a sophomore in high school. But who’s counting??? As much as I love school, I am very excited for summer!! For this final post of my freshman year, I want to reflect about what and who has made my freshman year a success!

For starters, I have made lots of new friends this year and I have gotten closer to my old friends, too. Emma, Lindsey, Brea, Julia, Sophie, Sarah, Martina, Micaela, Allie, Maddie, Sam, Nicole, Kara, and everyone else I grew close to this year, thanks so much for being a part of my life! Seriously, I don’t know how I would have made it through freshman year without you guys. I can’t wait to make more great memories together!

My crazy team! Nicole, if it weren't for you, I would never have moments like this!
Photo Credit: Nicole Finch

I know I already posted this, but again, without my wonderful friends,
I never would have had so much fun studying!

The end of a school year means saying goodbye to many things. Only nine more days left for me at Treasure Mountain. I also only have nine more days with some incredible teachers. I am excited to get to go to the High School next year (with its wide hallways, lack of backpack restrictions, and windows! Yes, windows!), but I am sad that this means leaving some of my wonderful teachers behind.

Goodbye homework, hello summer school! Because of my gymnastics schedule, I do not go to all four class periods in the school day. This means that I have to make up these classes somehow, and that means summer school for Jamie! I don’t really mind, though, because it keeps my brain stimulated the whole summer. Sophie, I can’t wait to be an artist with you!

One thing I will not be saying goodbye to is this blog. I really enjoy posting about myself, my gymnastics, and my life. I feel like it is a way for me to get closer to myself. I probably won’t be posting as frequently, but I will try to keep it up!

I also won’t be saying goodbye to gymnastics. I know I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again – you never get a break when you do gymnastics. Summer just means longer workouts that are more intense. The summer is a time to get new skills and to work towards the next level. I am excited to work hard and see where it takes me going into next season.

Summer means more time for team bonding, like team bowling day! I can't wait!

Saying goodbye can be hard, but because of goodbyes, you get hellos. As the school year draws to a close, I am optimistic that next year will be just as entertaining, challenging, and teaching as this year was. 

Just in case I am not able to post again, I want to thank everybody for reading my blog. I have really enjoyed this experience, and I have learned a lot about myself.

I hope you have a great summer!

----Jamie----

Spring Is In The Air

What comes along with spring and wonderful weather? Finals, recitals, and a very busy life for a teenager. With the weather being so beautiful, the last thing you want to do is sit inside and study. The last few weeks of school can be difficult with everything going on, but, to all you teenagers out there, keep your head up because the end is near!

Being a freshman in high school, I can now take AP classes. This means taking an AP test in the middle of May (aka TOMORROW!!!!!!!) I have been studying very hard for the past couple of weeks to prepare. I decided to make a sacrifice today to miss gym so I would have more time to study. You can never study too much (at least not in my mind).

My (exhausted) friends Lindsey, Emma, Sam, Allie, Maddie, and I after having a study party!

Studying with a brownie and some friends!

All of my study materials for the AP test.

May also means core testing, officially known as CRT testing. Even though these tests are ridiculously easy, they still drain a lot of precious energy and add stress to my already busy life. 

As many people know, music is also a big part of my life. Yesterday, I played in the spring violin recital for Sandberg Studio Strings. I love playing the violin and performing, but during spring I would just rather be outside than practice.

One thing that really helps me get through this stressful time is gym. Spending time with teammates and doing something that keeps your mind off of schoolwork is a great way to keep me going this time of year. If you do something that you love, it is a great way to distract you!

One thing for all of you busy teenagers to remember regarding school, tests, and studying: even if you are worried for a test because you didn’t have time to study, remember that all of the information is stored in your head somewhere. Sometimes, it is more important to get a good night’s sleep instead of staying up late to study because the rest will do you more good than last minute cramming.

For those of you that know me, you know this is not something that I would do easily. However, last week when I had three major tests in the same day, I decided to give this a try. I was very worried on the day of my tests that I wasn’t going to do well, but I ended up doing better than I had expected and hoped. 

So, while you take a break balancing your busy lives to read this post, I want to remind you to have fun! Take a break from your work and do something you love. As I move on to my next assignment and get back to studying, I want to wish all my peers luck in the upcoming weeks of testing!   

New Skills

Gymnasts never get a break. Even after our season is over, we don’t get any time off. In fact, during the summer, we have longer workouts. So, what do we do in all this time? We work on new skills!

Working on new skills is both fun and scary. After months of doing routines, it is a nice break to be able to work on something different. But, these new skills are often scarier than they are fun until you get the hang of them. 

One of the new skills that I’m doing is called a jaeger. If you would like a technical definition, this gymnastics terminology website is a good one! When done correctly, they look beautiful, easy, and not as dangerous as some releases. But, they are very scary to learn.

This is a video of Shawn Johnson competing on bars in the 2008 Olympics. The first release move that she does is a jaeger. 

Video Courtesy of: YouTube

The first day that I started to work jaegers, I was terrified that I was going to hit the bar. My coach told me that people work for months on being able to be close enough to the bar to catch it, so there was no way that I would hit the bar. I trusted her, and did three decent jaegers that were far away from the bar.

However, on the fourth try, I was trying to make a correction, but instead of doing it correctly, I pulled into the bar. I whacked my heels and Achilles on the bar. This was very painful, especially because I’ve never had any Achilles pain before.

When doing most release moves, you wear heel pads to help protect your feet if you hit the bar. My coach didn’t think I would need them, but she was wrong. She found a pair for me, though. Thank goodness!

After you crash, you have to pull yourself together and do it again before you leave the event. This was no exception. Throwing another jaeger was one of the most terrifying things I have ever done.

The next day I was sore but ready to go! They were much better, and I almost caught one of them! Here are two videos.

This jaeger was pretty typical for me.

I almsot caught the bar on this one! You can see how at the end I bent my arms. My coach got mad at me for not catching it so she tried to throw a mat at me......

My coach really wanted me to catch, so on my next turn I tried to get closer to the bar so I could grab it. But, I was a little too close. I pulled in a lot, and I landed in a straddle position on top of the bar. As a result, I got huge bruises on my calves, and I must have whacked my elbows on the bar because I had a deep cut on my elbow. 

This scared me more than hitting my feet did, but I got up and did another jaeger, which was a long way away from the bar. Since then, I have done jaegers a few times, but I haven’t done them in the last week because of a nagging back injury. 

I am nervous to go again, but I know I will. Crashing is part of the learning process, but in the end it is all worth it. No pain, no gain, right?

Got Conditioning?

Are you looking for a good workout? We condition almost every day at gym, so when I want to work out, I know what to do. I am very grateful for this because, in the future, I will always be able to put together a nice hard workout!

One of my coaches, Amanda, is very serious about conditioning. When she started coaching us, we all thought that she was pushing us too hard in conditioning. Now, we are enjoying the challenge, and we are amazed at how much easier her conditioning is. However, when she is in a bad mood or our head coach tells her to, she conditions us hard. REALLY hard.

This is a workout that we did a few weeks ago that made my whole team sore for a few days. 

First, we did a beam jump circuit, but since most people do not have a beam at home, I will leave out the details.

After everyone was tired from the beam circuit, we were sent to get panel mats. Panel mats are about one and a half feet thick, so any object around that size will work just fine.

This is a panel mat. Any object about this size will work for these exercises.

We used the panel mats to do multiple exercises, each of which we did for a minute. We got about ten seconds to rest between exercises. First, we did jumps with two feet up onto the panel mat and back down. To get the most out of these, push through your toes and try to bend your legs as little as possible. Then, we did the same thing, but only using one leg. After one minute, switch legs. 

Finally, your legs get a break. Putting your hands on the top of the panel mat, do push-ups. The goal is to try to touch your chest to the top of the panel mat, but if you cannot do this, go down as far as you can. 

This is the position to do the first push-up exercise in.

After a minute, put your feet on the top of the panel mat and your hands on the floor and do push-ups this way. 

The position to do the second push-up exercise in.

Finally, as a transitional exercise, we did twenty inchworm pushups. To do these, do a push-up. Then, walk your feet up to your hands, and then walk your hands out until you are back in push-up position. These are easiest to do if you have an open area to do them in. 

These next three pictures show the progression of how to do inchworm push-ups.
Start out in push-up position.

After doing a push-up, walk your feet up to your hands.

Then, walk your hands out until you are in push-up position and do another push-up.

We did this whole block two times, and it was very exhausting.

We weren’t done, though. Block two of exercises started out with dips. To start a dip, get in this position:

How to start a dip.

Then bend your arms and push back up. After these, do push-ups with your feet on the mat again. Then, do two-legged jumps onto the mat again. Next, do two-legged jumps sideways over the mat. After those comes another set of twenty inchworm push-ups. We also did two sets of this exercise block.

All in all, this was a hard workout for my whole team. The thing that helps us get through these is to find something that motivates us. This gives us something to work towards as well as helps to keep our mind off of the aches and pains from conditioning. 

I hope you give this workout a try if you are ever up for a challenge! Good luck!

Meet Eight: Regionals

The season has officially ended. This is always a bittersweet time for me. I love season, so I am always sad when it is over. But, now is when we get to start working on fun new skills!!!!

Regionals went well for everyone on my team! I was very proud of myself, especially considering I hadn’t competed for more than a month. For it being the first Regionals for everyone else, they did amazing! I was so proud of them and how we did as a team!

Me before the competition!
Photo Courtesy Of: Charity Christenson

Here is a quick run down of my scores: 

A 9.025 on vault, an 8.75 on bars, an 8.9 on beam, and an 8.85 on floor. But, with these scores come a few stupid mistakes. 

On beam, I almost fell on my full turn! A FULL TURN!!!!! A turn is the skill that I have been doing the longest, and it is the easiest of all my skills! They are the most pointless skills, too. Everyone underestimates how hard they are to do well because they are worried about their other skills. I was a victim to this at Regionals.

On floor, I stepped out of bounds on my double back. It was a really good pass, but I just underestimated the landing. This is a one to three tenth deduction, depending on how big my step out was.

Even so, I was really happy! I didn’t get any awards for anything, but I was okay with that. Also, I didn’t qualify for Westerns, but that just means more time to work on new skills! My teammate, Sam R, did get awards on beam and floor, third and ninth! This is great, especially since it was her first Regionals and since she wasn’t feeling well.

Phoenix was very hot and lots of fun! After Taelor’s meet on Friday, we went out to an early dinner at Mi Amigo’s, a Mexican Restaurant in the Arizona Center. 

Having fun at the Arizona Center!

Posing at the Arizona Center!

Then, while my parents went to dinner, Taelor, Alicia, and I went shopping at Urban Outfitters and Charming Charlie. Taelor, who is a big tomboy, put on a dress for the first time that I have ever seen!!!

Alicia, Taelor, and I trying on dresses at Charming Charlie!

Trying on tiaras at Charming Charlie. We were "Prom Queens!"

On Saturday, I watched Monkey and Alicia, and my parents and I went to the Arizona Science Center. There was so much interesting stuff there, and I had lots of fun! We saw a movie in the IMAX theater called To The Arctic. It was really eye opening, and I am glad I saw it. 

I am so glad that I was able to experience Regionals with all my wonderful teammates, and I am so glad I will always have all of these wonderful memories! 

Watch Out, Phoenix!

You never know what to expect in Park City, UT. This weekend, it was 60º and beautiful, and now there is six inches of snow on the ground. Earth cannot make up her mind about what season it is.

A winter wonderland in Park City on April 9th.

However, things are a bit more predictable where I am headed. On Thursday, I am off to Phoenix, Arizona, where it is always hot, Hot, HOT!

Yes, you guessed it. Regionals, which is this weekend, is in Phoenix! Along with leaving the crazy, unpredictable weather of Park City, I get to go compete in one of the biggest meets I can be in, along with all of my other wonderful teammates!

On Thursday, I will embark on a very busy mini vacation. Here is a sampling of my schedule:

But, before that, the basics. The meet is hosted by Arizona Sunrays Gymnastics. The meet itself will be held at the Phoenix Convention Center. 

Thursday night, there is a workout at the meet site. This is always nice to go to, because you get to try out the equipment that you will be competing on. Also, you get to watch some of the other girls who you are going to be competing against. However, since it is for Level 9 and 10 only, I will be all alone.

Friday is Taelor’s session. After this, my family is going to the Arizona Science Center. Also, Friday night we are likely having a team dinner somewhere in downtown Phoenix! Last year, when we had a meet in Phoenix, the team dinner was at Coach and Willies, and it may be there again this year! Wherever it is, I am looking forward to it!

My team eating at Coach and Willies in Phoenix last year.

Saturday, Monkey and Alicia compete. I am planning on going to watch both of them and hanging out with them between the sessions. Also, Saturday will be a day for me to rest and get my head in the game for my session.

My teammates and I hanging out between sessions at Regionals last year!

Bright and early on Sunday morning, I will be flipping around at the convention center! I will compete my hardest and try to qualify to one final meet. If you are in Level 9, you can qualify to Westerns from Regionals. To do this, you have to finish as one of the top people in your age group. I don’t know if I will be able to do this, but I will be okay with whatever happens.

Sadly, I am leaving before one of my teammates competes. Even though I won’t be there cheering for her, I will be sending her positive thoughts!

I am very excited for this one, last meet! One more chance to hang with my buds, one more chance to get out of Park City, and one more chance to show the world what kind of gymnastics I can do! Watch out, Phoenix, here I come!

Surprise!

It never ends well when a coach walks in and says, “Do you want the good news or the bad news?” Yesterday, my coach did just that. Naturally, we asked for the bad news first. Who wants to end with bad news?

Her response: “The bad news is that Heather is coming in at 2:30. The good news? I told you an hour before I was going to.” Heather is the judge who judges all of our intersquads. So, basically she was giving us an hour to prepare for an intersquad when we had barely even been working on routines!

It went well, especially considering the short notice. Everyone had a lot more confidence and was looking like they normally do. I think a lot of that has come from sport psych. We have worked a lot on not letting nerves get to us and staying calm, and I think this really helped us yesterday.

We “competed” on bars, beam, and floor, and there was only one fall overall! I hadn’t done many routines since recovering from my injuries, and I was really happy with how I did! This unpleasant surprise turned into a great confidence booster for everyone going into Regionals! 

I am one of two people on my team who has been to Regionals before, so I know how  different Regionals is compared to other meets. First of all, there are so many people! Everyone in level eight or higher who gets a 34.0 all around or higher at state competes. All of these gymnasts from California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah add up to make A LOT of people! 

About a quarter of the people in my session at Regionals two years ago.
Photo Courtesy Of: Mary Antinori

Also, everyone is competing by themselves. This isn’t that big of a deal for me, since I am the only level nine, but competing by yourself is a big deal. You don’t have people cheering for you, you don’t have people to cheer for, and it is just you and your coach. 

Me, all alone, at Regionals last year. I am in the black leotard with the blue embellishment, to the left of the two girls in green with sunbursts.
Photo Courtesy Of: Mary Antinori

However, I have made friends from different teams at past Regionals! Most of my friends go to GTC in Salt Lake. Lauren and Bronte have both become good friends of mine because of Regionals! 

Even though you make friends, it is a surprise when you first get to the meet and you don’t know anyone. This is something that I know my teammates will work through as they experience this for the first time.

Two former teammates and I experiencing Regionals for the first time, three years ago.
Photo Courtesy Of: Mary Antinori

Regionals is a great experience that I can’t wait for everyone on my team to have! I’m looking forward to some great team bonding time, seeing some friends, and a great competition! And, for all my teammates and everyone else competing at Regionals, GOOD LUCK!

An Exciting and Disappointing Meet Seven: Utah State Championships

Making decisions is one of the hardest things for me to do. Last week, I had to make one of the hardest decisions that I have ever had to make, and of course it was a decision about gymnastics. Last weekend was Utah State Championships, and I had to choose whether or not I was going to compete.

My ankle was finally feeling better last week. I was pumped, because that meant I was able to train hard for state! But, on Monday, I was working my mount on bars and my back started hurting me a lot. A few of my teammates like Sam have had back problems, and I know how long they can take to heal. However, I have had muscle spasms in my back before and that’s what it felt like. I knew I just needed to rest.

Long story short, I tried working out the next day and my back was still hurting me. My coach said that I needed to decide wether or not to compete at state. We had a long discussion in which she told me that it was okay if I didn’t compete because I had gotten a high enough all around to be able to petition into Regionals.

This was a very hard decision for me to make because I really wanted to compete. After discussing this with my parents and other coaches, I decided that it was best if I didn’t compete. I was heartbroken, but I knew it was for the best.

Even though I didn’t compete, I still went to watch my teammates! They all did amazing. This was the best meet of the season for everyone, and everybody qualified for Regionals! They are in Phoenix, Arizona this year, hosted by Arizona Sunrays Gymnastics. 

This is the first year that there is Regionals for Level Sevens, and my teammate Elise was worried about qualifying. But, Elise qualified with flying colors! She even made the state team, which means that she is representing Utah at Regionals!

My whole team with the fifth place banner after everyone had competed!
Photo Courtesy Of: Amanda Johanson 

Yesterday, my coach got the message that they accepted my petition, so I will be joining my team in Phoenix! I can't wait to wrap up a good season with the rest of my team!

This is the Region 1 logo.
Photo Courtesy Of: Arizona Sunrays Gymnastics

The Ute Meet

One thing that all gymnasts enjoy is watching college gymnastics meets. Last weekend, the University of Utah gymnastics team had a meet against the University of Florida, and my gym was invited to flash the scores. However, you cannot do scores when you fourteen or older, so I was not able to do scores with my teammates.

The Utah Gymnastics Team!
Photo Courtesy of: USA Gymnastics

The Gator gymnastics team!
Photo Courtesy Of: Gatorzone

Even so, I went to go watch the meet with my friend Emma. I had a small conundrum, though. I couldn’t figure out what colors to wear and what team to cheer for! I am a huge fan of the Gators, and my dream is to be a gymnast for them when I go to college. Also, I love the Utes, and I support them with all my heart. I made a compromise and cheered for both, and had a creative color scheme to fit both teams!

Emma and I at the meet!

This meet was the last meet of the regular season for both teams, and senior night for the Utes. Since they don’t have any seniors on their team, they brought in former Ute gymnasts. One of them, Annie DiLuzio, is my sport psych teacher!

Both the Utes and the Gators are very good. Going into the meet, the Utes were ranked 7th and the Gators were ranked 2nd. The Gators are helped out a lot by a freshman, Bridget Sloan, who was on the 2008 US Women’s Gymnastics Olympic Team! It was so cool to get to watch her perform live!

This is the 2008 Olympic team. Bridget Sloan is the one on the far left.
Photo Courtesy Of: USA Gymnastics

Another highlight of the night was watching Georgia Dabritz on bars. One note: she does not use grips. Grips help gymnasts to hold on to the bar, and they eliminates some of the friction on your hands. Most gymnasts find that bars is easier to do with grips, but not Georgia Dabritz. She got a 10.0, a PERFECT SCORE, on bars, without using grips! It was amazing to see someone get a 10, and I was so happy for my teammate who got to flash her score!

Georgia Dabritz flashing the U after scoring a 10 on bars!
Photo Courtesy of: University of Utah Athletics

There were other amazing performances on vault and floor by the Utes, and the Gators were amazing, too, especially on beam. At the end of the meet, there was so much apprehension on who was going to win because it was a very close meet all the way. The Utes ended up winning, and I was really happy! The final score was 198.125-197.875. 

After the meet, my teammates took some pictures! Here is one:

My teammate Monkey flashing a score, and my crazy teammates after the meet!
Photo Courtesy Of: Morgan Cutt

I am always inspired by college gymnastics meets, and I hope to be inspiring some other young gymnast someday!

Meet Six: GTC (The Meet That Wasn't)

We are now only a few weeks away from state meet, which means training gets a lot more intense. A LOT more! Now we get to the point of fixing the littlest details, and while I was doing this on floor, the unthinkable happened.

I was doing my leap pass on floor (a switch leap, switch side, straddle jump) when I landed wrong and rolled my ankle. At first, I didn’t think it was that bad. I stretched it out, walked away to go get ibuprofen, and walked all the way upstairs and back to get tape for my coach to tape me up. It didn’t hurt very much, but my coach noticed that it had swollen up. A lot.

She sent me home, which was devastating. I had a meet the next day and I was missing my last day of workout before it! I knew it was a good thing, though, because I didn’t want to risk hurting it any more, making it so I wouldn’t be able to compete at state.

It hurt more after I left gym. My dad, who is a doctor, and my cousin, who is a sports trainer, checked it out. They both agreed that I had a sprain, but they both said that if it wasn’t bothering me much in the morning and if I taped it up really well, I could try to compete at least one event at the meet the next day. However, my mom talked to my coach and she said that this was a bad idea. She thought it would be better for me to just take some time off to make sure that it healed properly. 

I still decided to go watch my teammates compete, though. It was a good thing, too, because they all did really well! As a team, it was definitely one of the best meets this season! Two people won the all around in their age groups, and everyone placed on at least three things! I was really proud of everyone, and it made me realize just how much fun competing is and just how much I missed it. This meet was hosted by Gymnastics Training Center, and I have some good friends on their team that I would have been competing with. Even though I didn't get to see them, I had accepted that not competing was the best thing for me.

My wonderful team after they competed!

After the meet, Taelor, Monkey, Elise, my friend Breanna, and I all went out to eat at Bucca di Beppo. We were all starving and it was a good thing because none of us realized how HUGE the portions are there!

Monkey posing in front of a statue at the restaurant!

Monkey and Elise with another statue outside!

Four days later, my ankle doesn’t hurt much at all. I can walk perfectly normally without it hurting, and today my parents let me go back to gym. I did bars, and nothing, including dismounting, hurt it! Tomorrow, I hope to at least add beam, if not everything, but I will definitely be doing everything by the end of the week.

Even with this little bump in the road, I feel like I am prepared for state. I am confident in what I can do, and I feel that having had this injury will give me more confidence because I know that I can get through anything! 

Meet Five: Boise

The last away meet of the season has come and gone. This meet was in Boise, Idaho, hosted by the Boise State University women’s gymnastics team. Even though we didn’t go somewhere really cool like New Orleans or New York, this meet was still lots of fun!

As a team, this wasn’t our best meet of the season, especially on bars. There were only a few people who did really well on bars, and sadly, one of those wasn’t me. I did okay, but nothing like last week at Winter Classic.

Beam was decent, but again, not as good as it has been. About half the team fell, and the rest of the people looked unconfident during their routines. However, considering how we did on bars, we did pretty well changing our attitudes to make a good rebound from our bad start.

Floor was by far our best event! Everybody scored at least a 9.05 or higher! There is also a funny story that goes along with this. My coach Charity’s birthday is coming up soon, and we celebrate from March 1st up until her birthday. This year, we decided to give her a gift every day. We asked her what we wanted in the wait time between beam and floor, and she said that she wanted everyone to get a nine on floor! We gave her her birthday present!!!!

Vault was good, too. I scored the same as I did at Winter Classic, a 9.25. Everyone made great progress from the vaults that they competed last week, and it was a great finish to the meet!

At this meet, we did almost everything as a team. I only did one thing without my teammates – I went to the Capitol building. It was a beautiful building, and it was really interesting to see how their government compares to ours in Utah.

A collage of some of the pictures I took at the capitol.

Friday night we had a team dinner at Bardenays, a bar and grill kind of place. The food there was amazing, the best place I’ve been in a while! Plus, this dinner was really fun because I got to spend time with my teammates. They had all driven to Boise, and they all had lots of energy! We were all really hyper and we had a great time hanging out and laughing!

Monkey, Amanda, and I at the team dinner!

After the meet on Saturday, we decided to have a pool party at the hotel pool. We ordered lots and lots of pizza and hung out in the pool. It is really fun to swim with my team because we love to try and do gymnastics in the water. It is amazing how much harder it is......

I am sad that we are done traveling for this season. However, if I qualify to Regionals, the adventure will continue there in April! Even with a poor start to this meet, we ended up doing well. I also bonded a lot with my teammates, and had lots and lots and lots of fun! Our next meet is in Salt Lake, and a few of my friends are going to watch. I can’t wait to show them what I can do!

Meet Four: Winter Classic

Every year, my gym hosts a meet called Winter Classic. It is always really fun, especially because I have lots of friends who come to watch me! That is one of the best parts of gymnastics - getting to show off your abilities to your friends.

This year, Winter Classic was the biggest it has ever been. According to my coach, there were more than 700 athletes coming from 23 different states! The team that came the farthest was Sun Country, from Gainesville, Florida. This was interesting for me because one of my former teammates, Ashlyn, is now on this team.

Olympus Gymnastics also came, which is very rare for them. They are one of our biggest rivals, and another one of my former teammates, Emily, is on that team. Both Ashlyn and Emily are in the same level as me. I was a little worried that it was going to be awkward competing against them instead of with them. I was worried for nothing, though. It was great to see them again, and it was really fun to see them compete!

This was my best meet of the season! I had my highest scores on every event except for floor. I got a 9.25 on vault, a 9.475 on bars, a 9.05 on beam, and an 8.65 on floor! I was especially excited because this is the first nine that I have ever gotten on beam in optionals! I won every event except for floor, which I got 4th on.

Everyone else on my team did well, too. This was the first meet for two of my teammates, Sam and Cassie. Everyone placed on at least one event, and scores were greatly improved from the meet in Logan, especially on beam! My coach was very happy with our performance on beam, and it was a great confidence booster for our meet next week in Boise!

My coach, the Level 8s, and I after the meet. We all did so well!

Another thing always comes with Winter Classic, and that is snow! We have had a very bad snow year this year, and I was delighted to see it dumping snow after I competed! Even though it made it hard for some of the athletes to get there, it made the meet a legitimate Winter Classic.

Now, we only have two meets before our state meet, which determines whether or not we go to Regionals. I have a lot of momentum going into this final stretch in our schedule, and I am excited to see what the rest of the season will bring!

Handstand buddies! We love to do handstands wherever we can, especially at meets!

Meet Three: Logan

This season is going by very fast. Last weekend, we had our first in-state meet in Logan, UT. We compete in Logan every year, and my team has a history of doing well there. This meet was no different!

The level eights and nines got to compete together! The meet was at eight in the morning on Friday, so this meant missing another day of school. It also meant that we drove up there Thursday night, since it takes about two hours to get there. 

Thursday was my dad’s birthday, so my mom and I decided to let him choose a dinner place. He chose the Firehouse Pizzeria. For dessert, we got a Fh’zookie with a candle! It was soooooooooooo good!

A Fh'zookie! It is a giant cookie with ice cream, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, and whipped cream!
Photo Credit: Urban Spoon

By 7:45 AM Friday morning, my whole team was gathered at the Spectrum at Utah State University. We were amazed at how few gymnasts were there. When the meet started, we learned we were the second biggest team!

We started on floor, which is always good since floor is our best event as a team. Lets just say that we killed it! I got an 8.7 with stepping out of bounds and finishing after my music. Three of my teammates got nines, and the other two got high eights. 

We used our positive energy to do well on vault, too! Two of my teammates have been struggling to compete a suke. They used the positive floor energy to have great warm up vaults which means that my coach let them compete! They were so excited and I was so happy for them! The lowest vault score was an 8.3. I got an 8.8, which isn’t my best, but it was still pretty good.

Bars was better than it has been at the past two meets. Only one person fell, and she got a high seven. Everyone else hit all their handstands and stuck their dismounts, and the range of scores was from an 8.5 to a 9.2! I got an 8.775, which I am really happy with.

At meets, our team has struggled with beam, even though we do really well on beam during practices. Our beam coach has been really unhappy with how we have done on beam, and we were ready to prove to her that we could compete as well as we work out. Two people didn’t do well since they fell three times each. Everyone else did really well, though. I got an 8.75, which is really good for me!

One of my goals is to get a nine on beam, which I have never done in Optionals. This meet, I was pretty wobbly, which means if I do the same routine at the next meet without the wobbles I will get a nine! 

Even though I didn’t get my highest scores, I thought this was a really good meet. During awards, I had another pleasant surprise! I got first place on every event except for floor, which I didn’t place on. I also got first all around!

Everyone in level eight placed, too. Plus, they got second place as a team, only behind the host gym, Air -Bound. I was so proud of them! Afterwards, we had our traditional lunch at the Texas Roadhouse! Our next meet is the meet we host, Winter Classic, and I can’t wait to show people what I can do!

The Level 8s and I after awards! We all did great!

Meet Two: New York

Season is so much fun! This past weekend, we had a meet in Manhattan, New York. I had never been to New York before, and I had a great time! In the short time we were there, I totally felt like a tourist.

My dad and I arrived late Wednesday night. We didn’t want to pay for a cab, so we decided to take the subway. At midnight. It was a little bit creepy.... We got to our hotel, the Sheraton at Times Square, at about one AM Thursday morning. Our flight was right during our dinner, so after starving for hours, we went in search of a pizza place. One thing I noticed while walking the streets is just how awake New York City is at 1:30 in the morning. That’s why it’s called the city that never sleeps, after all!

The next day was for sight seeing. We had breakfast at Lindy’s, a diner by our hotel. We ate, mapped out our day, and set out for our first destination: Central Park. We walked through just a corner of it, but it was beautiful! The change between skyscrapers and nothing but grass and trees was incredible! 

Me in Central Park! It is a beautiful park.

Afterwards, we stopped at FAO Schwarz, the toy store. That place had the most toys in one place that I have ever seen! The only thing that really interested me were the Legos, and there were Lego creations there! Batman for the win!

Lego Batman and I at FAO Schwarz!

We also stopped by the American Girl store, walked through St. Patrick’s cathedral, and walked through Times Square. Then, we went to the tallest building in New York City: The Empire State Building! The whole building was incredible, from the marble lobby to the view from the 86th floor. It was extremely windy while we there, but I still enjoyed the beautiful view. 

Me at the top of the Empire State Building battling the wind. Even so, the view was incredible!

One other stop we had to make was at Macy’s. Yes, THE Macy’s where the Thanksgiving parade is! It is the biggest store I have ever been in. 

Me at the Macy's in Manhattan.

Later, we met up with my teammate, Monkey, to go to see Wicked on Broadway. The show was incredible, from the singing, dancing, and acting to the music and and the stage. 

Monkey and I in front of the Wicked sign by the theater.

After the show, we stopped at this place where you can “be on TV.” Really, its just a camera whose feed goes to a HUGE TV!

Monkey and I "on TV!"

Unfortunately, I got sick Thursday night. I felt terrible on Friday, and I didn’t do anything but sleep. I was very disappointed because I wanted to go to the Statue of Liberty. However, I knew it was best to rest so I could compete in the meet the next day.

The meet went pretty well, considering I was sick. I did amazing on bars; I got a 9.2 and I placed second. Beam was decent, but I was really shaky. I got an 8.475. Floor was rough. It took so much of my energy; I ended up falling but pulling off the routine. I scored a 7.75. Vault was good, not my best but not my worst. I got an 8.975. I don’t really care how the meet went because I actually competed. My biggest challenge was getting through the meet, which I did, and I did it well!

Two of my teammates and I after competing.

After some last minute shopping Sunday morning, we had to come home. We came home to last minute preparations for our meet in Logan this week. New York was so much fun, and I am so much closer to my team now than I was before!