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!

Preparations

Before a meet, there are many things that you have to prepare for. Sometimes, we have an open week in between meets, which is used for preparations at the gym, including last minute tweaks to routines. However, along with this, there are a lot more preparations to be made.

One major thing that you have to prepare for is missing school. I miss at least one day of school for every meet that I have to travel to. To some people, this might sound fun. Instead of learning, you get to be walking around a new city, having fun with your friends and family! What is there not to like?

There is a lot not to like. The first thing not to like: Making up work sucks. A lot. It is one thing to not understand a concept that your teacher taught you, but it is an entirely different thing to not understand something because you are trying to teach it to yourself because you missed the lesson that day. Then, try doing your homework with half the information that your peers have!

On top of that, there is usually too much work and not enough time to make up work when you get back. This means you have to do some homework while on vacation. Instead of going to the Empire State Building, you have to do homework instead. 

Another thing you have to prepare for is traveling! This is a lot more fun than preparing to miss school. The best part is planning what you are going to do in your free days. For my trip to New York, I know exactly what I am going to do each day that I am there! It is always great fun to look through things you can do with your family and choose the activities you think you’ll like best!

Then, of course, is preparing for the actual meet. This means lots of routines and lots of pressure situations. We use pressure situations to help us prepare for when we feel pressure at meets. By doing these a lot, we get used to the pressure and then we don’t feel it much at meets. Here is a typical pressure situation assignment on beam:

Typical Beam Pressure Assignment
Photo Courtesy of:
http://www.studyblue.com/notes/note/n/unit-2-lesson-2-classroom-vocabulary/deck/2098891

After all the preparing everyone has done, we get to go and have fun in a cool place, like New York! I can’t wait for the meet this weekend!