Sectional #1

The Level 4 team had another strong meet at this first Sectional for the compulsory teams. Emma took 1st on Bars and Beam and scored a 9.125 on Floor. Her All-Around of 35.675 took 1st in the 6-8 yr old group. Summer had a good day on Vault, scoring a 9.15. She easily qualified for States. Jordan was hot on Vault too, taking 2nd with a 9.20. She tied for 2nd on Beam. Her All Around of 35.200 solidly qualified her for States. Jessica was strong on Bars and Beam, taking firsts in both with a 9.15 and a 9.00. She took 2nd in the All-Around with a 35.875. Sydney was consistently "on" in all four events, scoring three 9s. Her Floor score of 9.45 took 1st. She also topped the podium in the All-Around with a 36.200. All these Level 4s qualified for States. Great job, girls!

Three of the Level 5 team were at this Sectional. Hanna and Emma were frequently side by side during awards. They tied for 4th on Vault. Emma took 2nd on Bars, Hanna 4th. Beam, 3rd and 6th. Emma score a 9.00 on Floor. In the All-Around, they took 4th and 5th. Hope had her strongest event of the meet on Beam, taking 1st. All three girls qualified for States.

Things weren't quite as smooth in the Level 6 session. Scoring was generally lower for all the gymnasts. Nonethless, our Level 6 team managed to post some highlights. Nicole placed 1st on Beam and Floor in the 7-8 year old division. Jackie took 3rd on Floor in the 9-10 age group. Ally took 1st on Beam and Floor too, and 2nd in the All-Around in the 11-12 age group. Anne took 2nd on Vault with a 9.10, 4th on Bars and 3rd in the All-Around in the 13+ age division.

Up next is the Halloween meet.

New Faces on Team: Emma

Emma is one of the new members of OTW’s Level 4 team. She has been taking gymnastics since she was 4 years old – all the time at Off The Wall. She was on pre-team last year and can’t get enough of gymnastics. Emma will be 8 soon.

Her favorite events are floor and bars. She loves doing back handsprings and jumping to the high bar. She enjoys performing and being with her friends at meets. Regardless of how she places, she always has fun.

Emma’s favorite food is apples with peanut butter. Her favorite singer is Hannah Montana (seen all the shows) and her favorite song is “Who Said”. Her favorite movie is “Elf”, especially the part with the vicious raccoon.

Emma’s favorite thing about OTW is when her friends pick her up and twirl her. She also thinks the nickname Coach Becky calls her – Polly Pocket– is very funny.

Welcome to the team Emma.

Compulsory Teams Harvest A Win

The OTW compulsory teams are off to a good start. In their first meet of the fall 2007 season, they took first place at Brentwood's Fall Harvest Meet. They brought home the First Place Pumpkin. It was a little bit of a rough start, not uncommon for the first meet of the season. Some of the new skills were still works-in-progress, and a few team mates were unable to compete. Despite all this, the Level 4, 5 and 6 teams came on strong.

The Level 4s owned the vault. Each one of the team scored in the 9s. Sydney led the charge with a 9.55, but two new team mates, Emma and Jordan were right in there too, with a 9.50 and a 9.40. On Bars, Jessica was the star with a 9.40. Beam was also a strong event for this year's Level 4 team. Sydney, Summer, Jordan and Emma all scored 9s. On Floor, Sydney and Jessica led the scoring. All in all, a great season debut by the 4s.

The Level 5s had some stars of their own. Emma continued her strength on Bars by tieing for 1st place on that event. On Beam, it was Allie's turn to take 1st place. Hanna scored a 9.20 on Beam and took 1st in the All Around. Hope took 4th on Vault, while Emma took 3rd. Cassie had her best score of the meet on Vault. On Floor, everyone seemed more solid. Emma took 2nd, with team mates Alexa and Hanna close behind.

The Level 6s, even though all new to the level 6 routines this year, put in a solid effort. Anne took 1st place on Vault. Jackie took 2nd on Bars, with Nicole taking 5th. Things seem to be clicking better for everyone on Beam. Jackie dazzled the judges, scoring a 9.475, taking 1st. On Floor, all of the Level 6 team were on the awards platform. In the 7-11 yr old group, the OTW 6s swept the podium, with Jackie, Ally and Nicole taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Anne took 2nd in the 13+ age group.

All these individual efforts combined to put the OTW teams on top. Way to go girls. You've kicked off the season in grand style.

Thanks Pat, for the photos. Thanks Fred, Rita, Mary, Jeanie and Pat for the scores

New Faces on Team: Ellie

Ellie is one of the new girls on OTW's Level 4 team. She started gymnastics when she was 3, enrolled in a mom and tot class with Miss Liz. Ellie's almost 8 years old now and just moved up from pre-team to Level 4.

Her favorite event is floor, because she likes to do routines. A high point for her summer training was finally getting her back handspring. She broke her wrist awhile back, so was not able to compete at the Harvest Meet. The cast comes off in a couple weeks. She's looking forward to getting back into doing her tricks.

Ellie's favorite food is chocolate ice cream. Her favorite song is Sweet Escape. Her favorite movie is Jump In. Ellie likes the teachers and coaches at OTW. She thinks they're all very nice!

Welcome to the team Ellie. We're looking forward to seeing you do your routines.