OTW at Magical Classic

The Level 8 Team and OTW's Level 10s competed at this year's Magical Classic Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 23rd. They began arriving in Orlando on the 20th and 21st. The day before the meet, they gathered for some team fun in the pool and lake. The 8s competed in the Saturday morning session, the 10s in the evening. There were a lot of highly talented gymnasts from many states, Texas, Ohio, Maryland, Georgia, North Carolina, etc. One Level 8 girl from North Carolina scored a 37.6. Her lowest score was a 9.25. Sakes! It wasn't hard too feel like the small frog in a large pond.

The meet rules required "teams" to be made up of four gymnasts. That meant OTW's 8s would be two mini-teams. With the last minute empty spot on the roster, Paul tapped Jamie to fill the gap. She had been a solid 7 and had just started working on some Level 8 skills. Our girls started out on Beam. It was still giving them some trouble. LaNaya pulled off a very clean Beam routine, however, to score a 9.15 and win the silver medal on that event. Floor went better. Allison, Alyssa, Jess and Kayla all turned in 9s on floor. Courtney took home a medal for floor too. Jamie scored a very respectable 8.80 on Floor, having put a couple B skills into her Level 7 routine. Vault was a mixed bag. Kayla shone, as usual, with her Tsuk, scoring a 9.475 and taking the silver medal for Vault. Jess, Melinda and Alyssa also had good vaults and took home medals to prove it. Jamie tried her hand at a full on Vault and scored an 8.5 Bars was being judged rather strictly, so few scores were high. Yet, Alyssa took 1st place on Bars with a 9.30. Kayla and LaNaya also took home medals for Bars. In the All-Around, Alyssa took 2nd.

The OTW team scored a 107.15 overall, which took 8th place out of 22 teams counted. This means they brought home a Tinkerbell trophy! The scoring was pretty close. 3rd place through 8th place were all in the 107s. 1st and 2nd in the 108s. Hats off to the whole Level 8 Team for their efforts and especially Jamie for her willingness to compete as 8-for-a-day.

The Level 10 session, Saturday evening, featured some amazing gymnasts doing incredible things. OTW's own Bri and Becca were right in there with them. Both had outstanding Vaults. Bri scored a 9.30, tying for 2nd place. Becca scored a 9.40, taking 3rd in her age group. On Bars, they both placed 6th. On Beam, Becca scored a 9.125, tying her for 5th. Bri took 7th. On Floor, the heat was on again. Bri scored a 9.075, tying for the silver. Becca scored a 9.125, taking 4th. In their respective age group All-Arounds, Bri placed 5th. Becca took 3rd, with a 36.175. Most of the Level 8 team were on hand to cheer their 10s on, and see some great gymnastics.

It was neat to see Bri and Becca holding their own amid such an obviously talented field of gymnasts. Thanks, Bri and Becca.

Everyone's return schedule differed, so it will be a little while before the whole team is back together again in NH. They're sure to have some stories to tell.