Flyers Rewards

At this year's American Flyers Cup Invitational, the OTW girls came away with a batch of individual rewards. There were some amazingly talented gymnasts at this meet, most notably the girls of NESA, from Westwood, Mass. Scores of 9.5, 9.6 and 9.7 were not uncommon. There were also teams from NEGX from Connecticut and Excalibur from Virginia. The competition was more than tough. It was intimidating. Nonetheless, our OTW girls went out and gave it their all. The Level 7 Team competed in the 11am session on Saturday. The 8s followed in the 3pm session. The 9s and 10s wrapped up the day in the 7pm session. All of the sessions were running late, so it got to be a long day.

Level 7 Action
The 7s were having a mixed day and feeling the absence of Jamie. She was away at the High School Regionals. On Vault and Floor, they were strong. Their Bars and Beam weren't bad, but with the tough competition, doing pretty-good was likely to get overshadowed. Ali led the charge on Vault, scoring a nice 9.3. She got the 5th place medal for that. Amanda also won a medal on Vault with a 9.15. On Bars, Ali took home a medal too. Things started to look up on Beam. Ali took the bronze. Mikayla took 4th (in the 12 yr old group) and Jackie took a medal too, in the 11 yr old group. On Floor, Ali was again the standard bearer, scoring a 9.3, taking 5th. Amanda and Jackie also took home medals on Floor.
During the handstand contest, which is the traditional fun contest before awards, Nicole outlasted all the others in her age group with a rock-solid handstand, to win the handstand bar! Way to go, Nicole!

Level 8 Action
The 8s were also missing a member, as Jess was also competing at the High School Regionals. Melinda had her full on Vault in good form. She took home the bronze medal for Vault. LaNaya was having a good day on Bars, scoring a 9.35 for the gold. On Beam, she took the gold with a 9.1. On Floor, she was just edged to silver by former OTW girl, Mackenzie. LaNaya took 1st in the All Around for the 16+ age group. LaNaya also won the handstand contest. The announcer was teasing her that "there were still two gymnasts up..." to make her keep her handstand longer. He finally had to tell her she won a long time ago.

Level 9/10 Action
The field of competitors in the 9/10 session was almost half what the 7s and 8s had. Many of the competitors were from the high powered gyms too. Undaunted, the OTW 9s and 10 (Bri was in the stands cheering, but not competing), did their best and took home a few medals each. On Vault, Becca wowed everyone with her amazing Vault. She scored a 9.65 and (naturally) took home the gold for that. Kayla also took home a medal for her Tsuk. On Bars, Becca took the bronze. Alyssa and Allison medaled too. Kayla's Bar score wasn't flashed. On Beam, Becca took the silver with a 9.0 -- and that with one fall! Alyssa took the gold in 9s 14-15 yr old group. Allison took the silver. On Floor, Becca took the bronze. Kayla medaled too, with a 9.05. In the All Arounds, Becca took 2nd, Allison took 5th.

Great meet, ladies. You were all great to watch in action, and holding your own against the top gymnasts from these other big gyms. We couldn't have been more proud.