Level 7 & 8 Sectional #1 was held Sunday, February 21st in Dover, NH. With just under 40 competitors the mid-day session was small, but the competition between the 9 competing gyms was tough. The morning session seemed to be about the same size and just as competitive, but the OTW Teams were definitely up to the challenge. The five OTW competitors each took home a gold medal and qualified to compete in the State Meet! Very impressive....and their scores were amongst the highest in the all sessions combined totals described below.

In the Level 7, 12 year age group Emma placed 1st on vault (8.85), 4th on bars (8.55), 6th on floor (8.6), and 8th on bars (7.45). Emma placed 5th AA (33.450).In the Level 7, 13-14 year age group Mikayla placed 1st on floor (9.2), 2nd on bars (9.15), 5th on vault (8.6), and 6th on beam (8.35). Mikayla placed 3rd AA (35.3).

In the Level 8, 12 year age group Jackie placed 1st on floor (9.125), 2nd on bars (8.8), and 3rd on beam (9.175) and vault (7.95). Jackie placed 2nd AA. In the 13-14 year age group Ali placed 1st on bars and 2nd on floor with a pair of 9.0s! She placed 3rd on beam (8.5) and 4th on vault (7.95). Ali placed 2nd AA (34.450). In the 15+ year age group Jamie placed 1st on beam (8.950), 6th on bars (8.4), 10th on floor (8.275) and 13th on vault (7.75). Jamie placed 9th AA (33.375). Nicole is still sidelined with an injury but is hoping to compete in the next meet. Keep your fingers crossed! Great job girls! We are looking forward to cheering you on at the State Meet.

Chicago Style, With Smiles

The IGI meet in Chicago boasts of being the world's largest gymnastics meet. Hard to say if that's true, but it was huge. There were six full set-ups for competition, making it a long six-ring circus. Our six OTW optionals who attended, found themselves in the midst of thousands of national class gymnasts. The competition was very tough. Yet, even in such a world class stage, each of our gymnasts managed to bring home at least one medal.

The Level 9 Team competed in the morning session on Sunday. They started on Beam. Alyssa took the bronze in the 16+ group with an 8.825. Kayla took 7th with an 8.30. On Floor, all the scores were in the 8s. Kayla took 7th, LaNaya 9th and Allison 11th. On Vault, Kayla took the bronze with a 9.125, Allison 4th and Alyssa 6th. Bars was disappointing for all of them, with Alyssa's 7.80 took the 5th place medal. Alyssa and Kayla took 5th and 6th in the All Around.

The Level 8 girls competed in the session right after the 9s (who stayed to root them on). The 8s started on Beam as well, and did reasonably well. Both took the 8th place medals in their age groups. Floor went well enough, but they were overshadowed by girls scoring middle 9s. Vault was tough and the scores low. Bars went a little better, as both had nice routines. Ali took home a medal with her 8.45.

Overall, the six girls (and their parents) had a good time touring Chicago and being part of a huge invitational. Where medals were awarded for the top 50% of gymnasts, it is impressive to know that all of our girls were among them.

Well done girls. You always make us proud.

9s Take 1st at Daggets

OTW's Level 9 Team was surprised when they heard "Off The Wall" called out as the 1st place winning team at this year's Tim Dagget National Invitational. With all the amazing talented gymnasts in the field house of Mt. Holyoke College, they thought they might place 5th or something. They were glad they were wrong.
It was a mixed sort of meet for our 9s, with some great highs and some disappointing lows. They started out on Bars, and it did not look bright. Alyssa had a nice routine, but only scored an 8.65. Allison looked good too, but scored an 8.40. Both Kayla and LaNaya had some trouble on Bars. Beam followed, and seemed to go about the same. On Floor, however, things picked up considerably. Allison scored a 9.325 (1st place, Sr. A group). Alyssa scored a 9.15 to take 2nd in Sr. A. Kayla scored an impressive 9.60 to take 1st in the Sr.B group. They finished on Vault. Kayla's 9.30 took 1st, as did Allison with a 9.575 in Sr.B.
Even with those highs, there were girls scoring 9.7s and 9.8s. So, there wasn't much thought of a team trophy that late Friday night. In that, they turned out correct. No trophy. A banner! Now our 9s have won two banners this year.
An additional bit of good news is that LaNaya qualified for States at this meet.

Way to go 9s! It was a great team effort with all four of you contributing to the winning team score. Next stop, Chicago!