Begin Here. Go Anywhere. (USAG slogan)

The OTW Levels 4 – 6 Teams kicked off the 2010 winter season on October 3rd at the Harvest Meet in Brentwood. With Sectional #1 two weeks away, this meet referred to as a Local Qualifier is the girl’s only opportunity to qualify to compete in Sectional #1. For those new to the competition trail, a gymnast has to score a minimum of 31 points at a USAG sanctioned meet to qualify to compete in a Sectional Meet; and then has to score a minimum of 33 points at a Sectional meet to qualify to compete at a State meet. So that means the Harvest meet is the only opportunity for the girls to qualify to compete in Sectional #1 scheduled for October 17th 2010 in Hudson, NH. But, there are plenty of other opportunities to qualify for Sectional #2 scheduled for the weekend of November 20th in Dover, NH. There is no limit to the number of local qualifiers a gymnast can compete in during a season, however a gymnast can only compete in 2 Sectional Meets per season.

Of course there are exceptions to every rule and in the case of qualifying to the State Meet it is the Level 9s and 10s that “luck out”! The 9s and 10s do not have Sectional Meets! They qualify to compete in a State Meet by achieving a minimum score of 32 at any USAG sanctioned meet. If you are wondering why the difference in rules, consider the degree of difficulty in the L9 and L10 routines and how few gymnasts make it to this level of gymnastics. With that in mind, you can see it is not luck at all! We are very fortunate to have an awesome Level 9 (Kayla) who has been working her way back from surgery to repair a tear in her Achilles tendon and two fantastic Level 10s (Allison and Alyssa) on the OTW Team. Their dedication and skill levels inspire our girls daily!

Level 4

Being the first meet of the season all the girls were very excited and anxious to compete. The Level 4s were thrilled to have lots of family members and some of their Optional teammates (Allie, Ellie, Maddy, and Nicole) and even some former Team members (Jessica and Summer) on hand to support them as they made their Team debut. Some nerves were noticeable, but the determination and the non-stop smiles on the competition floor were much more noticeable! Vault and floor seemed to be the strong events for most of the Team. Olivia scored the Team’s highest vault score (9.150). Alexi and Rachel followed closely behind, both scoring a 9.05. Jenna and Hannah received scored in the high 8s. Alexi also received the Team’s highest bars (8.55) and floor scores (8.85). Jenna happy to be old enough (6) to compete in sanctioned meets finished the day with an All Around score just below 33! Wow! Great job! Olivia finished with a 32.975 and Hannah with a 32.3. Rachel and Alexi both finished with AAs over 34! Awesome job girls! Very impressive showing for your first meet! Congratulations for qualifying to compete in Sectional #1!! We are very proud of you!

Thanks to Tracy for providing the Level 4 scores so quickly!  By the way, you can click on any of the pictures to view a larger version.  Also you can send your congratulations to the Team by clicking on the Comment link and entering text.  It is censored before it is posted, so you will not see your comment immediately.   

Level 5

Krystiana was the only OTW Level 5 in the age 7 - 8 age group, so she was the lucky first place winner of each event and the AA! Her best score (8.875) awarded for her beautiful floor routine was also the highest floor score received by the Team. Sarah (8.7, 8th) and Emily (8.4)followed closely behind. The highest vault scores for the Team were achieved by Danielle (8.4, 1st) and Sarah (8.3, 2nd). Emily was awarded the Team's highest Balance Beam(8.95, 1st) and placed 9th AA. Sarah followed closely behind (8.8).  Sarah also received the Team's highest bar score (8.6) and placed 2nd AA.

Thanks to Becky D for providing the Level 5 scores. The Level 6 scores have not been received yet.