Level 4 - 6 Halloween Meet - October 29, 2011

The Halloween Meet kicked off around 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 29th in Dover New Hampshire. This year our NH USAG State Chair was dawning an Angry Birds theme from haircut to toe! His costumes and great sense of humor always make the Halloween Meet tons of fun! The Level 4s looked adorable in their bee costumes and had smiles ear to ear from the excitement of the first meet of the season. Nicole and Leah were on-hand to wish them luck and cheer them on throughout the meet. We were very glad to see Hannah B. who has been recovering from a foot injury in the line-up and ready to compete the two events she was cleared for.

The rotation began on bars where most of the scores ranged from the high 7s to the low 8s. Tatyana racked up the team’s first 9+ score for the season scoring a 9.05. Hannah B. matched that 9.05 on beam and teammate Hannah E. topped that slightly scoring a 9.075. Madi chalked up the team’s 3rd highest beam score with a beautiful routine that was awarded a 9.0. The highest floor scores were achieved by Hannah E. (8.9) and Alana (8.7) who placed 4th in her age group. On vault Madi lead the team with an awesome vault that was awarded with a whopping 9.4! Grace and Rya teamed with Madi to round out the top 3 vault scores. Grace received a 9.275 and Rya received a 9.075. The rest of the team followed closely with vaults that were awarded scores in the high 8s.

As we watched the meet we could see the snow that was forecasted for the day beginning to fall. Unfortunately, it made for a white knuckle ride home which was twice as bad for the Level 5s and 6s who had to commute both ways in white-out and extremely slippery conditions. That is the type of weather we have had several years in a row for the Portsmouth Holiday Meet which is now not so fondly referred to as the Snowstorm classic due to the blizzards we have had on that December weekend for 3 years running. Don’t be fooled though, last year there was a switch in dates so the Bow meet now has the snow storm curse!

The good news is everyone made it home safely and with the exception of Hannah B. who was only able to compete 2 events due to her injury, all the girls qualified to compete in Sectional #1. The Team placed 4th. Congratulations girls that is a great showing for the first meet!

 

Thanks to Melissa for

providing the scores. Her Tumble Tally app skills are definitely a 10! The scores were in my email before I even got home from the meet! I love that! Of course it took me hours to get home, because I couldn’t see squat, but I won’t go there now! If you look closely you may notice a few scores that don’t look quite right. That was due to the flasher not covering the 3rd digit (from the previous score) when flashing two digits scores. Now that Melissa has completed Scoring 101 that won’t trip her up again……..and we all know the flashed scores are NOT the official scores anyway, right?

 Despite the snow and terrible driving conditions the Level 5s arrived in time to find that the meet was running an hour behind. This is the norm for this meet because each session is jammed packed with competitors, but not the norm for most meets thank heavens! The Level 5s looked awesome in their M & M costumes handmade by Sandy. We were glad to see Olivia in the line-up as she is recovering from pneumonia. It will be a while before she is back to 100%, but she was happy to be with her teammates for their first Level 5 meet.

Throughout the day the Level 5 scores ranged from low 7s to mid 8s for the most part which is a good start when you stop to consider the increase in difficulty when starting a new level. For example the Level 5 uneven bars routine is a significant step up from the Level 4 routine. It requires gymnasts to execute two glide kips - one onto the low bar and other up to the high bar. It also requires a cast to squat-on on the low-bar, jump to high bar and both front and back hip circles. While doing all of that they must remember a few small details (LOL!) such as remember to take off on both feet at the same time, maintain a hollow body position with straight arms, cast to horizontal height showing a straight line from shoulders to feet, swing near horizontal before kipping and maintain contact with the bar during the entire back hip circle. Then there are the DEGREES which are ever so important in the Level 5 world! In the first counter swing they must try to make sure their hips are a minimum of 30 degrees below the height of the high bar while showing a straight line from their hands to hips while maintaining a hollow position. Yikes! For the second counter swing they must reach a minimum of 15 degrees below the height of the high bar. Complicated enough right? Well, there is more……..and I’m sure a lot more that the judges see than I can’t even think of! During the dismount they must reach a minimum of 45 degrees below the height of the high bar and complete a half turn before re-grasping the bar. The significant jump in difficultly for the uneven bars applies to each event and to each Level and is the true measure of what the girls have achieved to be at the Level they are competing at today. Imagine what the Level 10s accomplished this year!

Rachel, Sarah M. and Sierra achieved the top three bar scores for the team. Rachel, Alexi, and Jenna achieved the team’s top three vault scores with their well executed new front handspring vaults. Rachel lead the team’s top scores on floor and was followed closely by her teammates Olivia and Siera who tied. Beam was the team’s best event with Rachel and Alexi scoring 9+s and Olivia and Sarah M. scoring high 8s.

All the Level 5s with the exception of Olivia who is still recovering from her recent illness qualified to compete at Sectional #1. The Level 5s placed 4th as a team. 

The Level 6s who competed in the height of the storm looked lovely in your pageant gowns as they paraded in dressed as gymnastics beauty queens. Each girl wore a sash stating which event she was the Queen of. Really cute idea! Thanks to Kristin for supplying the picture. Unfortunately, the Level 6 scores and Team placements were not submitted.

Congratulations to all the Level 4s – 6s for a great first meet. Hope you had a fun filled Halloween as well!