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!

Haul From Hartford

In some ways, this year's Northeast Invite was a tough meet, yet a good meet too. The layout at Trinity College's Memorial Hall was the same Blue Gym / Red Gym as last year. The scoring was much tougher this year. Scores in the 6s and 7s were common on some events. More than a few 5s were seen. On others, 8s were the norm. 9s were rare. The competition was sharp. But, OTW's girls put out a strong effort. They have the medals, banners and prizes to prove it.

The Level 5 Team brought home the 3rd Place Team banner. Since there were just five of them, every score of every girl counted. They all earned that banner. Each of the 5s also took home at least two medals. Emily scored her best on Vault and Floor. Sarah scored her best on Vault. Paige did her best on Floor. For Tess, her best event was Beam. Caitlin too the bronze for Beam.

The Level 6 Team did not have enough gymnasts to score as a team. Five were needed. We had four. But each of the four went home with a medal. Ellie scored her highest on Beam. Maddy scored her best on Bars, but won a medal for her Vault. Allie did her best score on Bars. Jordan took home a medal for all four events.

The Level 8 Team won the Joan Hicks award for team spirit. The prize for this award was a carpeted practice beam. Since there were only four Level 8 girls, they didn't qualify for a team placement. Yet each of the four placed on all four events and the All Around. Nicole took two 4th place medals for Vault and Floor. Jackie took a gold for Floor (a 9.20) and 2 silvers for Beam (a 9.125) and All Around. Ali took three bronze medals for Bars, Floor (a 9.00) and the All Around. Jamie took three 4ths for Vault, Bars and Beam.

The Level 9 Team took home the 2nd Place Team banner. Only three gymnasts were required for a Level 9 team. Alyssa took home silver for Beam (9.05) and Bronze for the All Around. She and Allison were usually beside each other on the platform in the 14-15 age group. Allison took the bronze for Vault with a 9.15. Kayla took the gold on Vault with a 9.35 and Floor with a 9.20. She also secured the silver on Beam. LaNaya took the silver on Floor. Originally, they won 3rd as a team. They posed with the 3rd Place banner. Later, it was learned that the 2nd place team was somehow disqualified as a team, so the OTW 9s will get the 2nd place banner.

It was great to see the OTW girls in action at this first "away" meet of the year.

Working for Nationals Workout

On Saturday and Sunday, Level 9 and 10 gymnasts from around the Region 6 area met in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, despite the snowy highways. They came to sharpen their skills. 32 gymnasts were on hand at the Aim High gym. Among them were OTW's four Level 9 gymnasts. The conditioning was as tough as they had heard about. There were regional directors on hand and several judges to critique every move. They also pushed the girls to expand their skill sets. A professional dance instructor and choreographer worked with the girls to help put more expression and life into their dance elements.

At the end of the first day, the girls were exhausted. Back at the hotel, there was no talk of swimming or looking for fun things to do. They all wanted just three things: supper, a shower, and sleep.

The next day, they started off tired and sore, but the pace was just as tough. They went through several new conditioning drills, and did rotations through all four events. The last rotation was to do their complete floor routines in front of two judges. The judges then discussed with the gymnasts, the routine's weak points and recommended areas to improve.

At the end of the session, all four girls were more than ready to go home and rest. Amid all the sweat, aches and exhaustion, progress and improvements were made.