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.

 

              

Boosters Meeting Minutes September 7, 2010

ATTENDANCE:
Karen, Kristin, Sandy, Tracy,
Stacy, Mary, Gail, Audrey

OLD BUSINESS:
1. Cookie Dough
Due Date October 5, 2010. Reminder email to go out to team parents (Karen)
Collection Envelope to be added to Boosters Bulletin Board for miscellaneous orders.

2. Bella Tucker Fund Raiser
Sandy Allaire is taking over this project - it will include selling hearts for Bella which can be purchased for any dollar amount. The hearts will be decorated by the purchaser and hung in the gym until we give them all to the Bell Tucker Fund. More to Come!!! Great opportunity for OTW to give to others in the community.

3. Audrey spoke with Paul about holding a “Mock Meet” to be held at the gym for team girls. Paul was concerned about timing with the start of the meet season and said he would get back to Audrey. Audrey, please follow up for us.

4. Rita updated the team contact list. We have 22 team girls this year! In addition we have Boosters Level reps as follows:

Level 4 Tracy/Sandy
Level 5 Molly/Becky
Level 6 Corrie
Level 7 Mary
Level 8 Rita
Level 9 Gail/Rita
Level 10 Jeanie

NEW BUSINESS:
1. Idea to sell Water Bottles at open gym.
Kristin will talk to Paul about selling on Friday night open gym. Boosters will buy the water and level reps can help get parent volunteers and/or older team girls to sell. Easy and quick way to make some extra money!

2. Stacey Carey has a great idea to set up a gymnast website to sell gymnastics accessories and apparel with a percentage of the profit to go to the boosters. Great idea but we need to move quick for the site to be available for holiday shopping! Stacey will follow up with Paul!

3. Boosters board authorized payments as follows: application fee to register club with State as a non profit organization and to order new checks for the business account (to be ordered through an online vendor instead of paying top price from the bank).

4. Calendar Raffle ReturningCalendars to be handed out at Paul’s Team Meeting. Calendar Donations to be returned by November 2nd so they can be sold in December for a cost of $5.00 each.

Level 9 Eastern Championships - April 2010

Level 9 Eastern Championships were held April 29th – May 2nd at the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston West Virginia. Allison and Alyssa (alternate) attended the Region 6 practice bright and early Friday morning at Maverick Gymnastics, also in Charleston. But, unfortunately Alyssa was not called to compete.

Allison’s meet was held Saturday afternoon. Competing in the SR2 division Allison showed once again what an incredible vaulter she is! She surpassed her previous high scores and landed 1st place with a 9.65!! This was higher than any of the vault scores achieved in the Western Championships as well; which makes it the best Level 9vault score in the country!!! Allison’s next highest score was received on floor (8.85). The Region 6 SR2 team placed 4th.

Congratulation to all the Level 9s for an incredibly awesome season!!!!!!!!! Also congrats to LaNaya who will be spending next season as a student at Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota.

Level 8 Regional Championships - April 2010

Level 8 Regional Championships were held April 24th – 25th at North Andover High School. Jamie’s age 15+ State Team kicked off the meet at 8:00 A.M. Saturday morning. It may have been early, but between the girls’ hot pink jackets and the Master of Ceremony’s unique rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance everyone was definitely wide awake and ready for a good competition!

Jamie’s best scores were awarded for beam (8.8) and floor (8.95). Her team placed 4th. Allie’s 13 -14 Team kicked off the evening competition around 5:00 P.M. Allie’s best scores were achieved on beam (8.925) and floor (9.025) as well. Her team placed 5th. Nicole’s 8-11 All Star Team kicked off Session 4 bright and early Sunday morning. Like her teammates she earned her highest scores on beam (9.0) and floor (8.7). Her team placed 8th.

Congratulations girls!! What a great way to end the Level 8 season!!

Level 9 Regional Championships - April 2010

The Level 9 Regional Championships were held April 9th – 11th at Danvers High School. Allison placed 3rd AA in the SR2 age division. She placed first on vault with an incredibly high score of 9.625 and on beam with another outstanding score of 9.35.

Alyssa placed 7th AA in the SR4 age group. Her best scores were awarded for vault (9.125, 7th) and beam (9.2, 4th) as well. Kayla followed suit in the SR6 age division placing 2nd on vault (9.325) and 6th on beam (8.85). The team placed 2nd! Great job girls!!

Allison qualified for the Level 9 Eastern Championships scheduled for April 29 – May 2, 2010 in Charleston, West Virginia. Alyssa is the first alternate for her age division. Congratulations girls!! What an awesome achievement!!!