Hearts for Bella, November 6, 2011

The Helping Hearts for Bella fundraising campaign finished today with a $500 check being delivered to the Bella Tucker Foundation along with a giant card covered with 100s of hearts conveying well wishes for Bella from our gymnasts and many friends and families. A huge thank you to Sandy for organizing this fundraiser and the beautiful poster size card she made to hold the hearts. Thanks to Jeannie for taking the team picture that is in the card as well.


Bella Update: After over six months and three days in the hospital, Bella was finally discharged from Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital on Friday, October 8th. Bella's brothers and sister were overjoyed to finally have their sister home, and are very excited to assist Bella with her continued recovery and progress towards independence.

Home for Bella at the moment is a hotel as many people have been very busy building an addition to her home to make it more accessible for her. The addition includes a garage, an elevator, a rehabilitation room, and provides a sterile environment, including air purifiers, so Bella can breathe easier.

Bella returned to Londonderry South Elementary School on Wednesday, and was reunited with all of her friends. She will be attending school daily, although it will be a shortened schedule as she will continue her rehabilitation on an outpatient basis at Northeast Rehabilitation Hospital as well as continue to work with Next Step Orthotics and Prosthetics. Bella was also at her favorite gym on Friday bouncing on the trampoline and telling everyone she hopes to be able to spend more time doing that soon! The unveiling of her house is scheduled for this Sunday. She has never been inside the house and those close to her have been keeping the details a secret including the huge homecoming party that has been planned in her honor.

Bella has amazed everyone with her progress adjusting to her new legs and can now stand on her own. With her strong will and determination she is taking more and more steps each day. Soon, she will be trying out different types of arm prosthetics and I’m sure she will continue to amaze and inspire us every day.

Level 4 - 6 Halloween Spooktacular, October 31, 2010

The Level 4 – 6 Teams AKA the Wizard of Oz gang participated in the Halloween on Halloween Day! The Level 4s definitely had some tricks up their sleeves when it came to vault. The team’s 6 vault scores ranged from 8.775 to an incredibly high 9.6 awarded to Sierra’s exquisite vault. Sierra received scores of 9+ on bars and floor and ended the meet with the team’s highest AA score (35.775). Teammates Rachel and Alexi followed closely behind achieving AA scores of 35.575 (Rachel) and 35.225 (Alexi). Rachel scored 9+ on vault and beam in the high 8s on bars and floor. Alexi scored 9+ on vault and in the high 8s on the remaining events. Jenna (8.775), Hannah (9.200), and Olivia’s (9.150) event was vault. The Level 4s placed 5th as a team.

For the Level 5s Krystiana placed 1st AA (33.575) in the Ghost group. Her highest score (8.9, first) was achieved on floor. She placed 2nd on beam (8.375), 3rd on bars (8.3), and 5th on vault (8.0). Also competing in the Ghost group Jessica received her best scores on vault (7th) and floor(9th).

Emily and Danielle competed in the Gremlin age group. Emily achieve her highest score (9.05) on beam. Danielle received her highest score on vault (7.95). The Level 5s placed 4th as a team.

Jordan was the only Level 6 that competed in this meet. She placed 3rd AA with a 33.175. She placed 3rd (8.4) on bars, 4th on vault (8.5) and floor (8.4) and 6th on beam (7.875).

Level 8 Halloween Spooktacular Meet

The Level 8s kicked off their competitive season by competing in the Holloween Spooktacular Meet held in Dover, NH on Halloween weekend. The Optional Teams normally do not start competing until December, but this year they plan to be at an away meet at the same time they would normally compete in the Sectional. So in order for them to hit the road they need to qualify super early to participate in a Sectional and at that Sectional to compete in the NH State Meet. The good news is both Nicole and Jackie scored high enough at the Halloween meet so they can use the December Holiday meet as a Sectional.

It was fun to see the Teams and the Judges in their costumes. It was also entertaining to see our NH USAG State Chair do a front handspring dressed as Gumby. Even when out of costume Haven showed his love for Halloween by sporting a bat carved into his hair on the back of his head! Very brave for a man with so little hair to begin with! Just kidding ………….

The judging seemed pretty tough, and despite a couple of falls the girls hung in there and in the end placed in each event. Jackie also placed 2nd in the AA! Both girls competed in the Ghost age group. Jackie received a 9.0 (1st) for her awesome bar routine, an 8.8 (2nd) on vault and an 8.5 (4th) on floor. She was well on the way to another high score on the beam, but had a wobble that turned into a fall – but still placed 5th ( 8.4). Nicole received an 8.4 on vault (5th), and despite a hand slip which resulted in a fall placed 3rd on bars (8.35). She also placed 2nd on beam (8.65) and 5th on floor (8.3).  

The other good news is that Jackie made home in time to Trick – or – Treat on Saturday and Nicole got her Trick – or – Treating in on Sunday. Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

 



Level 4 - 6 Sectional #1, October 17, 2010

The Level 4 – 6 Winter Sectional #1 was held in Hudson, NH on October 17, 2010. It was a very exciting day because it was the very first Sectional for the Level 4s! The Level 4s competed in 2 age groups. Competing in the age 6 – 8 year old group Rachel rocked the meet with a whopping 35.425 AA. Alexi followed closely behind with a 34.7425 AA. Both girls placed 10th in their age group in the all sessions combined placements. That is very impressive for a second meet never mind a first Sectional! Awesome job girls!

Rachel’s beautiful beam routine was awarded a 9.0. She scored high 8s in the remaining events. Alexi scored a 9.0 on vault and mid to high 8s on the remaining events. Olivia and Jenna tied on vault with 8.85s and Hanna scored an 8.6. Olivia and Hannah struggled a little with bars but finished strong on beam and floor.

Each of the Level 5s competed in a different age groups. Sarah competing in the Jr age group (11-12) placed 2nd AA in the all sessions combined placements. She placed 1st on vault (8.450), 2nd on bars (8.9), 4th on beam (8.45), and 6th on floor (8.9). Emily’s awesome beam routine was awarded a 9.1 and placed her 3rd in the 9-10 year old all sessions combined placements. Krystiana competing in the 7-8 year old age group had a little more competition this week, but not much. There were only 4 competitors total in this age group for all sessions. Krystiana placed 2nd AA. She also placed 2nd on vault (7.9), and bars (8.1), and 3rd on beam (8.25), and floor (8.05).

Jordan competed in the Level 6 Jr age group (11-12). She placed 7th AA in the all sessions combined placements. She placed 2nd on beam (8.6), 4th on vault (8.8), 6th on bars (8.375), and 8th on floor (8.1).  The OTW cheered quite loudly to show their appreciation for her lovely back tuck at the end of her floor routine. 

It is great to see all the extended family members at these early meets and fun to see the improvements week to week as the girls settle into their new routines and gain confidence with their new skills. We are looking forward to the Halloween meet to see the Teams’ creativity in the costume department as well!

Thanks to everyone who submitted scores and special thanks to Guy for the awesome pictures! Don’t the girls look great in the new leos?

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.