Pilgrim Harvest Invitational - November 19, 2011

The Pilgrim Harvest Meet was held November 19th – 20th at the South High Community School in Worcester. The Off the Team squared off against hundreds of gymnasts from 25 top notch Teams from several surrounding States. Despite the talented competition and 8 tough judges they came home with two Team Trophies. The meet highlights are listed below.

The judging was tough, but our Level 4s racked up three vault scores of 9.2 +!! Grace’s score of 9.3 (Child Div, 3rd) was the Team’s highest. Tatyana (Sr Div, 4th) and Madi (Jr Div, 6th) both scored a 9.2. The rest of the team followed closely behind scoring between 8.8 and 9.5. Alana chalked up the team’s highest score on bars. She received a 9.2 (4th). Hanna B placed 3rd )Sr. Div) with a 9.0. Rya (Sr Div) and Hannah E (Int Div) tied for the Team’s 3rd highest score of 8.9. Hannah B placed 2nd on beam with a beautiful 9.1 routine. Alana received an 8.9 and placed 4th. Despite incredibly tough judging on floor the Team racked up 3 scores above 9! Hanna E received a whopping 9.250 (5th) for her awesome routine. Alana received a 9.1 (7th) and Tatyana received a 9.0 (4th). Rya, Hannah B and Grace scored high 8s as well! Hannah B placed 4th All Around and Tatyana placed 5th. The Level 4s placed 3rd as a Team. Great job girls!

Rachel competing in the Jr. Division led the Level 5s on vault with an 8.750 placing 14th and on bars placing 8th with an 8.55. Alexi (8.8) and Sarah M (8.75) competing in the Sr. Division were neck and neck on beam. They placed 11th and 12th. Siera competing in the Jr. Division tied Rachel for 8th place with a 9.0 on floor. Alexi received the Team’s 3rd highest floor score (8.7, 12th).

Competing in the Level 6 Sr. Division Caitlin received the Team’s highest vault and floor scores. She received an 8.625 ( 6th) on vault and an 8.35 on floor (6th). Krystiana received the Team’s highest bars score (7.95, 7th) . Emily placed 3rd with the Team’s highest beam score (8.575).

The Level 7s outdid themselves on bars! Jordan competing in the Sr. Division placed 2nd with an incredible 9.5 routine! Ellie placed 3rd in the Jr. Division with an awesome 9.35 routine. Leah competing in the Sr. Division placed 15th scoring an 8.7. Ellie led the Team for the remainder of the events placing 7th (8.3) on bars, 6th (8.55) beam, and 14th on floor (8.5).

Kadianne competing in the Level 8 Sr. Division placed 1st on vault with an 8.75 and Jackie placed 3rd in the Jr. Division with an 8.6. Jackie placed 1st on bars with a 9.05. Nicole placed 3rd with an 8.85 in the Jr. Division and Kadianne placed 3rd in the Sr. Division with an 8.2. Jackie placed 3rd on beam (8.9) and floor (8.55). Nicole placed 5th with an 8.35. Kadianne placed 2nd AA in the Sr. Division and Jackie placed 2nd in the Jr. Division. Nicole place 5th AA. The Level 8s placed 4th as a Team. Saragm Leah, Kaylee, and Ellie were there to cheer them on every step of the way and help them celebrate their victory! Congratulations girls!

Isabel (Level 7) and Sarah H (Level 8) were sidelined due to injuries, but the girls are looking forward to having them back soon!

Judges Cup - November 12, 2011

The Judges Cup kicked off in Brentwood New Hampshire the weekend of November 12th. The theme for the meet was “Pajama Party”. The girls enjoyed marching in and presenting to the crowd in their pjs and robes. Some clutched stuff animals while others wore beauty masks. The Level 5s and 6s wore pjs and robes.  The Level 7s and 8s wore footy pjs. Kadianne’s bright pink footies couldn’t be missed!

The judges and several coaches stayed in their pjs throughout the weekend. I love that idea! LOL! A few audience members added to the spirit by wearing their pjs as well!

The Level 4s had an excellent showing on vault with most scores ranging from the high 8s through 9.3+. Grace scored the Team’s highest vault score – a whopping 9.3! Tatyana (9.1) scored the Team’s highest bar score. Hannah E (9.1) matched that on beam and topped in on floor (9.125). Scores for the remainder of the meet ranged from mid 8s to high 8s. The Team’s AA scores ranged from 33+ through a whopping 35.825 scored by Tatyana. The Level 4s placed 5th as a Team. Congratulations girls!

The Level 5s struggled through this meet with most scores ranging from the high 7s through the high 8s. Alexi scored the Team’s highest vault score of 8.3. Sarah M. scored the Team’s highest bars (8.7) and beam (8.8) scores. Siera chalked up the Team’s only 9+ score on floor. The Teams AA scores ranged from 29+ through 33.65 scored by Alexi.

The Level 6 scores averaged out to mid 8s for the meet. Caitlin scored the Team’s highest vault score of 8.85. The highest bar score was achieved by Krystiana (8.4). Emily came on strong on beam (8.8) and floor (8.8) racking up the Team’s score highest scores for these events. The Team’s AA scores ranged from 31+ through 34.3 scored by Emily.

Ellie and Jordan racked up awesome vault scores for the Level 7s. Ellie received a whopping 9.325 and Jordan followed closely with a 9.2! Ellie led the Team on bars with an incredibly score of 9.5! She also racked up the Team’s highest floor score of 8.9. Leah led the Team on beam with a solid 8.975 routine. The Team’s AA scores ranged from 34+ through 36.225 scored by Ellie. Unfortunately, Isabel was sidelined due to an injury.

Although down a teammate the Level 8s were glad to be kicking off their meet season with 3 gymnasts – enough to compete as a team. Nicole led the Level 8s on vault with a score of 9.275. Kadianne followed closely with a 9.250 as did Jackie with a 9.075. Jackie led the Team on bars with an awesome score of 9.3! Kadianne and Jackie were both awarded 9.3 for their beautiful beam routines. Nicole followed closely with a 9.125. Nicole led the Team on floor with an 8.65. The Team’s AA scores ranged from 35+ through 35.9 scored by Nicole. The Team was thrilled to place 1st in the Team competition. CONGRATULATIONS LEVEL 8 TEAM!

It was great to see lots of team members in the audience cheering on their team mates at the various sessions.  Congratulations to all for a great showing!   
 

Manchester Monarchs Flag Ceremony, November 6, 2011

On Sunday, November 6, 2011 the Off the Wall gang had the honor of performing the flag ceremony at the Manchester Monarchs hockey game. The game kicked off at 3:00 P.M. at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH. The OTW gang high-fived the players as they emerged from the tunnel and took the ice. The gang carried the flag to the ice and held it proudly during the National anthem. They then returned to their seats and cheered the Monarchs on.

The Monarchs opponents, the Portland Pirates got off to a blistering start in the first period racking up a total of 25 shots on goal and a 2 point lead in the first in the first 20 minutes of the game! Portland widened the gap to 3-0 in the second period and then 4-0 in the third period. The best moments of the game were long awaited but much appreciated at about 13 minutes into the third period! Monarchs defenseman David Kolomatis dumped the puck in from the left point - left wing Richard Clune took the pass off the end wall and found Marc Andre Cliche at the bottom of the right face-off circle - Cliche wristed a shot that squeaked through the Pirates’ goaltender Justin Pogge and finally got the Monarchs on the board!

Max, the Monarch’s fun-loving lion mascot kept everyone’s spirits high during the game, giving high-fives, signing autographs, dancing and entertaining the crowd as he cheered the Monarchs on. But, in the end Pogge earned his second victory of the season making 32 saves on 33 shots. Monarchs’ goaltender Martin Jones took his sixth loss of the season stopping only 43 of 47 shots. Despite the loss everyone seemed to enjoy the game and their time together.

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!

Applebee's Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser - October 16, 2011

Thanks everyone for helping to make this fundraiser a huge success for the Team. Looking back over the records we have available for the last 5 – 6 years, this fundraiser seems to have had the most gymnasts and parent participation and made the most money! Thank you parents and gymnasts for raising the bar on participation. It was really awesome to see everyone work together from ticket sales to serving pancakes to make this fundraiser a success. When I looked around the restaurant where the girls were serving customers and cleaning tables and out on 125 where our sign holders were busy pulling in customers, I was truly proud of our girls! To show my appreciation I doubled the prizes for ticket sales etc. The winners are:

1. Most Tickets Sold – Nicole L. (Level 8), 36 tickets sold, Prize: $10 cash
2. 2nd Most Tickets Sold - Tatyana S. (Level 4), 28 tickets sold, Prize: Leotard
3. 3rd Most Tickets Sold – Grace P. (Level 4), 23 tickets sold, Prize: Leotard
4. 4th Most Tickets Sold – Alana R. (Level 4), 18 tickets sold, Prize: OTW tie-dye t-shirt made by Leah, Kaylee, and Deb P.
5. Most Creative Sign – Tatyana S. (Level 4), Prize: Long sleeve gymnastics t-shirt
6. Most Creative Thank You Card – Hannah E. (Level 4), OTW tie-dye t-shirt made by Leah, Kaylee, and Deb P.
7. Most Enthusiastic and Hardworking Server – Grace P. (Level 4), OTW tie-dye t-shirt made by Leah, Kaylee, and Deb P.
8. Random Drawing from redeemed tickets – Krystiana S. (Level 6), OTW tie-dye t-shirt made by Leah, Kaylee, and Deb P.

Level 4’s – you guys totally rock!!! I wish everyone could have seen Grace taking care of her customers. She worked so hard all morning and never lost her beautiful smile. She definitely has potential as a restaurant entrepreneur! Congratulations to all the winners. Hope you are enjoying your prizes!

Parents - you totally rock too!!! Special thanks to our kitchen crew of Cheryl, Jeannie, and Mary. You guys did an awesome job helping the girls with the orders, keeping the coffee and syrup flowing, and the dishes clean. Thanks also to Tom and Dwight and for manning the cold drink bar and even making chocolate milk! Karen J., Corine, and Elise you guys were awesome greeters and hostesses. Sue and Karen S. thanks for supervising our sign holders outside the restaurant. The girls were truly enthusiastic and really did pull customers in - they told us! We had some students of Miss Liz's from 20 years ago join us because they saw the OTW signs! Thanks to all the other parents who served food and beverages, and helped clean tables! It was great to see the parents and the girls working together for the Team. It was also great to have most of the Coaches in attendance and to see how much they enjoyed having the girls wait on them. LOL! It was also fun meeting everyone's Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Grandparents etc. Their support really made the day special. My sincere thanks to everyone!