We packed the car and headed on a 3 hour road trip to the gymnastics state championships in Lake Charles. Jules came along for the trip; however, we left Easton with his grandparents. He’s not a fan of sitting and watching :)
We arrived Saturday afternoon (she competed on Sunday morning), so we spent our time in the arcade and by the pool area.
We had breakfast with some fellow gymnasts the next morning, and then we were off to the arena. It was a lot bigger than her normal meets. She seemed fine, but my nerves were all over the place!
The first event she competed on was beam. I was shaking. My husband does not understand why I get so nervous. I said you grew up playing baseball…you don’t understand!
She looked so smooth, and she scored a personal best on the balance beam….a 9.600! She tied for first place in this event.
Her next event was Floor where she scored a 9.375…placing 3rd overall!
By the time she got to Vault, we could tell her nerves were really starting to show. After the vault, the gymnast should go into a handstand and hold it…and then fall flat on the mat. For Kennedy’s first vault, instead of going into a handstand…..she did a cartwheel! I was just staring…what in the world did she just do!? She quickly recovered and did the handstand to finish the event. LUCKILY, the gymnasts get two vaults…and the judges take the highest score of the two. She rocked the second vault and ending up scoring a 9.650 placing her first overall for vault!
Later that day in the car she told me, “Mom I was so nervous…all of a sudden I realized I was doing a cartwheel!” I told her at least she got up and finished!
The last event was bars. She had a little slip on one foot (you can see clearly in the picture), but she had a GREAT save and recovery. She basically did her discount using one foot! She scored a 9.325 placing her 5th on Bars.
When award time came around, she was all smiles. She scored All Around 2nd Place for Level 1 (E)! We are extremely proud of all of her hard work. Not too shabby for her first year competing!
Here she comes, Level 2! Jules says she can’t wait to compete herself!
