Dani's Meet Report - Some Highs and Lows

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I must say that this last meet had been interesting. Dani's session was running about 1 1/2 hours behind--it was supposed to start at 2:30pm and we didn't start til 4pm. Usually that is unheard of for the MDL, but I think there were some USAG girls from the home gym competing in the session before us as an exhibition and "practice" for their own meet tomorrow that added the extra time. But boy did they speed things along!! We ended up only finishing about 15 minutes behind schedule!!

So here is the rundown:

First up was Floor:
She was the first one to go and she did a beautiful routine. That backhandspring is getting so much more consistant for her :). I was shocked when I saw the score - a 9.15!!!!:eek: She has never scored that high ever!!! She even placed 4th on floor and was smiling from ear to ear on the medal stand!! This was definitely the highlight of her day!!

Next was Vault:
She had some gorgeous vaults for the warmup runs, but she ended up balking at the 2 required and scored a zero :(. Poor baby was so devastated! I could hear her sobbing from across the gym. I felt so helpless and just wanted to run over and hug her. But, her teammates did that for me and she ended up pulling herself together for the next event :).

Bars:
Her bar routine looked solid. She kind of fell backwards out of her kip to high bar and ended up doing a back hip circle, which threw her off a bit. She regained her composure and finished strong - 8.60 for 7th place!!! :)

Last was Beam:
She started her mount on the wrong side so she had to do some improvisational turns to get her back turned around. There was a part in the routine (you can see it on the video) where she looks at her coach with this look like "Oh God--what do I do now???" She said that her coach just kept mouthing "keep going" to her and she finished up the routine. I guess the improvising worked for her because she got a 9.15 and 3rd place!! :) When I talked to her coach after the meet she said that she always prepares the kids in practice for the unexpected to happen especially on beam when they mount on the wrong side or the judge is sitting in a different spot. She said that she tells them that they may need to add in some turns or move around on the beam to get them to where they need to be in the routine if something weird should happen. The important thing is for it to "look like they know what they are doing" so the routine flows.

So all in all, it was a good meet. She obviously didn't place in the AA, but she had some very strong performances on the other events that she is very proud of. I am very proud of her for shaking off the vault and moving on to the next event well composed. I am so happy that she is able to let go of things like that and move on. I guess in a sport like gymnastics (and in life) that can be the key to success.

Here is the video:

YouTube - MDL Gymnastics Meet #4 - "Flower Power 2010"
 
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She is so talented. I wish you could bring her to our gym. Our coaches would love her. And she can actually really really dance! Her round off back handspring was so good too. Tell her good job.
 
Dani has really made huge strides this year.. She must be so proud of all her hard work and progress. Really nice control on the beam, couldn't tell she was mixed up. Bars looked awesome.

Now how was that gelato???
 
Dani has really made huge strides this year.. She must be so proud of all her hard work and progress. Really nice control on the beam, couldn't tell she was mixed up. Bars looked awesome.

Now how was that gelato???

Thanks Bog for the kind words! The frozen yogurt was awesome!!!! We went out late--about 10pm--but it was so worth staying up late for!!!
 
She is so talented. I wish you could bring her to our gym. Our coaches would love her. And she can actually really really dance! Her round off back handspring was so good too. Tell her good job.

Awww thanks!!! She is definitely a performer and just loves to go out there and have fun. :)
 
Nice Floor score Dani!

I love watching her videos..t hey always make me smile. She has come so far this year. Her bars are great too! And that Yscale on beam! Woo hoo!
 
She has improved soooo much this year! She looks very confident! Glad she had such a stong meet !! Must be very proud!!
 
She is always one of my favorites to watch, she just looks so happy out there! She did awesome on the events, what a great meet! Congrats to her! I so wish we had that league in Fla, my dd would just love it!
 
Wait I'm confused. Why isn't she doing the routines used for USAG and so on? Is it a different league? I like their routines more though. They look like more fun.
 
Wait I'm confused. Why isn't she doing the routines used for USAG and so on? Is it a different league? I like their routines more though. They look like more fun.

Dani does the Mason Dixon League which is a bit different than USAG. The main difference is that the Mason Dixon League starts their "optionals" at Level A which is equivelant to USAG 5 skill-wise. So you will see Dani doing Level 5 USAG skills in the videos, but they are all "optional" routines that were choreographed specifically for her. That is what is so great about the MDL--you get the creativity to have your own routines and floor music much earlier than USAG. Dani loves it!! She loves being creative with the routines and her personality really gets to shine.
 
What an emotional roller coaster you must have been on mom!!! I TOTALLY can sympathize & you know that;). Some much good stuff, so much improvement, so much to be proud of!!! She's got all she needs; drive, determination, talent & a supportive coach & mom! She's doing sooooooooo well. I LOVE to watch as she improves her skills & builds her confidence!!! She just beams when she's out there doesn't she?!? Congratulations Dani you ROCK!!! And as usual, I'm in awe of your flexiblity!:D
 
I always love to watch her routines. She is always sooo happy and looks like she is having so much fun! Her flexibility is amazing and her skills just keep getting better and better. I wouldn't have even know she had gotten mixed up on the beam is you hadn't said so, way to go Dani!
 
Yay Dani! That was such a fun vid to watch. I love her hamming it up in all the still pics, she has such a great attitude & sense of humor. Vey important in life!

She has definitely learned a lot and progressed this year, way to go! And I love that her coaches built-in her natural flexibility into her routines. That scale (or whatever the leg-holding-up thingy is called, I forgot already, lol!) on beam was just gorgeous! Some L9/10 USAG girls can't even do one that nice. ;)

Her look of death that she gave her coach while she was trying to figure out where to go on beam was priceless. I wouldn't have known what is was about if you hadn't posted about it. But since I knew what it was, I was giggling. She was like "help me out here coach, or I'm seriously gonna die!!" Too cute.

Tell her great job. I look forward to seeing more of her progress/fun self in her future vids! :)
 
Thanks MSL!! Dani has got to be the goofiest gymnast on the team! Even some of the other coaches at meets have commented to her and her coach how bouncy and hyper she is! One coach was watching her and then turned to Dani's coach and asked if she ever sat still. Dani's coach just laughed and said, "No, not really!" The other coach just smiled and said "Yeah, we have one just like her on our team too!". Very cute!

Oh, I forgot to put this in the meet report but Dani said that she was laughing through most of her bar routine because the judge called her name when she was ready for her to start her routine and she pronounced her name "Dan-EE-ka" instead of "DAN-i-ka" and I guess that made Dani start to laugh--she said she had a smile on her face the whole time through the routine. Too bad I was taping from the back because that would have been a sight to see!! LOL
 

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