This years Gatlinburg meet will be one that we never forget and for all the wrong reasons. I am so glad I have a sense of humor and don’t take things too seriously. 
We are in South Carolina and this meet is in Tennessee. This trip is normally about 4 hours but due to a rockslide months ago, a major section of interstate is closed through the mountains, meaning the trip will be at least 5 hours due to the necessary detour. Well, we rarely get snow, but a freak snowstorm comes through our area starting about 2 hours before we got on the road Friday afternoon. Snow never comes down this fast here and in 2 hours the roads are covered. We decide to go ahead figuring the main roads would not be too bad. They were definitely getting bad, but we were getting close to the interstate so we decide to keep going. After being parked on the interstate for 2 hours at one point, we finally arrived in Gatlinburg around 2 AM after 8.5 hours of traveling. Lilly did not have to compete until Monday morning so we had plenty of time to rest and relax over the weekend.
Start time was Monday at 8AM and we are not morning people. Due to the fact that it is snowing in TN and we are about 20 minutes from the Convention Center, we leave extra early to ensure plenty of time. Lil started this meet on bars and it seemed like there was a timing issue for their warm up on bars because our girls barely made it through 1 touch and they normally have time for 2-3 turns each. Not a great routine for Lil but it was okay and scored a 9.050. Beam… ugh… foot down on her first turn and fell after her leap… she finished the routine nicely but did not hold her scale long enough – scored an 8.4. Definitely not on track for a great meet, but next is floor and vault so what could go wrong right? OMG… floor – at this point you just have to laugh. She starts her routine and does the hop to the side then split jump, split jump (what happened to stretch jump, split jump?) – yikes… and then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, she does her bridge and just falls over. She hasn’t done that since she was like 5 years old! She stood up very composed and did a beautiful rest of the routine but needless to say, by that point floor was a lost cause. She scored a 7.5 – wow! Hasn’t pulled a score like that since her very first meet as a L4. Thank goodness, there was no vault drama and she did a good 1st vault, which scored a 9.2.
I was very proud that she did not get upset, not a singe tear or grumpy attitude. I am so glad that I have drilled into her head that everyone has a bad day and to not get upset over a bad meet, because that is exactly how she handled herself. She was almost too good (ie. nonchalant) about it – LOL.
With 9 girls in her age group, she got the following for awards:
VT: 9.2 – 3rd Place
UB: 9.050 – 1st Place
BB: 8.4 – 4th Place
FX: 7.5 – 8th Place
AA: 34.15 – 4th Place
Irony… I’m thinking NOT, the tape ran out on the video camera, so I think we will just skip the montage for this meet – LOL.
Hoping for a more ‘normal’ performance at our next meet in 2 weeks…
We are in South Carolina and this meet is in Tennessee. This trip is normally about 4 hours but due to a rockslide months ago, a major section of interstate is closed through the mountains, meaning the trip will be at least 5 hours due to the necessary detour. Well, we rarely get snow, but a freak snowstorm comes through our area starting about 2 hours before we got on the road Friday afternoon. Snow never comes down this fast here and in 2 hours the roads are covered. We decide to go ahead figuring the main roads would not be too bad. They were definitely getting bad, but we were getting close to the interstate so we decide to keep going. After being parked on the interstate for 2 hours at one point, we finally arrived in Gatlinburg around 2 AM after 8.5 hours of traveling. Lilly did not have to compete until Monday morning so we had plenty of time to rest and relax over the weekend.
Start time was Monday at 8AM and we are not morning people. Due to the fact that it is snowing in TN and we are about 20 minutes from the Convention Center, we leave extra early to ensure plenty of time. Lil started this meet on bars and it seemed like there was a timing issue for their warm up on bars because our girls barely made it through 1 touch and they normally have time for 2-3 turns each. Not a great routine for Lil but it was okay and scored a 9.050. Beam… ugh… foot down on her first turn and fell after her leap… she finished the routine nicely but did not hold her scale long enough – scored an 8.4. Definitely not on track for a great meet, but next is floor and vault so what could go wrong right
? OMG… floor – at this point you just have to laugh. She starts her routine and does the hop to the side then split jump, split jump (what happened to stretch jump, split jump?) – yikes… and then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, she does her bridge and just falls over. She hasn’t done that since she was like 5 years old! She stood up very composed and did a beautiful rest of the routine but needless to say, by that point floor was a lost cause. She scored a 7.5 – wow! Hasn’t pulled a score like that since her very first meet as a L4. Thank goodness, there was no vault drama and she did a good 1st vault, which scored a 9.2.I was very proud that she did not get upset, not a singe tear or grumpy attitude. I am so glad that I have drilled into her head that everyone has a bad day and to not get upset over a bad meet, because that is exactly how she handled herself. She was almost too good (ie. nonchalant) about it – LOL.
With 9 girls in her age group, she got the following for awards:
VT: 9.2 – 3rd Place
UB: 9.050 – 1st Place
BB: 8.4 – 4th Place
FX: 7.5 – 8th Place
AA: 34.15 – 4th Place
Irony… I’m thinking NOT, the tape ran out on the video camera, so I think we will just skip the montage for this meet – LOL.
Hoping for a more ‘normal’ performance at our next meet in 2 weeks…
