Brynlee started doing tumbling/trampoline at the Sports Academy about 3 years ago. She did that for two years and then decided to switch to gymnastics for 1 year at Sports Academy. She heard through a friend that the coach they really like wasn't going to be there anymore so in August she switched to Altius Gymnastics Academy, which was a new place in town. She enrolled as Pre-Team Level 3. After a few months, she wasn't quite ready to move on to Level 4 but her coach wanted her to participate in a pre-season meet to see how she did and how she liked it.
On Saturday, December 3rd, we headed to Evanston, WY for our first adventure in gymnastics. Brynlee was a little nervous but did very well. It was her first time to ever compete and she ended up placing 6th (out of about 20-25 girls) in the All-Around for Level 3.
Warming up and stretching
After warm ups, all the teams marched in and lined up. Since Brynlee and Jada weren't officially on team, they didn't have the new competition leotards and warm ups so they borrowed some old ones, which is why they have white jackets and silver leos instead of gold.
Getting a last minute pep talk from Coach Ray Corn. He was the Head Coach at USU for 31 years and is now coaching at Altius.
At this level (and up to Level 6), all the routines are
compulsory routines, which means everyone does the same routine that is set by USAG. She started out on vault. Now, this is not the "normal" vault you would expect. They don't actually use the vault until Level 6. Until then, they just use the spring board and land on a big mat. Level 3 does a dive roll. It's all about getting the technique and then progressing towards the vault. She got an 8.75 on vault.
Next, it was bars. Getting chalked up...
Brynlee was struggling with part of the routine where she does a forward stride circle. She hadn't been able to get all the way around until the day before the meet, and she only did it once. Her coach was there to spot her just in case, but Brynlee was able to do it without her help. Her score was 7.7.
Warming up on beam...
She usually does a much better handstand on beam, but she said she was just glad she didn't fall! Her score was 8.45.
Her last event was floor. Do you want to know how many times I heard this song during the meet? WAY too many! She has been trying really hard to do a backbend kickover, but hasn't been able to do the "kickover" part :) She scored 6.9.
They divided all the Level 3 girls into three groups according to their All-Around scores. Here is Brynlee getting her gold medal.
With her 6th place trophy
Brynlee and Coach Jenn
The Altius team members who competed and their coaches. The team took 2nd in the All-Around. Evidently, coming in 2nd after Ka-Larks is nothing to be ashamed of. These are the Level 3, 6, 7, and 8 girls. Levels 4 and 5 competed earlier in the day.
Good job, Brynlee! You did awesome!
The meet was alot longer than I expected it to be. We left Logan at 10:15, got there around 12:30, warm ups started at 1:30 and then the march in started at 2:10. I think it was around 5:00 that they finished with all the awards. Of course, there was still a 2 hour drive ahead of us. It was a LONG day! Luckily, there was a climbing wall that kept the boys busy part of the time, but by the end of the meet, we were all ready to be done! Ashlee was getting pretty impatient, too, wondering why it took so long and we only watched Brynlee for like 5 minutes total, if that! I had to chuckle because her end of the year performance for ballet usually lasts about 2 hours and she is on stage for about 5 minutes, as well. What happened to 45 minute soccer games?
