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As you know we competed this past weekend down in Knoxville Tennessee and we had a 2 point improvement from the week before. It makes a big difference when you don’t have to count a fall on 3 events! Now the plan is to not count any falls on all four events as we continue to upgrade our routines. We travel down to Texas this weekend to compete against TWU, SEMO, & Centenary. We plan on continuing to improve our team score and break into the 190’s which equals a 9.5+ average for every routine. A few of our athletes will be implementing some higher difficulty skills and vaults which obviously we hope goes well!
In Knoxville we started off on Beam and did a great job with a team score of 47.8 = 9.56 ave. Sophomore Julia Sebben was first up an rocked a set for a 9.525 with her triple series. Overall she did a great job but needs to continue to improve her form (feet & Knees) to score higher. Next up was Sophomore Chelsea Grimison who hit her set and scored a 9.475. She only had a few wobbles but overall looked great! Sophomore Jamie Lewis was 3rd and did a real nice job. The Judges scores were 9.6 & 9.35 for a 9.474 average. I didn’t like the score range but I did like the routine. This time Jamie received credit for het Split Jump + Sheep Jump + beat jump combination. Good Job! Our 4th person up was freshman Mariana Murphy who unfortunately missed her series for a 9.15. senior Sarah Neumann competed 5th and banged out another great set for a 9.7. Nice improvement from last week’s 9.525. Last up was Senior Shannen Kelly who did a nice job with a very solid set for a 9.625. She only had a couple of slight wobbles on leaps and jumps. I’m looking forward to her breaking into the 9.8+ category in the near future. Overall we improved by 1 point on Beam compared to our 1st meet against Illinois St & SPU.
Our 2nd event was floor where we scored a 47.925 = 9.585 average which was also an improvement from out 1st meet. Our first 2 competitors (Brittney Reed & Chelsea got through their sets but had a few uncharacteristic issues – 9.25 & 9.2. Both had “out of bounds” deductions which we can fix before this weekend’s meet. 3rd up was Junior Darby Germain who did a nice solid set for a 9.55. She was followed by Sophomore Casey Bell who did a very clean set for a 9.6. Nice Job! 5th up was Jamie who did a great job and received a 9.7. Every pass was very clean and her dance presentation is improving weekly. Last up was Junior Kara Witgen who once again banged out a big set for a 9.775. Way to go Kara – last we a 9.75 / this week a 9.775. Kara will definitely break a 9.8+ as the year progresses.
Vault was our 3rd event where we got through but weren’t quite as clean as the week before. We scored a 47.225 overall for a 9.445 average per vault. Shannen was up first and once again did a nice clean Yurchenko Layout for a 9.45. She was followed by Julia who stepped it up and banged out the same vault as Shannen with a lot more amplitude off the table for a 9.55! Hopefully she can add a 1/1 twist to it this week which is ultimately what she is capable of. Our 3rd vaulter was Kara who got through her Hand front but wasn’t quite as explosive as the week before for a 9.35. Chelsea once again did a nice job on her Yurchenko ½ tuck and scored the same as last week with a 9.55. Nice Job Chels! Freshamn Mariana Murphy who normally is rock solid went really big and unfortunately over rotated her vault and received an 8.95. Bummer. Last up was Jamie who missed her block but fortunately still managed to get to her feet but landed in a deep squat for a 9.3. I guess we are going to have to call her cat woman .
Overall at this point in the meet we were cruising along pretty well on the first 3 events – Last week we totaled a 141.175 at this point and at this competition we were at 142.95 points. This was really a nice improvement and all we had to do is was hit our Bar sets to break a 190. First up on Bars was Julia who made the line up and did a great job doing a new routine and was competing for the first time of her career for the falcons. Julia earned a 9.45 to start us off. I was really proud of her hitting her Yaeger and Pak (which is new along with her double layout dimount!) Nice job Juls. Sarah was next and did a clean job for a 9.15. Keep in mind she’s only doing a layout dismount at this point until her knee gets stronger. I for see her putting her Giant 1/1 double pike in her set in another month or so which will add another 4-6 tenths to her score. Third up was Jamie who hit her set for a 9.325. Nice job for a 9.8 start Value. 4th up was Darby who normally is the most consistent performer on Bars but I guess the Bar Gods weren’t with her this night an she struggled with 2 falls. When she caught her Geinger one hand slipped off the Bar which she still tried to save but fell off on the back swing. To add salt to the wound she under rotated her shoot over and had another fall and ended up with an 8.4. Ouch…. Our 5th performer was Mariana who also is normally very consistent but she too had loads of issues throughout her set and ended up with an 8.15. Mega bummer. Last up was Kara who had an awful warm up which really had me expecting another issue; however, she got through a very nice set and ended up with a 9.575. I ALWAYS say warm ups don’t mean anything!
All in all I was pleased with our teams success at this meet which was 2 points higher than the week before. Now it’s back to the gym for more sets and tweaking and polishing our execution which we will do and hopefully show our improvement this weekend at TWU. I believe the meet will be streamed so check us out if it fits into your busy schedules. Yesterday we had a FANTASTIC vault day so I’m hoping we continue the trend at our meet.
We always enjoy having support in the stands and welcome all of you in the future if we’re nearby.
Go Falcons and thanks for your support!
DD
