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STATES Level 4 -
Freeland, MI
5-10-08:
After what seemed like an eternity, the Level 4s finally got their
chance at the State Meet. Hosted by Mid Michigan gymnastics, the girls
performed very well. The most amazing part was that not one of the 17
Level 4s had a fall on any event. One by one the girls made it through
beam routines without problems and came home with a fourth place finish
(only .4 from first). There were lots of individual accomplishments with
Kendall Leverenz and Breezy McEntee being crowned State All Around
Champions. Sophie Jackson led the Flames with an even 38 AA (silver
medal). Abby Evans and Kylee Lisee conquered some balance beam monsters
and set the tone for the day. Sarah Thompson hit 3 of her highest scores
of the year for her best AA to date (37.575) including a team high 9.65
on bars. Congratulations to all the girls for all their accomplishments.
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Level 9 Eastern
Championships - Dayton, OH
5-10-08:
Rarity directly reflects the value an item is perceived to have.
The fewer items there are, the more worth the items have. This is
just one of the reasons a trip to Nationals is considered important to
gymnasts. Not all go. Only those who prove their worthiness
are granted access to the competitive floor. Two Lady Flames were
granted this access, Jessica Leadbetter and Amanda Stepp.
Each of us have probably role-played the
bottom-of-the-9th, full-count, home-run-to-win-the-world-series scenario
(insert your given sport), however, it is a rare athlete who actually
finds themselves in that moment, and an even rarer athlete who enjoys
that moment sans-nausea.
Amanda Stepp is one of these rare jewels. Stepp,
completely aware of the difficulty in even qualifying to Nationals due
to last year's failure to make it, appreciated her spot on the Region 5
National Team - a responsibility to represent the toughest region in the
country. She even knew her batting lineup - floor first.
This meant the balance beam was last. With each completed routine,
the pressure mounted. Floor, her anxiousness was evident to her
coaches as she rebounded out of her final tumbling pass - large
deduction, but a quality performance (3rd). Then to vault, where
she parlayed her floor performance into her weakest event. She
completed her best routine of the season which kept her heading towards
the ninth-inning showdown. Thoughts of this potential game-winning
finale began to creep-in prior to bars. Stepp, "never... this
nervous before in my life," pushed through a tough warmup to perform her
9th place bars routine. Her coach handed her the vomit bucket.
Stepp, apparently insulted by the gesture, promptly kicked it aside :)
Finally, the last at-bat. Balance Beam... 16 feet of
four-inch-wide suede, elevated to 80% of this girl's body height -
probably Women's Gymnastics toughest event. By this time the value
of her character began to shimmer as she confidently prepared herself
for the final routine of the season. On the line was her best
all-around of her gymnastics career - coincidentally it was also
Nationals :) With each skill performed she stayed in the
batters-box, patiently fighting off curve-balls and aggressively waiting
for her pitch. 3-2 Full-count... here it comes... a swing...
round-off, layout full-twist - NAILED! Stepp's 37.150 was good
enough for the Bronze Medal at the Level 9 Nationals.
Congratulations Amanda on a fitting finish to a very deserving athlete.
Jessica Leadbetter definitely felt the enormity of the
situation, but this time she battled through her nerves and knocked down
her best bars routine of the season for 5th place, and a solid vault for
a 9th place finish at Nationals. However, her two falls on beam
dropped her out of medal contention and into 13th place.
| Stepp |
3rd A.A. 9th Vlt, 9th Brs, 7th Bm, 3rd FX |
| Leadbetter |
13th A.A. 9th Vlt, 5th Brs |
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REGIONALS Level 8 -
Peoria, IL
5-3-08:
The 2008 Level 8 Regional Championship, in Peoria, IL saw all eight of
the Lady Flames participate. Five of the eight held respected positions
on the Michigan Team. Holly Manter, Samantha Pennazoli, Grace Wypasek,
Delina Phillips and Kristen Patchel each were selected to represent a
dominant Team Michigan in regional competition against teams from
Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. They earned this honor by
finishing in the top 8, in their respective age divisions, at Michigan’s
State Championships held prior, in April.
Manter and Wypasek each finished 6th in their
respective age groups. Wypasek also placed 4th on the Floor Exercise.
Patchel led Team Michigan’s Sr. D division on vault with her 9.40 bronze
medal performance. While Pennazoli struggled to repeat her fantastic
State Meet performance for the Sr. B’s, Delina Phillips injected life
into Team Michigan’s Jr. D’s with her bronze medal contribution on Vault
and her 5th place all around performance. Each of the eight age
divisions featured approximately 60 total gymnasts from the 5-state
region, and is the pinnacle of competition at this level.
| Phillips |
3rd Vlt |
| Patchel |
3rd Vlt |
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Port Huron,
Michigan's, Best Artistic Gymnastics Center - All American Flames
Gymnastix
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