Here comes the Classic!

2 weeks left until things get exciting in the elite world! The Chicago's CoverGirl Classic kicks off July 23! Yes, lame - I'll be in North Carolina then, but hopefully I will find myself at a TV when it comes on. If you have not already seen it, here's the list of major players expected to compete:

Bridget Sloan -Heck yes! I am seriously obsessed with this girl- not in a weird way- but Im hoping to see another awesome season from her as she goes on to defend her National and World titles!

Alexandra Raisman - Don't know her as well besides seeing her at this year's Pac Rim and a few smaller meets, but I do know she is uber-consistent and is becoming the same power packed competitor that her 'big sister' Alicia Sacramone is.

Rebecca Bross - Strange she signed up for the Classic as she has no need to be there but I guess I'm glad I don't have to wait until Nationals to see her. Just please stay uninjured.

Mattie Larson - Woah, I kinda forgot about her since she's kind of disappeared from the elite world for awhile. Cant wait to see what she's bringing and I hope she will stay fairly injury-free this season too.

Samantha Shapiro - She too has the same story as Larson... but I thought she was gone for good. I'm wondering if we'll see the same Samantha that I loved watching leading up to 2008. But hey, its great to see so many back that I thought were done.

Mackenzie Caquatto -Not a real big fan of Mackenzie, and I never have been. Nor do I know much about her.

Kayla Williams - Im really really hoping Kayla can pull off a good season after the mess she went through this year. I dont really know what's happening with her and her new gym, just hopefully something GOOD!

Amanda Jetter - This is her debut year as a senior- hopefully she will impress!

Sophina DeJesus - Ummm... dont know much about her except for the fact that she is an excellent tumbler and is also looking to impress in her first year as a senior.

Vanessa Zamarripa - A current UCLA Bruin who is looking to persue in both NCAA and Elite gymnastics. Hmmm. This should be interesting.

Alicia Sacramone - When I heard ASac was coming back, this season got so much more exciting! Although she's only competing vault and beam, she will attempt to prove her comeback talk. I'm really just glad to see her her face back on the stage again!

Sophia Lee - A WOGAner who I know nothing about.

Briley Casanova - Dido.

And for the Juniors...

Jordyn Wieber - The one who came back from a cometition-less year and a half to kick a** at the Pac Rim. Here she comes...

Dont know much about the rest but here they are:

Kyla Ross -2009 Junior National Champion.
Keely McNair - Ooooh... from Chow's.
Mykayla Skinner -Desert Lights
Claire Boyce - Former GAGE gymnast, now at Texas Dreams
Sabrina Vega - Gotta love watching her!
Lexi Priessman - 2009 Nastia Liukin Cup Champion - with some big skills to show off as an elite!
Ariana Guerra - Stars Houston
Mackenzie Wofford -WOGA
Gabrielle Douglas -Excalibur
Madison Kocian -WOGA
Grace McLaughlin -WOGA
Alyssa Baumann -WOGA
Katelyn Ohashi -WOGA
Lizzy LeDuc -WOGA

I seriously love this time of year :)

~ Got Grace?

More Nationals!

Yay! I'm home finally. I didn't get to stay very long in San Diego during Nationals because we planned it as a "Family trip" and not a "gymnastics" trip, so we left for Orange County right after I competed. I was so disappointed that I didn't get to stay for the 8's final or the Championship final, but I did at least get to watch the level 6's compete. It was great fun getting to go out and support Grace, no matter what level :). The final results for the 8's and 9/10's have not been posted on the website yet but via Facebook I found out the level 8's took home the championship title and the 9/10's placed 3rd. 3rd was a pretty great finish though, considering they lost some of the 3 most talented girls on our team right before. Still, it's sad knowing they could've defended the title, had the whole coaching dilemma not come up. But that's life for you. Click here for the full meet results.

Also, here are some fun pics of the level 7's at the meet :)














































~Got Grace?

Quick Update

This is short because Im still in California and dont have a real computer at the moment, but when I get back I will post more about Nationals. But overall I had an AMAZING time :) Unfortunately though, there was no giant flyaway for me. I wasn't ready in time. It's hard not reaching goals you seriously set your mind to. It really is. But after a lot of thought Ive come to realize this was God's plan that I didn't get them. There is a reason. And besides, I gave them the hardest fight I had in me because it's all I promised and all I could do.

On a high note, the meet went really well! My vault that randomly got way better scored a 9.125 - personal best lvl 7- which is an improvement from my typical 8.75's, but we are confused about what I placed (around 4th, 5th or 6th). I competed a double clear hip on bars and scored an 8.80 - personal best as a lvl 7 - and placed 3rd. I got an 8.7 on beam with a 9.5 start value because of a bad connection of my BHS-BWO... blaaaah. But I competed my "Nastia Liukin" mount (which I was qutie nervous about) and it was perfect! I took 3rd on that event. On floor I scored a 9.375 - personal best lvl 7- and took 1st! My AA was a flat out 36.0 - personal best lvl 7- and tied for 2nd :) More results and picture shall be coming later!

~ Got Grace?

Crunch Time!

How much easier it is to make progress in the gym when you put you mind to it... I just found out! As you've seen from previous blogs, my goal for the past two months has been to get my giant flyaway on the unevens to compete for Y Nationals. This week it just clicked to me that Nationals are in TWO WEEKS! ITS CRUNCH TIME! But anyways, I've only really been swinging giants by myself on pit for a week now, and flyaways from them with a spot. So I went into gym Monday expecting to do some more into the pit, but it turned out Coach Kevin wasn't with us on bars that day- so that eliminated my option to do them- while the whole weekend I had been thinking about how little time I still have to get these. Dang... But then something knocked at the stubborn little head of mine and told me "Wait, why don't you just chuck some giants on unevens for the first time? Time is running out, even though you've only had them for a week." And so I asked Coach Krista if I could skip routines to try them. She looked at me like I was crazy, because I would be the last one who would ask to try something new, but she was excited to let me. (She was even more suprised that I didn't even want a mat or a spot) And so I did. No mats on the low bar. No spot. I just chucked them! I hadn't even thought about moving them to the unevens until 20 minutes before. Afterward, I kinda looked at myself and said "Your crazy... but I like it"! Such an exhilarating feeling - I hope it stays ;).

This past month I've really been pushing myself change. To lose the person that had once been holding me back with fear and doubt. And to become someone who can "accept the challenge" with confidence so I can chase the dream I've had for so long. And I now feel, with this new leap of faith, that I am one step closer and that there is still something truly lit inside. Now for one last step...

“Wake up every day knowing that today is a new day and only you can determine the outcome of that day. So dream big, accept the challenge, and never look back.” – Alicia Sacramone

~Got Grace?

2000 Olympic Games

Since I had neither homework nor gym Wednesday, I pretty much wasted my entire evening on the Internet (as you would probably guess) Youtubing gymnastics videos. Well... only my family would call it "wasting", hahaha. But as I was curious about the 2000 Olympic Games with all the news about China being stripped of their bronze medal, I decided to watch the women's team finals. What a disappointment for the Russians. They didn't show great sportsmanship either for taking home the silver, with Svetlana Khorkina taking off her medal and crumpling it in her hands as they were walking out.

After watching the team finals, I gave up the computer for a while and then came back a little bit later to find my self once again on Youtube, but this time: the All Around Finals. To my surprise, I was watching one of the most craziest Olympic finals I have ever seen. Kinda hard to believe with so many upsets and weird issues all at the same time. First Elise Ray missed both her hands on the vault her first run and neither of the two following had good landings. Then Svetlana Khorkina, pretty much the predetermined AA champion, lands on her knees twice on her vault, costing her any shot at the medals. It wasn't until half way through the competition that someone spoke up about the vault not feeling right. 5cm too short. Way to go, Australia. It may seem like a small margin but with the vaults these athletes were pulling, 5cm is the difference between landing on you feet or landing on your face. The girls that had already gone were offered a re-vault where they would have to erase their old score and compete again. Unfortunately for both Elise and Svetlana, a redo wouldn't have done them any good as they both fell on another event following vault. Elise slipped her foot on a layout series on beam and Svetlana missed a release move on bars. I can bet though, that both those routines were definitely influenced by the disaster on vault. As for the new gymnasts who rose to the top of the leader board after Svetlana was knocked off, they found themselves wound up in the crazy night too. It was almost like if you got anywhere near the top of the board, it was your turn to trip, crash or fall. In the end it came down to who would make the least amount of mistakes, where Romanian consistency ruled. The other two Americans, Kristin Maloney and Amy Chow, didn't perform spectacularly either, not that they were contenders to begin with. A few stumbles from Kristin on her passes on floor and a huge wobble from Amy knocked both of them out off the board. When the competition came to a close, Simona Amanar of Romania ended up with the gold, her teammate Maria Olaru took the silver and Xuan Liu of China followed with the bronze - not a fairytale ending for Svetlana or anyone. All in all, what a crazy night!

~Got Grace?

Cha-Ching!

WOO-HOO! I did my giant flyaway! Ok, it was on the pit bar with someone slowing down the swing into it, but just going for it is a big deal to me. They're a little crazy at the moment, but with a little work I think I can get them where they need to be. Unfortunately a lovely rip prevented me from doing more... yeah, it's cute. But to make my day better, our Nationals leos came in and, I'd have to say, they look FANTASTIC! I am so stoked for San Diego even more!

This month I've been working harder than I have in a long time- running a every week, lots of extra conditioning at home, and making sure I'm training everything to the best of my ability while at gym. I really want to be at my best for Nationals and to just become stronger as a gymnast. I hope it will pay off!

~Got Grace?

Gym Update

Well, I haven't done any flyaways from giants yet, but I've gotten my kip cast flyaway down pretty good again. I'm hoping to get to work giant flyaways this week, because I am going in early on Monday to get some help with them. I want it soooo bad... its not even funny. I am SO determined to do it! Other than bars, my skills on the other events are coming along nicely :) My vault somehow magically became really good (wish that would happen with all my skills...) and my tumbling has gotten much more consistent and powerful! On beam I added a BWO after my BHS so I could get rid of my old BWO-BWO acro, but I have to work on making the connection better. I also have a really cool new mount that I've been working on for a while- a jump press handstand to split, then press down and bring your front leg through(Nastia Liukin's 2008 mount!). I make about 60% percent of them but I'm hoping to get them consistent enough to actually compete them at Nationals- but we'll see. Anyways, short post but I thought I would just update on how gym's going. Hope you like the new layout!

~Got Grace

Pacific Rim Championships

Here's my recap of of the Pacific Rim Championships this past weekend:

Once again, the Americans took a clean sweep. The women went 1-2 in both Seniors and Juniors AA and obliterated all competition in the Team finals, beating runner up China by a whopping 15.5 points! The US team also flexed some muscle in the event finals with Bross taking the beam and floor titles and Raisman trailing right behind her on both events in a close second. Bridget Sloan scratched due to an ankle injury and still performed on bars in the prelims but was not at her best. In the Junior division, Wieber and Ross took turns taking silver and gold- Wieber won floor and bars, Ross won vault. Sabrina Vega earned a silver on beam and Wieber followed in 4th with a nasty fall.

I was extremely impressed by Jordyn Wieber who seemed to have come out of nowhere! The last time I saw her was a year and a half ago at the 2009 American Cup as a little power packed gymnast throwing huge, high flying skills. But now, she's gotten taller, older, and yes, even graceful! She looked as solid as can be, except for the unfortunate tumble off the beam which looked like it was due to nerves. I am extremely excited to see what she will bring to the competition stage as a senior in a few years. In the future though, I would really like to see something other than these goofy hot pink leos... I think they've been a little over used! Anyways, what happened to the U.S's real colors, RED, WHITE and BLUE?

~ Got Grace?

Here's a Start...

So, I never would've thought I would ever have a blog, but here I am. I guess I got one! So, while I'm here I'll tell you a little about myself...

Well, I'm a gymnast if you cant tell already. I just finished my first season as a level 7 at Grace Gymnastics Center (hence the name "Got Grace?"). It was also my first year as Grace gymnast since I moved gyms from the Mel Korum YMCA team back in September. The switch was mainly based off of the need for more of an 'optionals' gym to train at. I wasn't easy at first, I'd have to admit. I almost ended up quitting gymnastics completely because I was so confused and distracted with my life. But I am so thankful for my loving parents who supported me through it all and kept me from giving up the dream I was striving for. For now, I plan to stick with gymnastics as long as I can and hope to someday reach my ultimate goal of going level 10 or even elite.

My life outside of gym is just as important to me though. I am a strong Christian and want to honor God in all that I do, in and outside of gym. I also have a love for animals, especially dogs and horses. I hope to become an animal trainer or something in the same field when my gymnastics career is over. In my free time (RARE! Let me tell you!) I enjoy drawing, hangin' with my dog, Facebook, and YouTubing gymnastics videos (did I tell you I am a hard-core fan of elite gymnastics and Olympics games?). I guess I can now add this blog to the list too!

~Got Grace?