USAG Level 5 Georgia State Championship

On November 22, 2009, Hannah had the honor of participating in the State Gymnastics Championship. In order to qualify for this meet, a gymnast must participate in a minimum of 3 meets and score an all-around of 32 points or higher twice. Hannah was able to do this within the first 3 meets of the season; and she was the only one on the Level 5 team to qualify this year.

There have been a few obstacles that Hannah has had to face this season. At the beginning of the season, there was a judge we have since dubbed as "The Battle axe" that was overheard telling another judge not to even bother watching any of the girls from the gym that Hannah goes to. This judge was heard to say that our girls were undeserving of competing. And she would consistently score Hannah and the other girls 1-1.5 points lower than anyone else even though they did just as well. This has been really hard for Hannah to deal with because she works so hard. Also, Hannah does not do well when she is alone at a competition. Even though her coach is there, she gets very anxious and feels very isolated.

Hannah had to deal with both situations at the state meet. We talked about this extensively before the meet. Hannah loves music. So, I let her listen to the song "You're Not Alone" by Michael McLean. We also listened to "Defying Gravity" from the Broadway Musical "Wicked." Both have an incredible message and they brought her comfort and strength. Before the meet started, I sent her a "shout-out" (a message that they read out over the loud speaker). It said,"Hannah, we are so proud of you. Just remember, you're not alone. You're defying gravity! Love, Mom, Dad, and Harrison."

Alone, facing that judge, and everything else that stood in her way, she truly shined at this meet.
Here is what she did:

Vault: 8.325--She placed 18th in the State

Bars: 8.80--She placed 11th in the State and medaled (this was her WORST bar routine,too)

Beam: 8.90--She placed 14th in the State (this was also her WORST beam routine)

Floor: 7.70--She places 20th in the State

Over-all: 33.725--She place 17th in the State

We are SOOOO incredibly proud of her. Now, she starts preparing and training for the USAG Preparatory Optionals Gold Level competitions. Her first Prep-Op meet is in January.