Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! This year is a big change for me as I am now competing as a senior elite. I actually just competed at my first meet as a senior, the New Years in New York meet in Manhattan. I didn't do great, but I didn't do terribly either. I placed 15th out of 21 with an all-around score of 35.9. On vault I scored a 9.35 and a 9.0 for an average of 9.175 for 8th place. On bars I scored an 8.85, an 8.950 on beam, and an 8.925 on floor with a fall. So there is definitely room to improve, but I still have time before Classics and Nationals which are really important. I really want to make the Senior National Team this  year! Next weekend I compete in Texas at the Gym Stars Elite Classic. I will be trying out a few new upgrades in my routines so hopefully all goes well with that. I'm upgrading my first vault to a double twisting Yurchenko, upgraded my flight series on beam to a bhs-tucked full, and added a punch front after my arabian double on floor. So if all goes well, I hope my scores will improve by a few tenths. The skill I'm most worried about is the tucked full on beam. I have plenty of power and my form is pretty good, I just am not totally confident with myself. But hopefully with some more practice and repetitions I can get it to be more consistent. So I'm a little nervous, but I figure I might as well get all the kinks worked out early in the season. 

Some other big news that I haven't mentioned yet is that I got an international assignment in the fall! I got to compete at the Swiss Cup in Zurich, Switzerland on October 2nd with 3 other girls from the United States. I competed with Cali Benson, Haylee Kipling, and Nyssa Tsardikos and we placed 3rd as a team which I think is pretty good considering the competition field was a mix of juniors and seniors and 3 of us were still juniors. I tied for 8th in the all-around with Nyssa which I was really happy about with a score of 35.9875. On vault I scored an average of 8.9125 and tied for 8th place. On bars I scored an 8.775. On beam I did a really good routine and scored a 9.025 and tied for 4th which was pretty huge for me. On floor I scored a 9.275 and again tied for 4th. So a great experience overall. It was also a new experience to travel so far by myself but I think I did well. I did get kind of homesick, but I enjoyed getting to know some of my National teammates better. 

Not too much other stuff to write about. My family had a great Christmas at home spending time with each other as well as all of our extended family in the area. Lots of baking, eating, movies, games, and all of that good stuff. It was great to have some time off from school and I was able to travel to New York for New Years with my teammates. My parents are trying to save their money for bigger meets later in the season which I understand. And I really love my coaches and teammates at Rocky Mountain so I don't get quit as homesick when I'm away from home with them. It was just Annabelle, Ramona, Kellie, and me. The other level 10s could have gone but it is a really expensive meet to travel to so they opted to just stick with the Cowboy Classic in Oklahoma as their travel meet for the year since it's a little closer and cheaper. I think that meet is on the elite schedule as well, so it should be a fun opportunity to travel with all of my teammates! It feels kind of weird being one of the older girls in the gym now but I'm really enjoying that role. Being the youngest in my family, it's a totally new thing for me to have younger kids looking up to me and I really like that. The team chemistry is really great overall and we do lots of activities as an entire team, the compulsories all the way up to the elites which is a blast. The team has gotten a lot bigger, we are up to a total of 20 girls levels 5-Elite and we started a Big Sister-Little Sister program which is lots of fun! The level 5-7s were paired up with the level 8-Elites and we do activities together like movie nights, sleepovers, getting to know you activities, gift swaps, games, make each other good luck signs, all kinds of fun stuff. I was paired up with a level 7 named Natalie. She is 11 and the oldest of 4 kids, so she usually gets to be big sister, so it's been really fun. 

I guess that's about it. I'll try to update again after the GSE Classic. 

Mollie

Hello Again!

I know it's been forever since I last update here, I really need to get into the habit of updating here more often. But things have been going really well and I've been pretty busy with everything. Despite all of the crazyness, I have been having so much fun! I have made some really great improvements in the gym and had some pretty good  meets over the past few months. I am so happy at Rocky Mountain with Brad and Laura and just so grateful that they came back to Colorado! 

So I guess I'll get started with some meet results from the past few months. I already wrote about Nationals, so I guess I'll go from there. I got to compete at the Olympic Festival in Fort Collins, Colorado in July and that was a lot of fun. The Olympic Training Squad was there and we got to watch them train and perform at an exhibition which was great. I competed for the South Team and scored a 36.25 all-around in prelims which placed me in a tie for 9th and I was able to move on to the all-around final! I also qualified to all 4 event finals, so I felt really great about that! In the all-around final I placed 10th out of 12 with a 35.825, so not my best, but a great experience for me. On vault I placed 2nd with a 9.175, on bars I was 5th with a 9.025, on beam I was 8th (last) which an 8.675, but qualifying for the final was huge for me!, on floor I placed 8th with an 8.875 which I was pretty disappointed in because I know I can do a ton better, but I know where I need to improve. 

After that I headed home and was able to follow the Olympics really closely and see the US team do an incredible job! It was great to see some people I knew and had the chance to train with a little bit do so well. 

I had a little bit of a break and resumed competing at the New Haven Invitational in Connecticut in September. I didn't have a great meet, but it was good to get back into the swing of things. I placed 24th out of 32 in the all-around with a 35.625. My scores were: vault- 9.275 and 8.775, bars- 8.8, beam- 8.525, and floor- 9.025. 

Last weekend I competed at the Kosmic Klassic in Michigan, I'll post back with those scores when I get them. 

I might compete at the Seabrook Apparatus Masters meet in South Carolina from October 17th-19th, I'm not totally sure yet, but I think I'm going. Then I have a Junior Camp in Fort Collins from October 23rd-26th which I am really excited about! Some assignments will be given out and I really hope I get one! But if not, it's a chance to train in front of Corina so I just hope I can do as well as possible and meet some new people. There is also the Gym Stars Oktoberfest and Cascade Locks Invitational coming up, so I'll see if I end up at either or both of those, but hopefully I do! I love to compete. It's really expensive for my family, but we have been doing some crazy fundraising over the past few months to help with all of the costs and I think we've managed to cover quite a bit of the expenses. That makes me feel a lot better because I'm not taking the money from my family. 

In other news, I turned 15 in August and am in 10th grade this year! I feel really old! In January I have to start competing as a senior which is really scary and I know I have a lot of work to do to be at their level, so I have a few upgrades in the works to help make that transition. School is going okay, about the same as usual but I'm having fun. 

And in really big news, Gabriel is getting married! He turned 21 in June and proposed to his girlfriend since 11th grade over Labor Day weekend! Her name is Rachel and we all love her! They are getting married in April and we are all looking forward to it! He has been working really hard to save money to buy a house for the two of them in Georgetown and he is so happy. We have been spending even more time with Rachel and her family and we couldn't be happier! Allie and I get to be bridesmaids along with Rachel's sister, Grace. I've never been in a wedding before, so this should be super fun! 

Everyone else is doing great also. Allie is in her 2nd year at the University of Denver and doing super well! And Daniel is a senior in high school and the star football player. He has a few recruits coming after him, but he's not sure he wants to do the whole college thing yet. He would love to play football, but going to school for 4 more years doesn't really sound like fun for him which I totally understand. My mom's jewelry store was super busy over the summer and my dad's job has been doing well, so we are all happy and healthy! 

I guess that's about it for now, hopefully I'll update again much sooner!

Mollie

Lots of Great Updates!

I know it has been forever since I updated everyone on what I have been up to, but the past few months have been really great and really rewarding. I moved to train at Brad and Laura Fremont's new gym, Rocky Mountain Gymnastics. It is such a great thing to be able to train with them again, they are really great coaches and really great for my gymnastics. We work really well together and it is just such a great atmosphere to train in. I train with a few other girls, senior elites Samantha Evertte and Kellie Hodler, fellow junior elite Ramona Channing, and sometimes the level 10s, Claire Ellsworth and Bridget Nash. It is so much less intense than it was at Denver Dynamos and I just feel like I can be myself.  It's also a lot closer to home so not as much commuting time which is great, especially with the high gas prices! 

I had to work through a growth spurt and lots of little nagging aches and pains, but Brad and Laura were really great at helping me to get through it and just trying to keep me motivated. I didn't work on a whole lot of new skills during that time, but I managed to get through it and get back all of my skills, I think maybe even better than before! So when I was finally back and into top form my coaches sent a video of my training to Corina Cannoli at the National Training Center. I knew they videotaped my practices but they didn't tell me they were sending the tape to Corina, so it was really exciting to find out that I had been invited to camp! 

So I went to camp in Fort Collins and got to train with some of the best gymnasts in the country. We had a bunk pairs meet and I got paired up with Joey Matthews who is a really great gymnast. I didn't do great but I got some pretty good scores, a 9.125 and 8.9 on vault, 8.8 on bars, 8.625 on beam (I even stayed on for that score!), and a 9.325 on floor. My all-around was 35.65 which would have placed me 10th out of 14, so not too bad! I also had the 3rd highest score on floor. Then we had a combined meet with the seniors and I placed last which was kind of disappointing, but I had a few mistakes. On vault I got a 9.3 and an 8.6 with a fall on my first vault. Then I got an 8.775 on bars, 8.950 on beam, and an 8.975 on floor with a fall. So falls on my best events. My all-around score was 35.3. 

My next meet was the Belle of the South meet in Charleston, South Carolina. My scores were- 9.350 on vault (2nd), 8.85 on bars, 9.025 on beam (amazing for me!), and 8.7 on floor (another fall). My all-around score was 35.925. 

Next was the US Classic, my chance to qualify to Nationals! I did pretty well there and was gradually gaining confidence. I scored a 9.35 on vault (8th), 8.825 on bars, 9.150 on beam, and 9.425 on floor. My all-around score was 36.75 which put me in 15th place and qualified me to Nationals! So that was really exciting! 

Nationals were in Boston and it was such a thrill to be going. When the town of Georgetown found out I qualified they did a bunch of fundraisers to help my family get to Boston to support me and that really meant a lot to me. There was a car wash, bake sale, spaghetti dinner, just an incredible amount of support that I am still totally in awe of. I knew my hometown was great, but they really went above and beyond. They raised enough money to send my whole family to Boston and even some extra to be donated to the church! I'm so glad that my family was able to come with me and I really just wanted to do a great job for my family, coaches, and all of Georgetown! 

At Nationals I had two days of competition. On day 1 I had a pretty great meet. On vault I scored a 9.1 and 9.175 for a 9.138 average and 5th place. On bars I got a 8.775, on beam an 8.925, and on floor a 9.575 on floor for 1st place! So I'm a National Champion! That was really exciting for me. My all-around score was 36.375. On day 2 I did okay. I got a 9.225 and an 8.775 on vault with a fall on my second vault. I got an 8.525 on bars for a pretty messy routine, an 8.95 on beam, and a 9.175 on floor. My all-around score was 35.875. Overall I placed 9th with a 72.25 and earned a place on the National Team! So I'm super excited about that and I had a really great time at Nationals! My family met the family of Devin Mackie who is on the Olympic squad and so I got to know her and she was really nice. Our families spent lots of time together and it was nice getting to know another elite since I was the only one from my gym there. 

The next meet on my schedule is the Olympic Festival in Fort Collins so that should be fun! I love that the NTC is in Fort Collins because all of my family can drive there to watch me compete, and it's not too far for camps and stuff. 

So anyway, there is my update. Hopefully I'll do a better job of keeping this more up to date. 

Mollie 

Old Entries

I can't get into my old journal to update things so I've moved over to this one. You can still read my old entries here: http://mollieward.greatestjournal.com