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Monday, June 23, 2008

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 

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