Jr. Olympic Nationals

Here's Julia in her competition leotard that her coach made for her.

Julia and Harley show off their snazzy Regional All-Star leos.

Coach Misha, Julia, Abigail, Alexander and Harley at Nationals.

We're back from Kansas City and Julia did great! She's #6 in the nation for level 10 tumbling! It was exciting to see her do her pass with the double-back tuck. She's only been working on it since the end of May and this was her first time doing it in competition. Her trampoline looked really nice from where we were sitting, but the judges thought otherwise and she got a pretty low score. Oh well, it's not her favorite event, anyway. Unfortunately, she didn't land either of her doubles on double-mini, but she went for the higher difficulty pass anyway! I was proud of her for making that decision and going for it! It's always thrilling to watch the level 10's compete--they are all amazing athletes. It's unbelievable what those kids can do. The training and discipline that is necessary for this level is tough, but what they learn will serve them well throughout their lives.
She also made the Region V All-Star team and was able to compete on July 4th with them. The All-Stars are the #1 finishers at level 10 from each region. The All-Star competition is always a fun time for everyone. It moves fast and the kids that normally compete against one another during the season get to compete as a team against the other regions. Also, each All-Star gets a really nice team leotard and warm-up suit that would normally cost several hundred dollars!
We couldn't find anything to do in Kansas City, but we did get to experience a mid-western storm, complete with hail and 70 mph winds! It wasn't very much fun watching the wind blow and the rain come in through our air conditioner vents and see the hail hitting our 26th story hotel room window, so we headed for the lobby. As soon as we got off of the elevator, the wind blew the revolving door and broke it while a front desk worker was in the door trying to secure it. Thankfully, she was okay, but we made a mad dash to the basement-level lobby!
As soon as I have a few more minutes, I'll be posting some pictures. I hope I got at least one good one!
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that we were able to watch the final selection for the Olympic trampolinists! Talk about amazing--those people are AMAZING! It was pretty cool to be there with Olympic athletes. I hope they do great in China!!
Here's a video of Julia's Regional All-Star pass.