FLIPPING FUN

This winter the gymnastics team will be competing. The team is made up of one freshman, two sophomores, three juniors, and two seniors. Most of these gymnastics have advanced skills.

The girls work hard. They practice at COGC, which is their home gym, and practice with Buckeye Valley, Delaware, and Olentangy schools. They have practice three times a week for two hours. They also have lifting from 7-8 on Monday and Wednesday nights.

The season will be full of challenges, with Worthington Kilbourne set as one of their biggest rivals.

The girls have the freedom to choreograph their own floor routine, or get it passed down from a senior. Tara Shuster, who is a senior, is choreographing her own routine, mixed with the old routine that the music went with. The routines must have a turn skill, a leap pass, and two tumbling passes. These routines are very technical, but the gymnasts can put their personalities into them.

Ella English says her hardest tumbling pass is a roundoff into a full. Her least favorite event is the uneven bars. She looks up to her coach because she “is very nice and accepting.” She says her coach pushes her to get better.

Returning gymnast McKenzie Kline has been doing gymnastics since she was five years old. While she is not competing this season due to a knee injury, her favorite event is the floor. The event she is least looking forward to is the balance beam.

Gymnastics is a sport that demands an athlete to be fearless and have a high pain tolerance. They are also judged harshly. Fun fact: the girls have to wear their hair in a bun because if it touches the ground they get points taken off.

Kline said, “Landing on the floor is really hard for your hands and back." Gymnasts fall and they have to just get right back up. They have to deal with injuries from high impact falls, blisters, and more. The most common injury is in their backs. And everyone gets rips on their hands.

All the girls are super close and they all have strong bonds. Last year, before districts, the girls all went out to dinner and laser tag. The girls call this “District Dinner". The team also did a “Friendsgiving “ over Thanksgiving week.

Gymnasts train hard and play hard, and their hard work always pays off.