What a season this has been for gymnastics!! Maddie is smart, not so much shy as quiet, independent, tender hearted, and strives to do her best in everything. All of that worked in her favor this weekend, as she earned the title of STATE CHAMPION not only in beam, but also in All-Around! Wow! What an honor that was to all of us! She has worked so hard, overcome obstacles, practiced - and then practiced some more!! And while she has had a very successful season, it hasn't been without quite a few obstacles! She struggled in one previous meet on the bars, and came back and won on that event the next meet! She has had to miss many activities due to gymnastics! The day of this state meet, Maddie and her mom and dad had traveled to Georgia for a gifted field trip that she didn't want to miss, and then drove 6 1/2 hours to make it to the meet in time for her to compete! Pop and I headed down early and spent the day at the beach with the little ones. I would say that it has all been worth it. We've told her that the majority of people never know what it's like to be a state champ! We are all going to enjoy this for a few more days, and then she will start practicing all over again for next season!!
The first event was the bars. I usually don't like for them to start on the bars, but Maddie was as loose as she could be this meet! She had a very solid routine!
Beam-This is her strongest event. Simply, she has no fear and loves the beam!!
I watched this event totally through the lens of my camera, and was surprised that this was her lowest score. She still placed 2nd in this event. The judges were pretty tough on everyone! I have no pictures of the vault! It was too far away! She placed 3rd in the vault.
Time for awards! Vault
Floor
Beam! You go girl!
Just look at that smile! She was thrilled and just a little (or a lot) shocked! She had no idea that she would win!! There also may or may not have been just a few tears shed!
I told her we would have been just as proud if she hadn't won a medal, but let's be honest-this was pretty awesome!!
Hard days are the best days, because this is when champions are made!
This sums up these two so perfectly! Lillian is holding her five dollar bill that Pop gave her for yelling, "Let's go big dog" right before Maddie was going to compete.
Back to our champ!! She believed she could and so she did!!
Coach Mary Elizabeth-One day after she had done about 10,000 hand stands, I asked her if she ever got tired! She told me that Coach Mary Elizabeth told her she needed to practice as much as she could even at home, so she had to do them!! Trust me-she's upside down a vast majority of the time!
Nana and Pop think she's number one every day!
One happy family!
We are proud of her commitment at such an early age. We also are very grateful that she has been blessed with such talent, and works to improve and be her very best. We love her sweet spirit and strong determination. I know we are slightly prejudice, but we think she is quite special!
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