Tessa qualified for Nationals again, and it was held in Virginia Beach this year. It was a long day of travel, and we were so excited to get to our hotel looking over the beach!!
We got into some shorts and put our feet in the Atlantic Ocean before walking down Atlantic Avenue to get some dinner.
The next morning we walked along the beach to get to a Belgian waffle restaurant for breakfast.
We walked back along the beach and ran into Morgan and Stacey! We had some time so we hung out. The girls played in the water and had handstand contests while Stacey and I visited.
Tessa was very careful not to get wet above her waist. If her hair had gotten wet that would have been a problem! We went back to our hotel and got Tessa's hair ready for the competition.
Then we walked to a nearby hotel and ate lunch at a fun outdoor restaurant. The table we're sitting in was a swing with a cover for shade. It was awesome.
Then it was time to get dressed and head to the meet.
Tessa and Morgan were nervous but excited!
There were girls from all over the United States, and some from Canada this year.
Arete started on floor. Tessa did well!
Next was vault, and I sure thought Tessa looked great on that.
She did two half-ons again and she had her best landings of the season with that pass. Stacey and I were saying how great she looked, and we saw Jana give her a big high five that looked to say she thought she nailed it. Then her score was posted (8.95) and I was so confused, and Tessa was so bummed. I asked Jana about it after the meet and she said she watched the rest of the girls that were in their rotation and could tell that these judges only cared about power. She said Tessa's form was great, but she wasn't as powerful as others and that seemed to be the only thing they scored on.
It definitely got in Tessa's head and I could see she was struggling in warm-ups on bars. Jana told her to simplify her routine, and so she changed her kip to a pull over.
She did well on it, and I think a high score helped her feel better. She was back to dancing and enjoying herself after that. :)
She did so well on beam. She focused a lot in practice the past couple weeks on giving each skill its own moment and not rushing or feeling panicked. I think that mental work really helped her.
She nailed her back walkover. I loved seeing the proud smile of accomplishment when she stuck it!
She was really happy with her performance on beam!
They medaled out 7 places, and so Tessa didn't place on vault.
She placed 5th on bars with a 9.55
4th on beam with a 9.6
4th on floor with a 9.65
And 3rd All-Around with a 37.75!!!
She was feeling like she wouldn't get on the podium this year with her vault score, but she did it!! She was solid enough overall to make it with all 4 event scores added together.
We're so happy for you Tessa Girl! You did it again!!
There were a lot of cute photo stations so we hung around and hit most of them. :)
Congratulations on another great year of gymnastics Tess! It's been so fun to watch you learn and grow and enjoy your sport!
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