***The picture above is their competition leotard***
Emma's POV
It's kinda weird competing here with a new gym because I saw Kim and all of her girls. It was weird not competing with them but I love their leotards! Abi Walker saw me and told me she loved our leotards too! Ragan and Morgan are starting on floor. Jade and I are starting on vault. Ashton is starting on bars and Riley is on beam. Warm ups are over and Jade is first on vault. I'm after Jade. Jade did an amanar as her first vault and she stuck it. She did a cheng as her second vault and she stuck that one. She only got a few tenths off on each vault. "Now on vault from Orlando Olympians, Emma Malabuyo!" I heard the announcer say. I salute and step on the runway. I take a few deep breaths and I start running. I did a double twisting yurchenko. I stuck it! I got a 9.600 as my execution score. Jade and I go over to floor because Ragan is about to do floor. She nailed her first pass. Her second pass was also amazing. She's been nervous about her piked double Arabian but it was great! Her full twisting double pike was good but she went out of bounds. Jade already went on floor. I love Morgan's new floor routine! It really fits her! It also works well with her flexibility! It starts out graceful and then gets very dramatics and she portrays dramatic very well!
The rotation ended with Ashton or bars and Riley on beam. Riley upgraded to a double pike dismount and she's doing her triple series this year. Ashton upgraded a ton on bars!
She's still doing her full twisting double back dismount but it's gotten much cleaner! The rotation ended and we started warming up for our next events. Only Ragan, Morgan, and me got new floor routines. Jade and Riley said that they love their routines and want to keep them another year. I'm the first one to start on floor, and Jade is going after me. My new floor routine is very graceful and it's very different than what I usually do. The song is "How Far I'll Go" from Moana but it's a violin version so it's like a mature version of the song.
I kept all my tumbling from last year but instead of doing my front tumbling pass I am doing a double Arabian. I stuck my first pass. My double Arabian was my second pass and I fell. I was a little shaken up but I stuck my last two passes like nothing happened. Mary Lou is very supportive of us. I walked off the podium and she gave me a big hug. We walked over to Dominque and the rest of the team. "It's ok Emma. Everyone falls. That's part of being a gymnast. I know that you were nervous but I believe you can do that pass. I've seen you do it a million times in training perfectly. I believe in you. It's only Classics. P&G's is where everything counts." Mary Lou told me. My team was about to watch Ragan on vault. She was going to upgrade to an amanar this year but she hurt her ankle at Worlds last year so she's going to play it safe and just do a double twist. She stuck it! Her execution score was 9.450. Ragan walked over to me and gave me a huge hug. She told me that she was proud of me. I told her the same thing. After a two more rotations, our day was done and we went to go do interviews.
Ragan's POV
I'm very proud of how I did today. I went to go do an interview.
Interviewer: So what's the story behind your new floor routine?
Ragan: Well when we were choosing my music, we wanted to do some kind of Spanish routine because I'm 18 so we wanted to do a mature floor routine this year. It's still a little sassy but it's mostly mature. I love it!
Interviewer: How did you feel going into the meet today? We're you thinking about your ankle?
Ragan: I was very nervous because I won gold on bars and beam last year at Classics and I made the worlds team last year. My ankle is healthy enough to compete all around so that's why I did today just to be completely sure about it. With having a few weeks in between Classics and P&G's my coaches and I agreed that I'm going to take it easy in those few weeks and podium training.
Interviewer: Did you have any upgrades?
Ragan: I upgraded my straddled jaeger to a piked jaeger and I'm doing a double double dismount on bars. On floor added a split jump to my double layout, I added a front tuck after my triple twist, I'm doing a piked double Arabian now, and my double pike is now a full twisting double pike.
Interviewer: What was your highlight of today?
Ragan: I think vaulting again because I've had a mental block after my injury at Worlds but I overcame that today and I'm really proud of myself.
Interviewer: Do you think you'll make the Worlds team again this year?
Ragan: Maybe. I think it's going to be hard to choose because Maile and Emma are two first year seniors that have been dominating since they were juniors and I think they'll make the team but I really hope I get my second chance. I honestly think that Valeri might pick me but I could be the alternate or the last one picked because the other girls need to have more international experience and we need Jade on vault.
Interviewer: Good luck at P&G's!
Ragan: Thank you.
Ragan's POV
Emma and I went to go see Kim and her girls. She has two new elites this years and they're juniors. Their names are Lyric Walker and Caroline Herry. They were always so much fun to be around! We talked to Kim and told her how everything was going and she told us that we've really improved since changing gyms. It's not the first time I've changed gyms. I first trained at a gym my mom owned but then we moved to Northwind to qualify for Elite but then my coach went on vacation and other things happened so I didn't really have a coach. I got really frustrated in the gym so my mom told me about Texas Dreams and she called Kim and said I could stay with Grace Quinn for a few weeks. The first time I went there I knew that was my gym and I wanted to stay there. I told my mom and she talked to Kim about it and I officially changed gyms to Texas Dreams. Leaving Texas Dreams was sad for me because Kim got me to Olympic Trials and I was one of the three alternates. I also made the Worlds team and I made it to the AA and floor final. I know that this new gym will not be the same but I know that the coaches will train me well.
