April 2, 2003

Gymnasts go for the gold

Water's Edge club hosts state meet

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer

Defying gravity and showcasing a combination of strength, grace and precision, 306 girls from around the state participated in the Level 7 and 8 State Gymnastics Meet.
Hosted by Water's Edge Gymnastics of Traverse City, the meet was held on Saturday and Sunday at the Grand Traverse Resort. The competition drew nearly 50 private gymnastics clubs from around the state for the USA Gymnastics-sanctioned meet.

Herald photo by Garret Leiva
More than 300 gymnasts took part in the Level 7 and 8 State Gymnastics Meet hosted by Water's Edge Gymnastics of Traverse City. The two-day meet was held Saturday and Sunday at the Grand Traverse Resort.

The girls competed in four events: bars, beam, floor and vault. The Water's Edge team fielded six members, five at Level 7 and one at Level 8. Grace Lemieux won the state championship for Level 8 and Amy Labadie was the runner up for the state championship for Level 7.
These finishes are a rewarding way to wind up an intense competitive season that had the team traveling around the Midwest to meets every other weekend since January.
"The crowd here is great, especially when everyone's here to cheer," said Labadie, an eighth-grade student at West Junior High School. "The coaches really get you into what you are doing, knowing that you can do it."
Labadie has been involved in the sport for seven years. She said her constant bouncing around the house prompted her mom to enroll her in gymnastics classes. Over the years her skills improved and she moved up through competitive levels. She and the other girls on the team spend more than 17 hours a week practicing, forging bonds and friendships.
"We all encourage each other every day at practice," she said. "When you practice with someone so much you get to know them pretty well and every other weekend I am at someone's house from gymnastics for a sleepover."
Labadie said her intense practice schedule has helped her excel in other areas of her life.
"In school it has helped because I know I have to get good grades because otherwise studying will cut into the time I have to practice," she said.
Coaching girls to excel is a challenge, albeit a rewarding one. Chris Cuddeback is one of four coaches who work with the competitive teams, which has also included a competitive boys team for two years.
Cuddeback has been coaching for 18 years, since he began working with his high school team in Cadillac. He said that innate talent is important but coachability and the time put in are crucial to success.
"Coachability, flexibility and strength are the most important," he said. "At a young age you are not looking for a lot because you can teach them the skills but coachability is the key."
"Once they begin on the team track, you just follow the proper progressions," he added. "You don't push them too hard because they will get afraid."
Kaitlyn VanDeusen, a seventh-grade student at Cherryland Middle School in Elk Rapids, struggled with fear of failure on Sunday - and overcame it to nail her bars routine. She was worried about her dismount and practiced again and again before the event, with coaches and other team members encouraging her. As she struggled, she drew on inner strength to finally get it right when the judges were watching.
"Gymnastics is a mental game," she said. "You've got to be flexible, but you also have to be strong."
Grace Lemieux, who took first place in Level 8, said she finds the biggest challenge to her success and learning is always being positive. When she struggles to learn a new move, she begins to question herself and works to overcome that.
"If I don't get a skill very quickly, I am just like, 'Oh, I shouldn't do it,'" she said. "It is hard to keep an uplifting attitude all the time. Plus it is mind over matter, even if you're hurting you just have to go on because you can't sit there icing through practice."