The Birmingham United Gymnastics team had no trouble starting their season off with a bang.
They have just won their first invitational at Frasier High School for the third year in a row.
While it doesn’t count in the overall standings, it was an amazing victory.
“We officially won three out of the nine Frasier tournaments consecutively” says senior and captain Casey Geraldo.
The BUG team broke the overall tournament record with a score of 137, which was set by them in 2006(136).
Medal winning competitors were seniors Karen Otzen, Anna Beaufore, Cara Baughman, junior Jacqueline Kendall, and freshmen Stephanie Muir and Kelly Frasier.
“Key to our success is our coaches and the dedication of the people on the team and how close we are” says senior Anne Maddox.
“We’ve been really close the last few years but this team is better than any other I’ve been on,” added Geraldo.
“It’s really important to stay calm and collected,” said senior captain Cara Baughman. “The coaches and captains try to create a positive, relaxed atmosphere for all the gymnasts”.
The team is 3-1 with a close win (130-129) against Grosse Pointe North High School, and comfortable wins against Troy High and Royal Oak High Schools.
Their only loss so far has been against Troy Athens High School, who has gone to the state tournament the last few years.
A bright spot on the BUG team is their freshmen.
“The freshmen are doing really well,” Maddox said. “They are a great contribution to the team and we are doing much better this year than last year”.
And according to Cara Baughman, “each one of them has a lot of potential, and they are all working really hard to gain their competition spots. Many have gotten a lot of new skills since the beginning of the season.”
In a somewhat controversial decision, the practice facilities for the 08-09 seasons were changed this year.
The BUG team was told by their coaches that they were going to start practicing at All World on Dequindre in Warren instead of Troy Gymnastics on Maple.
Geraldo adds, “this was an issue because Troy Gymnastics is 15 minutes closer and leaves few students driving a lot of girls during the winter because parents won’t drive [to All World] that far. It takes time away from the student part of the athlete”.
“It’s a longer drive and so it takes up more time, but we figure out ways to make it work,” adds Maddox.
Baughman also adds, “the switch to All World has worked out great for the team. All World has pits, trampolines, and a spring floor, which have helped many team members get some new, risky tricks”.
There are for more official meets left; the next meet is against Farmington High School at Farmington at 6:30pm.
