Ella Competes at her Final State Meet

Since Ella moved to the Xcel gymnastics program last June, we learned that the location of the state championship meet moved from Tacoma (which is just 20 minutes away from us) to the town of Lynden which is just five miles South of the Canadian border.  Since a section of I-5 is currently closed due to a rock slide, there is a required detour that makes it 2.5 hours away.  After learning a week in advance that Ella's meet day and time fell on the Sunday afternoon and evening when we were supposed to be celebrating an early Easter at my parent's house, Ron agreed to take her on this 10-hour day so that I could be with my family instead.  Although I was sad to miss seeing Ella compete in the most important meet of the season, I was so grateful that I would not have to make this 5-hour, round trip drive and be gone all day long after a very busy weekend of getting ready for Easter and attending two of Lia's three Freaky Friday shows.  After helping Ella get ready and saying goodbye to her before heading to church, she and Ron left home at 11:45 in the morning to make it there for her 3 p.m. check in time.  After warm-ups, Ella started out really strong by earning a 9.25 on floor.  She then continued to do well and earned a 8.52 on vault and a 9.15 on beam.  Sadly, she fell on beam and didn't perform very well overall and earned a really low score of 7.1.  This was a very frustrating and disappointing way to finish a really strong start to this important meet.  Luckily, since Ella is leaving competitive gymnastics for good this spring, she wasn't as devastated as she could have been as she is just ready to move onto a new sport and try something new.  She did end up medaling for bars which was a fitting finish to her gymnastics career as this event has always been her strongest event in gymnastics.  I am proud of how hard she has worked these past four years and for her commitment and dedication to such a grueling and demanding sport.  She has learned and grown so much, both mentally and physically, and I will forever be grateful for her years being a competitive gymnasts with Ascend Gymnastics.

Ella's coach gave turquoise sunglasses for all of the girls to wear at the beginning of the meet when each of the teams were introduced.  Here are Ella and three of her teammates being introduced at the beginning of the meet.

Ron only took a few pictures of Ella competing on floor before switching to video.

Ella performing on floor.

Ella on the medal stand for bars.

Ella standing proud in front of the photo back drop after the meet was over.