Gaining momentum to execute a split jump, senior Lauren Lattanze practices her tumbling and floor routine to the music during practice on Feb. 3. She placed fifth for floor with a score of 9.05 at South County on Jan. 22 and placed seventh all-around with a score of 33.95 at the District Competition at South Lakes.
Accumulating a total score of 140.7, the team brought home the title as District Champions at South Lakes on Feb. 4. Before the competition, they practiced every day after school for two and a half hours, adding additional skills to their routines to prepare for their championships. Sophomore Julia Hodinko placed third in beam at the Concorde District Championships with a score of 9.2.
“I’ve added new skills to bump up my scores a little bit,” Hodinko said. “On beam, halfway through the school year, I added a side split half.”
Aside from practices with the team, most of the gymnasts would also practice at their local club gymnastics gyms two to three times a week. From senior Emma Saunders, she does club gymnastics at Chantilly Academy gymnastics and trains there as well.
“A lot of them have gone there since they were really young,” head coach Samanta Javanbakht said. “Most of them have known each other even before being on the team.”
During the snow days, the team had to complete practice on their own. Similarly last year, before state championships, they also had snow days so they were prepared and knew what to do during the days off.
“They knew not to just sit around,” Javanbakht said. “They’re pretty good about staying in the mindset of ‘I have to get my stuff done’ and ‘when I’m at practice, I’m at practice, I’m not anywhere else.’”
The team also competed in the Region Meet at Washington-Liberty on Feb. 11 and finished as the Region Runner Up. They ended with an overall score of 141.275 with freshman Kayla Tarugsa and senior Sabirah Smith-Bey qualifying to compete in the State Individual Meet.
“I underestimated them a little bit,” Javanbakht said. “We came back in November, but they really picked up where they left off. They kept those skills and they only moved up from there.”
