As of early winter, the CHS gymnastics team started its season. So far, they have had an eventful season with 5 competitions, most people scoring high on their routines. One of the team’s biggest wins was their win against Michigan City, with a score of 100-91. The season starts in November and goes till sometime in March.The CHS Gymnastics team has competed against LaPorte, Hobart, Crown Point, Michigan City, and recently competed against Merriville on Thursday, February 12th.
The next competition that will be held is on Wednesday, February 18th, against Portage at 6:00pm. March will be State Competitions for gymnastics. Currently, there are 7 people on the team: Sammy Boster, Mia Szczepanski, Ali Krause, Morgan Marlow, Lexi Milton, Leah Douglass, and Adriana Perez. Earlier, Mia Szczepanski and Sammy Boster were interviewed to get an inside look at what it’s like on competition day.
Boster explained her view before she competes, and how she limits the stress of performing. “When I’m nervous or stressed, the coaches give a pep talk for the team, and the team is there to support me.” Her favorite move is her cartwheel on beam, and the step she feels most intimidated by is her back-handspring. She is trying to work on this step and struggles with it because of a mental block. Boster explained the reason why she decided to join the team senior year. She wanted to join because it is her last year of high school, and she wanted to try something new. She also has friends on the gymnastics team, and that also helped her decide to join. “I thought it would be fun to do senior year,” Boster explains. Another reason is that she wanted to reconnect with an activity that she used to do when she was younger, but did not continue to pursue it until now – “I used to do it when I was little,” she said.
Along with Boster, Mia Szczepanski was also interviewed. When she competes, she mainly gets excited for the competition, but when she’s nervous, right before she goes on, she reminds herself that she is trained and has had lots of practice, and to just have fun. “I just remind myself that I do it in practice all the time and I’ve practiced the routines a lot,” said Szczepanski. Her favorite move to do is an aerial cartwheel on a beam, similar to Boster’s. Szczepanski explains how bail on bars is the skill she struggles with the most: “Bars isn’t my best event” and she wants to work on it. She has been doing gymnastics since she was 3 years old and has had a lot of experience. Her advice for anyone who wants to join the team is that it is a great opportunity that can carry you through life, or in her words, “it’s a really fun experience and it’s different to other sports and also helps people grow as a person”.
Currently, they have practice 5 times a week from 4:00 to 7:30, which is what the typical schedule would look like. Cheer on the CHS Gymnastics team with these upcoming events:
