Championship Week — Wildcard Gymnastics had a very successful Xcel State Championship Meet and Boys State Meet and we’re looking forward to another State Championship meet with our Level 6s and 8s on Sunday. Please come out and cheer for your teammates this Sunday, March 29, at the Milwaukee County Sports Complex in Franklin.  We’d love to have a big crowd cheering loudly. Feel free to make posters!

Please note, there is no formal spirit week for this week. The gymnasts may choose to do one on their own, however.

Men’s State Championship Recap — For the six young men who competed for state championships at the 2015 Wisconsin Men’s State Gymnastics Championships, the meet could not have gone any better. Wildcard Gymnasts won a combined 13 individual event and all-around titles, led by West F. who swept first place on all six events and had the highest event score of all 85 gymnasts on three events and had the second highest all-around score at the meet. Dylan K. won four events and the state all-around title with the fifth-highest AA score of all gymnasts. West and Dylan became the third and fourth all-around champions in Wildcard’s history (Ken I., Level 5, 2011; Delaney H., Level 4, 2013).

The Level 4 boys’ team also became the first ever Wildcard team to medal at state, bringing home a third place all-around finish with their highest team score of the season. At the conclusion of the Level 4 session, three Wildcard gymnasts were named all-state–West F., Jack G., and Dylan K.–for being the top six gymnasts in the 6, 7, or 8 year old age division or having one of the top two all-around scores among gymnasts not in those age divisions. Reed B. capped the competition with a state title on pommel horse, his sixth career state title. Congratulations to all the boys and our head coach, Candace, on the team’s success!

The state medalists are:

Level 4 Boys
Max B. — 6th rings, 3rd vault
West F. — 1st floor, 1st pommel horse, 1st rings, 1st vault, 1st parallel bars, 1st horizontal bar, 1st All-Around, All-State Team Member
Jack G. — 4th floor, 5th pommel horse, 2nd vault, 4th horizontal bar, 5th all-around, All-State Team Member
Dylan K. — 3rd floor, 1st pommel horse, 1st rings, 1st vault, 2nd parallel bars, 1st horizontal bar, 1st All-Around, All-State Team Member
Team — Third Place All-Around

Level 8 Boys
Reed B. — 2nd floor, 1st pommel horse, 3rd vault

Xcel State Championship Recap — Twelve Wildcard gymnasts represented Wildcard well at the 2015 Wisconsin Xcel State Championships in Waukesha. For the first time, Wildcard competed for state titles in the Xcel Gold division. In all, Wildcard came home with 12 medals, including two all-around medalists. Congratulations go to all of the team members and coaches Heidi and Bella for their hard work and improvements this season.

The medalists from the Xcel State Championships are:

Xcel Silver Girls
Marcela R. — 6th vault, 5th beam, 7th All-Around

Xcel Gold Girls
Christen B. — 3rd vault, 3rd beam, 4th All-Around
Anna P. — 5th vault, 6th floor
Aliyah R. — 3rd vault, 5th floor
Katherine R. — 4th vault

Level 6 & 8 Girls’ Team Dinner — The Level 6 and 8 girls’ team dinner will be held on Thursday, March 26 at 7:45 p.m. at Corner Bakery in Wauwatosa. Gymnasts will be transported to Corner Bakery at the conclusion of practice on Thursday. Gymnasts will be transported to Corner Bakery but will need to be picked up at 8:30 p.m. The cost of the Dinner is $12 and includes one entree selection and a soda. If your child wants a desert, they will need to pay for it at Corner Bakery. The dinner must be paid for by Wednesday in order to attend. Gymnasts not paid by Wednesday will not be allowed to take part in the team dinner.

If gymnasts are not planning to attend the team dinner please let us know. Meal selection will be on the wall by tonight’s practice.

Entree selection includes:

1/2 sandwich and soup or side salad
Cafe size salad and soup
Full sandwich and chips (select sandwiches only)

Sandwiches:
Chicken Pesto
Tomato Mozzarella
Chicken Pomodori Panini (<– available full size)
Mom’s Turkey (<– available full size)
Mom’s Ham

Salads:
Santa Fe Ranch
Chicken Caesar
Caesar

Soups:
Cheddar Broccoli
Chicken Lemon Orzo
Chicken Noodle

Practice Reminders — As a reminder, there is no TOPs on Monday or Saturday this week. Thursday nights Level 6-8 practice will conclude at 7:30 p.m.. (all other levels will including Fast Track will practice through their regular times). Only competing Level 6 and Level 8 gymnasts are to attend practice this Friday night. Open gym is on as regularly scheduled this Friday night.

Please note:  Attendance at practice is mandatory for all Level 6 & 8 girls this week. It is essential for their mental and physical preparation, that they attend all practices.  We had 100 percent attendance from the boys and Xcel last week. This is an important week for our gymnasts in our quests for state medals and regional qualifying scores.

Play Positive Pledge — Help Wildcard USA Gymnastics Earn $2,500 from Liberty Mutual Insurance Play Positive. Liberty Mutual Insurance Play Positive is awarding $2,500 as part of their Play Positive Pledge program which promotes sportsmanship in youth sports.

Here’s how it works:
Every person who takes the Pledge to promote sportsmanship earns one point. The ten (10) organizations around the country that get the most points at the close of the period will earn $2,500. Since we’ll only be competing against organizations of similar size we have a better chance to win! Of course, the more people we get to take the Pledge the better our chance of earning $2,500. Let’s all work together – for the kids, and for $2,500. It’s easy, it doesn’t cost anything and requires about 30 sec. of your time. Please take the pledge!

Success Wall Additions — We only have room for 12 more pictures on the success wall! Maybe we need to make it bigger! In addition to the gymnasts who medaled at state making the wall, we had a competition for the girls’ Levels 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6s in Watertown. The following gymnasts qualified to the success wall at that meet:

Level 3
Siena F. — 9.500 on vault
Emma M. — 9.000 on bars, 9.000 on floor
Kaylie M. — 9.000 on beam
Rhianna R. — 9.000 on floor

Level 4
Essence B. — 9.250 on vault
Angela B. — 9.250 on beam, 9.050 on floor

Level 6
Bradyn F. — 9.100 on floor
Emily G. — 9.000 on bars, 9.200 on floor
Ella J. — 9.100 on beam, 9.100 on floor
Aaliyah K. — 9.400 on vault, 9.150 on beam, 9.200 on floor