Twirler Girl!

It may be Saturday and it may be the first day of spring break, but Gracie and I were up before 6 am this morning and off to a baton competition in Decaturville, TN. 

Where?

Not Decatur . . . Decaturville.  And other than telling we generally drove west and were in the car about 2 hours, I can't tell you too much more where it was. 

Gracie competed in 5 "open" events, as well as for the title event, Riverside Majorette Queen.  There's no crown, it's just the name of the title and it is awarded for each age division and level.  While results for open events are posted as the competition goes on, the events for the titles aren't, because they compile the scores for multiple events to determine the winners.  

Gracie's first few open events didn't go particularly well.  Her scores were lower than her coach thought they should be and there weren't enough comments to explain them.   Finally, she got a break and got 3rd place in basic strut.  I could see her confidence rising.  When she went in to her open solo performance, she knocked it out of the park.  NO DROPS!    It wasn't perfect, but it was the best I had ever seen her twirl it, especially since we were making changes to the routine on Thursday when we found out she had 30 less seconds to perform than we expected.

I couldn't believe it when the results came in and she got 2nd place.   Don't get me wrong, 2nd is nothing to turn your nose up at.  It's AWESOME! But the girl who scored first had several drops.   It is possible her routine was more challenging, but it was clear from the people sitting around us, that it wasn't just a slightly biased mom (and G's coach) who was surprised. 

When she repeated her solo for the title competition, Gracie ended up dropping (as did the twirler who beat her in the open).   I could tell she was having a hard time "shaking it off, " as Taylor Swift would say. 

But in the end, Gracie walked away with not only the 3rd and 2nd, but a 1st in show twirl AND the Riverside Majorette Queen title for the Novice 10-12 division.    That last one put a big smile on her face and made the two hour car ride home a lot easier. 

As for me, I'm exhausted.  It's 8:30 and I've been in my PJs since 7 pm.  Time to hit the sack!