Caitlin’s first gym meet

Caitlin, my youngest, competed in her first gymnastics competition last weekend (2005-08-27), Judges’ Cup 2005. The meet was hosted by Technique Gymnastics at the CSUS gymnasium, which has no air conditioning. Fortunately the weather wasn’t nearly as hot as it often is in Sacramento in late August–only 38 °C, when it could easily have been 42 °C! (Those 4 degrees make a big difference, trust me.)

Caitlin took 3^rd place on beam and 6^th overall in her division. She did pretty well considering that she had sliced her hand open two days before. Also, I think she was a little intimidated by performing in front of judges and all the spectators, because she made a couple of mistakes that I haven’t seen from her for months, if not years. Understandable given that this was her first meet. Even so, she’s already qualified to progress to zone in post-season. Yeah, Caitlin!

The lighting in the gym was terrible and no flash photography was allowed. (Not that a flash would have done any good–I couldn’t get close enough to the events for it to make a difference.) Even so, I managed to get a few shots that weren’t completely ruined by overlong exposures and funky lighting.

Caitlin’s team watching the floor routines.

Caitlin’s happy to be warming up for the floor event!

Third place on beam, woo hoo!

Caitlin did pretty well on this meet, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season. Her hand has healed up now, and I think that once Caitlin gets over her competition jitters, we’ll see some outstanding scores from her!