Flipping Five

 After a long absence from Woodbridge Senior High School athletics, gymnastics is back.

So far, the Viking gymnasts’ have captured the District championship and are off to Regionals which has started their comeback. This is an incredible accomplishment considering there are only 5 members of the squad. Let’s take a closer look at these fantastic flippers.

I was able to catch up with Junior Jasmine Dunn and get an idea of the history of the team. Woodbridge had a gymnastics team many years ago which is why she was excited and determined to start it up again. Jasmine decided to reach out to her former coach Peter Novgrod to ask if he would be interested in coaching. Coach Novgrod accepted the challenge and Woodbridge gymnastics was reborn. Novgrod has the team practice 2-3 times per week for a little over 2 hours. Practices can be intense but are very rewarding. 

“We pack a lot of tumbling into the short amount of time we have on the mats,” Jasmine remarked in reference to practices. “Coach Novgrod is very knowledgeable about the sport. He gives us pointers and expects us to work hard and improve every time we hit the equipment.”

Next, I asked Jasmine to describe what happens at a typical meet. The meets begin with a warm up period which lasts for 15-30 minutes. The warm up period is followed by the processional. This is when the competitors’ names are called out and wave to the crowd. Then the competition begins. There are 4 events in a gymnastics meet: vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. The home team begins on the vault and follows the previously mentioned order, known as the Olympic order. The away team starts on the uneven bars and they rotate through the events. There are individual scores for events and a combined team score. After all the events are finished and the scores are determined, rankings and awards are given.

When asked how this season went, Jasmine laughed and said, “ We had a really rough start.” Remember, this is only the second year of competing for this young team. “At most of the meets, at least one of us would mess up during a routine.” 

This was mostly due to nerves. But as the season progressed, the nerves calmed down and the  lady Vikings were tough to beat. These athletes went to the Cardinal District meet and took home first place. They continued on to Regionals and came in 4th place. Jasmine notes the best part of the season was beating their rivals, the Colgan Sharks!