May Ishitsuka (11) re-mounted the beam, took a deep breath, and imagined her upcoming jump sequence, April 16. After taking a fall during her cartwheel roundoff, Ishitsuka had to make a quick recovery and finish her performance. She jumped up from the beam and completed a split quarter turn and a split half turn, ending with a score of 8.75 on beam, en route to winning the optional all-around title with 35.40. Bella Paguyo (10) won the compulsory all-around title with 38.05. After securing a win in both categories, gymnastics defeated St. Joseph Academy High School with an overall score of 221.65.
Although Ishitsuka took a fall on beam, she was able to get back into the right headspace and maximize her points and contribution to the team score.
“During my acro series, the cartwheel went well, but when I landed the roundoff, I just blanked and lost concentration,” Ishitsuka said. “[After falling], I got up pretty quickly. I took a deep breath, got back up, and tried to get back into my mental cues. The rest of the routine all went really well.”
Ishitsuka said she reassured herself and visualized her skills to remain calm.
“It’s really hard to stay focused and in the zone during the beam routine,” Ishitsuka said. “You have to be present in the moment. When I’m on beam, I’m always talking to myself in my head and giving cues for each skill. What threw me off during beam was the really loud floor music. It started playing in the middle of my beam routine and caused me to get out of my thoughts, which made me fall. It’s really important to get back into that mental headspace to recover.”
After beam, the Wolverines moved on to compete on floor. Ishitsuka scored a 9.10, a score she attributed to including more personality in her routine.
“[We’re] really trying to encourage this aspect of performance on floor, especially through smiling,” Ishitsuka said. “I think that makes a really big difference. Engaging with the audience makes it a performance. It’s hard to connect with the judges if you’re not smiling or putting your whole body into all the movements.”
The third event was vault, where Ishitsuka placed third. She scored 8.50 and competed a half on half off, a half turn pass onto the vault, and another half turn pushing off the vault to end straight.
Ishitsuka secured her all-around title when she placed first with a 9.05 in the last event, bars. While warming up, Isitsuka said her skills fell short, but when she started performing, she hit every element.
“I was pretty nervous because I had just broken into new grips, and it’s hard to adjust to the new material,” Ishitsuka said. “I was worried about my clear hip to handstand on the high bar. When I tried to warm it up, twice I fell over because I opened up too early. When it got to the competition, I visualized my skills and made my whole routine.”
Following the optional gymnasts competing at bars, compulsory gymnast Janvi Jambhale (9) performed the high school bar routine for the first time, scoring a 9.20 and placing fourth.
“I felt a little rushed because right after the optional stopped competing, we had to warm up instantly,” Jambhale said. “My flyaway, [the dismount] which I’d been struggling on, was really good. In previous meets, I didn’t have my flyaway, so I didn’t compete bars, but because my coach pressured me into getting it, I went outside my comfort zone and tried the skill I’ve been stuck on for the past two to three years.”
In the first event, beam, Jambhale fell out of her turns and placed fourth with a score of 8.60. Despite this setback, Jambhale scored a 36.15 in the compulsory all-around category, placing third.
“All my leaps and jumps were good, my backhand spring was solid, and I stuck it,” Jambhale said. “I held my dismount for a good five seconds; the only thing that went wrong was falling out of my turn. I tried to hit all my following skills so I can make up for my fall.”
Ishitsuka said following the hiccups in this routine, she will improve for her next performance.
“I now realize how important it is to have an unshakable concentration when doing a routine,” she said. “I’ll work on training myself mentally on top of the physical preparation I do. I don’t want to let anything distract me from the present moment and the goal.”
