Pooh Bear's assistants were back in the gym again to check out the progress of our favorite gymnasts. Former assistant coach, Scott Mackall, was visiting with Sarah, David, and Bryan as the girls were warming up. The team was challenged a lot on this date by the coaches as they had to do several reps (3/4 of entire routine) on bars, followed by vault and floor exercise (fine-tuning of leaps and dance steps). The uneven bars workout was particularly grueling as Bryan was targeting release moves and had each gymnast go through certain aspects of their routine several times. Highlights include:

Vault:

The Tide looks to be in good shape as several gymnasts are already throwing front pikes with a ½ twist (Natalie, Dara, Alexa) and Krista is working on a new 10.0 vault, a Tsukahara Layout 1/1 with a full twist. This vault seems to be working much better for Krista than the Yurchenko from last year. Whitney, Raegan, Sara and Lissy were throwing front pikes and Andree, Robin, and Katie were practicing their 10.0 Yurchenko and Phelps vaults respectively. Again, Sara is really standing out in the power events (vault and floor) with her solid form and landing. She should be able to contribute on at least three events this year.

Uneven Bars:

Natalie and Andree stole the show on the bars for this practice session. Natalie's routine now has just about every move back in place from her Elite Canada days, including a 1 ½ pirouette to 2 Endos, followed by a Pak Salto release, aTkatchev and a double pike dismount that she is turning into a double layout (had the second one laid out nicely today). Andree continues to throw the same gargantuan release moves we've come to know her by. She missed her first Hindorff but was solid thereafter in reps. Alexa and Raegan were struggling with their release moves today. Raegan has her new toe on/toe off on the high bar down pat but was inches away from catching the bar on her pike Jaeger. We saw her catch this release pretty well two weeks ago, so no need to worry. Alexa only caught her Tkatchev towards the end of her reps but what beautiful toe point and extension! It's hard to believe that she has not done bars in two years. Lissy is working on a double layout dismount off the bars and is really rotating quickly and confidently this year. Dara was still practicing her new release move, a full-twisting Tkatchev. It is really neat to see the gymnasts working on new release skills with energy and a wonderful sense of humor. Katie continues to throw her new dismount with confidence, a double layout with a full twist. Sara has great form and flexibility on the bars; her reverse giants stood out and one wonders if she may be able to emulate some of Natalie's unique eagle grip skills before long.

Floor Exercise:

Natalie again caught the Bears' eyes on floor with her great music and updated dance moves and leaps. There is every indication that we will see her in the all-around this year. Nat has a renewed confidence now that she has adjusted to her growth spurt and you can really see it shine in her dance and tumbling on the floor. We think the crowd is really going to enjoy this routine! Kristen's music will be recognized by the crowd as one of the latest pop hits. It is very dynamic and her teammates really seem to dig it as they stopped to watch her go through her dance moves and leaps. Robin and Katie will have new music this year and Andree was working with Coach Patterson on new dance moves to update her Tequila routine, which was a crowd and judge-pleasing routine last year. Gina was practicing her routine from two years ago; her choreography has a really nice cat leap to a Yang Bo leap. Lexa and Krista will keep their same music and main routine with updated dance and leap combinations as well as a possible full-in for Krista. Pooh Bear's assistants and the gymnasts will take November 14^th off to celebrate with the Medalist Club at the "Meet the Team" Barbecue. We will see you there!