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Show Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, February 24-27, 2018 The Park Record B-3 Continued from B-1 Gymnasts prepare for meet too. Remember you just need float, not flip.” Between routines, the girls congregated by the chalk fountain, powdering the leather straps that cover their palms. “I always say ‘No talking while chalking,’ but it never works,” Hamilton said. “I think they use twice as much chalk just because they put it on while they’re talking. But you pick and choose your battles with teenagers.” She will, however, fight to eradicate nervous tics. “Most kids have something that they do or think that they need,” Hamilton said. “I really discourage them to not do things like that, because they get kind of compulsive about it. There’s good rituals — mental preparation and visualization — but sometimes they wipe their legs too much, or feel like they have to fidget, and I really try to discourage that.” Instead she tells them to trust their training and themselves. But Dahl and Murdock do have something of a tradition for meets — they bring stuffed animals that they received after last year’s Level-4 state meet. “Mine’s an elephant and hers is a giraffe,” Sedona said. “It was like the last meet of the season that they gave it to us, just as a ‘good job.’” Murdock said her elephant, Jimmy, and Dahl’s giraffe, Gigi, accompany them to competitions. “We like to bring them because our old coach, she moved to a different job, so we like to remember her and our team that year,” Dahl said. “We decided, since we are the smallest group — just TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD From left, Camryn Knecht, Lanie Boxley, Sadie Bretts, Angie Schmutz, Sam Eden and Taz Wagner of the Black Diamond Gymnastics team from Park City pose for a photo before competing on the balance beam during the Black Diamond Winter Classic competition at the Basin Recreation Fieldhouse on Thursday. us two — to bring them along because that’s a memory of our whole team and our coach and all the good times that we had.” Over the following days, Gigi, Jimmy and the athletes would check in at the Basin Recreation Fieldhouse and do their best to perform up to their potential, but on Thursday, with Avril Lavigne playing in the background, the team basked in its free day. “If you don’t have the skills today, you’re not going to have them, so we don’t want to put that added stress on them,” Hamilton said. “I try to let them lead the show a little bit and right now I think it’s working.” TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD Genet Dahl performs a routine on the uneven bars during practice at Black Diamond Gymnastics Thursday morning. TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD Taz Wagner strikes a pose on the balance beam during the Black Diamond Winter Classic competition at the Basin Recreation Fieldhouse on Thursday. Wagner participated on the Black Diamond Gymnastics team from Park City. Olivia Iacono performs her floor routine during the Black Diamond Winter Classic competition at the Basin Recreation Fieldhouse on Thursday. Iacono participated on the Black Diamond Gymnastics team from South Jordan. TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD Elizabeth Ornelas performs on the balance beam during the Black Diamond Winter Classic on Thursday. Ornelas participated on the Black Diamond Gymnastics team from South Jordan. TANZI PROPST/PARK RECORD Elise Heddens, left, and Genet Dahl, right, chalk up their hand grips before heading back to continue practicing on the uneven bars at Black Diamond Gymnastics Thursday morning. |