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McDonald Leads Yellow Jackets to Another Title
By Paul Frommelt
Osbourn Park junior gymnast Megan McDonald was asked if she would allow herself some time to celebrate the Yellow Jackets’ third consecutive Cedar Run District championship and her individual all-around title after Wednesday night’s district meet at Stonewall Jackson High School.
“Not really,” she said with a laugh. “I have a meet on Friday and Saturday. I’m going to be competing for the next five weeks. I don’t have a free weekend between high school and club. Don’t get me wrong. I get real tired. [But] it’s so worth it.”
McDonald, also a member of the Apollo Gymnastics competitive program, doesn’t really have the time to pat herself on the back. Leave that to her teammates, as the junior’s first-place finish in bars, beam and floor helped the Yellow Jackets sneak by Battlefield, 146.475 to 146.050.
Battlefield, who was sitting in third place after the first two events, was a surprise for the Yellow Jackets, who had a big lead at the time. The Bobcats nailed their last two events, while Osbourn Park faltered — just a little — on the beam.
“They finished their last two events really strong and we didn’t. We are obviously better than that. We’ll just get our nervousness out,” said McDonald. “I would rather did it here than anywhere else. We got it out of our system and now we can go back to the gym and fix it.”
Coaches Monica Brown and Mandy Seal agreed.
“It was a different story for us. Normally, we are a lot more dominant,” said Seal. “The girls were a little shaken up tonight. A little out of their element. Their nerves were getting to them for a while. They don’t like going on beam last. We had a lot of falls that we don’t normally have.”
“Get the bugs out now, because it is really going to matter next meet,” she told her team. “Get this out of the way now.”
The two-time defending Group AAA state champions will travel to Stafford High School on Feb. 14 for the Northwest Region tournament.
Turner, Battlefield Impress at District Meet
In her first Cedar Run Districts gymnastics championship since her freshman year, Battlefield junior Erin Turner excelled. The Bobcat gymnast finished second in the individual all-around competition with a second-place finish on the vault and floor, and a third-place finish on the beam and bars.
Turner, however, was just happy that she and her teammates were able to advance to regionals.
“That was my goal, to make it to regionals and for the team to make it to regionals. I was really happy,” she said. “We want to take it one step at a time. If you think about the future, you could mess up what’s happening now. We just want to take it step-by-step.”
The Bobcats finished second to Osbourn Park in the team competition, just missing first place by a score of 146.475 to 146.050. After the first two events, the Bobcats were stuck in third behind the Yellow Jackets and Loudoun Valley. The top two teams advance to the regional competition.
“We just wanted to make it to regionals, so we needed to step it up,” said Turner. “First place would have been great, but second place is what we needed overall.”
Megan McDonald won the all-around competition with a score of 38.275, followed by Turner (37.8), Osbourn Park’s Caity Cantello (37.525) and Battlefield’s Mandy Brown (37.0).
2009 Gymnastics District Championships: Interactive Results
Click on the gymnastics name to watch routine. Not all routines are available.
Cedar Run District — Bars
1. Megan McDonald, Osbourn Park, 9.8
2. Caity Cantello, Osbourn Park, 9.55
3. Erin Turner, Battlefield, 9.35
4. Sara Mogavero, Osbourn Park, 9.3
5. Mandy Brown, Battlefield, 9.1
6. Tandeece Maxloum, Battlefield, 8.825
7. Amanda Huebner, Loudoun Valley, 8.525
8. Alex Fairbanks, Battlefield, 8.425
Cardinal District — Bars
1. Elizabeth Thompson, Gar-Field, 7.425
2. Chelsea Dubose, Potomac, 6.225
Cedar Run District — Vault
1. Caity Cantello, Osbourn Park, 9.6
2. Briana Knox, Osbourn Park, 9.55
2. Erin Turner, Battlefield, 9.55
4. Sara Mogavero, Osbourn Park, 9.3
5. Megan McDonald, Osbourn Park, 9.25
6. Mandy Brown, Battlefield, 9.225
7. Alex Fairbanks, Battlefield, 9.175
8. Amanda Huebner, Loudoun Valley, 8.95
Cardinal District — Vault
1. Elizabeth Thompson, Gar-Field, 8.5
2. Chelsea Dubose, Potomac, 8.4
3. Michele Malapit, Potomac, 8.3
Cedar Run District — Beam
1. Megan McDonald, Osbourn Park, 9.625
2. Mandy Brown, Battlefield, 9.55
3. Erin Turner, Battlefield, 9.3
4. Shae Spotts, Loudoun Valley, 9.2
5. Caity Cantello, Osbourn Park, 9.075
5. Maura Cotter, Loudoun Valley, 9.075
7. Amanda Huebner, Loudoun Valley, 8.975
8. Tandeece Mazloum, Battlefield, 8.9
Cardinal District — Beam
1. Elizabeth Thompson, Gar-Field, 6.75
Cedar Run District — Floor
1. Megan McDonald, Osbourn Park, 9.7
2. Erin Turner, Battlefield, 9.6
3. Alex Fairbanks, Battlefield, 9.55
4. Amanda Huebner, Loudoun Valley, 9.35
5. Caity Cantello, Osbourn Park, 9.3
6. Meghan Hammel, Stonewall Jackson, 9.25
7. Becca Saran, Battlefield, 9.225
8. Mandy Brown, Battlefield, 9.125
Cardinal District — Floor
1. Elizabeth Thompson, Gar-Field, 7.3
2. Chelsea Dubose, Potomac, 7.25
3. Michele Malapit, Potomac, 7.25
Cedar Run District — All-Around
1. Megan McDonald, Osbourn Park, 38.375
2. Erin Turner, Battlefield, 37.8
3. Caity Cantello, Osbourn Park, 37.525
4. Mandy Brown, Battlefield, 37.0
Cardinal District — All-Around
1. Elizabeth Thompson, Gar-Field, 29.975
Cedar Run District — Team
1. Osbourn Park, 146.475
2. Battlefield, 146.05
3. Loudoun Valley, 138.45
4. Stonewall Jackson, 98.15
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