Majors Gymnastics Faces a New Season

The Majors gymnastics team is getting ready to kick off another season.

Assistant Coach Jen Lee has coached the team for four years and hopes the team will have a strong start in their first meet on Thursday.

"Our goal is to break 100 points as a team and to get an idea of where they are at in their routines, what routine requirements they need to work on to get full credit," Lee said.

For five seniors, this season marks their last high school season. Seniors Franqui Pierce, Olivia Kimble, Carson Meadows, Jordan Klager, and Illissa Mejia are graduating in 2013.

Olivia Kimble has been a member of the gymnastics team since her freshman year. She lives by the motto: “go hard or go home.”

“I’d like to accomplish everything that I haven’t been able to accomplish in prior years,” Kimble said. “I’m only focusing on the bars this year, and I want to get my release more and flyaway.”

Carson Meadows has been a member of the team since his sophomore year. He is the only male on the team and has faced his share of challenges. Because men aren't recognized on gymnastics teams, he is unable to compete in meets. He has focused his energy on parkour and freerunning, and hopes to be recognized as a member of the team this year.

"You know how kids jump off of things? Well, I never stopped," Meadows said. "I found out about parkour and freerunning and I got into the sport."

Meadows practices with the gymnastics team, but he also practices parkour in parks and in D.C.

The seniors have had their share of memorable moments.

"When I was a freshman, the seniors would make us dress up as horrible things on meet days," Kimble said. "One time we dressed up as Oompa-Loompas."

Lee has coached many of the seniors since their freshman year.

"One of the more satisfying things is seeing how much they have grown and matured in four years," she said. "When they are freshmen, they are kinda all over the place. I'm constantly telling them to get to work, but once they hit their senior season it's like a light bulb goes off. They want to work hard and do better than last year."

As the seniors look ahead to their future, they realize what they’ll miss about being a part of the Mount Vernon gymnastics team.

"I'm going to miss how it keeps me in shape and I'm going to miss a few of the girls on the team who joined at the same time as I did," Kimble shared. She hopes to continue gymnastics at James Madison University.

Meadows will continue parkour and freerunning in college. His top college choices are Mary Washington College and Old Dominion University.

The Majors will have its first meet this season at West Potomac on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.