Printer Friendly Version - Rogers is Spot-On with Her Form

Senior captain Grace Rogers took home the conference title on the beam while helping Hand gymnastics post a second-place finish at the SCC Championship last week. After she graduates from high school, Grace will attend Quinnipiac University and compete for the Bobcats’ acrobatics and tumbling team. Photo courtesy of Grace Rogers

The cleanliness of a routine is a critical aspect in the sport of gymnastics. Grace Rogers has been turning in pristine performances for the Hand gymnastics team throughout her senior season and recently cleaned up at the Southern Connecticut Conference Championship.

Grace is a senior captain who’s helped the young Tigers make great strides this winter. At the SCC Championship, Grace earned All-Conference honors by taking first place on the beam and second in the all-around, while helping Hand finish second as a squad with a season-high total of 131.4 points. Next year, Grace will compete for the acrobatics and tumbling team at Quinnipiac University.

“Some big keys for me have been being tight and clean. Form is everything, and it gives me a much better presentation. It also adds to the scores being higher,” says Grace. “In the past, if I was off on the beam, I’d just fall. Now, I just hold on and try to control my landings.”

In addition to succeeding on the beam, Grace brings plenty of fire to the floor for the Tigers. Grace adds that she’s also come a long way on the bars this year.

“I like the floor, because you can’t really fall on it, and it’s not as scary,” Grace says. “The bars are tough. It can get you down when you think you have something down and something happens. You can make them all the time in practices, but then in a meet, something can happen.”

As a captain, Grace is enjoying the experience of leading an up-and-coming club this winter. While the Tigers didn’t win the SCC title, Grace says they walked out of the gym knowing they had achieved a major feat that night.

“It’s really rewarding being a captain this year. In the past, we’ve been strong on skills, but we know how hard we’ve really worked this year,” says Grace. “Getting our highest score of the year at SCCs was so great, because it was rewarding knowing we have come this far.”

Head Coach Kelly Smith says that Grace attacks gymnastics with tremendous tenacity. Smith has been pleased to see Grace put in extra effort that’s yielded some top-notch scores throughout her tenure with the Tigers.

“Grace was an immediate impact on our team when she walked in the door as a freshman. She’s been one of our all-around competitors her whole career. Her routines not only have a high level of difficulty, but she completes them with perfect execution,” says Smith. “Grace is incredibly intense and hard-working in the gym. She wants her routines to be perfect and she will work her skills repeatedly until they are.”

Grace and her teammates will be competing at the State Championship this week. After tightening up their routine in the SCC meet, the Tigers want to leave it all out there and deliver another stellar showing at states.

“We want to hit our routines the same way we did at SCCs. We pulled it together and everyone stuck their landings on bars,” Grace says. “We want to do the same thing at states. If we do our best at states, then that’s a win in our eyes.”