JENNIE RAY

Birthday: January 15, 1987 Height: 4'11" Routines Past Results Journal Official Website

Gymnastics:

Jennie's best event is floor, because of her dance ability and her powerful tumbling. Also, she is very expressive. Her next best event is bars, where she has an agressive sqing and precise technique. Third is vault, where her difficulty is not high and sometimes she has trouble sticking her landings. Her weakest event is beam, where she has high difficulty and beautiful form and poise but is not very consistent.

Biography:

Jennie Ray started gymnastics when she was three years old, and was the least graceful, klutziest gymnast in her class. No one thought she would make it to the competitive level, least of all Jennie herself. But after years of hard work and determination, she has made it to the top of her sport, after having won a national championship, travelling to three world championships, and having won two Olympic medals, one of them gold.

Jennie is blessed with good genes. Her mother was a dancer, her aunt was a gymnast, and all four of her older sisters were invoved in gymnastics in one way or another. Two of them even competed at the elite level and made it to the Olympics, and are incredible role models for Jennie.

Having been born in Georgia, Jennie is unmistakably a southern belle at heart. Her favorite event is floor, where she can really express herself. When not doing gymnastics, Jennie enjoys dancing and hanging out with her friends from the gym and from school. But most of all, she loves returning home to spend time with her family. Because her parents are divorced, she splits time between North Carolina (where her mom, two of her sisters, and her three dogs live,) and New Orleans (where her dad lives.) After she completes her gymnastics career, Jennie hopes to attend a top college and compete on the varsity gymnastics team, and then attend business school and work in sports marketing.

Jennie is all business on the gym floor, but all about fun when she steps off the mat. She is extremely outgoing and loves to cultivate friendships with her teammates. Because she's used to being the youngest at home, she seizes any opportunity to serve as a role model to younger gymnasts. Her major weakness is that when she makes a mistake on an event, she has a hard time recovering and often repeats her errors. She loves to compete, but above all loves to perform and show off her personality.

In the News:
North American Gymnastics Festival - Team Competition
Facing The Russians (7/6/02)
Topopolily vs Angel Gymnastics, 7/14/01

ROUTINES:

Primary Vault: Khorkina II (9.9)
Second Vault: front full on, pike front off (9.8)

Uneven Bars:
hecht mount; back uprise to handstand, giant, 1 1/2 turn to inverts, inverted giant , Ono turn (E), Markelov (D); kip cast to handstand, half pirouette, hop full (D), overshoot 1/2 to handstand (D), stalder full (E), toe-on shoot to high bar (C); kip cast to handstand, giant 1/2, giant full to invert (C), double front dismount with a half twist on the second flip (D)
SV: 10.0 (+.3)

Balance Beam:
RO full twisting bhs mount (E), Dance steps to the middle of the beam, then extend right arm in the air, left arm to the side, arch back, and extend left leg back, pointing the toe and resting it on the beam, then shift weight to back foot and bend right leg, placing the pointed toe on the beam. Take two more dance steps down the beam, then execute a switch leap (C)+tuck jump full (D), Raise both arms above head with back arched, then bend forward into an arabesque (hold), FF stepout (B), tucked full (E). Take two steps back and rise into first arabaeque. Swing back leg forward and turn perpendicular to the beam, lowering into a sideways lunge position with one arm forward, one arm back. Rise back into a normal position, then do a wolf jump full (NC), full turn, take two steps forward slowly circling arms, then raise arms above head. front aerial (D) +illusion turn 1/1 (D), do a half turn and rise into an attitude pose, aerial cartwheel (C) + back tuck (C). Do a ronde de jambe into a half turn and walk to end of beam, stag handstand (hold), back walkover+bhs+double tuck dismount (D)
SV: 10.0

Floor Exercise:
Start lying on back with back arched slightly off the ground, one leg crossed over the other and arms out to the side with fingers flexed. Sit up, raising legs to chest, then split legs out and pose. Dance into corner, doing 2 revolutions from one foot to the other. Pose with arms in air and one leg bent with pointed toe touching the ground. Roundoff+ whip half (A)+double front (E), turn around and step back into the corner starting with arms in the front and bringing them out to the sides, then bring one arm up over head. Front handspring+double front half out (E). triple turn (D)+double stag leap. Run to the middle of the floor and do a ring jump+back walkover down to knees and pose. Rise suddenly into air, arching arms and back backwards and rising to toes, then return to previous pose. Get up and do dramatic dance steps into corner. Roundoff + half twisting layout stepout (A) + roundoff + whip (A) + 2.5 twist (D), Run forward into a dive roll, then get up and cross right leg behind left leg, going into a slight squat with arms out to side and shake shoulders. Repeat three more times, alternating sides. split switch leap+cat leap 1/1Roundoff+back handspring+triple twist (E) + punch front full (B) , drop to knees and arch back until head is resting on the floor and arms are out to the side
Floor Music: El Choclo
SV: 9.9