Members of The Red Oaks School Lightning Bolts Compete at the Junior Olympics
Six members of The Red Oaks School Lightning Bolts, an American Heart Association (AHA) Demonstration Jump Rope Team based in Morristown, New Jersey, competed in the Junior Olympics in Des Moines, Iowa this summer. This was the first year in which this maturing jump rope team had ever participated in competition events, earning a place at the Olympic table after qualifying at the Northeast Regional Jump Rope Competition in Cooksville, Maryland earlier this Spring. Traveling to Iowa in late July were jumpers: Anabel Carroll (2nd grader from Chester), Marley Carroll (5th grader from Chester), Anna Hope Emerson (6th grader from Morristown), Lori Fong (6th grader from Whippany), Genevieve Lewis (5th grader from Morristown) and Erin Mooney (6th grader from New Providence). Accompanying the team was Assistant Coach Jo-Ann Gaul and a number of parent chaperones.
The Lightning Bolts jumpers competed in single-rope events, either as single jumpers (Anabel Carroll, Marley Carroll, Genevieve Lewis, Erin Mooney) or as pairs (Lori Fong and Anna Hope Emerson), in their respective age classes, including: Speed (number of times a jumper circulates the rope in one minute), and Power (number of times the jumper completes “double unders” – two rotations of the rope with one jump – in one minute). Judges count the number of rotations and double the final tally, to achieve the official score in each category. And although the team did not take home any medals, as first time Junior Olympians, they were proud to have participated in this exceptional event, and pleased to have set a number of new “personal best” scores. Final individual scores for Speed and Power (respectively) were: Marley Carroll in 10 year olds (200, 161); Anabel Carroll in 8 and under (176, 77); Genevieve Lewis in 11 year olds (171, 132); Erin Mooney in 11 year olds (220, 172). Final scores for Anna Hope Emerson and Lori Fong in the 11-12 year old pairs competition were 202 (Speed) and 242 (Power).
“I loved meeting the other kids.” said 6th grader Erin Mooney. “I especially loved meeting the kids who lived in Australia and Canada.”
Said Anna Hope Emerson of Morristown, “I didn’t realize that all of the other athletes would be so friendly, but they were. Everyone was nice to you, and you heard people from other teams and people you didn’t even know cheering for you as you competed.”
“I am exceptionally proud of these girls,” said Coach Gaul. “We are a very small team with limited resources and very little experience with competition. We were up against many nationally competitive teams but our girls were not intimidated. They embraced the whole experience with impressive determination and grace. They should be extraordinarily proud of what they did.”
“I would definitely do the Junior Olympics again,” said 6th grader Lori Fong. “Even though it was so much hard work and effort, the result was amazing.”
The Lightning Bolts team is the brainchild of Red Oaks physical education teacher Susan Waldrop who founded the team 7 years ago. The team earned its American Heart Association credentials as an official Demonstration Jump Rope Team in 2004. The team practices throughout the school year and performs at area schools in northern New Jersey, often in conjunction with AHA’s Jump Rope for Heart fundraising initiative.
