With her straight blonde hair, bright blue eyes and even brighter smile, Laura Kor doesn’t come across as very intimidating. But get her on a gymnastics mat and watch out.
Kor, a fifth-grader at St. Mary’s School in Tracy, is part of the Marshall Diamond Gymnastics team which last weekend won first place at the Midwest Amateur Gymnastics (MAGA) Tournament in Rochester. And Kor played a major role in that first-place finish, bringing home top honors in all-around and bars, sixth place in vault, seventh in beam and eighth in floor against about 80 competitors.
But if you think this little 11-year-old was intimated, think again.
“I didn’t really look at all the people in the crowd until the end,” she said. “There were a lot of girls in the gym. It was really fun watching all the routines.”
Competing in the Child Division (10and 11-year olds), Kor scored a 30.025 on all-around 7.3 on bars, 8.025 on vault, 6.95 on beam and 7.75 on floor.
“I had really good coaches to help and really good teammates,” she said. “I like gymnastics because it’s a team sport … but you also have yourself, and you’re just trying to get better. It’s really fun to compete with all the other teams.”
Kor said her goal going into the tournament was to improve from her previous scores, which she did.
Also, Kor’s team bested its previous top score of 115 by scoring 117.0.25 at the Tournament.
“I’m very proud, Laura’s mother, Stephanie, said. “She’s worked very, very hard for this — all the girls have. They’ve put in a lot of hours in the gym, and to see it pay off like this is just fantastic.”
The girls practice all year-round and compete during the winter months.
LAURA KOR (third from right) is pictured with her Marshall Diamond championship teammates at last weekend’s Midwest Amateur Gymnastics Tournament in Rochester. Submitted photo
