In a first, Kardos is first

Mike Sciacca

Lena Kardos said she was more nervous than she had been before any

previous meet.

It’s hard to blame the 13-year-old Laguna Beach resident for

having butterflies prior to competing last weekend at the 2005 Region

1 Level 8 Gymnastics Championships at the Long Beach Convention

Center. After all, it was Kardos’ first venture to a regional

championship.

And, she won her age group.

The Thurston Middle School seventh-grader became a regional

champion in her age group by tallying the highest all-around score,

37.650, during the competition.

Kardos is a member of Newhope Gymnastics Academy in Fountain

Valley.

“It was my first time at regionals and I guess I was really

nervous before the meet,” she said. “After all, it was the regionals.

After my first event, though, I felt a little better.”

Kardos said the first event, the uneven bars, went “really well.”

Yet, for the momentum she may have gained after that first apparatus

event, she was leery of what was ahead -- the second event, balance

beam.

“I was nervous because in my last competition before regionals, I

fell off the beam,” she said. “I didn’t want that to happen again.

I’m glad I got through it.”

Kardos ended up winning the gold medal on the uneven bars with a

first-place score of 9.625.

She finished fourth on balance beam, then went on to earn bronze

on vault and silver on floor exercise.

Kardos, who works out four hours a day, five days a week, said

that what also helped calm her during the meet was seeing the support

from her friends, Twyla and Jessica, who came to convention center.

They held up a “Go Lena” sign.

“That was really great support they gave me,” she said. “They

really helped me out, and it felt great to have them there, cheering

me on.”

The Region 1 competition, which drew gymnasts from California,

Nevada, Arizona and Utah, is the highest level of competition for a

Level 8 gymnast.