This story was contributed by Michael James.
Jack Marlow would fit seamlessly into the California surfing community. He has mastered being “laid back.” But, put the 10-year old on a pair of ice skates and suit him for a hockey game or surround him with gymnastics equipment and he springs to life as his competitive juices start flowing.
The youngster is finishing fifth grade at Dickinson Avenue School in East Northport. He's a good student who is into many of the same things his classmates are.
Marlow dabbled in baseball and soccer before finding his niche in the worlds of gymnastics and hockey. While the two sports are nothing alike, he has taken to both of them and especially enjoys the strenuous workouts they provide participants.
Marlow has participated in gymnastics for many years and has won a horde of medals along the way. The youngster currently trains at Hotshots Gymnastics Club in Plainview, where he is coached by 1996 Olympian Cristian Leric, a medalist in the World Championships for Romania. Last year, Leric won the New York boys' gymnastics Coach of the Year Award.
Over the past two years, Marlow has improved by leaps and bounds. He qualified for the Region 7 Gymnastics Championships this spring after turning in an impressive set of performances in six different events at the state meet.
Region 7 encompasses New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. (The country is divided into nine different regions for competitive purposes.)
Medaled at Region 7 Championships
Competing at Level 5 (consisting mostly of 9-11 year olds) in the Region 7 Championships in Middleboro, New Jersey, Marlow performed very well in a field of 64 top gymnasts.
The 10-year-old earned third place in parallel bars with a score of 10.9, 14th place in pommel horse with a score of 10.1 and scores of 10.1 in floor exercise, 9.8 in high bar, 9.7 in vault and 8.5 in still rings for a cumulative score of 59.1, good enough for a share of 18th place in the all-around standings of the competition, which included many champion gymnasts.
The highlight of the day for Marlow came when he notched two bonus skills and stuck his landing on the parallel bars to earn a bronze medal in that event.
“I was excited to qualify for the regionals this year,” the youngster said. “I went in just focusing on hitting a few skills I hadn't perfected yet. It was a fun competition and I felt like I turned in a good day.”
Level 5 gymnasts compete in what are commonly referred to as “compulsory routines.” Compulsory gymnastics consists of specific routines that competitors must learn precisely. This is done in Levels 3-6.
USA Gymnastics created the routines with the goal that the gymnasts develop a strong gymnastics foundation before advancing to the optional levels. Level 6 gymnasts begin competing in optional routines, where athletes can start adding more and more bonus skills into their routines to get higher scores.
At Levels 8-10, the top performers in the region can qualify for the national competition and look to earn a spot on a world team.
A sense of accomplishment
Marlow practices 9-12 hours a week year-round with the full support of his parents, Andrew and Diana.
His seven-year old brother Matthew is a Level 4 gymnast and competes in local New York competitions. His five-year old brother Nicholas is still tumbling and flipping around the yard, but is not yet involved in formal training.
“I enjoy the training process very much,” the fifth grader said. “There are always new challenges and new skills to try to get and perfect. Sometimes the little things that look easy are hard and take months to get good at. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I'm finally able to perform a skill that I've been working on. I have great teammates and we motivate each other in practice.”
Leric knows what it takes to be a champion and he asks his gymnasts to make a commitment to be the best they can be.
“My coach is really good,” Marlow said. “He's demanding, but you have to be because you have to do things your best in gymnastics. At the same time he's funny and he makes practice fun and challenges us to give our best.”
Hockey is his game, too
Marlow also enjoys playing hockey.
Last year, he was a member of the Long Island Royals Squirt A team that won the Long Island/Westchester championship. This summer he is playing left wing with the Northport/Huntington 12-and-under team.
In his relatively short hockey career, Marlow has scored a goal on a penalty shot (sort of like a hole-in-one for a golfer) and notched a four-goal game on his 10th birthday last July.
He mostly plays wing or center. He enrolled in a class at the Dix Hills ice rink when he was seven to learn how to skate and then a year later starting playing with a friend at his house. The pair played hockey in the driveway as the friend skated around on roller blades while Marlow just ran around.
Marlow's mother told him she put her old roller blades in the garage so he found them and started roller blading and playing hockey in the street. Since he already knew how to skate, he quickly picked up the movement roller blades require.
Shortly after that his parents signed him for a Friday night hockey clinic at Superior Ice Rink in Kings Park and a recreation league. He went on to play for the LI Royals for the past two seasons.
“I like both gymnastics and hockey, but they are very different sports,” Marlow said. “In gymnastics, it's all on you. You cannot depend on anyone else. Everyone's eyes are on you. I like the attention when I am competing. In hockey, you cannot accomplish much without your teammates. You have to work with one another. Both sports give me a great workout.”
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