November 23 marked the conclusion of the level 4, 5 and 6 compulsory teams' 2008 competitive season. Each level culminated their season with level specific state championships, these taking place in such diverse locals as Pomona, Simi Valley and Bakersfield.

Wildfire gymnasts accumulated a extraordinary total of 38 State Championship Gold medals supported by 27 Silver and 19 Bronze. This brings the total of top three State Championship awards to 84, improving the total from last year by 7.

Our premium result for level 4 was based on the performance of Madison McIntyre finishing with the second highest All-Around total of 539 gymnasts competing. The difference between first and 2nd was as close as current rules will allow - .025! During the final session of the meet, a stellar clutch performance by lone anchor Heather Egenberger upgraded Team Wildfire's level 4 position from third to 2nd among 53 participating teams. This adds to our level 4 team record which includes Wildfire being State Champions in 2007 and 2006.

Level 5 State Championships on November 15 - 16 yielded, from Wildfire entrants, 8 top two All-Around finishers with half of them emerging as AA Champions. Two more placed 3rd. Of five first year Level 5's within the top twenty, our leading All-Arounder Katherine Lubinski finished 2nd among them and seventh from the assembled total of 376 gymnasts. These standout performances contributed to a competitive average of 9.475 resulting in Wildfire's second runner-up State Championship team ranking this compulsory season.

Wildfire Team Level 6 included four gymnasts. Of these, Nicole Merritt is a 2008 Level 6 All-Around State Champion winning each event in the process. She achieved duplicate results at her Level 4 State Championships in 2006. Nicole's success extends as well to her 2007 Level 5 State AA Championship (1st's on Bars and Beam). All-Around Silver Medals were earned by last year's Level 5 AA Gold Medalist Rachael Rhoads and Morgan Michel-Streed.