March 12, 2008
Here we are heading into week 10 of the season, and I can't believe how far we've come! It seems like just yesterday we were preparing for our first meet in Bowling Green, Ohio, and now we're heading to Oregon State.
This past week has been an interesting one. We came together on Monday as a team, and decided it was time for a change. Coming off two losses, last weekend against Illinois was an important one, for not only our record, but for our confidence. The goal in practice all week was perfection. This team realizes that it's the small details that separate the good teams from great ones, and we want to be great! All week we focused on landings, handstands, and polishing our dance on beam and floor.
As a team, we began relying much more on one another for support and everyone stepped into a leadership role in their own way. Gymnastics may seem like an individual sport, but in college it's about the team, and we recognize that we need all 15 of us to accomplish our goals. It was great to see everyone come together and really support one another, not only in competition, but day in and day out in practice.
Last weekend we faced University of Illinois, and despite the win, it was a bit of a challenge. We haven't been on the road for a couple of weeks, so it was different needing to get used to the equipment and different surroundings, instead of being at home and comfortable in our Hearnes Arena. We started off strong on bars, hitting 6 in a row. Our hard work showed when we had 5 out of 6 people stick their dismounts. Hatcher was especially aggressive with her handstands and anchored the bar lineup with a 9.825. We continued to build on vault when D (Danielle Guider) put up a 9.8 on a stuck vault. Ashley then went 9.825 and A (Adrianne Perry) lead the team with a near perfect vault, earning her a 9.9.
However, with two great events under our belts, floor wasn't perfect for us. A few stumbles here and there left us with a low score of 48.7. However, despite the scoring, D and Ashley put up beautiful routines, much improved from weeks past. We finished up on beam. We put Brooke in the leadoff spot and it paid off. She did a great job setting the tone and posted a 9.75. Followed by solid routines by Ashley and D, we were definitely on the right track. However, I broke the momentum when I fell on my side somi, and added pressure to A, who handled it effortlessly. She didn't let my mistake affect her, and scored a 9.875 with a near flawless routine. In the exhibition spot, Julie is showed much improvement nailing her series, and Liz joined the beam team, performing an awesome routine for the first time scoring a 9.825.
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We're getting there...I think a few more weeks of fine tuning and we'll be ready to go. We had this Monday off to recover, and will head to Oregon State on Friday. Stay tuned for an exciting end to the season...we're not done yet....Go Tigers!
