Printer-Friendly Format     E-mail this article     Lauren Stephenson was a key member of the vault lineup in 2008. She claimed the event title against UIC.

 
Lauren Stephenson's Diary Entry - April 15, 2008

Tigers End Season At NCAA Central Regional

April 15, 2008

Well Tiger fans, our 2008 season has come to a close. This weekend, we competed at the NCAA Central Regional Meet in Baton Rouge, LA and placed fourth overall behind LSU, Stanford, and Ohio State. Although the meet didn't finish exactly as we had wanted, we had fun in Louisiana and we have learned a few things about where we want to be next year.

Our trip began with an early bus ride to Kansas City on Thursday morning. We arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana that evening and the coaches thought it would be fun for everyone to walk down Bourbon Street for awhile before enjoying dinner at the Red Fish Grill. We ate dinner with Mardi Gras beads around our necks, and I think that everyone loved the atmosphere of New Orleans. Later that night, we drove the rest of the way to our hotel.

Friday morning involved a trip to the Baton Rouge zoo. The weather was great, the animals were out, and the best part was, by far, Becky in the giraffe mask. That afternoon, we grabbed lunch and headed to the arena for a quick practice. As everyone got used to the equipment and tweaked theirs landings, I thought that we looked pretty solid overall. A smooth practice day is always comforting going into such a large meet. Later that night, we went out for a nice dinner before our big day.

Saturday morning was spent walking around some shops and relaxing in the sun. We showed up to the arena calm and confident, and I think that we were all ready to show off our hard work. We started the night off on vault (our ideal rotation). D proved to be a great lead-off, posting a 9.8 with a great full and Becky followed with a 9.775. A and Shi finished the rotation strong, both posting a 9.85, and we finished our first event with a 49.025. We had a bye before bars (where we went into our locker room for about 20 minutes while the next rotation competed) and we came out ready to attack bars. Ashley started off with a solid routine, A hit our team high on bars with a 9.8, and Liz finished bars for the team with another solid routine. Although our scores didn't quite show it, I think that our bar lineup hit six consecutive, strong routines. Everyone has been working hard in the gym on hitting every handstand in their routine, and I think that it definitely showed this weekend. Beam was next, and Brooke lead the team with a clean routine, sticking her series and hitting a great leap pass. Julie competed her last time for the team, posting a 9.75 with a great routine. Hatch hit the team high on beam for the weekend with a 9.85, and A finished the rotation with a gorgeous 9.8 routine. We posted a 48.6 on beam and overall, we were pleased with the routines that we put up. We had another bye before floor, but came out ready to perform, knowing that we had nothing to lose at this point. Hatch began the floor rotation with one of her strongest floor routines of the year, Al followed with a good performance, Ash performed her last routine for the Tigers, hitting a 9.75 routine, Shi followed with a solid routine, and A finished the meet with a 9.85. Our floor totaled a 48.725.

We finished fourth overall with a 195.10 behind LSU, Stanford, and a close Ohio State. And although we posted numerous great routines, it wasn't enough to qualify us as a team for the National Championships. A, however, did qualify as an individual with a 39.3 and will be heading to Athens, GA in two weeks to compete with some of the nation's best gymnasts. I think that this past weekend has been a motivating tool for next year, above anything else. We are going to take this meet and use it when we train this summer, this coming fall, and all the way into next season. We are still hungry for a National appearance, and nothing is going to stop us from working harder than ever. So make sure that you're cheering for A as she travels to Nationals in two weeks, and we'll see you next season!!!

Go Tigers!!!

Lauren

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