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Sarah Shire's Journal - November 19, 2007

Tigers look strong as season approaches

Nov. 19, 2007

The Missouri gymnastics team has had an awesome week in the gym. We have new upgrades, more consistency and definitely more enthusiasm. The team is certainly headed in the right direction.

We used the intrasquad from the previous week to focus on the minor details that will set us apart from everyone else. The coaches upped the intensity on each event, and every turn began to count. The entire team rose to this challenge and change was seen immediately.

Vault is looking great, and our depth is certainly increasing. It was mentioned last week that we now have five fulls on vault, but we add to that, two more halves from Becky and Meghann, and huge front handspring pike halves from Ashley and Alex...did I mention these are all on the hard mat? That's right, we now have 9 vaults landing on hard surfaces. I'd have to say that Lauren (Lo) showed the most improvement by doing her vault (full) on the hard mat for the first time ever! She looks like she has been doing it for years, and I'm looking forward to watching her improve even more from here on out.

Bars is awesome! After watching the intrasquad from last week, each gymnast was able to see her mistakes and make changes accordingly. Details were definitely the main focus, and we worked on parts early in the week. On Thursday we held another bar intrasquad, in which we all stepped it up, showing off better routines than the week before. Lisa Lap nailed her routine, showing off a huge reverse to staddle-back, and even sticking her dismount, along with "A", who performed a nearly flawless routine. Becky was solid as usual and I was even able to get through a brand new routine after a couple weeks off, to rest my elbow (which is doing much better). Hatcher anchored the line up with a BEAUTIFUL routine that was nothing short of amazing.

On Friday, the team went through a beam intrasquad that was much improved. Each gymnast is looking more and more confident and our work is paying off. After focusing on consistency and tiny details, beam went much better this week. Once again, "A" performed her routine as if she was walking on the floor and looked confident as ever as she picked up her rhythm to perform a great routine. Lap was certainly "most improved" after putting her brand new series on the high beam (handspring, layout stepout) and finishing with a huge gainer full off the side. Lo looked exceptionally confident after nailing her layout layout series, and Brooke was simply beautiful walking through her routine. She has been working so hard to come back from last years knee injury and is looking great. Her gainer pike off the end of the beam is new, but you would never know it, as she performs it so easily. Ashley was solid as usual and continues to amaze me with her dismount (roundoff double tuck) day in and day out. I was able to compete in this week's intrasquad as well, and despite a few nerves, got through it, even adding a back tuck to my switch leap, straddle jump leap series. Over all, beam is right on track and team is looking great.

On to floor. If you haven't heard already, our choreography is amazing, thanks to Amy Smith. She has done a wonderful job in creating fun routines, that fit each gymnast's style, that will for sure be crowd pleasers. Both Ashley and "A" are throwing huge double layouts and myself, Alex, Lap, Lo, Becky, Meghann, and Nik are opening with big double pikes. Our endurance is coming along and each gymnast has a "D" or better dismount. Our routines are fresh and exciting and we are all looking forward to showing them off at our Black and Gold meet on December 8.

As a side note, I thought I'd mention that Julie was back in the gym last week. She is able to come back slowly, and it's great to see her beautiful gymnastics again. She sees the doctor Wednesday to get an official training plan and we're all looking forward to seeing her back in the lineup. I'm so proud of this team and our coaches for their constant persistence and willingness to make our team the best it can be. It's great to be home and I'm so thankful that everyone has made this transition as easy as it could be for me. Hope to see you all at Black and Gold...GO TIGERS!

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