This weekend didn't turn out exactly like we were hoping it would. We hoped we could put it all together and come away with a great road score to help our RQS. Instead we struggled through out the meet and came away finishing 2nd in the meet to a strong West Virginia squad. On a positive note, Elise scored her season high 39.75 in the all around. She had a fantastic meet! Lauren Mirkovich stepped in for us on Vault and Floor in addition to her usual spot on Bars and Chris Mantilia scored a personal best on vault of 9.875.
We started the meet on Bars and it looked like we were on a roll. Our first four routines hit and scored well. Then we had a fall and a major break in our last two routines so we had to count a 9.625.
We struggled on Beam as well. We hit two routines really solid but the others struggled and we ended up counting a fall and two other lower scoring routines.
Floor was our best event but we were without Calli Ryals. She strained something in her calf muscle and we weren't sure what it was so we didn't want to risk further injury and decided to pull her out of floor and vault.
Vault was interesting because until we finished the 30 second touch warm-up we didn't know who was going to compete. Jenny's ankle was sore and she hadn't been able to do anything after our first event. Now with Calli out as well we decided to let Lindsey Bruck go ahead and try the new vault she has been working on in the gym. It is a round off entry vault with a ½ twist off then a layout front. It has a 10.0 start value. She almost made it but fell back at the end. It was a good effort but not quite there yet. Lauren did a nice handspring front pike. It was her first time in the vault line up this season.
I think we are all a little disappointed in ourselves and I hope we can take that and use it to fuel ourselves going into these next three weekends in which we will meet the top three ranked teams in the country. This is a short week for us. We will only get to train a couple of days before our meet Friday night with Georgia. I hope you will all be there to cheer us on at 8:00pm in Crisler Arena!! Since it's Spring Break on campus, be sure to round up a few hundred of your closest friends and bring them with you!!!
Bev
Thank you to all of you who came out Sat. night to see our meet against Utah! I was pleased with the win for sure!! I was also very pleased with a some of our performances. Kara Rosella stepped into both the Bars and Beam line-ups to replace Chelsea Kroll, who had to sit this one out. (I'll come back to that later.) We put her up last on Bars hoping the first five would hit and there would be no pressure on her. Unfortunately, Lindsey Bruck fell and that meant Kara had all of the pressure going last. She handled it beautifully and saved us from counting the fall. Then she went over and started us off on Beam with a solid routine. Even though her scores didn't place her on the awards podium she was a key performer for us!
Another very pleasant part of Sat. was seeing Jenny Deiley back in three events. She added both Vault and Beam back this weekend and hit like a champ. I know it is still very painful for her to take the hard landings. You may have seen her limp off after her routines, but she assures me that the sting goes away in a minute or two and that she is fine after that. We are not sure how soon she will be able to do floor? That is still a big question mark. But we are so pleased to have her back on three events!!
The bad news was that Chelsea clipped her foot on the end of the beam doing a dismount last Thursday and it got really bruised and swollen. The x-rays were normal (good news) but she was too swollen and sore to compete. She is also still struggling with the same knee problem she has had and we are just going to have to proceed on a week-by-week basis with her, I'm afraid.
Overall, even though I am excited with the win, we were not as sharp as I would have hoped. If we want to climb in the rankings we are going to have to get rid of some steps on landings and bobbles on the balance beam. I am still very optimistic about our potential if we can put it all together. We just have to start doing it. We have a tough road ahead of us. West Virginia has been putting up scores in the high 196's and we are there for the big celebration of Linda's 30th year reunion! They will be serious competition for us, and you can follow the action via our live scoring right here on umgym.com!
When we return our next series of meets include #2 Georgia, #3 UCLA, and last but not least, #1 Alabama. So we have got our work cut out for us!!! Please make sure to keep Feb. 27th and March 12th open on your calendar so you can come cheer us on against Georgia and Alabama!!! We need you and whatever army you can bring!!!! Go Blue!
Bev
4,089!!! O.K. I'm excited!!! That was our new record attendance for a regular season meet which broke last weeks 3,905 record. It was also the third largest crowd for any women's gymnastics event in Crisler. All this and our next three home meets are Utah, Georgia, and Alabama!!! People are starting to find out how exciting college Women's Gymnastics can be. We still need all of your help though to keep those attendance figures growing. Tell all of your friends, relatives, co-workers, and anyone else you come into contact with. We want to pack the house!!!
Before I get too far ahead of myself, let me go back and talk about the Michigan Classic meet. I was really happy and excited to see our team continue to improve. Based on scores we improved on three of four events. Beam was a little shakier than last week but we did not count a fall. I see more overall confidence in the athletes and that translates into better performances. It was so awesome to see Chris Mantilia compete her yuerchenko ½ off layout front on vault for the first time and then go and score her personal best on floor in the same meet!! Carol McNamara continues to impress me with her ability to step up her performance in the meet. She is a real competitor. Clare Flannery has also come through for us on Vault with a nice handspring front pike. She is working the pike ½ so I hope we will get to see her compete that in the next few weeks??
Bars has gone from being our weakness to one of our strengths. It has made a huge difference getting Jenny and Lauren back in there. But Calli, Elise, Lindsey, and Chelsea have also stepped it up a notch or two. Elise continues to add more difficulty as we go and as her shoulder will permit. So keep watching her bar routine for changes as go along.
Beam started strong and has stayed pretty consistent which is why we are ranked 8th in the country right now in this event. We can still get better here by not allowing the little balance checks and working on sticking more dismounts. Chelsea Kroll has been our rock on beam. Her position as the lead off person has been critical for us. Lindsey Bruck has also been a very nice addition to our beam line up this year!!
Our floor has improved probably more than any other event since the start of the season. We have a few people who struggle with being as expressive as we would like. That said, they have really been working hard and I think it showed a lot Friday night. The crowd really helps us here. When they get into the routines it is easier for the girls to show them off a little more. So clap along or do whatever to get them to ham it up!!
Now back to my shameless self promotion! Saturday, Feb.14th!! Utah, who is #4 in the country right now, comes to Crisler. It is going to be an awesome display of quality gymnastics!! Don't miss it. Bring your valentine and then go out for a late dinner after the meet. We need you there cheering us on!!!!
Bev
I would like to start out my briefing today by saying Thank you to all the K-grams crew who worked so hard to make our K-grams night a huge success!!! If you were not at the meet you missed out!!!! We had just under 4,000 people and it was a blast! The team was so excited and it showed in our performance. We had our best meet of the season so far.
It made a really big difference to get Jenny and Lauren back in the bar line-up again. We improved our bars total by around .7 tenths. I thought we improved everywhere. Vaults are getting bigger and we are sticking more. I already told you about bars and beam and floor are showing consistency at a high level. We only had one fall in the entire meet and did not have to count it. We still have room for improvement to so I think that is the best news. I feel like we can still get better on every event. Jenny is just now starting to ease into training some other events on her ankle so we hope she continues to feel good. Getting her back in the other three events will help a lot.
Getting and staying healthy will be the key for us this year! I am very optimistic about where we are and the potential we have this season. It is so nice to see the Elise and Calli tag team back in action. Now we can add Lindsey Bruck to make it a trio. Someone who is doing a GREAT job and never getting much attention is Chelsea Kroll. She has been a rock for us so far this year. Putting up big scores for us on Beam, Bars, and now floor. There were just to many highlights to talk about them all so you will just have to come back on Friday night for the Michigan Classic meet at 8:00pm to see for yourself!
Bev
Hello once again,
I am so happy to be back home and looking forward to staying put for the next three weekends!! I am very optimistic about how the team is progressing at this point. We had hoped for a stronger start, but not having Jenny and Lauren in our line-ups has made for a tough beginning. Sometimes having to overcome adversity early helps to make a stronger team down the road, though, so we take whatever cards we are dealt and play to the best of our ability!
We put up a good fight at Iowa this weekend! We started on Bars once again and so far this has been the event that has given us the most trouble. We changed the line-up this week to see if we could get started off with a hit routine. Our freshman Carol McNamara did the honors and hit she did. We still had a couple of routines with some trouble areas that cost us several tenths but we did not have to count a fall. We are crossing our fingers that we may be getting Jenny and Lauren back in the bar line up soon!!! It could make as much as a 5/6 tenth swing in our bar score if we get them both back in there.
Vault is getting better each meet. Lindsey is improving her vault in practice and we hope to have the layout full ready to compete in the next few weeks. Having Jenny back here will help tremendously also but that won't happen for a while yet, I'm afraid. Clare Flannery came up with a very nice handspring front pike vault in the meet to help things out. So our freshman are stepping up and doing the job!!!
Floor went really well at Iowa! We had both Carol McNamara and Chris Mantilia in the line-up this weekend and they both hit beautifully!! We are trying not to use Chelsea very much on floor because of her knee problems. We don't want to loose her on Beam and Bars. So it is really nice that we are starting to see some depth in this event. We want the ability to trade people in and out of our floor line-up to save on the overuse type injuries if we can.
Beam went great! This was a pressure packed situation because we knew we were down by less than 2 tenths of a point going into the last rotation and Iowa had the edge because they were on floor. But Chelsea lead the way with a 9.90!! How is that for a start? We ended up with a 49.250 which is a 9.850 ave. I was really proud of the team! Once again we showed that we won't give up!!
Iowa is a strong team and they hit! Big Ten's will be a great meet this year! Get your plane tickets early!!!
Bev
Another week has passed and now we have one more meet under our belts. We won, that is the good news! We still have some areas that need work, but I think we are headed in the right direction. I liked the improvement we saw on Floor but the judging in this meet was stricter than in Nebraska so even though I felt our overall performance was better it was not reflected in our team score. I think these first two meets have been a good reality check for us and I see the team putting more into each workout. I was most impressed today at practice with some new breakthroughs. Chris Mantilia made it through her first floor routine today. Actually, it was her first attempt at doing all her tumbling on the floor in a routine. She did very well! Also I see Sarrie Rubin making strides everyday on both Bars and Floor.
The Minnesota meet has always been a tough one for us. I don't know why exactly? Maybe the rivalry that has developed over the years? As I said, we were happy to bring home the victory but know we still have work to be done. We will focus this week on trying to create more pressure in practice. This will hopefully help simulate more of a meet situation and help us prepare to handle more pressure in meets. Next weekend at Iowa will be a real test for us. They have a strong team and the home court advantage. One thing I know for sure though is that we will give it our best!
Jenny and Lauren updates: Jenny is progressing with rehab and starting to swing a little bars. Lauren gets her cast off on Wed. and then the doctor will determine what the next step will be. We hope he says she can start back slowly??? Check back in next week to find out!!
Bev
Hello again. Unfortunately I have to start off with some disappointing
news. Last Thursday Jenny Deiley sprained her ankle on a tumbling pass
in practice. The good news is it is not broken and she will return. The
question will be how soon?? We still don't really know the extent of the
injury? Every persons healing process is different. We will just take
it day by day and she is working hard with our training staff and being
a very compliant patient with her treatment etc... We will keep you posted
on her recovery but I think we are talking weeks not days.
Well, we are now officially underway. If you are reading this I assume
you know we were in Lincoln, NE yesterday for our season opener. Nebraska
always hosts a great meet and they are the most hospitable team in the
NCAA. We enjoy competing there. I wish I could say everything went great.
We definitely had a lot of bright spots but some trouble areas as well.
I'll do a (not so) little recap along with my thoughts:
Chris Mantilia started us off on Bars. After a year off I think she was a little nervous. She did a nice routine but had a little miscue on her straddle back after the release move. She pulled it out and kept going which showed a lot of heart and she ended up with a 9.575 for her effort. Next up Chelsea Kroll hit her routine and just had a couple of little steps out of her dismount. A good first routine of the season for Chelsea. Lindsey Bruck got her first shot at the real thing. She did a nice routine but came up short on the dismount. She is very clean though and one judge had a 9.4 even with the fall. Calli hit a very nice set for our event high of 9.85. Elise almost fell on her straddle back handstand but she covered by doing a switch glide and picked it up to finish a beautiful routine. Then Lauren finished us up with a hit routine but she was short on a couple of handstands so her score ended up at a 9.725. Kara Rosella did an exhibition routine and hit a good one. I think she scored a 9.70 Overall we have some work to do on bars hitting handstands and improving consistency but the making for a very strong bar squad is there!!
Moving on to Vault. We preformed about as well as I expected on Vault. We knew going in this was our weakest event right now. Without Jenny we ended up competing two layout yuerchenko's which only start from a 9.80. We hope to be ready to increase the difficulty on a few vaults soon. But what a nice surprise it was to see Carol McNamara nail her yuerchenko layout full vault for a 9.80!! We had Clare Flannery exhibition vault and she hit a very nice Handspring front pike also.
Floor was the event where we got off track. Lauren Mirkovich was first up and in her first pass on the round off something happened in her wrist. She fell but we didn't know anything was wrong right off the bat because she got up and continued. It wasn't until she tried to do the second pass that we realized something was wrong. She did not finish the routine and we ended up having her get some x-rays to rule out any fractures. That is why she only scored a 6.15. I am still waiting to hear from our doctors who should look at her later today. I hope it is not too serious.
Our freshman Clare was up next, and as hard as it is to compete for the first time as a freshman, try doing it right after an injury to a teammate. Clare dropped to her knees on her first pass but finished strong. Lindsey did a great routine for a 9.775. Becca came up short on her full in and fell but again finished strong. Elise and Calli were beautiful as usual. We need some people to step up on floor.
We have some holes here to fill until we get Jenny and Lauren back. Beam was awesome!!! I was very proud of the team for finishing so strong on beam! They could have given up after floor but they didn't. They rocked!!! 7 for 7 including Carol's exhibition routine. One after another they hit solid routines and stuck dismounts. Chelsea led us off with a 9.85, Kara 9.750, Lindsey 9.925 (go freshman), Becca 9.90, Calli 9.85, Elise 9.950!!! 49.475. I sure hope this is a trend!!!
Anyway, not our best performance overall but hey, if we were perfect now I'd be concerned. I am crossing my fingers and toes that Jenny and Lauren will heal quickly and get back in there for us. But for right now we have to get some others ready to go so I'd better run!!! Talk to you next week after Minnesota.
Bev
Hello again, and welcome to the new year!!!
I think we all enjoyed our long break but we are now ready to get back into things and get going with the 2004 season. The team reported back for our first practice on Jan. 2nd. All in all they look pretty good! It is obvious that most did a good job working out over the break! We will still have to shake off a few rusty spots but I think we will be ready for Jan. 11th.
Our goal for the start of the season is not to perform all of our biggest skills but rather to hit our routines and look clean. We will add difficulty as we progress through the season as long as we stay healthy.
Wow, we are finally here! It is exciting and we can't wait to get underway! We will have a very difficult competition schedule again this year. As a matter of fact on one of the web sites they ranked the teams strength of schedule and we have the third toughest schedule in the country. I think Florida and Georgia were one and two respectively. I think taking on all these teams during the season helps us prepare for the NCAA's. Once we get there we don't have to worry about teams that we haven't seen before! We've seen them all!
The athletes seem fired up and we hope to start the season off on a good note in Lincoln, right where we left off last year!!!
Bev