Bowling Green State University Athletics
Coach Kerrie's Post Meet Blog
January 28, 2008 | Gymnastics
Jan. 28, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - BGSU at Brown: Coach's Notes
I knew this weekend could bring a different kind of challenge. It was our first away meet. Not only we were away, but we had a flight, sleeping in a hotel and a different competition rotation than we had the first two meets. The adjustments that would need to be made were many. The team was so excited to travel and I couldn't wait to get to Rhode Island. Beyond the excitement of the competition, much of my family lives here as well!
So, the airplane ride went well but two of our vaulting mats did not arrive. Once again, another adjustment would have to be made. Shannon and I brought our athletes together and, again, reminded them that they must be prepared mentally. Our goal was to hit more than eighteen out of twenty four routines being competed. The morning before the meet, the team was focused and ready to go. Our warm-up was a bit up and down. Everyone was trying to adjust to different equipment. Luckily, another team let us borrow their vaulting mat and it was similar to ours (location of ours is still to be determined). We talked after the warm-up and I reiterated the reason were we here. It was time to hit routines.
We started on bars and the athletes did a great job starting us off. Megan Chronister had an injury in the warm up so Katie Follett stepped in at the very last minute and started us off with a hit routine. Lexi Psichopaidas caught her geinger convincingly and landed her giant full-double back. It was her best routine to date. Jho had some problems on her dismount but Morgan got us back on track, followed with hits by Michelle and Bre. While the scores didn't necessarily reflect the hit routines, the athletes did a great job!
Beam was next. We were met at beam by a rowdy group of Brown students. Despite their jeers, the team was focused. I knew we were ready to really do well here. Katie Follett got us started and nailed her triple series. Abby Ashley fought for every skill in her routine followed by a solid set by Morgan Balzer. Meg Satterlee had missed the previous two meets. It was her time to hit and she really got the job done. She stuck her triple series and her side somi. Bre followed her with a hit and Jho fought for every skill and stayed on as well. It was so great to see their competition reflect their practice.
Floor has been an area were we can shine but we have yet to put it together. Abby Ashley had no falls but left out a flip on her last pass. It was a decent start for the next five athletes. Morgan, Jacque, Meg and Bre all hit their routines; however each athlete stepped out-of-bounds on their double pikes. They were flying! Definitely an adjustment the team will have to make on the next bouncy floor. Queenie finished the line-up with a beautiful routine and she really fought for her last pass.
All that was left was vault. We had bye rotation prior to vault so I was hopeful the athletes would remain focused. They came out and finished the day for us! Morgan stuck her vault. Ashlee and Jenna stayed on their feet but had a few extra steps. Meg, who had a rough warm-up, got it together and yurchenko tuck full. While she had a layout full planned, she did follow through with the tuck full and set up Jacque and Bre for good scores. Both Jacque and Bre finished with beautiful vaults.
We set out to hit more than eighteen routines and we accomplished twenty hit routines. Great job by our Falcons! We won the meet and it was a definite confidence booster. Sometimes the team score does not reflect the improvement from week to week. But, we have really asked the team not to focus on judging since that can differ slightly from meet to meet and just focus on doing routines in competition that are comparable to their very best routines in practice. We definitely saw signs of that at Brown. Can I just mention our amazing fans again. The stands were filled with orange. Lexi's parents had orange shirts made for all our fans and it felt like we were home. That was just awesome!
Looking ahead, we are at Kent State with Ohio State next weekend. It's going to be a huge meet for us. I am pleased we had such a confidence building weekend. We are again going to focus on increasing the number of hit routines. In addition, staying in bound on floor, cleaning up any problem areas and sticking landings will be a priority. Our team has done a great job staying focused only on us. This will be crucial at the All-Ohio championship. I look forward to next weekend's challenge. Go Falcons!
