Bowling Green State University Athletics
Coach Kerrie's Post Meet Blog
February 04, 2008 | Gymnastics
Feb. 4, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - BG at All-Ohio 2/3/08
It was a tough day. The team has shown so much promise in the past two meets. I was really expecting them to come out tonight unified and focused. We had a few challenges to overcome. Ashlee deLeeuw hurt her foot in practice on Friday and she was unable to vault. Likewise, Abby Ashley had an ankle injury and, while she was able to do beam, she would not be able to get us started on floor. Otherwise, we were ready to go and our athletes next in line could definitely get the job done. The warm up went well despite a late start after a long bus trip to Kent. I explained to the team that the reason I love Falcon athletics is that every coach on the staff believes that something special can happen at BG. We have a rich history of rising to the occasion and going beyond what is expected of us. I really wanted them to bring that spirit to the competition.
We began on bars. The athletes were swinging a bit tightly and looked a cautious. Morgan Balzer, Michelle Luchini and Breanne Guy really got things going though. I have to give credit to Michelle for, in the words of BG marketing guru Brian Delehoy, stuck it! She was our high scorer and she has been a consistent go to person for us. We had to build from this point.
Beam was next. We excelled on beam last week and I expected the same. Katie Follett nailed her first routine and stuck her landing for a 9.7. It was great set up for the rest of the line up. While Abby Ashley landed her triple series successfully, she missed a connection at the end of her routine that hurt her score. Morgan had a tough night with two falls. Meg Satterlee got us back on track but Bre and Jho were not able to close out the line up. It was disappointing to see us move backwards on an event that can keep us in the forefront of a meet. The team will certainly be enjoying some big beam practices this week as we refocus on this event.
Floor is another strength for the team and we did get the job done staying in bounds this week compared to last week. Jenna filled in for Abby and really stepped up. Morgan Balzer and Jacque Bernhardt both hit great routines. Meg Satterlee was our lone athlete out of bounds and she had some uncharacteristic mistakes. Breanne Guy had an energetic set but Queenie Gamble struggled with her last pass. We absolutely need to put a floor rotation together in the next meet. It's just time to hit this event already!
After some stern words, I asked the team to get it together for vault. For the first time this day, I saw them come together. Vault went well, highlighted by 9.75's by Jacque Bernhardt and Breanne Guy. Meg Satterlee also got her vault back on track after some difficulty the last two meets.
As my friend Joel Coffman explained to me - a blog is not meant to be a half hour long- I will wrap this up by saying that it wasn't the best night but we live to fight again on Friday against Ball State. This is a capable team. It's time to put an entire meet together and it's time for this team to come together and make it happen. The Falcons will fight back strong. A hard working Falcon soars and we will be doing some hard work this week! Roll Along!
