Feb. 16, 2007

Though we love competing at home, sometimes the three week home meet stretch feels like a bit of a marathon - so we figured we'd change it up a little this year and let the boys play too. Last Friday marked the first annual Beauty and the Beast meet. For those of you who were not present, it went something like this - gymnasts and wrestlers, competing, at the same time, in the same place. We were the beauties, they were beasts (despite what a few of them may tell you).

All our equipment was a bit closer together and our beam was moved as well, to accommodate the wrestling mat. The set up was a little uncomfortable at first but we didn't mind sharing. We went into the meet focused and prepared with the goal of keeping our attention solely on ourselves and our routines, not the on boys in singlets a few inches away.

The meet began differently than usual to incorporate the theme. We usually enter on a smoke covered stage but this week we were each escorted out of the tunnel by a wrestler. We even got chocolate covered roses provided by our wonderful coach, Bunny. After the national anthem, things got down to business and we were pretty much forced to ignore our fellow tigers for the remainder of the meet.

Vault went well, as everyone hit with some pretty decent landings. The event was highlighted by A's 9.95 on a gorgeous yurchenko full, stuck cold.

We then moved to bars and had one of our best outings all year. We had a fall early in line up but the girls rallied and every routine that followed was aggressive. We've really been focusing on hitting handstands and sticking dismounts in the gym and I think it's starting to show. Ali Gilmore had an especially great performance anchoring bars and nailing an awesome routine.

Beam continues to give us problems but I think we're close to getting the kinks out. We had two falls early in line up but the remaining girls hit solid sets to close. This beam rotation also marked the first time I competed beam (and thus, all around) since my freshman year. It was definitely stressful but something I've really missed and hope to keep up throughout the season.

Floor also went very well. Whitney Crater led off (and competed) for the first time all year with an awesome routine! Every routine that followed fed off the energy from the last and we put together six solid sets.

Though we definitely missed the scores of Alicia Hatcher, who sprained her ankle earlier in the week, girls stepped up and nailed big routines when we needed them. Overall, the chaotic atmosphere proved to be a beneficial one for our team and served as a practice meet for bigger, louder competitions like Big 12s and Regionals. We also welcomed the chance to share an experience like this was the wrestlers, whom we as a team, are very close with.

I can't forget to add that the crown of almost 6,200 was AWESOME. That's the most we've had at a meet since I've been here and the energy and noise was just electric. Big crowds really help pump us up because its hard to feel flat and down when you have so many people cheering for you. Of course, we all realized that many of those people weren't there to see gymnastics but hopefully we gave all you wrestling fans a reason to come see us, without the boys.

As for this week, we take on Centenary this Friday at 7 p.m. and hope to finally put an entire meet together for a home crowd. It won't be quite the show Beauty and the Beast was but we'll make it's worth your while!

GO TIGERS!

Ash