NCAA Gymnastics Championships - Post-Meet Quotes
April 21, 2005 | Gymnastics
April 21, 2005
Auburn, AL -
UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos Field
(On competing in the team preliminaries)
"This meet has gotten harder and harder each year, and you can't take it for granted that you're going to qualify for the Super Six. This meet and the regional meet are real nail-biters as far as making it to the next round. I'm happy with our team's performance today. They had a lot of good energy. We made some mistakes, which is nice because we have room to improve on tomorrow. As Kristen Maloney said in the locker-room, it's more nerve-wracking to hit 24 for 24 on Thursday than it is when you go into the team finals on Friday having to correct mistakes."
(Asked about the competition from the other teams in the afternoon session):
"Our competition is ourselves. We just need to come out and do the job we need to do."
(On Tasha Schwikert's all-around victory)
"Tasha is a competitor. She came out to win this meet. I was just saying how fun it would be to have 12 of her at this meet. Tasha knew that if she wanted to win this meet, she'd have to beat (Kristen) Maloney."
UCLA freshman Tasha Schwikert - NCAA all-around champion
"It's very exciting. I didn't expect to come in here as a freshman and win. I couldn't have done it without my team. I felt like I had them helping me at all times."
(On Kristen Maloney, who placed second)
"The person who amazes me the most is Kristen Maloney. She came into this competition injured, and she competed through the pain. It really motivated the team to take it to the next level, and we're going to be pulling for her tomorrow. I'm just amazed by her."
(On her first NCAA team competition)
"I would have to say when I went out there I was pretty nervous. It is kind of different than regular season meets. However, my coaches were so supportive and my teammates were behind me, and it just made the butterflies go away. It just made me feel good that I knew the entire team had my back."
