University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA Official Athletic Site - Women's Gymnastics
Weekly diary by Valorie Kondos Field, head coach for UCLA's women's gymnastics team.
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Febraury 23, 2004
Wow. So much happened with our team this weekend that it's hard to put it into its proper context.
Let's start with our meet Friday against Fullerton. There was quite a bit of disappointment in our overall performance as a team that night. What frustrates me most is that we competed with the attitude that we have a "B" team. We don't have a "B" team! We have a team of "Bruins", all of whom train really hard, can hit a strong percentage of their routines in training and are fully prepared to compete well and with confidence.
I don't believe in asking anyone on our team to compete any skill or routine that they haven't hit well in training. I'm not the type of coach who will throw an athlete into competition and then pray the whole time that they miraculously get to their feet uninjured. I'd rather have them water-down and feel success and not risk an injury. While there were a few shining moments in the meet, overall it was quite a frustrating evening.
The positives that came out of the meet were obvious. For one, having a meet like that fueled the fire of some of our freshmen and other team members who needed a bit of a nudge (and, as expected, they went on to compete much better on Sunday). It also gave us an opportunity to get some athletes back on the competition floor who have been out for the majority of the season and whom we would love to have in the line-up come Championship season, such as Courtney Walker, Kisha Auld, Holly Murdock and Jamie Dantzscher. Congratulations to Jennifer Sutton, who successfully competed a great Tsukahara tuck full for the first time, and to Christy Erickson and Michelle Selesky, who performed their most beautiful and exciting floor routines of their careers.
On to Sunday and our meet against Oregon State. The biggest highlight of that meet was that our team took control of its destiny. You see ... it was raining on Sunday. (Gosh ... so pathetic ...such a Southern California thing to say.) Anyway, when it rains here, it tends to throw a big psychological wrench into the atmosphere. It was raining, gray, dismal, just an overall overcast feel in the air. This is what happens when most every day is bright, sunny and 70 degrees - on any sight of dreary or overcast, the attitude is get home, get in the jammies, crank up some hot chocolate and have a nice couch potato session in front of the T.V.
In discussing this with our team on Sunday, it was all about taking control of our destiny, creating our own team energy and dynamic, fueling the "Magic of Pauley" and taking charge of having a great meet, a great afternoon, a great experience. And ... WE DID!
Lori Winn and Jeanette Antolin were on fire. Kristen Maloney was back in the all-around. Yvonne Tousek just keeps getting more and more beautiful. Kate Richardson was a rock. Ashley Peckett and Holly Murdock filled in with stellar performances. And Jamie Dantzscher competed on bars and floor with her usual brilliant flair. Obviously, it's great on so many levels to have Jamie back in the line-up. As Jeanette said, she got goose bumps when she heard Jamie's name read off when the line-up was given.
All in all, it was a great day for the Bruins.
One more thing... have you gotten your NCAA tickets yet???
~miss val