University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Panther Pause - Third Edition
11/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Nov. 7, 2007
PITTSBURGH - Junior Victoria McGuigan-Carl reflects on the past month. "V" had one season and one meet of superb vaults and floor routines for Pitt, scoring a 9.8 in the first meet of last season before tearing her Achilles the week after. She is on schedule to return to her spot in the line-up! She is such a competitor - when asked what team she'd most like to compete against her answer was "The best team in the country!"
Finishing up the month of October, I can look back and say the team is looking good! We are well along our way to success and just need to put the finishing touches on everything. Our endurance is getting up there, especially on floor with the workouts, and now we are focusing on presentation. The girls are having a blast with their floor routines and beam is getting stronger. The vaulters are doing amazing and have already done their up-graded vaults on the hard competitive surface. The team looks strong and all we need is consistency. The energy is finally back up in the gym again after everyone has completed most of their midterms and papers. Leadership is coming out from all different directions in the gym, and this month has been so much fun! Recently, we had a Halloween dress up day during practice and did some flips for treats. It brought in a whole new energy that is needed with our higher standards and demands from the team. Not only did we have a great time taking pictures of costumes, but we also got together and carved pumpkins on Halloween night. We all had an amazing time and we have the pictures to prove it (check out the October Gymnastics Pictures link below!). Everyone is starting to get in the swing of things and it is going to be a promising year. We are showing confidence inside and outside of the gym. Not only us, but the coaches as well. All we need to do is keep up the hard work, which we will have no problem doing. I also want to mention a pre-season video that has just been posted on you tube - there are so many more exciting skills that are not on there (just to leave you in suspense!). October has been a tremendously fun month and I cannot wait for the other fun activities that we have planned, such as the "Bodies Exhibit" at the Carnegie Science Center, getting our T-shirts that we had made, and other exciting things! We promise to keep you updated and hopefully you will enjoy our pictures and video! <3>
And from Coach Yohman: Finishing up the month of October, even I can look back and say the team is looking good. We seem to be far ahead of last year in every aspect: events, preparation, conditioning and anticipation! The vaulters are looking strong and this will without a doubt be our strongest vault squad ever with three Yurchenko LO Fulls (plus one Tucked), three Yurchenko Arabians and one Yurchenko Full on-Pike off...ALL 10.0 Vaults. Just have to keep them healthy. Bars are coming along. Even though we did not hit at the surprise intersquad the other day, the entire squad is capable and will be ready (they had better be) by January. Beam and Floor are seeing good results right now. The skills and choreography are ready to go and we are working on the little things - like presentation :>). We are also trying to put "pressure" on the kids to perform now, so that the competitive pressures won't seem so great once the season starts! Individually Dani (missing one skill on beam, up and down on bars) and Alix (three strong events) look good returning from their surgeries. Krista is much stronger all over after having her knee cleaned up - which is a plus for a vaulter. V (after the Achilles in January) is taking a little longer but is such a competitor, and is improving quite a bit on bars! We have had some bumps and bruises this past month - Anya's thumb, Jessi's toe, Shannon took a short landing, some flu bugs - but nothing extreme. The freshmen are tending to stay relatively healthy!
I am finding that the team is going the extra mile in getting together outside of the gym and organizing team activities each week. And the leadership is developing quite nicely. Only two weeks before the Thanksgiving break, then two more weeks before finals and Christmas break, then one week before the Blue-Gold. This is the biggest thing we are trying to impress upon the kids right now - it may seem like a long time until we open on January 11, but we've got to be basically ready to go now! Following are some Sophomore thoughts in answer to the question, "What is the biggest difference between this year's team and last year's?"
Dani Bryan (2007 EAGL Vault Champion, All-Arounder): I would say that the biggest difference between this years team and last years team is the commitment. Since last years team was so big, there were more distractions and too many people to try to get on the same page with team goals. This years team being half the size, there is a greater sense of commitment and determination to accomplish those goals because we all know that each person counts and we can't afford for any one individual to slack off on any event.
Jessica Byich (Competed Vault, Bars & Beam last year; hopes to add Floor): The Pittsburgh Gymnastics team this year is a team to be reckoned with! The difference between this year's team and last year's is mostly the size. Though we are smaller, the bond that we have is greater than ever! I know I can speak for all the girls and say that we are more like family. Everyone knows that the team's got your back!
You can tell when you step one foot in the gym the atmosphere has changed incredibly and for the better. More smiles than frowns, more cheers than silence, and more focused than ever! We are so excited for this competition season to start, so we can show everyone what we're all about.
Shannon McConnell (Most consistent Vault & Floor last year; working All-Around): I think the biggest difference from this year's team to last year's is the size of team. With the team being so much smaller, it gives us the opportunity to learn more about each other and become a lot closer!
Krista Rubini (Solid contributor on Vault, also trains Bars & Floor): A Big Change! In my opinion, the biggest difference in our team this year lies with the size of the team. We have a total of fourteen girls competing for line up spots, instead of twenty girls like last year. I think that this has put a lot of pressure on each of the girls because each is especially vital to the team this year. If anyone in the line up gets injured, there is that fear of who will be able to replace her? But instead of this becoming a downfall to the team, it has actually made the team stronger as a unit. People are fighting left and right for the line up spot, and it is ridiculous how motivated we have become. The whole team is working together and pushing themselves towards bigger and better accomplishments.
Sarah Thompson (Trains AA; could be strong contender for Bars, Beam & Floor line-up): I think our team is different because we are smaller... and everyone knows each other better. We all rely on each other more. Where as before, maybe we weren't worried about people getting injured, or people not getting their stuff done or going to treatment. I think now that our team is smaller, that we care more about each other and how we are doing and that we're getting our stuff done because it matters more. We can't afford to lose anybody. I guess that's it in a nutshell.
