Gymnastics travels to No. 11 Iowa State
Published Feb. 2, 2007
It's hard enough for a team to go on the road against a tough conference opponent but having your hardest event be the final event of the night could make it even harder. For the gymnastics team, going on the road to Iowa State tonight not only means facing the No. 11 team in the country but also having beam, the event it has struggled on the most, as the final event.
Because gymnastics teams alternate events, with teams competing in different events simultaneously, the home team finishes with the floor and the away team finishes on beam. Even though in gymnastics, team scores trump win-loss records in terms of post-season qualification, it doesn't relieve any pressure for the night's final event.
"The pressure is still there even though we can't control the other team," junior Julie Abaray said.
But coach Rob Drass said that this doesn't mean the pressure should be overstated.
"I don't really know that it's harder," he said, adding that he feels it's easier to focus on the final event of the night.
Two weeks ago at Oklahoma, Abaray and sophomore Adrianne Perry both fell on the beam. Last week at home against Nebraska, both sophomore Nikki Bowman and Perry had beam falls. The team lost .725 points to the Huskers that meet in the beam. But Drass is still optimistic.
"We have the potential to be a great beam team," he said.
Drass said when he goes over his team's potential, he feels that beam is its best event. He thinks it's possible this could show tonight.
"I sure hope so," he said. "I think it's just a matter of time."
This week in practice, the team tried an approach to both build team chemistry and improve on the beam. Team members who compete in the beam were partnered. Completion was dependent on not only hitting one's own routine but also their partners hitting theirs. Drass said this is a change for the freshmen and sophomores, who are learning to become more team-focused and not so individualistic.
Because the meet is away, maintaining the scoring level the Tigers have at home helps even more toward post-season qualifying. The team reached its goal of scoring 195 points at home last week and maintaining that is its goal.
Another goal is to improve team consistency. With six gymnasts competing in four events, that means 24 routines. Senior Amanda Pezzullo said going 24 for 24 without mistakes is what the team wants.