Gymnastics: Flipping awesome
The Utah State gymnastics team will compete at the NCAA Regional Championship for the first time since 2007, the NCAA announced Monday. USU was awarded a No. 5 seed and will compete at the regional championships at 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 5 in Fayetteville, Ark. The team will compete against Utah, UCLA, Arkansas, Arizona State and UC Davis.
The top 36 teams in the country qualify, and with their recent wins, the Aggies are currently ranked No. 32. Regional competitions are held at six different sites where the top teams, as well as the top individuals who compete for non-qualifying teams, will compete.
“I feel like the confidence for the girls is going to be through the roof,” said USU head coach Nadalie Walsh. “They know they can hold their own and go into that arena with those teams.”
The Aggies are getting ready to compete by going back to the basics.
“They had an awesome practice yesterday, and we just kind of took a step back and worked on skills individually instead of routines,” Walsh said. “I feel like we have to keep doing what we’ve been doing, and we don’t need to reinvent the wheel because what we have done has gotten us this far.”
Senior Paige Jones, who competed in individual all-around at the regional meet last season, is excited to be going with her entire team for the first time in her college career.
“It’s so nice to have that support and that potential to make it to nationals, because we certainly have that potential,” Jones said.
Walsh said competing as a team will really be the difference-maker.
“The thing that will help even more for those girls who have been there is having their team there,” Walsh said. “Those girls are going to do better than they could have ever done on their own.”
Jones is one of three athletes on the team who have experience at the regional level. Jones competed at an individual level in all-around and placed 20th with a 35.400 and 11th with a 38.950 in 2012 and 2013, respectively. She also competed on floor and vault as a freshman in 2011.
Junior Sarah Landes has experience at the regional level, where she has twice competed in individual all-around, finishing 12th with a 38.325 in 2012 and 11th with a 39.325 last season. Sophomore Stefanie Daley was the third Aggie to compete in the 2013 regionals, where she finished 37 with a 9.550 on the beam.
“I am way more excited than I have been the last two years,” Landes said. “Going individually, it’s awesome, but having the team there has always been the goal.”
Jones has helped the team to relax by reminding them that it is just another meet, according to Walsh.
“I think just having that experience and being able to have that relaxation and carry it on to the team is good,” Jones said.
“I don’t think this meet is that different than any of the other meets, so everybody’s mindset is just going in and competing just like the other meets,” Landes added.
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