Slips, falls and nerves need to be fixed for the Gymcats if they want a chance against No. 14 Boise State tonight at 7 in McKale Center.
The Broncos have averaged a team score of 194.788 in their two meets this year while the Gymcats have averaged 193.4.
Although the team had a rough meet last week, the coaching staff doesn’t seem too concerned.
“”It’s interesting, scores are a little bit lower this year overall around the country,”” said head coach Bill Ryden. “”I still think we can go 195 or 196 which will be a pretty serious score this year. We will have to see, we still have a lot of season left, but I would like to get more on a roll.””
Anxiety could be an issue for several Gymcats during the beginning stages of this year. Several gymnasts are coming back this season from serious injuries, including Miranda Russell, Molly Quirk and Rebecca Cardenas. On top of that, two of the Gymcats in the lineup are freshmen.
The team is on track with assistant coach John Courts prediction that it would take them at least three weeks to get on track and get everyone in sync.
Even with these issues, the coaching staff is very hopeful on the outlook of this team, which will have an extra bounce to its step as they head into today’s meet as Deanna Graham and Aubree Cristello had time to recuperate this week from their various injuries that bothered them last week.
“”Miranda (Russell) slipped on the horse, and if your hand slips you can’t push off and then you can’t land,”” Court said. “”That was more of a freak accident just like tripping. Shana’s (Sangston) was more of a technical thing. I think it’s hard anytime you’re a freshman and you go out in front of family and friends for the first time ever.
“”Things change. Your time changes, your speed changes, your heart rate changes, your anxiety increases.””
But regardless of what happened in the past, Cristello said the team just needs to focus on hitting its routines.
“”Well, I just try to relax when I get nervous and tense up — that’s when I tend to mess up,”” Cristello said. “”Yeah you just go to relax and just believe that you can do it.””
