February 5, 2007

As the Indianapolis Colts battled the Chicago Bears, we took on some Bears of our own at the Haas Center in Berkeley. As some of you might have read, we entered this meet without two of our stars, Liz and Tabby. Going in, we knew there we two ways to face this meet, fight or flight…and we fought. Injuries are an unfortunate part of this sport, but by resting several of our girls, we were able to showcase some of our other stars. For example, Carly Janiga, “The Jaginaut,” performed with the confidence and attitude of a senior with perfectly stuck landings on three events and a breathtaking floor routine. Lauren Elmore made her uneven bars debut with a gorgeous routine topped off by a stuck landing! Also, Stephanie Gentry performed an explosive vault followed by a beautiful floor routine that helped us build toward our 196.075 team score. Shout to all of SWG! Way to step up!

That being said, what I love most about this team is not our scores or gymnastics or our ability to rise up when faced with adversity, but rather how much we enjoy our sport. I speak for the whole team when I say that being a member of the Stanford Women’s Gymnastics team isn’t a job but a privilege. We love doing what we do and it shows when we compete. Even when we’re injured, sick, tired, and overwhelmed, we love our school, we love our sport, and we love working collectively as a family to one day stand atop the podium.

We look forward to next week’s home competition carrying with us the same attitude as Dwight Schrute who said, “I am ready to face any challenges that might be foolish enough to face me.”

Thanks for reading!

- Fee