February 26, 2007

SWG fans,

Well, we had a very long and rather eventful trip this weekend. We started out early on Saturday morning for Nebraska. With the reports of snow we were a little worried. However, we made it into Omaha. Lots of the girls were really excited to see the snow. It was only the first or second time some had seen it actually snowing! The next part of our journey is where the adventure begins. We got on the bus to head to Lincoln. However, the bus failed to make it up the on-ramp to the highway. We were all a little nervous as we had to back down the ramp. Quite an experience. We got stuck a couple of other times heading to our new hotel in Omaha. After staying there for the night, we got up and left for Lincoln early Sunday morning, all safe and ready to go!

Starting on beam was a challenge for us this weekend. It was something new and I think that we were all a little nervous and that showed. Nevertheless, we did make some great improvements this weekend. A year ago, or even a couple months ago, with a performance like that on beam this team probably would have fallen apart. We showed tremendous growth in our mental toughness and ability to pull the meet back together. Floor was a highlight for me personally, as I got to compete for the first time since my freshman year. On vault, Nikki's huge stuck full set the tone for the rest of the rotation. Another highlight was having Tab back on bars. Though the night was not what we had hoped, with many mistakes on beam and a few things other places, we managed to pull it back together and finish well.

The team is looking forward to a much needed weekend off. We are also ready to get back and work hard, paying even more attention to details as we head into the last stretch of the regular season. We will be focusing on beam especially and getting back to being the confident team we have been for much of the season. "Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to error that counts." This team has a lot of heart. More heart than any team I've been apart of. That quote is something that has real meaning for this team I think. We learn from our mistakes and they motivate us to get better and to rise up.

Thanks for checking in, and GO CARD!

Lauren