Jan. 23, 2004

Our showing last Sunday at ASU, like any meet, had its highs and lows, but overall I think we know we are a better team than we showed in Arizona. After the competition, the team went out to lunch (or was it dinner? Linner?) with Becky Meldrum and Katy Herbert, two SWG alumni who graduated two years ago. It was great to catch up with them and hear about the exciting journeys they are embarking on now that their gymnastic years are over! They both have great perspective, and talking to them helped us all focus on the good parts of the weekend and look forward to our next meet and the rest of the season. Lauren Elmore, who will be a freshman on the team next year, also came out to ASU to watch us compete! It was kind of eerie to see the past and future of the Stanford gymnastics program, and realize that this is my last year in the "present."

Despite our quick return to California after Sunday's meet (we spent less than 24 hours away from Stanford!), we all came in to practice on Monday ready to go! Being as competitive as we are, losing made us even more determined, unified, and aggressive in the gym. Even though we have only had two workouts so far this week, I think we've made big improvements in the gym. Flurry, Lindsay, Lou, and I put in a lot of time on vault, and we should be ready to post some higher start values on Friday night. Stacy has been working on upgrading her beam series, looking solid as always, and we are all so excited to see Kendall doing full routines on beam again!!

Outside of the gym, on Tuesday night, Natalie, Britt, and Erin participated in the 2nd annual Cardinal Council Student Athlete Date Auction. They did a great job, and altogether the event raised over $1,000 for Family and Children's Services of the Mid-Peninsula. (Thanks to those three for participating, and also congratulations to Marla who was the official chair of the event this year!)

We are all getting excited for our second home meet of the year, which is on Friday night against the University of Arizona. Many of us will be sporting fancy hairstyles thanks to Britt, our official team hairdresser. Along with our glammed-up hair, we're going to bring our appreciation of the sport we love so much, and we're going to have fun showing you all what we work so hard for. Even though we try to enjoy every hour we spend in the gym practicing, Friday nights are truly the most fun! Hope to see you all there.

Shelly