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Illini Ink: Women's Gymnastics Online Journal Week 6
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Cara Pomeroy
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Jan. 23, 2007
Get behind the scenes of Illinois Gymnastics with Illini Ink - the weekly women's gymnastics journal. This week, senior Cara Pomeroy talks about the team's trip to LSU.
Hey Illini Fans,
School started last week - coincidentally the team got to start it off with a short week because we left on Thursday morning to fly to LSU. I cannot believe this is my last semester of college! It has gone by so fast. It seems like just yesterday when Kara and Margaret and all the other seniors, were telling us how to treasure each day because it goes by so much faster than you think... but of course Danye, Mel and I didn't believe them! Here we are now, competing in our last season as Illini - I don't think it has quite hit us.
Our trip to LSU began bright and early Thursday morning. We left the apartments and dorms at 4am and arrived into New Orleans around lunchtime. Most of the girls slept the whole way there, while a few of us took goofy pictures of them! It was about an hour drive from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. Most of us were awake by then, so we played one of our favourite games - Catch Phrase! We were able to relax in our hotel until it was time for dinner, and then we rushed back to watch Grey's Anatomy - another team favorite!
We spent Saturday relaxing, shopping and doing some studying. Around 4 pm it was time to head to the competition facility. When we got there a few of the girls found the LSU mascot - a real tiger! The facility was awesome. All of us loved the bright purple floor. Now, we are trying to convince Bob to get us an Orange one, or at least one with a big Block I on it!
Overall, the meet was a success. We improved a lot from the weekend before, but we all know there is still room for more improvement. Sophomore Marijka Botterman had her best collegiate meet yet. She won the all-around with a personal best score. The freshmen are also finding success early in their collegiate careers. Sara Schmidt took third-place on floor, and Nicole Cowart nailed her vault for the second meet in a row. The experienced sophomores have also made notable strides. Kim Kruk and Julie Crall took fourth and fifth respectively, in the all-around. The team loved all of the fans at the meet. Even though they weren't cheering for us, they created an exciting atmosphere for us to compete in. At one point we heard them cheering "Defense"!!!
After the meet we went out for dinner and all of the parents met up with us. It was so nice to have some of the parents there to cheer us on. Then, it was back to the hotel because we had another long travel day ahead of us. While driving from Baton Rouge to New Orleans on Saturday morning, Danye and Kimmy realized that our flight would be taken over by New Orleans Saints fans, because of the Chicago Bears - New Orleans Saints football game on Sunday. They decided to make signs for the entire team, saying things like "Bear Down Chicago Bears" and "Urlacher For President"! This definitely caused a scene at the New Orleans airport - exactly what we were hoping for! Fortunately, the pilot of our flight was a Bears Fan!
This weekend we have our first home meet of the season. We are all really excited to be in front of our home crowd. There will surely be lots of family and friends cheering us on. Hopefully, all of you reading this can come out as well. We love all the Illini support! See you at 7pm at Huff Hall on Saturday night!!! Go ILLINI!!!
Pom
