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Sarah Schmidt
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Feb. 19, 2007
Get behind the scenes of Illinois Gymnastics with Illini Ink - the weekly women's gymnastics journal. This week, freshman Sarah Schmidt talks about the team's trip to Michigan State.
Hey Illini fans! This past week has been an exciting week for all of us, not only in the gym but in school as well. This past Tuesday and Wednesday, we had about 18 inches of snow and NO SCHOOL! We spent all the extra time relaxing. As a result we were well rested and ready to go this weekend.
This past week in practice we have really been focusing on the quality of our routines and have raised the team spirit in the gym. As we headed off to Michigan State Friday afternoon, all of us had positive attitudes and were determined to have a great meet. We started off strong on bars, with Pommie achieving the first place finish. Then, we went to vault and hit 6 for 6! It was also exciting because it was Danye's first time vaulting this season due to her recovery from an injury she sustained last year.
Up by a little over a tenth heading into floor, we kept the energy high throughout the rotation. It was an exciting event as we scored our highest floor score of the year. Lindsey recorded her career high on floor with a 9.75. To wrap up floor, I performed my best routine to date and tied my career high while capturing my first event title in my collegiate career.
We went into beam with a decent lead, but we knew we still had to focus and hit beam. We ended up clenching the top three finishes on beam with Julie winning it. There was another debut for an Illini on beam. Michelle took the exhibition spot and showed everyone what she could do. We scored our season high on the road this season with a 194.7 defeating No. 18 Michigan State. On top of that, freshman Nicole won the All-Around title for the second time this year.
This coming week is going to be stressful for a lot of the girls with several exams on the way, but we are studying hard and will be well prepared. This weekend we are excited to have another home meet against Iowa State and Northern Illinois. We are pumped to be at home and to show the fans how much we have improved over the past weeks. Thanks for reading.
Go Illini!
Sarah
