2005 "From The Vault" by Steve Shephard

The 2005 "From the Vault" is a column by Penn State women's gymnastics head coach Steve Shephard.

April 12, 2005
The team achieved a rare, and coveted opportunity this past weekend. We traveled to Seattle for the West Regional, where we competed against UCLA, Stanford, Washington, Boise State and Central Michigan for a berth at the NCAA Championships. We managed to hold off Washington, on their home court, to secure a second place finish behind UCLA. We achieved this with a total team effort.

We started the competition on beam. This was a tough place to start, but we had confidence in our beam team. At the Big Ten Championships we had to end on the beam with a chance to win the meet. The team handled that pressure situation very well, so we knew we could hang tough under pressure. In Seattle we stayed on, but we could??ve done much better. We had number of our athletes ??surf?? through their routines.

Going to floor next, we were very confident, since we had a great warm up. We had trouble on floor, however. Jen Orlando was sooo high on her full in she over rotated and went out of bounds. We decided to put Meredith up last in order to pump her score, and if we had problems we would not let her compete her double layout. Kate Stopper fell on her first pass, so we were faced with a tough decision. Should Mer do her double lay, or should we keep it simple? Tough decision!! She hadn??t warmed up the double pike in touch, and had done really well with the double lay in the timed warm up, so we decided to let her do the double lay. She nailed it, but then struggled with her second pass, a front full, punch pike front!! AAAGGGHHH! We were counting a 9.575 from Jen Orlando, and we would drop Kate??s 9.3. Going into Vault we needed a huge performance.

The team delivered, when Jen Orlando redeemed herself with the best vault of her career. Lisa, and Kate also did well, and Mer stuck hers. We scored 49.125, which gave us a .325 cushion against Washington going into our last rotation which was Bars. On bars we started with Corissa Pirkl. She hit her routine. Next up was Mer, and she also hit her routine with a step on her dismount. Lisa was up next, and she fell on her Tkatchev. This put huge pressure on Michelle, and she let it get to her a bit when she hit her heel on her Tkatchev, but managed a decent enough score. We needed Cecile, and Kristal to come through BIG!!! My heart was pounding through my chest as I watched!!! They both hit under incredible pressure, with Kristal winning bars! Wow!! What a meet. We held off Washington in their house, and now we??re going to Nationals. We are thrilled with the opportunity to compete against the top teams in the country.

We have nothing to lose, and a huge opportunity in front of us. We plan on letting it all hang out, and hopefully we??ll make a statement to the country. We plan on enjoying every moment.

March 30, 2005
Well, Big Tens are behind us, and Regionals are in front of us. As we look behind our performance at Big Tens was one of the gutsiest I??ve seen from our team in a long time. We had to end on beam as Michigan headed to Floor. We were .325 behind at that point and we needed a big time performance from our beam team to catch them. We almost did!! We gained .2 on them and still came up short by .125. I was extremely proud of our team. They nailed beam! Not a wobble, and they even stuck their double back dismounts, except for Kate who took a hop backward. Kristal won beam with a stellar beam set that would challenge any athlete in the country. Kristal also won bars with a near perfect set. They could have given her a 10.0!!! Her routine was awesome. Kate Stopper tied for first on floor. She wowed the judges with her double Arabian, and her whip immediate double tuck second pass. All in all, it was a total team effort.

As we look forward to Regionals, we are excited to be competing for a chance at securing a berth at the NCAA Championship in Auburn. The team is ready, and healthy. We are continuing to train and trying to improve the little details that will make the difference in a close competition. As we saw at the Big Ten Championship, the meet was decided by .125. Each team member is trying to save a tenth on every routine we do in practice in order to be the very best we can be. We want to leave the meet feeling like we gave our very best and feel no regrets. Our goal is to hit 24 for 24, sticking all our dismounts, and all our floor passes, and all our vaults. If we do that we will be satisfied with our performance. We don??t want to play the ??what if?? game. We want to compete with the calm confidence that we have strived for all year. The fact that we are traveling all the way to Washington is no problem for our team. We spent a week on the road for our spring break, and performed very well in hostile territory. We are ready!!!

March 17, 2005
This trip has been a very valuable growth experience for our team. They have had to adjust to a new gym every day during our workouts on the road. They have had to compete in foreign environments, against teams that are putting up their top performances of the year. We had to be at the top of our game in order to succeed. They have been together 24/7 the whole trip. They all got along great! We have had no drama, and, as a matter of fact, I think they have grown even closer together. The team has also been enlightened with a renewed appreciation for what a tremendous training facility we have at home. Our gym is without a doubt one of the best training environments in the country. Not only is it functional, but it is very clean, and pleasant, with a ton of natural light flooding into the gym.

The line up has been a source of some concern, because we have some team members who are working very hard, only to find themselves in a back up role. We have depth this year, and as a result of this we have some frustrated athletes who aren??t in the line up. In spite of this fact, we have managed to keep the lines of communication open, and have kept everyone on the same page. In addition to honest communication, we have managed to keep everyone motivated, and working hard regardless of where they are in the line up. We still have decisions to make regarding who will be the best choice for line up as we go into the championship season. The girls are pushing each other, and I think we are getting the best out of everyone because of this.

Our team is prepared, and the confidence level continues to get better. Our focus must be on striving for excellence. Everyone must strive to make good decisions, in and out of the gym, as we get ready for the final push over the next couple of weeks. We are poised to make a statement at our conference meet, and at the regional championships. We must remain poised, and calm, as we prepare for the pressure cooker that is the regional meet.

March 7, 2005
I??m writing this entry from my hotel room in Tempe Arizona. We are staying out west during our spring break trip. The team had a good meet against ASU. The team still has room for improvement, and we??re looking forward to another opportunity for a good road score against Boise State this Friday.

The team is doing well. We trained at Desert Lights on Sunday. John Spini was very gracious, allowing us to train at his wife??s gym. Thanks John and Lisa! We had a great practice, and today we are heading to Desert Devils to train. Shelly Eaton was also very nice in setting us up at her husband??s gym. That is an interesting scenario with each of the ASU coach??s spouses involved in two different gym schools. I??m sure that both John and Shelly are very in touch with the age group community here in Tempe.

After our meet on Friday we took Saturday off. The girls all went shopping and I played golf with some of the team parents who made the trip out here to support the team. It was so great to have a very strong PSU presence at the meet. The Penn Staters who were at the meet were very vocal. When we did our ??We Are?? cheer and the gym echoed with the voices of the faithful fans that support our team! Their support really impressed, and gratified the girls on the team. We are all so proud of these girls! They are working very hard to make our goals a reality.

We continue to fine tune our routines, focusing on the details that will maximize our team score. Our focus is on demanding excellence from each other, and ourselves. Regionals will be a very close and highly competitive event. We are preparing the team mentally to be ready for the intensity of that competition. We cannot afford to give anything away. We must not leave the door open for the judges to deduct anything from our landings, or our handstands, or any deduction that is at the judge??s discretion. We preach over and over to our team that we can??t count on getting the benefit of the doubt, therefore we must demand perfection.

The rankings have us at 13 this week. Things are going according to plan with this ranking. We wanted to be in the top 18 going into regionals, and it looks as if we will be able to do that. We have two regular season meets left, and then the championship season begins. As we prepare for these next couple of regular season meets, we are talking, and thinking about regionals. These last two regular season meets will be stepping stones that will help build our team up in order to peak at regionals. I love this time of year!! The best and most exciting part of the season is almost upon us. We are all relishing the thought of competing against the top teams in the country!! Bring it on!

March 1, 2005
This past weekend was a tough one for our team. We lost Lindsay Borkan for the season during warm ups on floor. When she punched for her whip double layout, she ruptured her Achilles tendon. This really took the wind out of our sails. The team was visibly shaken, and fought back to regain their composure. The entire night felt like we were struggling just to stay focused. We performed fairly well on Vault. Lisa stuck her vault again. Everyone else took a step, and Kate Stopper fell. Going into Bars we seemed to regain our composure and performed very well. Everyone hit, and we scored a 49.125. Then disaster struck on beam. We had four people fall, and it felt like we just gave the meet away to Ohio State. We fought back on floor, and did fairly well scoring a 49.075. Ohio State ended on beam and they had to count some falls also, so we ended up winning the meet, with a miserable performance on beam.

This team is better than what they showed Saturday night. We need to put that night behind us, and look forward to our spring break trip with a renewed sense of purpose. We travel to ASU on Thursday, compete on Friday. We stay in Arizona until Tuesday then we travel to Boise State. We compete on Friday against Boise State, and then we return home on Sunday. This trip is going to be a critical point in our season. We are focused on competing with confidence, and using this time to bond in common purpose as we head into the Championship portion of our season. These away scores are critical to our RQS and could move us up in the rankings. This team is very motivated to get the job done this year. They are proud of each other, and they are fighting hard for spots in the line up. This team is going to succeed.

February 21, 2005
It??s hard to believe that February is almost over! Our meet this past weekend was in the Bryce Jordan Center because Dance Marathon was in Rec Hall. The Dance Marathon raised over 4 million dollars for kids with cancer. What a tremendous achievement for our students here at Penn State!! The dance marathon is the world??s largest student run philanthropic effort. Our team raised somewhere near a thousand dollars, and we gave away ??Thon?? bracelets to kids in the audience at our meet.

It was exciting to be on national TV again. We hope many of our fans from all over the country will get an opportunity to see the team. The meet was broadcast live on CSTV and WPSX. I think CSTV will also show it again on a tape delay basis [Note: CSTV will re-air the broadcast on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 12:00 p.m. ET and 11:59 p.m. ET]. Our own Erin Clayton had an opportunity to help with the broadcast. She was the color commentator with Jerry Fisher. She was very excited to have this opportunity.

We didn??t have our best performance over the weekend. We made some uncharacteristic mistakes. Although we didn??t count a fall, we had some major problems on floor, and vault. We started on Vault, and we just didn??t have much amplitude. Our landings were short, and we gave away many tenths. I thought Kate Stopper did a nice vault but her score was a bit low considering how dynamic her vault was. Lisa Clark however was great again sticking her vault! On bars Mer started us off, and was solid until her dismount, when she stumbled forward, but managed to stay on her feet. Michelle fell on her hecht, which was a surprise, since she rarely misses it in practice. Kristal was great again on bars, scoring a 9.9. On beam we were fairly solid although we can do better. Kristal missed her foot a bit on her punch for her double pike dismount and put her hands down. I thought Kate did a very good routine, and should have scored higher. Lindsay was solid on beam except for a step on her double back dismount. Mer was also very solid on beam. Going into floor we needed to put up some big scores in order to salvage an otherwise mediocre performance. Corissa did a very good routine to start the rotation off. Mer followed, and made her double layout, but was just a bit off on her landings. Jen Orlando was off on her landings, which was very out of character for her, since she has been so solid in workout. Lisa went out of bounds, and took two big steps back on her full in. Lindsay was doing great until her last pass when she ??boinked?? her landing and went out of bounds. Kate finished off the rotation with a great routine. Kate performed a whip immediate double Arabian for her first pass for the first time in her career. I think Kate is the only athlete in the country doing that pass. I think Lindsay is the only athlete in the country doing whip immediate double layout also.

The good news is we still managed to score a 195.05 even with a lackluster performance. We are looking forward to hosting Ohio State this coming weekend in Rec Hall. Carey Hoyt-Fagan, the head coach, is one of our alums. Bill Lorenz is our former assistant so it should be a nice reunion. We are very motivated to put it all together again and hit 24 for 24. When we do that we can compete with anybody in the country.

February 14, 2005
Happy Valentines Day!!! The team seemed rested and confident after having a good solid week of practice. We watched ??Miracle?? on the bus and I was very impressed with the movie, and with the team??s reaction to it. I remember that upset like it was yesterday, and the national pride I felt at that time. Those same feelings of pride washed over me again during the competition at West Virginia. This time it wasn??t national pride, it was ??Penn State Pride??. This meet seemed like a turning point to me. All the hard work of preseason, and the day in, and day out effort from the girls, seemed to culminate on Sunday afternoon in Morgantown. Our team motto this year is ??believe??. I think they finally did just that!! It seemed to me that this team really felt the level of confidence that we have been striving for. It was a determined, calm, confidence, based on paying the price in the gym. This team has done everything we have asked of them, and more. They have put out 100% in strength training, and in our daily practices. This is why they believed. It was a belief grounded in a focused purposeful effort over the course of many months. It was based on a belief in each other, and the knowledge that comes from being accountable, and knowing that everyone on this team is committed to a common goal. It was a belief based on demanding excellence from each other on a daily basis, in and out of the gym. It was grounded in the knowledge that they are masters of their gymnastics. They believe that they are capable.

Wow!!! What a performance on Sunday afternoon. Our best event was floor. I would argue that our floor team is the best floor team in the country! I challenge any team in the country to go ??head to head?? with our girls. We rock!! We had two double layouts performed flawlessly. We had two full-ins performed perfectly. Lindsay Borkan does a whip immediate double layout! I think she is the only athlete in the country doing that combination. Kate Stopper does a double Arabian that drops out of the sky. Three of our girls end with double backs. Our choreography is unique, and tailored to each of our athlete??s strengths. Ok, I know, enough with the bragging. I??m just so proud of them I can??t help it.

We still have room for improvement as well. We hit bars, but need to stick more dismounts. We hit beam, but were a bit shaky on our dismounts. We had four of our athletes do double back dismounts off beam. They need to stick them. We can??t allow those gainer fulls off the side to compete with our double backs, but if we don??t stick we allow them to. We hit our vaults, but need to stick.

We will continue to preach the gospel of believing to our team. We can??t wait for Saturday. We get another opportunity to have the kind of fun ??doing our thing?? like we did in Morgantown. See you all in the Bryce Jordan Center, Saturday Feb. 19 at 7:00pm. Be there!!!

February 11, 2005
Our team is so talented this year. I really feel that we could be one of the top teams in the nation this year. One of the factors that will determine if in fact we reach our potential this year is competing with the same level of performance that we achieve in practice. Our team rocks in practice!!! They are very consistent, and look great. When we put together a meet that is up to the same level that we perform in practice, we are capable of competing with the best. All of our practice plans try to touch that issue on some level. We believe that in order to be successful, we must increase the intensity level of practice. When we are in the competitive arena we must try to reduce the intensity. This way we can feel the same as we do in the practice gym. We will have a sense of equilibrium. We want to focus our energy, and refrain from major swings in emotion. Calm, confidence, are the words we use to describe how we want our athletes to feel at the meet. We don??t need to get ??Psyched up??. Or ??Fired up??. We need to focus on the process of competing, by using the same mind set that works for them in practice. As my coach Bill Meade, (God rest his soul) used to say, ??What you do in practice, is what you do in the meet."