April 20, 2012
DULUTH, Ga - We're going to Super Six. We're going to Super Six. We're going to Super Six! We had to tell ourselves that time and time again. Not really out of surprise, but more because it is such a surreal moment. To say that we are excited for Finals is an understatement. I think all of our smiles show it full well J.
This morning we took the elevator down to meet the parents and fans in the hotel lobby before we got onto the bus. Even from the ride down the elevator, we could tell it was going to be a good day. We started from the 11th floor and yelled all the way down to make our presence known. We then walked out of the elevator and into a crowd of Stanford fans and the Stanford Tree mascot wishing us good luck! The energy was high and the air was confident as we then entered the arena and made a mark on the competition floor.
The Preliminary Meet was just like any other game day we have at practice. We tried normal and trusted harder in our work, leaving the meet with our first 197 of the season and knew that we had it in us to hit especially on vault, bars, and beam. It took us awhile to be in the moment on floor, but we finished strong with Amo and Peach's routines, earning them second team All-American awards.
Vault gave us goose bumps as we stuck 4 vaults. On bars, we just did our normal, with Sami earning her second 9.9 of the season to advance to Individual Finals on Sunday. It felt great to lead off on bars so that I could fully focus on and live out the next 5 routines after me, watching the scores build from 9.8, to 9.85's, to 9.9's. On the last event, beam, our team truly showed our strength as we went head-to-head with Oklahoma in contending for a berth to the Super Six. We didn't count anything below a 9.85 and beat out Oklahoma by a few tenths.
For the seniors, this will be our second Super Six appearance. Our sophomore year we placed 4th in our first Super Six, and this year we plan to improve that place as well as score above a 197 team score once again. Our goals for this meet is to be in the moment, have fun, get each other's back, and be steady throughout. This "sleeping giant" team is awake and now more ready than ever for the challenge to come at NCAA Finals!
-- Jenny Peter