April 21, 2012
DULUTH, Ga. - Stanford senior Jenny Peter provides an insider's perspective of the Cardinal's fourth-place national finish Saturday:
“We just won fourth place at nationals tonight. Cheers!”
Coach Kristen raised her glass for a toast at the restaurant after the NCAA Championships Super Six final and ended with these words. When she said it, the team and our fans, friends, and family with us were back to all smiles and to reliving the meet over and over again. It truly was an incredible way to end the season!
I went back to picturing our team huddle when we finished our last event on vault with a 49.55. We were pressed up close to each other in a circle in our corral with teary-eyed joy on our faces because we had just ended the meet with so many vault sticks that it landed us our highest vault rotation ever, and we honestly left the day with #No Regrets. Our 197.5 is Stanford’s highest championship score in history, and we feel honored to call this team our family that made our mark in the SWG legacy.
Bars was a solid start, with scores building, stuck landings, and the ability to set up our last girls to get high scores. Beam was our normal and we simply got down to business. Floor was consistent, and the highlight was seeing Sami Shapiro debut in a Super Six in the sixth spot in the lineup because the other girls before her set her up well! And vault was absolutely ridiculous – enough said.
From all of us, thank you. And from us three seniors, we could not have asked for a better way to end the 2012 season and our 20-plus years of doing the gymnastics. What we said a few days ago before NCAA’s came true:
“It’s experiences and moments like these that have set us up for tomorrow. At this point, all we have left is to enjoy the moment. We’ve been looking at the individual athletes that we’ve become and at the team that we’ve become. "We’ve been looking back at all of the conditioning, the circuits, the numbers, the laughs and joys, the coaches who pushed us and encouraged us, the parents who loved us and supported us, the friends who smiled and cheered for us, and that little girl who fell in love with gymnastics in each of us long ago. We are ready to perform for her, and for those moments that got us here.”
We did enjoy the moment. And we did perform for her, and for you.
Down to Business and #No Regrets!
-- Jenny Peter