(GYM) On the Road Gators at Mizzou

i give up. no way can i agree how jenny rowland seemingly blew off this meet. the only opponent uf should be competing against is themselves. disappointing.

 

how is a 197.775 on the road, one of the highest in the nation this year (I think it’s second highest at least as of last week), blowing off the meet?

 

I thought her comments post match made perfect sense. Long season, keep everyone fresh and rested, get everyone some work. I can only imagine the comments if we grind up the top performers and they struggle late in the year

 

She’s actually learned from the past. Please give Jenny credit!

 

Meanwhile, Michigan had a score of 198.525 on the road tonight:
VT: 49.875 UB: 49.550 BB 49.500 FL 49.600. They again used the same 8 gymnast including 4x AAs. I keep waiting for signs of exhaustion but so far nothing. If Michigan keeps it up, they will be the team to beat at NCAA Championships

 

It's hard to be patient, especially when you see other teams scoring consistently high. Also we don't know the true status on the gymnasts. Leanne Wong has put her body thru a lot of gymnastics in the last 2 years, as has McCusker. Reed had 1 foot taped up. Some gymnasts probably have nagging little injuries. We've lost 3 gymnasts for the season. We have to trust Jenny on this.

 

Yeah, one thing we know is the elite gymnasts have some wear and tear.....riding them hard at this stage would be insanity. And let's be real, we all enjoy posting those big scores now but it does little toward achieving the ultimate goal. UF will be well positioned going into the postseason, being #1 right now is virtually meaningless.

 

UF lost in football to LSU in 20 using Jenny's mindset. Get your NQS scores now and cruise on a meet later, say at North Carolina State. It's hard to get the best from the gymnasts when they know less than the best is acceptable. To me and with this team, less than 198+ is not doing your best.

Leanne Wong is still practicing her elite routines with the intent of competing elite after spring with the hope of going to the Worlds again in 22. Does that seem like an athlete that needs to be paced or protected?

UF had 3 on the floor who aren't accomplished on the floor while others who are sat out. Alyssia and Nya only performed on one event and Leanne did not perform in all-around.

Barring a good finish on the beam, includes Wong's underperformance, UF would have lost the meet. UF was lucky to win a closer than it should have been meet.

 

The season will be judged on how it finishes, not the journey. I reckon we’ll find out, but I’ll hold my second guessing til then.

 

In the history of the program, we have scored 198 or higher in a road regular season meet a grand total of 4 times. And anything less than that is now a disappointment?
That was also our program’s 9th highest regular season road score ever.

So I think you are being unrealistic about what last night was and wasn’t, and what the weekly expectations should be.

And comparing a football game, where one game ends your season, to a sport where you only have to count just over half your results doesn’t seem apt.
But done making the point, feel free to spend the next month kvetching, we will only know whether the approach this year has paid off when we get to nationals.

 

This season is unlike previous history. There are more elite gymnasts throughout women's college gymnastics than ever before. These elite gymnasts do not need to be cuddled. They have trained every day for most of their lives. To my knowledge, UF is the only school pacing, cuddling, their elite gymnasts. Riley McCusker could use some work. She didn't perform last night either.

Insofar as nationals are concerned, there is no guarantee of getting to the Super 6 if the team isn't primed and ready. There are quite a few teams capable of knocking out UF. This team is capable of getting there, but nights like at Missouri won't get it done.

If UF comes up short when it counts, we'll see who complains the loudest then. It won't be me as I have already gone on record with my concerns.

 

well there is no super six anymore, so there’s that.
And I have gone on record as saying I support the strategy this year, so if it doesn’t work out it doesn’t work out, I won’t be the one yelling either. The previous all out early approach didn’t work, we were beat to heck by nationals…so it was time to try something new. And if we fail at nationals, it’s no different than the previous few years where we had little chance with as many nagging injuries as we had, there’s nothing lost with trying this.
So resting people and still getting scores like last night is more than fine with me.

 

The gymnasts work on their routines thru out the season adding difficulty and confidence. You want to build momentum as the season progresses. And, if possible, have your best gymnasts rested and ready for the big meets. Next week we host LSU so Jenny was able to relieve Wong and Skaggs from another grueling AA (Skaggs looked a little tired last week and struggled on the floor). There's physical exhaustion and mental exhaustion and a gymnast has a greater risk injuring herself if she's dealing with either one. After LSU they travel to a hot Kentucky squad, then a huge home meet with Oklahoma. Then at Auburn in front of a raucous loud crowd and probably the #3 SEC squad. 2 Olympians- Wong and Sunisa Lee will be squaring off for. the 1st time and will surely get a lot of publicity and attention by the gymnast crowd. Auburn beat Alabama earlier and would love nothing more than to bring down our beloved Gators too. Their student section will be going bonkers and a win over the hated Gators would make their season an historical success. We can't allow this! A win at their gym would be such a confidence lifter and a momentum builder! So this will be the last time Jenny will have the luxury of resting our best gymnasts. Remember you want to have momentum building and the gymnasts peaking heading into post season.

 

In 2008 the Gator softball team had a record of 70-5. To this day that is the most wins in any season by a college softball team. They did not win the College World Series. If given a choice between winning the CWS or holding the most wins record, which would Coach Walton and the team choose?

By the way, Missouri set an all-time program meet scoring record last night just to stay close to UF. And, as noted, we did not use our top gymnasts in all events. I'd say that's not bad. And congrats to Missouri on a terrific performance.

 

Considering Jenny sat out at least 1 top gymnast in each routine, 197.750 is a great score and now we can drop the 196.975 score.

 

Each time Missouri inched slightly closer, we kept hitting our routines and actually built the lead. On the road. After dealing with all that snow and cold and arriving late. Our gymnasts were still able to deal with the pressure and kept hitting their landings. All the SEC squads seem to have historically top scores against us. Meanwhile we are something like 20-1 vs them. I say "bring it on" we will still defeat you! Go Gators!

 

No disrespect intended, but our gymnasts failing after dominating all year has been the trademark of JR teams. I congratulate her for building this team and not overworking the top gymnasts. Opinions are just that. I think she is going exactly right this year.

 

No disrespect, but I didn't like at Mizzou and neither did the SEC Network announcers. By the start of the last events, they were questioning the lineup changes and openly rooting for Mizzou to win. I'm left wondering if you folks who are okay with the way the meet was handled actually took the time to watch the meet.

When the meet was over, I felt like I had wasted 1 hour and 45 minutes of my time. Next time Jenny Rowland should just announce in advance when UF isn't going to take a meet seriously. I'd be glad to watch something else.

 

so you are not in favor of load management?hope you are not a nba fan then, their stars do it numerous times a year, do you still watch>