Hey again Ladies Fans! It's your God Squad, also known as the sophomore class here to give you another Gym Talk!
The Ladies have spent countless hours intensely watching the NCCA Women's Gymnastics Regionals. We love to get together and watch our favorite teams duke it out on the big stage. You could say a few upsets occurred during the first and second round of regionals … ifykyk. In some cases, upsets are a very sensitive topic for the die-hard fans on our team. We love supporting other collegiate gymnasts and are excited to watch the semifinals and finals this upcoming weekend!! Who is your pick for national champion?
Prior to spring break departures, we got together for a team dinner at Marilynn's Place and watched Coach Joseph take on the HEAT Challenge. The Heat Challenge was a 4 course meal of spicy dishes. Coach Joseph surprisingly survived the challenge without shedding a tear … tears may have occurred later that evening.
This past week was a very exciting week. The USAG Collegiate Nationals were hosted by Texas Woman's down in Denton, Texas from April 6-8. The Ladies that qualified were freshmen Sophie Schmitz and Amy Foret, sophomores Emma Lavelle and Carissa Martinez, and seniors Kendall Huff, Kennedy Stephens, Taylor Wilson and Leilani Johnson. Starting off the week National qualifiers went through a short intrasquad to prepare for the change in rotations and warm up times due to the flow of Nationals.
The Ladies departed Shreveport on Tuesday April 4. They arrived at the Embassy Suites in Denton, and were welcomed by the freshman moms with gift bags and big hugs! Wednesday was an early start for the Ladies as we fueled up for practice day. The Ladies were split up and placed with TWU and SEMO for practice day and qualifiers. After a solid practice day, the Ladies dressed to impress at the USAG Banquet and indulged in some tiramisu cake- y'all should have seen the beeline Coach Meg made to the dessert table. Sadly, only Leilani Johnson would say the tiramisu was to die for. We celebrated the USAG Scholar athletes, our lovely seniors, and all the coaches and administrators working behind the scenes to help our Nationals run.
IT'S MEET DAY!!! Your Ladies took on the Kitty Magee Arena and showed off all their hard work from this season. Our fellow teammates made a grand entrance with colorful posters and FANTASTIC ENERGY!!! We couldn't have done it without them! Our teammates sure know how to pump us up. After the competition Taylor Wilson and Carissa Martinez placed in the top 5 and moved onto the individual event finals.
The next day the Ladies hung out in downtown Denton finding their new favorite coffee place, Jupiter's House. The Ladies then walked through the beautiful boutiques and made Roosters Roadhouse their final destination in downtown Denton. Later that evening the Ladies showed their support and attended team Finals where the Lindenwood Lions took home the big DUB! Congrats Lindenwood!
The Ladies want to give big shoutout to both SEMO and TWU for taking us in in for the weekend!! We had so much fun rotating with two of our conferences teams and making new friendships!! We are excited to see the Pioneers and Redhawks next season and wish them the best of luck with their final exams.
Thank you to all of our supporters who came out to Denton to cheer us on!! We appreciate each and everyone of you! Keep an eye out for Coach Meg's Gym Talk in the coming weeks :)
God Squad signing off
