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April 28, 2007
P>NCAA Women's Gymnastics National Championships
Individual Event Championship Quotes
April 27, 2007
Jon M. Huntsman Center - Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah Head Coach Greg Marsden
Question: "Is it harder to get kids excited about events that they don't specialize in?"
Answer: "We talk about the team with the girls all along. I think that's one of the biggest differences for the girls in college -- to change from an individual view to a team view. We don't view individual achievements as big as team accomplishments. When it's all done people remember the team champions more than the individual ones."
Utah Student-Athlete Ashley Postell (Beam)
Opening Statement
"It was exciting to compete in the beam and win. It is one of my best events and I was nervous tonight because I wasn't last and sometimes (going last) is an advantage. But my score stuck. At the end, I cried because I was so happy. I want to congratulate my other team members because they did really good."
Question: "How did you feel to capture a championship individually after several close calls before?"
Answer: "It feels good. I'm known for doing well on the beam and that is an event I try hard to do my best in. It was a close finish but I'm real excited to get the win."
Georgia Head Coach Suzanne Yoculan
Question: "Is it harder to get kids up for events they don't specialize in?"
Answer: "On individual nights like these we don't do a whole lot of coaching. We try to get them to go in and just have fun. We might give some more technical advice but nothing big, just go in and have fun. We really want them to enjoy this. We also encourage them to try some new stuff. In a team event where you need to be 100-percent positive on your performance, we don't encourage it. But tonight it's a great challenge. You should challenge them and tell them to enjoy it. Just like Courtney did tonight."
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Georgia Student Athlete Courtney Kupets (Vault)
Opening Statement
"Tonight was amazing and fun. It felt like all the girls out there were one big team. Everyone was cheering each other on. I forgot how much you had to hustle from one event to the next. I was very pleased with how things went today."
Question: "Tonight you won with two different vaults. Do you or any other girls train using two different vaults?"
Answer: "I don't regularly train on two separate vaults. My second vault tonight I haven't done in about 6-8 months. But your muscles know what to do, that's what training is for. You always keep that second vault in the back of your head."
Alabama Student-Athlete Terin Humphrey (Bars)
Opening Statement
"I'm very excited to be a national champion. I'm proud of Morgan for coming out as a freshman and hitting her routine so well. I'm very proud of how the results turned out."
Question: "You've had a lot of success in gymnastics. How does this rank?"
Answer: "It's still exciting as is the Olympics. I had to go through surgery (this year) and overcoming all of that makes it even sweeter."
Alabama Student-Athlete Morgan Dennis (Floor Exercise)
Opening Statement
"I feel the same way (as Terin). We really attacked our events tonight and were able to pull it together. Everything worked out."
Question: "You had two 10s from two different judges. What were you thinking knowing that all-around national champion Courtney Kupets was yet to compete?"
Answer: "I was really nervous because Courtney did consistently well the whole meet, and I didn't know how the judges were going to score it. It was exciting to finally win."
Question: "Did it make up for not finishing well in the preliminaries?"
Answer: "Definitely. We talked afterwards about how we can go home with something now, after our unfortunate finish at the prelims.
Alabama Head Coach Sarah Patterson
Question: "Is it harder to get your kids up for events they don't specialize in?"
Answer: "I'm very proud of Terin and Morgan for what they did tonight. We were devastated after not making Super Six. We're pleased we could end the season on a positive note. These are the favorite events for our athletes, so they're easy to coach on these events."
