Spring Break
Yoculan questions freshmen
TYLER ESTEP
Issue date: 1/14/09 Section: Sports
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Suzanne's not happy.
After the Gym Dogs' unimpressive season-opening win over West Virginia Friday, head coach Suzanne Yoculan was less-than-enthused, especially with her freshmen. The sentiment carried over to Tuesday.
"They don't fight. They haven't figured out what it means. They haven't," Yoculan said. "It's not club gymnastics where you practice all week and there's a meet and you get to go in it even if you're missing your routines. Club kids compete and go in the meet even if you're missing. It's not going to happen here."
First-year Gym Dogs Kat Ding and Gina Nuccio both made their debuts on bars Friday, with Ding falling and Nuccio making a few key mistakes that resulted in a 9.775.
For Yoculan though, that wasn't the most disturbing part. Ding was scheduled to do exhibition routines on vault and beam Friday, and classmate Amber Trani was supposed to do an exhibition on vault. But Yoculan pulled them from those after poor warm-up routines, questioning their "fire."
"Not only didn't I see the fire in them, but they were a distraction. They were a distraction," Yoculan said. "They were warming up on beam and falling all over the place … It was a waste. And they know it. They know I wasn't happy about it. They're not going to go up there again and do exhibition and fall all over the place. Or go up and even take the time in warm-ups."
Every freshman has been battling injuries, and Yoculan gave some credence to the notion that a freshly-sprained ankle hindered Nuccio's performance. But even they'll admit that their minds weren't where they needed to be.
"I was not where I was supposed to be in my head," Ding said. "I was like there's too many fans, I want to compete, I want to do good, I want to do this, I want to do this, this and this, and it completely bogged me down. I was not there."
Said Nuccio: "We now know what the first meet is like and the emotions we feel. I think we can only get better from there and as soon as our bodies are getting better, I think we'll pick it up a little more and hopefully make a better impression for the freshmen."
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