Wednesday, January 07, 2009 -- 13:05:55 (EST)
Name: Kylee

Hey gym fans!
I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas and New Years.. I know I sure did! As usual, the team had our anual Christmas party at Bev's house, each class bringing their own dish. Bev made lasagne, Tachi brought a delicious fruit salad, and I made a special chili cheese dip that the girls loved! Instead of our secret santa gift exchange, this year our team donated money to an adopt a family foundation. Because of the no gifts, Bev decided to give us "gag" gifts which were very funny! Sarah recieved a gold "grill" to wear during routines on floor so she smiles more! Kari got a little toy car for back up because of a little car incident she had at the gym :) Love you Kar!

Our first meet was in Cancun, Mexico this past week. We were pretty lucky girls to be in the hot sun over the new year while the rest of our friends were in the Michigan winter cold! We all had a blast! We got to work out in the Mexican National Training Center, which was very nice. As for the meet, Tachi and Jordan tied with 9.8s to win floor! They both had beautiful routines as well as Sarah's beam set, which she ended up taking 3rd! Becky's bar routine was phenominal as always and she ended up with the third place title as well!
After the meet we had an extra day to soak up the sun and Bev took us snorkling! Everyone got to drive a two person boat through the lagoons of Cancun. Our guide led us through the waters and out into a beautiful clear ocean where with our flippers, masks, and snorkels on... we jumped into the water to view all different types of fish! It was a fun experience!

Our winter semester began today, so all of the girls were up early for their first day of classes! This is our last day of practice before we travel to Michigan State on Friday to compete against Western Michigan, Michigan State, and the University of Illinois. I am very excited for this meet because I will be competing against my sister! She is a senior on the Illinois team, and our family is all coming to watch us! :)
We're all so excited that season is finally here! Hope to see some familiar faces at our first home meet against NC State and Kent State! LET'S GO BLUE!!!

Kylee

Thursday, December 11, 2008 -- 14:30:16 (EST)
Name: Taylor

Hey gym fans!!
Only one more day until our intersquad! I know we are all so excited to go out there and show everyone how good we are looking right now! I personally am so excited for Friday because my year of having to sit on the sidelines is done and that means I get to be out on the floor and compete! It is going to be so much fun, especially with our celebrity judges. We are having Rich Rodriquez and his daughter, and then football players Brandon Graham, Nick Sheridan and Zoltan Mesko. Andy Evans and Sam Webb, the radio personalities from Sports Talk 1050 WTKA are also going to be our celebrity judges.
This week at practice we split up into our teams for the intersquad and worked out with each other. The Maize and Blue team! The Maize team consists of Me, Tatchi, Maureen, Kylee, Kelsey, Jordan and Becky and then the Blue team is Jackie, Sarah, Kari, Trish and Huneth. We have also been having little intersquads at practice the past couple weeks especially on bars and just been working hard to get confident for Friday. Yesterday at practice, the celeb judges Brandon, Nick and Zoltan came into practice and just messed around on the events so they would know what to expect for the intersquad. Brandon was pretty impressive with him being able to do a round off back handspring back tuck. Then Nick went and attempted some vaulting, and ending up doing some head dives into the pit! We ended the day with playing Trish’s and Becky’s floor music and Zoltan and Brandon doing floor routines to the music. It was so much fun to have them see what we do every day! I think that they now have a new appreciation for gymnastics! Next it’s our turn to go over to football practice sometime and get a taste for what they do at practice every day =]
Along with the intersquad this week, we finished our classes for fall semester and started our exams. So now is the time where we are all studying every day, all day to finish off the semester good!
So with that said, it’s about that time for me to get back to studying! I better be seeing all of you tomorrow, 7:30 at Crisler Arena!!
Since I am on the Maize team tomorrow I'll change it up a little with a…
GO MAIZE!!
Tay =]

Monday, December 01, 2008 -- 10:47:25 (EST)
Name: Jordan

Hi Everyone!
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I apologize that I did not write sooner...it wont happen again:) I had a great time at home in North Carolina. I was able to spend quality time with my brother who I had not seen since he left for school at the Naval Academy...However, I am very excited to be back in Ann Arbor. I can't believe it is already December...time is really flying! Classes will be ending soon and the season is almost here! Everybody is looking great in the gym and working very hard. A couple of weeks ago we all wrote down goals that we wanted to accomplish before the intrasquad. When we complete the goal, we get a cute pair of Michigan socks! See if you can spot all of us girls wearing them next Friday:) Please come out and support us! We can't wait to show you what we got:)
Go Blue!

Jo

Saturday, November 29, 2008 -- 18:30:49 (EST)
Name: Kari

Hey Michigan Gymnastics Fans,

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and got to spend time with their families. The entire team got to either go home or visit friends and family, so we all got away for a few days. I know I had a very relaxing break. It was nice to have a little break from gymnastics and school.

And as Jackie said, there was a bars and floor intrasquad on Monday. On Tuesday, we had a beam and vault intrasquad which also went very well. Everyone is working very hard in the gym and it is showing, though the time sure is flying by.

That is it for now! Well I hope everyone that is traveling makes it to their destination safely.

GO BLUE!!!

Kari

Monday, November 24, 2008 -- 22:05:21 (EST)
Name: Jaclyn

Hello everyone!!

Wow...one more day left of practice before Thanksgiving break. We are all excited to go home, see our families, eat great food, and relax. I just can't believe how fast the time is flying by. Everyone in the gym is looking really great and we can't wait for season to get here. Today we had a bar and floor intrasquad at practice and it went really well! Everyone's floor dance looks awesome and is really fun to watch. As season is rolling closer, this semester is coming to a close awfully fast. I can't believe I'm almost done with half my junior year...its insane. Well, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

GO BLUE!!!!
Jackie

Wednesday, November 05, 2008 -- 23:02:23 (EST)
Name: Sarah

Hello Michigan Gymnastics Fans,
Wow, time is really flying by this year! I can’t believe it’s already November. We had our Halloween dress-up day on Friday, which was pretty comical. The seniors won the creativity award (as Tachi thought they would). They were different colored luffas…the sponges in the shower. It really was adorable to see all three of them out there in big puffs and a shower gel bottle! My class, the juniors, was all different Michigan athletes. I was a male gymnast, Jordan a female basketball player, Jackie a volleyball player, Mo a football player and Kelsey a swimmer. The sophomores were the Fanta girls in orange, yellow and purple. We all make such a cute group and enjoy being able to dress up for the occasion. We’ve enjoyed a few days of really nice weather here! Michigan is always beautiful in the fall, but it is especially gorgeous when the sun is out! Everybody is looking great in the gym. We had an in-gym beam intrasquad today and everyone did a superb job. All of the girls recovering from injuries are working hard and we’re starting to see how much potential our team has this year…it’s exciting! Alright, well back to the books but keep in touch to hear more about your favorite Michigan gymnasts!

As always, GO BLUE!

Sarah

Tuesday, October 28, 2008 -- 18:21:31 (EDT)
Name: Tatjana

Hey gym fans!

I can’t believe I am a senior! It went by way to fast! Scott warned me but of course I didn't believe him. Anyway, we are all excited for Halloween on Friday. As classes we dress up but keep it a secret until Halloween Friday. I think the senior class will win the creativity award this year, seeing people were not too happy with our costumes last year. I thought dressing up as each other was a good idea!

Everyone is looking great in the gym. Kylee and Trish twisted their vaults today, which is the first time since their surgeries! Mo, Sarah, Becky, and Jackie are training new release moves on bars and they are all coming along really well. Also, everyone got brand new floor music and routines this year. The choreography is really cool and I can’t wait until we get to show them off.

We went on a team bonding trip to camp Fa-Ho-Lo. We stayed all together in a big cabin that had bunk beds. I’m not the most “outdoor-sy” so I was a little afraid of waking up with a spider on my face. We had a bonfire the first night and made smores. I had to pee in the middle of the night and made Kylee walk with me through the woods to the bathroom. We ran back because we were both so scared! The next day we did initiative exercises that were harder than I expected! We climbed a rock wall and everyone had to get from one side to the other before we could move on, Bev really struggled with that one! We also had to get teammates through a tire and over a log and we ended with a ropes course. I got laughed at because I got stuck on the rope and climbed it on my stomach. Other than that, it was a really cool experience that we all enjoyed.

Make sure to check back for updates! Go Blue!

Tatjana :)