Gymnastics Blog: Training Center Fun!
November 15, 2014 12:43 PM | General
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| Following the team's intrasquad, the Mountaineers spent time with the center's youngest gymnasts. |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For the second time in a month, the West Virginia University gymnastics team hit the road for a preseason intrasquad, as the Mountaineers competed vault and balance beam at the West Virginia Gymnastics Training Center in Morgantown, on Friday, Nov. 14, in front of a large crowd of local supporters.
“This team did awesome,” fourth-year coach Jason Butts said. “They all did much better competitively than they did last month at Gymniks Gymnastics. Our balance beam rotation went great. Vault was a curveball for the squad, but it was great to put that lineup out there and have them compete in a different environment. That experience is going to be very valuable down the road. Overall, I’m very excited about what I saw last night.”
Butts said freshman Zaakira Muhammad stood out from the team yesterday.
“Zaakira was the highlight of the day on vault and beam,” he explained. “Her beam set was easily a 9.9 routine. She also opened the vault lineup for us, and I think we may stick with that this season. She can be a huge opening vault for this team.”
Other highlights on beam were sophomore Mackenzie Myers and freshman Robyn Bernard.
Butts walked away from the intrasquad comfortable with his vault lineup.
“All the vaults were amazing,” he enthused. “We had seven go up, and they were all big. I really like what I see from this unit – we don’t have a lot of depth, but the vaults we have are huge.”
Following the intrasquad, the team met with the training center’s youngest gymnasts and watched them compete their routines.
“I want to give a huge shout out to the training center,” said Butts. “They were an amazing group to compete for and they were very welcoming. It was great for this team to compete in front of that environment and to interact with local supporters. We can’t wait to welcome them all to the WVU Coliseum this season.”
The Mountaineers will continue to work toward their season-opening intrasquad at the Atlantis Crown Invitational, in Paradise Island, Bahamas, on Dec. 20. The team officially opens its 2015 slate with a tri-meet at Maryland, with George Washington, on Jan. 9.
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