Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Q&A with the Coaching Staff
December 29, 2017 11:37 AM | Gymnastics
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – One week from today, the West Virginia University gymnastics team returns to the WVU Coliseum, as the Mountaineers open their 2018 season against No. 2-ranked Florida on Friday, Jan. 5, at 7 p.m.
The Mountaineers look to capitalize on a strong finish to the 2017 season, as WVU came within three-tenths of qualifying for the NCAA National Championships, finishing in third place at the NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships with a regional program-best score of 196.325.
Now, with four months of preseason behind the squad and just seven days until its season opener, the Mountaineer coaching staff aspires to take the team to new heights in 2018.
The team ended the 2017 season on such a high note – two All-Americans in Zaakira Muhammad and Kirah Koshinski, a presence at the NCAA Championships and a program-best score of 196.325 at the NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships. How do you maintain that momentum and build off it in 2018?
Associate Head Coach Travis Doak: I think we realized at the regional championships how close we are to taking this program to the next level with a bid to the national championships. Now, everything comes down to the detail work.
We've always been viewed as a 'power' program – it was assumed our vault and floor lineups would carry the team. We scored 49.35 on bars at last year's regional championships, and we learned we can be special on bars and beam, too. We need to work as a team and as a staff to make sure that our bars and beam lineups are performing at the same level as our vault and floor lineups right out of the gate. We're really looking to finetune and make sure our baseline on an event like beam is a 9.8. That motivates me.
On bars, we've been catching releases all throughout preseason. With that situated, we've been looking to finetune – fix the breaks on handstands and such. Moving forward, that's what I want us to do – find those three-tenths that kept us out of the national championships last year. That's something that is attainable.
The team is buying into it completely – they're such a good group.
Head Coach Jason Butts: Our preseason progressed just like last year's. We are producing great gymnastics in a laidback atmosphere. I don't want us to become a whole different program just to gain those three-tenths. We will gain those points with the upgraded difficulty we have coming into the program. I want our attitude to be the same; we just have to come out of the gate strong those first three weeks of the season at the WVU Coliseum. If we can hit a high 195.0 or a 196.0 early, I think that will snowball and get bigger.
The 2018 schedule is setup a bit differently than schedules in recent years. The team opens the season with three straight meets at the WVU Coliseum in January before hitting the road for three road meets. Additionally, the team's final home meet is February 18. How will your squad handle such a travel-heavy slate?
Butts: This year's schedule is unique, and we have to take advantage of it. We're at home early this year, and that will give us a chance to work out some of the wrinkles without traveling and being tired.
We do have a tiresome travel schedule ahead of us, but hopefully by the time we hit the meat of our schedule, the gymnastics is there and ready. We're looking forward to taking our program on the road and showing off our hard work.
Not only will the team compete away from Morgantown a lot this season, but you also will face tough competition, including trips to all three Big 12 Conference opponents – No. 1-ranked and two-time defending National Champion Oklahoma, No. 8 Denver and Iowa State. How do you expect the gymnasts to handle these challenges?
Butts: I don't think any of that registers with this team. They understand who they'll be competing against, and they know the rankings, but this team never really pays attention to its competition. We're just focused on our gymnastics and what is in front of us because that is all we can control.
Doak: This team has a lot of different personalities that work well together. Everyone is competitive. You can read that competitive nature on some of their faces; there are others who are quieter. They're all competitors, though, and when it's time to go, they're going to give you a better version than they did in practice. This group always tends to step up under stress. This team has a lot of pride and will want to match a higher-ranked team routine-for-routine. I think they're going to do great against the tough competition.
The coaching staff underwent a change during the offseason, as Shea Anderson came on board as an assistant coach and Caleigh Shaffer joined as a graduate assistant. Additionally, Alexa Goldberg is serving as a volunteer assistant. How are you all working as a unit?
Butts: I feel like we've been a staff for five years already. Shea came in and clicked immediately with the team, in the office and on the recruiting trail. She brought so much knowledge with her from Eastern Michigan and her time in the sport as a gymnast at Iowa State. She has changed a lot of the ways we do things, and I like that.
Doak: I'm really excited. It has taken this staff many years to get a group of high-level athletes into the program. We have the talent now, and I think we're a staff who can maximize their talents. If we, as a staff, come organized each day, I think we can really move this program forward.
We have such a good mentality inside Cary Gym and within this coaching staff. We laugh every day. It's a good comradery. Now, it's just implementing our system and building on it. We didn't lose too much from last season. Our sophomore class is stronger after its first season, and we get junior Jaquie Tun back for a full year. We can grow a ton this season. In the gym, and outside the gym, the personalities of the team and the coaching staff have to click, and they do.
The return of Muhammad and Koshinski in 2018 marks the first time in program history two All-Americans will be on the same roster. How does their success in recent seasons encourage their teammates?
Butts: If we could qualify this team through to the national championships, I think we could double the program's All-America count. I think Zaakira and Kirah are proof of the Mountaineer ability. We've had strong recruiting, and the student-athletes have shown a strong ability to pay attention to events surrounding them. They realize that more than half of this team can attain All-America honors. We have score potential on every event.
Doak: Last season, I challenged Zaakira to upgrade her difficulty. She did, and now she is an All-American. I think her teammates saw her hard work get rewarded, and now they also are upgrading their difficulty. They know it's attainable if they one-up their base routines. They are no longer nervous to go above their base level. They take initiative now and are more open-minded to try skills outside of their comfort zones. That all circles back to Zaakira and Kirah's achievements.
Assistant coach Shea Anderson: We're able to work those upgrades because of how good training was in preseason. We have those base-level skills, and they're ready for routines, but they're ready to train upgraded skills, too.
Three gymnasts comprise your senior class – Robyn Bernard, Jordan Gillette and Muhammad. Will you be relying on this trio to lead this team in 2018?
Butts: They are three very different people, but I think they pick up well for each other. They rely on each other's strengths. I've been happy with their leadership.
I've been happy with our juniors' leadership, too. Even though she can't compete this season, Tiara (Wright) has been walking around the gym and cheering her teammates on. Kirah cheers for everyone – she has matured so much. Carly (Galpin) is just consistent – she leads this team by example. She comes into the gym and works hard every day, and that's what she expects from her teammates. Jaquie has come back from injury and is willing to upgrade her skills this season. There are four very different leaders within the junior class, too.
Doak: This team is just as loud, if not louder, in a strength workout as it is in Cary Gym. They are a very united group. They encourage each other through all difficulties.
The coaching staff was very excited and encouraged by the success of the 2017 freshman class – Chloe Cluchey, Kassidy Cumber, Erica Fontaine, Abby Kaufman and Julia Merwin. What are you expecting from this group now that they have a year of experience?
Doak: They're fantastic!
Anderson: That class is great!
Doak: That class proves that this program, if not this year, will be at the NCAA National Championships soon. I can't speak enough about them. They're setting the new standard for this program, but they don't know they're doing it.
Three gymnasts join the program this season in freshmen McKenna Linnen, Sydney Marler and Michelle Waldron. What are your hopes for this class?
Doak: This is a good group, too. This class will provide a lot of needed depth to our lineups. I really like the potential that surrounds this group.
Butts: Because we have such a great group of returning gymnasts, we have time to work with this freshman class. We can learn what makes them click and the best way to construct their routines. We are learning what they want to do and what they are willing to do.
How would you describe the team's energy level on meet day?
Butts: They're crazy, especially when we compete at the WVU Coliseum. They love competing in front of the home crowd. I'm excited to open the 2018 season on a Friday night in Morgantown. We compete against No. 2-ranked Florida on Jan. 5, at 7 p.m., inside the WVU Coliseum, and that is really going to get this team pumped up. Following that meet with two more home competitions will just put this team in the right mindset.
Our meets are shows for our fans. We let our energy roll from one event to the next, and I love it.
Doak: I think it's nice for Mountaineer Nation to watch and cheer for a genuinely nice, fun group of athletes. Fans can come to the WVU Coliseum and watch a cohesive, supportive group who cheers for each other. I think it's exciting for spectators to come to our meets and have fun. The support staff really does a fantastic job of putting on a great show.
Butts: We travel the country each year, and I honestly believe we have one of the best home-meet atmospheres. That says a lot.
Academically, the 2017 season was one of the program's strongest. A program-record 10 gymnasts were named Scholastic All-Americans by the NACGC/W, and WVU ranked No. 25 nationally and tops among Big 12 schools with a team grade point average (GPA) of 3.4935. How do your student-athletes balance their gymnastics and school commitments?
Butts: We have a great academic coordinator in Emily Patton – she really guides the student-athletes toward success. I like to make sure I'm observing as much as I can, too. I like to encourage the gymnasts. I trust the academic staff to do its job.
Doak: I think a lot of the team's success is attributed to Jason's leadership style. He assigns a lot of accountability to his staff and the student-athletes, and he trusts everyone to do the right thing. I think that's a lot more motivating. He wants everyone to make the right choices. I think that's why we're having continued success academically. Additionally, the resources the University provides are instrumental. There are no excuses for this team to not succeed, and our gymnasts understand that.
Butts: I like to lead with the carrot. Once I give someone a responsibility, I trust them to do it. It works.
The Mountaineers look to capitalize on a strong finish to the 2017 season, as WVU came within three-tenths of qualifying for the NCAA National Championships, finishing in third place at the NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships with a regional program-best score of 196.325.
Now, with four months of preseason behind the squad and just seven days until its season opener, the Mountaineer coaching staff aspires to take the team to new heights in 2018.
****
The team ended the 2017 season on such a high note – two All-Americans in Zaakira Muhammad and Kirah Koshinski, a presence at the NCAA Championships and a program-best score of 196.325 at the NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships. How do you maintain that momentum and build off it in 2018?
Associate Head Coach Travis Doak: I think we realized at the regional championships how close we are to taking this program to the next level with a bid to the national championships. Now, everything comes down to the detail work.
We've always been viewed as a 'power' program – it was assumed our vault and floor lineups would carry the team. We scored 49.35 on bars at last year's regional championships, and we learned we can be special on bars and beam, too. We need to work as a team and as a staff to make sure that our bars and beam lineups are performing at the same level as our vault and floor lineups right out of the gate. We're really looking to finetune and make sure our baseline on an event like beam is a 9.8. That motivates me.
On bars, we've been catching releases all throughout preseason. With that situated, we've been looking to finetune – fix the breaks on handstands and such. Moving forward, that's what I want us to do – find those three-tenths that kept us out of the national championships last year. That's something that is attainable.
The team is buying into it completely – they're such a good group.
Head Coach Jason Butts: Our preseason progressed just like last year's. We are producing great gymnastics in a laidback atmosphere. I don't want us to become a whole different program just to gain those three-tenths. We will gain those points with the upgraded difficulty we have coming into the program. I want our attitude to be the same; we just have to come out of the gate strong those first three weeks of the season at the WVU Coliseum. If we can hit a high 195.0 or a 196.0 early, I think that will snowball and get bigger.
The 2018 schedule is setup a bit differently than schedules in recent years. The team opens the season with three straight meets at the WVU Coliseum in January before hitting the road for three road meets. Additionally, the team's final home meet is February 18. How will your squad handle such a travel-heavy slate?
Butts: This year's schedule is unique, and we have to take advantage of it. We're at home early this year, and that will give us a chance to work out some of the wrinkles without traveling and being tired.
We do have a tiresome travel schedule ahead of us, but hopefully by the time we hit the meat of our schedule, the gymnastics is there and ready. We're looking forward to taking our program on the road and showing off our hard work.
Not only will the team compete away from Morgantown a lot this season, but you also will face tough competition, including trips to all three Big 12 Conference opponents – No. 1-ranked and two-time defending National Champion Oklahoma, No. 8 Denver and Iowa State. How do you expect the gymnasts to handle these challenges?
Butts: I don't think any of that registers with this team. They understand who they'll be competing against, and they know the rankings, but this team never really pays attention to its competition. We're just focused on our gymnastics and what is in front of us because that is all we can control.
Doak: This team has a lot of different personalities that work well together. Everyone is competitive. You can read that competitive nature on some of their faces; there are others who are quieter. They're all competitors, though, and when it's time to go, they're going to give you a better version than they did in practice. This group always tends to step up under stress. This team has a lot of pride and will want to match a higher-ranked team routine-for-routine. I think they're going to do great against the tough competition.
The coaching staff underwent a change during the offseason, as Shea Anderson came on board as an assistant coach and Caleigh Shaffer joined as a graduate assistant. Additionally, Alexa Goldberg is serving as a volunteer assistant. How are you all working as a unit?
Butts: I feel like we've been a staff for five years already. Shea came in and clicked immediately with the team, in the office and on the recruiting trail. She brought so much knowledge with her from Eastern Michigan and her time in the sport as a gymnast at Iowa State. She has changed a lot of the ways we do things, and I like that.
Doak: I'm really excited. It has taken this staff many years to get a group of high-level athletes into the program. We have the talent now, and I think we're a staff who can maximize their talents. If we, as a staff, come organized each day, I think we can really move this program forward.
We have such a good mentality inside Cary Gym and within this coaching staff. We laugh every day. It's a good comradery. Now, it's just implementing our system and building on it. We didn't lose too much from last season. Our sophomore class is stronger after its first season, and we get junior Jaquie Tun back for a full year. We can grow a ton this season. In the gym, and outside the gym, the personalities of the team and the coaching staff have to click, and they do.
The return of Muhammad and Koshinski in 2018 marks the first time in program history two All-Americans will be on the same roster. How does their success in recent seasons encourage their teammates?
Butts: If we could qualify this team through to the national championships, I think we could double the program's All-America count. I think Zaakira and Kirah are proof of the Mountaineer ability. We've had strong recruiting, and the student-athletes have shown a strong ability to pay attention to events surrounding them. They realize that more than half of this team can attain All-America honors. We have score potential on every event.
Doak: Last season, I challenged Zaakira to upgrade her difficulty. She did, and now she is an All-American. I think her teammates saw her hard work get rewarded, and now they also are upgrading their difficulty. They know it's attainable if they one-up their base routines. They are no longer nervous to go above their base level. They take initiative now and are more open-minded to try skills outside of their comfort zones. That all circles back to Zaakira and Kirah's achievements.
Assistant coach Shea Anderson: We're able to work those upgrades because of how good training was in preseason. We have those base-level skills, and they're ready for routines, but they're ready to train upgraded skills, too.
Three gymnasts comprise your senior class – Robyn Bernard, Jordan Gillette and Muhammad. Will you be relying on this trio to lead this team in 2018?
Butts: They are three very different people, but I think they pick up well for each other. They rely on each other's strengths. I've been happy with their leadership.
I've been happy with our juniors' leadership, too. Even though she can't compete this season, Tiara (Wright) has been walking around the gym and cheering her teammates on. Kirah cheers for everyone – she has matured so much. Carly (Galpin) is just consistent – she leads this team by example. She comes into the gym and works hard every day, and that's what she expects from her teammates. Jaquie has come back from injury and is willing to upgrade her skills this season. There are four very different leaders within the junior class, too.
Doak: This team is just as loud, if not louder, in a strength workout as it is in Cary Gym. They are a very united group. They encourage each other through all difficulties.
The coaching staff was very excited and encouraged by the success of the 2017 freshman class – Chloe Cluchey, Kassidy Cumber, Erica Fontaine, Abby Kaufman and Julia Merwin. What are you expecting from this group now that they have a year of experience?
Doak: They're fantastic!
Anderson: That class is great!
Doak: That class proves that this program, if not this year, will be at the NCAA National Championships soon. I can't speak enough about them. They're setting the new standard for this program, but they don't know they're doing it.
Three gymnasts join the program this season in freshmen McKenna Linnen, Sydney Marler and Michelle Waldron. What are your hopes for this class?
Doak: This is a good group, too. This class will provide a lot of needed depth to our lineups. I really like the potential that surrounds this group.
Butts: Because we have such a great group of returning gymnasts, we have time to work with this freshman class. We can learn what makes them click and the best way to construct their routines. We are learning what they want to do and what they are willing to do.
How would you describe the team's energy level on meet day?
Butts: They're crazy, especially when we compete at the WVU Coliseum. They love competing in front of the home crowd. I'm excited to open the 2018 season on a Friday night in Morgantown. We compete against No. 2-ranked Florida on Jan. 5, at 7 p.m., inside the WVU Coliseum, and that is really going to get this team pumped up. Following that meet with two more home competitions will just put this team in the right mindset.
Our meets are shows for our fans. We let our energy roll from one event to the next, and I love it.
Doak: I think it's nice for Mountaineer Nation to watch and cheer for a genuinely nice, fun group of athletes. Fans can come to the WVU Coliseum and watch a cohesive, supportive group who cheers for each other. I think it's exciting for spectators to come to our meets and have fun. The support staff really does a fantastic job of putting on a great show.
Butts: We travel the country each year, and I honestly believe we have one of the best home-meet atmospheres. That says a lot.
Academically, the 2017 season was one of the program's strongest. A program-record 10 gymnasts were named Scholastic All-Americans by the NACGC/W, and WVU ranked No. 25 nationally and tops among Big 12 schools with a team grade point average (GPA) of 3.4935. How do your student-athletes balance their gymnastics and school commitments?
Butts: We have a great academic coordinator in Emily Patton – she really guides the student-athletes toward success. I like to make sure I'm observing as much as I can, too. I like to encourage the gymnasts. I trust the academic staff to do its job.
Doak: I think a lot of the team's success is attributed to Jason's leadership style. He assigns a lot of accountability to his staff and the student-athletes, and he trusts everyone to do the right thing. I think that's a lot more motivating. He wants everyone to make the right choices. I think that's why we're having continued success academically. Additionally, the resources the University provides are instrumental. There are no excuses for this team to not succeed, and our gymnasts understand that.
Butts: I like to lead with the carrot. Once I give someone a responsibility, I trust them to do it. It works.
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