Over the course of the season, we do a lot of interviews. And most of the time, a lot of the good stuff doesn’t even make it into the feature we’re working on. That’s where this piece comes in. For all those moments you loved in this season’s features, there were two more even better—yet out of context—quotes just begging to be used.
“I don’t know what high school girls look at. Do they pick because of color? Like ‘oh Washington’s purple, I want a purple leo?’” -Tanya Ho on recruiting
“In your article, you can just write ‘insert crying.’” -Sophia Hyderally after learning she qualified to regionals for the first time in her career
“I don’t know if that’s legal or not but they’re not going to fire me at this point.” -Valorie Kondos Field on bringing students onto the floor during UCLA home meets
“And literally some of them were done mid-December! AH! Terrible. Terrible. I know it’s so awful, waiting til the last second but honestly sometimes you have to wait until it clicks.” – Larissa Libby on her choreographic process
“At first, last year, they were really hesitant about it, and now they love it. They’re starting cheers about it. But like that’s who we are, we’re the Fighting Illini and those are our colors.” – Natalie Walsh on orange leotards
“In college gymnastics there’s a lot more energy and excitement. There’s more freedom to have fun on all the events.” – Alexis Vasquez on competing in college vs. J.O.
“It’s good that they know they can be successful even with mistakes. This is a great opportunity for us to continue to build off success.” – Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart on Denver’s home opener performance
“Says that we’re the best in this conference, that’s the simple answer.” – Sam Morreale on what Northern Illinois winning its first MAC title says about the program
“For her teammates, she’ll do anything. For me, ehh.” -Valorie Kondos Field on Katelyn Ohashi
“I’m honored to be a part of this new format and to make history, and say, hey, we’re one of the teams that made the first final…what are we calling it?” -Sarah Finnegan on the new postseason format
“What, she’s only got one year left? Dang it!” -K.J. Kindler on Maggie Nichols
“She’s been through some crazy injuries and I’ve seen her come back, and every single time she does so without being phased. I truly think she’s the toughest athlete I’ve ever been surrounded by, and I know she’s looking up to me every time she’s doing something and that puts me in awe. It’s just made me eternally grateful to have her by my side.” – Anna Martucci on competing with her sister Nina at Northern Illinois
“I’m just super thankful to be back for this last year. And it’s been a journey of ups and downs with injury, but it’s been so cool to be a part of this program, see how it’s evolved and changed and grown and developed, especially under this new coaching staff.” – Mary Jane Otto, on her sixth year at Illinois
“Hopefully it makes people around the country aware that teams in the Big Ten are capable of doing this.” – Bev Plocki on Michigan’s 197.750 at Elevate the Stage Toledo
“We’ve always been a very passionate group of people, but there have been some setbacks we’ve experienced this season, and recently as well. You learn to appreciate every day a little bit more and you start to get really excited and emotional, and the emotion is what drives you.” – Olivia Karas on Michigan’s success in 2019
“It was a little bit out of left field. The best thing that came from it is I feel like I had a team that didn’t create drama around the situation.” – Heather Brink on her transition to head coach at Nebraska
“We do trivia before bars because one day we were all asking crazy questions during bars, and Umme noted we had a good bar intrasquad, so we kept it. She wants to find what’s best for her athletes inside and outside the gym.” -Riahanah Ali on Umme Salim-Beasley’s unique coaching techniques
“Getting a program from [No.] 25, to 10 to 15 where they want to be, it’s all belief.” – Meredith Paulicivic on Ohio State’s progress
“That’s exactly what mental toughness is; that’s exactly what grit is. And so it’s definitely a confidence booster for them to know that they’ve got each other’s backs at the end of the day.” -Samantha Snider on Pitt bouncing back from a fall to hit the remaining five routines
Article by the editors of College Gym News
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Love those quotes.
… but “fazed”.