Nice Boulder

The trip to Colorado actually began on Wednesday January 30th as a very excited senior-captain was proud to be coming home with her entire team. When we were first invited to come to the Air Force Academy for a meet, Sarah Trowbridge immediately started making plans for the team to visit her home town of Boulder. We arrived in Colorado Springs late in the evening, had dinner in the area and then drove our three rental cars north, through a token snowstorm to check-in to our hotel just outside Boulder. The following morning, some of us took a tour of the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) - heck, what else would you expect MIT students to do... Besides a very informative and interesting tour, the nice people at LASP made us a little memento to remember our trip to the LAB. We had lunch at Cafe FOOD where we were pleasantly harassed by the owner and then split up. Some of us ended up walking around the Pearl Street mall and going into a Hammock store owned an operated by an MIT alum - Course 8 class of 1965 - interesting character to say the least. That evening we worked out at Sarah's old gym where we were greeted and treated as royalty. The gymnasts and coaches at Boulder Flyers Gymnastics were absolutely fantastic and we had a great experience in their wonderful facility. We also had a chance to train there on Friday morning.

After practice, we went for a hike in Chautauqua Park, were we found some great views of the mountains and the city below, before we headed back south to Colorado Springs.

Midday Saturday we enjoyed a tour of the US Olympic Training Center where we were guided by Doreen, a resident weightlifter and 2008 Olympic hopeful.

Onto the competition which was held Saturday at 6:00 pm in the Cadet Gymnasium on the campus of the US Air Force Academy. The home team began on vault while Tech took to the uneven bars. The format of the meet called for each individual to be announced and showcased on their own as the teams alternated routines. Alison Barnard '09 led off with an 8.25 and we realized early on that the scores on bars would be a bit lower than we had hoped. Katie Mingo '10 and Laura Kelly '09 both put their feet down on their overshoot and had to settle for an 8.10 and 8.65 respectively. Sarah Trowbridge '08 missed her first release move and managed an 8.30 before Julia Zimmerman '09 (9.05) and Sophia Harrison '08 (9.40) closed out the competition line-up getting through their routines, but not without some form breaks. As an exhibition routine, Gina Policelli '10 tossed a double-back dismount for the first time ever and received congratulations from her teammates for accomplishing that feat - on her birthday even... As the haircut saga continues, no one in the bar line-up came close to attaining the required score in order for Eduardo to get a haircut and a shave... MIT amassed a 43.65 while the Falcons lit up vault for 47.35 points. The team flip-flopped events and Tech decided to put uneven bars behind them and put their best foot forward on vault. What unfolded was a 6 for 6 vault performance which tied the school record total of 46.675. Rachel Tatem '09 led off with a 9.125 pike tsuk followed by personal best scores from Laura Kelly 9.15 and Kristen Watkins '11 9.225 for the same vault. Alison Barnard, on a two year quest, stood up her front-handspring front vault for the first time in competition for a personal best 9.275. Sophia Harrison shook off a crash during the 3-minute touch with a personal best tying score of 9.55 for her layout yurchenko and Julia Zimmerman tossed her very unique front-handspring front layout for a 9.475. Becky Stavely '11 had a chance to exhibition her tuck yurchenko. On the haircut front it was Oh So Close! as both Watkins and Barnard missed their marks by a meager .025 - Saved!

Tech hoped to carry the momentum established on vault over to floor, but the first three routines struggled in the high altitude. Barnard, on a sore ankle, missed her second pass to finish at an 8.45. Trowbridge, running out of gas, could not finish her last pass on her feet and had to settle for an 8.675. Kelly struggled throughout and it was Mingo who turned the ship around with a sassy 9.425 routine to notch a personal best - yet again .025 away from a haircut. Zimmerman was not her usual explosive self and was awarded a 9.40 as Harrison put together the best floor routine of the season for her and a 9.60 score. Tatem tumbled and danced her exhibition routine - the best routine she has done so far this year as well. So, after a 45.55 floor and licking their wounds a little bit, the engineers moved to the most unforgiving of events - the balance beam. A 6 for 6 performance would mean that the team itself would have the opportunity to give Eduardo some kind of haircut, but the hair was saved on the first performance as Watkins came very close to nailing her round-off layout series, but could not hold on. Kelly redeemed herself with a vengeance by nailing her front tuck mount and the rest of her routine for a personal best 9.20. Mingo hit her series but gave it up on her split full and had to settle for an 8.65. Trowbridge had a tough night in front of the home crowd and so it was down to Harrison and Zimmerman to step up, finish the meet on a high note and perhaps force the haircut this week. It was a tall task as the stated goal for both of them was a 9.80 on any event. Prior to Harrison's mount, a side-bet was offered and put on the table - a personal best score in the all-around (37.90 or above) and Eduardo would contemplate a haircut. In true clutch, incentive-laden fashion, Sophia came through with another personal best 9.55 beam score which totaled up to the best all-around score of her collegiate career and a first place finish 38.10. Zimmerman followed with an equally solid performance for a 9.45. Marie Heglund '10 and Becky Stavely '11 finished off Tech's competition with exhibition routines on the balance beam. Even with quite a few mistakes, Tech managed to reach the 180 plateau with a 180.95 score. The Falcons had taken all of the mystery out of who was going to win the meet on their second event as they swept bars on their way to a 47.525 event score an a 188.10 total.