University of Minnesota Athletics
Paulus Discusses Season Outlook, Personal Road
1/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
With just a couple days remaining before the start of the Gophers men's gymnastics regular season at the Windy City Invitational, senior captain Michael Paulus sat down with GopherSports.com to discuss a few things about both the team and himself.
GopherSports.com: What are some of your early impressions of this year's Minnesota men's gymnastics squad as get ready to start the season in a couple of days in Chicago?
Michael Paulus: Everyone is working really hard, harder than we've worked in the last four years. We're young and very talented, and the key will be to put it all together and see what we can do under real pressure.
GopherSports.com: What are some of the things this team will have to overcome to have a successful season?
Michael Paulus: One of the biggest things we have to do is to just hit routines, that's the story every year. Especially on high bar this year, we lost almost all of our counting routines from last year so it's going to be a challenge to make sure we get it done on that event.
GopherSports.com: What are some of the biggest strengths of this group of Gophers?
Michael Paulus: One of the things that I've noticed is that this whole team is very competitive. In our morning strength training, people are racing through it to see who can get done the quickest. Even in things that are pretty miserable, people are still trying to be the best at it and I think that will help us out when the competitions get close.
GopherSports.com: You were a walk-on athlete for the gymnastics team, what made you want to compete for the Gophers?
Michael Paulus: Growing up in Minnesota, I always wanted to go to this school and compete for them. College gymnastics is always a lot more fun than club is. Having a team turns it from being an individual sport to much more of a team sport, so getting to compete for the Gophers has been awesome.
GopherSports.com: Now you're a team captain, what does that mean to you?
Michael Paulus: It's nice to have the respect of my other teammates. To speak for us as a whole, we actually have three walk-ons as captains [Paulus, Travis Heaver and Adam LaFleur] and it's great just seeing that everyone else on the team appreciates the effort that we had to put in just to be competitors, much less leaders on the team.
GopherSports.com: What sort of leadership traits do you try to display for the younger athletes?
Michael Paulus: One of the things that I really try to show is due diligence. Coming in and getting all your rehab done all the time, doing all your routines, being both persistent and consistent, and just not quitting.
GopherSports.com: How has your head coach, Mike Burns, helped your development as a gymnast?
Michael Paulus: Mike has really been there for me when I needed an extra boost of confidence. Thinking back to last year at the NCAA's [Nationals], I was missing on just about everything during our training days and I was pretty nervous, and Mike told not to worry about it that he wouldn't put me in if he didn't think I would hit. Just having his confidence, even when mine wasn't there really helped me.
GopherSports.com: With this being your senior year, what are you hoping comes next following your graduation?
Michael Paulus: In April, gymnastics is done for me and after that I will be moving to Dallas to take on a job as a financial advisor.
GopherSports.com: Gymnastics is a very demanding sport, but what do you like to do for fun when you are not training, competing or doing class work?
Michael Paulus: [laughs] Between work, school and practice I put in about 90 hours a week last semester. I have seven roommates and I like hanging out with all of them, and I'm looking forward to getting into other sports when I graduate. I really like skiing and playing football and basketball so I'll be joining some "old man" leagues and see what I can do.
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