University of Minnesota Athletics
No. 7 Minnesota to Host First Home Meet This Weekend
1/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Jan. 18, 2012
The Gophers are set to host their first home gymnastics meet of the 2012 season this Saturday against the UIC Flames. The team is coming off a fourth place finish out of six at the Windy City Invitational last weekend.
"The guys are disappointed after last weekend's results but eager to compete again," head coach Mike Burns said. "As an athlete you are never really satisfied with your performance. And as coaches we are never really satisfied with our team's performance. We strive for success in every meet, and if we don't achieve it we aren't satisfied and keep searching for the right balance."
This week in practice the team is focusing on correcting their mistakes from last weekend. They looked pretty strong at the Windy City competition but are working on increasing their confidence levels both in practice and on the competition floor.
There are still quite a few battles going on for spots in the lineup this weekend
"With the number of missed sets last weekend, we told the team there were very few secure spots in the lineup," Burns said. "This is the week to step up to either retain your spot in the lineup or lose it.
The Gophers beat UIC at last weekend's meet by over 11 points. But they know they are competing against themselves this Saturday just as much as they are against UIC.
It goes without saying that they want to beat the opposition, but they acknowledge the fact that they have no control over how the other team performs. The Gophers are putting their energy and focus into improving their performances from last week.
"I expect these guys to go out and defend their home turf at all costs," Burns said. "Winning at home is expected and we demand that they fight from start to finish to be sure no visiting team leaves here with a victory over us."
The meet starts at 1:00pm this Saturday at the Sports Pavilion. It is "Facebook Day," so fans can access a coupon via the men's gymnastics Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/GopherMensGymnastics. The coupon (either printed or presented from your phone) provides fan with free admission as well as a free Minnesota gymnastics t-shirt!
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