After defeating the BYU Cougars 196.9-194.125 this past week, the Red Rocks will be back on the floor this Friday, Jan. 20 at the Huntsman Center in the annual Short People Appreciation Night. This will be the Red Rocks first quad meet of the season as they compete against Denver, Boise State and Illinois-Chicago.
After the win against the Cougars, freshman MyKayla Skinner feels it is a great confidence boost and that it gives the team good momentum going into Friday’s meet and the meets to follow
“I think it helps a lot just having that extra confidence and I think that we will do really well the next couple of meets,” Skinner said. “I am super excited and I think we are just looking so good and it is just so fun.”
Co-head coach Megan Marsden said what her and co-head coach Tom Farden like about a quad meet situation is that it sets them up for postseason.
“All of the events are going at once and you’re not worrying about alternating with another team, you are just going through your lineup — one through six — and the judges are kind of pacing it as opposed to television or an announcer,” Marsden said. “So once we begin vault, the first girl will go and they watch the judges and when they are done judging, the green flag goes up and the next girl goes.”
Marsden added that herself and Farden need the girls to practice that rhythm. Going with a quicker pace and a lot going on in the arena, it is similar to postseason, so they will have the girls focused on trying to use this as some practice ground.
Skinner thinks that the quad meet on Friday will be different, partly because she has never done something like that before, but she thinks it will be a cool opportunity for her and the team. Skinner added that she thinks the team will have some stiff competition.
“We just need to keep coming in with focus and a positive attitude, working on those little details from each meet and making them perfect,” Skinner said. “We don’t want to be too perfect yet, but I think as the season goes on, being more focused and getting ready to train harder and having our minds in the game will be good for us.”
As the team prepares for the meet, Marsden said that the girls need to be able to handle this style of competition well. They need to continue to hit their routines, because both Boise State and Denver have scored well. Both teams are on the rise. In this scenario, Marsden feels that her team can’t let down at all and needs to continue to make some improvements.
“I know our plan is to work a lot on some bar hand stands and sticking some vaults — those were places where we gave away some tenths of a point,” Marsden said. “I know on beam, we had a few deductions in some leaping, some turning, and some of the more simple things, so I’ll be working on those details as well.”
Since the meet is in recognition of Short People Appreciation Night, each fan in attendance that measures five feet and under will be given a free general admission ticket to the upper bowl section of the Huntsman Center. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. MT.
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