“Enthusiastic fans, gorilla give women’s gymnastics team hometown advantage (The Daily Nebraskan)” plus 1 more

Enthusiastic fans, gorilla give women’s gymnastics team hometown advantage (The Daily Nebraskan)

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 10:04 PM PST

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Having a man in a gorilla suit in the crowd may not sound like much of an edge to some people, but for the Nebraska women's gymnastics team, its fans give it an advantage when the Huskers compete at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

After three straight away meets, the No. 11 Cornhuskers are happy to be home this weekend for the Masters Classic on Sunday against No. 20 Arizona, No. 18 Denver and No. 25 West Virginia.

Junior Maria Scaffidi summed up the advantage of a home meet in three words: "family, friends, fans."

The crowd is the biggest difference between a home and an away meet because of the noise the fans create and the way they help get the gymnasts excited about competing, senior Kylie Stone said.

A "psych-up tape" set to Jay-Z and Rihanna's "Run This Town" shows video of the Huskers competing on the big screens before home meets. Stone said the pre-meet video, along with hearing the crowd and the PA announcer, help her get pumped up for competitions.

"I always get chills," Stone said. "It is an honor to compete at the Devaney."

Having the same fans there for every meet is also encouraging for the team. Stone mentioned the young girls from the Huskers kids club, one particular fan who always starts the "Go Big Red" chant, and of course the man who has started wearing a gorilla suit to all home meets as important parts of the home meet advantage.

Coach Dan Kendig said he always feels proud to be the coac h at Nebraska when he coaches at home because of how knowledgeable and respectful the fans are about the sport.

"The only thing that I wish we had is more fans, because the fans that we do have are awesome," Kendig said.

Another important advantage of being at home is that the Huskers are familiar with the equipment in the Devaney Center.

"For the most part, everything is the same; we are just more used to our equipment," Scaffidi said. "It is pretty much the same as what we practice with."

When the Huskers posted their lowest score of the season on beam last week at North Carolina State, the beam was different from what most of the gymnasts were accustomed, Stone said.

While it is important to be comfortable with the equipment in the building, Kendig said the advantage for the Huskers is more mental than physical.

"You have a feeling of 'this is our house' mentality," Kendig said. "We are going to hold serve on our home turf."

Even though many of the team members enjoy seeing the rest of the country, the team is ready for a home meet.

"I love traveling. It's fun and it's different, but sometimes you just want to stay home and have a home meet," Scaffidi said. "For a while, we had three home meets, and I couldn't wait to go and travel, but now I am ready to be home and get a good meet in."

brendancarl@dailynebraskan.com

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Gymnastics: Stillwater finishes fourth at section meet (Stillwater Gazette)

Posted: 24 Feb 2010 10:25 AM PST

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OAK PARK HEIGHTS - The Stillwater gymnastics team crushed its previous season-high team score while placing fourth at Saturday's Section 4AA Meet at Stillwater Area High School.

Gymnastics Sports

Wednesday, February 24, 2010