Epps' Road Trip Review
March 30, 2012
SEATTLE - Due to a career-ending injury, senior Anna Epps from the UW Gymnastics team is not able to compete this year but still travels with the team and has embraced her student coaching position. Epps will blog during the road trips to give fans a behind the scenes view into the team.
For spring break 2012 the gymdawgs were off to Salt Lake City for the first ever Pac-12 championships! We had our usual bus ride to the airport then strolled through check in and security before boarding the plane. With no delays and after a short plane ride, we arrived in Salt Lake City around 6:30 - just in time for dinner. On our way from the airport to the hotel we had dinner at Z'tejas and it was delicious! It was preordered and ready for us upon arrival which was extremely nice after a day of traveling. After dinner we headed to the hotel and had a short team meeting to discuss how the practice day would work then it was off to bed.
The next morning we woke up and had a delightful breakfast buffet before our practice. Pac-12's is different than our usual travel meets because we have a practice day built in so the teams get a day to get used to the equipment. For this meet since there were eight different teams competing, we were separated into two groups, the top four ranked teams were placed into a night session and the other four teams were placed into an afternoon session. We were in the early afternoon practice session so by two o'clock we had already finished our practice. The practice day went really well - everyone was calm and composed and we went in there and did what we wanted to do. After practice we had some time to spare so we did what we love to do - SHOP! A brand new outdoor mall had literally just opened so we were in for a real treat :) The mall was beautiful and filled with entertainment everywhere due to the new opening. It was a fun activity which allowed us to spend time with one another as well as allowed girls who had family in town to have the opportunity to spend a little time with their families. After some time spent at the mall we met in our hotel lobby and were off to dinner. We had dinner at Olive Garden which luckily was only a few blocks away and a perfect chance to take a walk outside. It was a beautiful evening and perfect temperature which made the walk very enjoyable. After a great team dinner we went back to the hotel and had another team meeting. We discussed line-ups and team goals and were ready to charge our swag and rock Pac-12's!!
We woke up Saturday morning ready for a great day. Since we were in the early afternoon session with Arizona, ASU, and Cal we had time for a nice breakfast before needing to depart for the arena. We each ate breakfast at our personal time preference and then got ready for the meet. Sparkles and ribbons in our hair - it was time to depart for the meet! Our bus driver cranked up our "pump up" CD on the bus and we were ready for action. After arriving at the arena we had warm-ups and then it was time to compete! YAAA DAWGSSS!!!! According to the draw we got to start on vault which is always a great event to start on. Woo hoo! We hit a few unexpected road bumps during the meet but finished strong on floor and demonstrated our Husky pride and showed we have the fight and determination to never give up! We are working hard in the gym the next two weeks to fix our mistakes and can't wait to showcase our routines once again to our fans. After the meet we went off and got dinner before heading back to the arena to watch the second session of teams. Congrats to UCLA - first ever Pac-12 Champs! Then after a long day we were ready to head back to our hotel rooms and get some sleep.
The next morning it was time for a quick breakfast then off to the airport. With no unexpected delays we were back in Seattle in no time at all. Sometimes it's hard to leave early in the morning but it was so nice to have most of Sunday to get ready for the next week - the first week of spring quarter. After the longest trip we have had so far this season it was nice to be back in Seattle! Thanks to all our fans and we cannot wait to see you next weekend at Regionals! GO DAWGS!
Anna
