Big Ten Championships Pre-Meet Comments
3/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Big Ten Championships Page
Michigan Head Coach Bev Plocki
Opening statement... "We're extremely excited to be hosting the Big Ten Championships. You only get a chance to do this once every seven years and it's always an honor. We've had a lot of people work very hard to put this together. We hosted a WNIT game last night so we had a lot of people up early to make everything ready for today, and I'd like to thank those people. I want to welcome all my Big Ten colleagues. I think that the Big Ten has proven to be very strong this year from top to bottom, and I'm sure tomorrow afternoon will be a great competition. Each Big Ten team will be going to regionals, and the goal this year is to get multiple teams to nationals."
Illinois Head Coach Bob Starkell
Opening statement... "It will be the 10th time I have started this interview but it won't change the environment or atmosphere that the Big Ten Championship holds. It is very close to an NCAA meet. You have six other quality teams very strong in nature. I think everyone here would agree that our conference is very strong. As our team comes in, we look forward to being in Ann Arbor where you always know the quality of job the event will hold. We'll have everything we need to compete at the highest level. Individually, our team is at a point right now where we're secure on three events but have a slow showing on one. We're still waiting for our group to be solid on all four, and hopefully in this championship we can start to be competitive with the rest of the group."
On Allison Buckley... "She has been a fresh look for our team. She provides an attitude and work ethic that is contagious. As a freshman, it's like she is already competing as a junior or senior. She has a very competitive nature, the will to win, and is very easy to work with. As a young lady, she will do very well in the things she does. I found out early in the week she has won the most event titles in the last 23 years since we had a young lady on the Olympic team. She has already made a big step in making her mark on our record books. We look forward to seeing what she can do in her first Big Ten Championship."
Iowa Head Coach Larissa Libby
Opening statement... "I want to thank Bev Plocki and Michigan. We know the job that Michigan has done in the past, and we know it's going to be amazing again. We're really excited as a team. We feel like we are finally starting to get it right. We've competed against four Big Ten teams this year, and all of us have had phenomenal success. We are really excited for the fact that when it comes to the postseason, rankings get thrown out. I think that with beam being an event everyone has the opportunity to mess up, everyone starts at zero. The best teams can fall, and the worst teams can stay up. I thinks that's the best thing about us all being in the same arena. It's an opportunity to see our conference at its very, very best. I'm proud to be part of our conference this year. I've always been proud, but more so this year. We've all taken a really large step into showing the country where our conference can be and where it should be."
On Jenifer Simbhudas..."We're really pleased with Jenifer. She's a junior now, and she has always been extremely, extremely talented. She struggled her first few years just trying to find her niche in college. She is a world-class caliber athlete. She struggled to figure out how much to give in practice so she could compete every weekend. She has really dedicated herself to the team and the leadership of the team on the floor and off the floor. She tries to lead by example and work harder. I think Jenifer got better the day her sister walked on our team. You know the little sister rivalry. Her sister is also a world-class caliber gymnast, and you never want to get beat by the little sister. I also think she wants to show her the way as well. She has been very consistent for us. She doesn't talk a lot, she doesn't say a lot, but she leads by example. She has had a phenomenal season as obvious as by her record this year. I think a lot of it is due to soul-searching. She went home in the summer and worked really, really hard to put herself in a position to be able to train the way she needed to in order to be a leader athletically on the team. She has done exactly what we needed of her this year."
Michigan State Head Coach Kathie Klages
Opening statement... "We would like to thank Michigan for hosting this event. It's a lot of work and takes a lot of people, so thanks to Bev and the coaching staff and everyone for what we anticipate will be an outstanding event. I think that the conference is getting a lot stronger and it's exciting to be a part of that growth and see that competitiveness. My team is having a pretty good year so we're thrilled to be where we can stack up with these guys on the same competition floor. We had a situation -- Nicole Curler -- she is the top balance beam worker in the Big Ten and was injured last weekend. She won't be competing in the competition. But this is the first year where I feel I've been able to change my lineups up and not have a lot of difference in scores or the way the athletes approach the competition. We've got a real team unity built for that. It's not a big deal like it has been in the past with injured athletes. We're excited for the competition and looking forward to getting out on the competition floor."
On the competitiveness of the Big Ten this season... "I think that the Big Ten, if you just look at the rankings, we're up more a notch than we have been in the past. I think that every program has been able to be able to raise the level of what we're doing on the competition floor. I think it's really exciting to see that happen."
Minnesota Co-Head Coach Meg Stephenson
Opening statement... "We would like to thank Bev (Plocki) and Michigan, too, for hosting a great event. We have been here once before this year and it was great event then, so we are excited to be back. We have only seen Iowa in competition this year (from the Big Ten), so we are really excited to be with everybody and celebrate where our conference is heading. We are really proud of our team and how they have done this year. We have had great leadership with our senior class and our juniors, so we are real proud of them and how they have carried themselves this year. And we are just happy to be here."
On Carmelina Carabajal... "What a great kid. What she does in competition is what she does in practice. She is just such a hard worker and such a great leader. She leads by example in how she trains. She expects a lot. She is maturing really nicely; she is a junior this year. She has been able to improve everywhere and attack the competition. She has just done a great job and is such a wonderful girl."
Minnesota Co-Head Coach Jim Stephenson
Opening statement... "I think this is such a great event for the fans in the area. Women's gymnastics -- there is just no greater expression of athletic ability and artistic talent. Let the games begin."
Ohio State Head Coach Carey Fagan
Opening statement... "I'd like to thank Bev and the University of Michigan for hosting this great event. My team has struggled a bit this year -- strong on three events and then struggled on our nemesis, beam. We're on an upward trend right now in that event so I feel pretty good about my team and the way they've come around this year. We tried to increase our difficulty. This is the first year when I can say we have 10.0 start values on every event. It's a step in the right direction for our program, and I'm anxious to see us put it all together."
Penn State Head Coach Steve Shephard
Opening statement..."We have a young team and we've just been trying to improve all year. We'd like to thank Bev (Plocki) and Michigan for hosting this event, and I'm sure that they'll do a great job. I think the conference has been really strong this year, and I think that's great because it shows what we're capable of and we always want to compete against excellent competition."
On Brandi Personett... "Brandi has done a great job for us this year and she's just a great girl. She's a hard worker and a really nice person to be around. She does a great job challenging herself. On beam she performs a one and a half Yurchenko, which is a very difficult maneuver, and is the only girl to do it in the Big Ten other than one kid they have at Ohio State. She's worked on being confident in herself, which is one of the things she's struggled with, and as only a sophomore, we're really looking forward to having her for two more years."
