Coach stresses no pressure for regionals

No pressure.

That’s the message MSU head coach Kathie Klages wanted to drill into the heads of her gymnasts before the team heads to Oregon to compete in the NCAA West Regional Tournament on Saturday.

It’s the first time the Spartans have headed into a regional championship as a seeded team.

As Klages massaged the psyche of her team during practice Monday, one thing was to be made clear to her gymnasts before heading to competition: There’s no pressure if you’re prepared.

And there’s no question in Klages’ mind they’re ready.

“You’re prepared,” she told the team.

The No. 17 Spartans will compete against Oregon State, Washington, San Jose State, Sacramento State and Michigan — though the in-state rival will be looked upon as a comrade rather than an enemy.

“It’s a whole different ballgame this time around because now … we’re banded together as the Big Ten,” Klages said. “So it’s a different kind of attitude as opposed to a dual meet against Michigan. Of course you want to win, but we’re banding together as Big Ten representatives. We both want to move on, but we’re both very supportive of each other.”

The new perception of the rival Wolverines is piquing interest in some of the team.

“It’s definitely different to look at, seeing as how we look at Michigan throughout the entire season as our biggest opponent,” sophomore Emily Lopatofsky said.

The team is focused on building and maintaining its confidence after a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten Tournament, which was a sizable improvement over last year’s last-place finish.

“We were a little shaky at Big Ten on the balance beam, and they let the Big Ten Championship from before affect them mentally,” Klages said. “So I presented (that) we did awesome last year at regionals on beam, so let’s utilize that to our benefit.

“If you allow the negative one to affect you, you’ve got to allow the positive one to affect you. ... We have no idea how Oregon State is, this sport is so subjective. The sport’s being judged by humans, we have no idea if they’re way better than us, equal to us or they might be below us. Anything can happen in this sport.”

The beam is one of injured sophomore Nicole Curler’s strongest events, but she’s still waiting to hear when she can come back to compete. Curler sustained two third-degree high ankle sprains after falling during warm-ups against Arkansas.

“(My) fingers are crossed,” Curler said.

“It’s hard to come in here every day and just sit and watch everyone. I have to take on a different role I haven’t had to take on before. I want to be in there doing what my team’s doing, not sitting on the sidelines.”

Although her ankles seem to be healing quickly, it’s an opportunity for her to condition and come back even stronger, Klages added.

“Even just looking at the ankles, the swelling’s down (and) the coloring’s gone, so that’s really exciting,” Klages said. “So at this point in time, I don’t know (if she’s) out for sure. (If we) qualify for nationals, maybe nationals?”

Published on Wednesday, April 9, 2008