Jan. 17, 2012
SEATTLE - Junior Amanda Cline (Aurora, Colo.) was the best vaulter for the Huskies in 2011. She started 2012 the same way with a 9.850 at Michigan State opening weekend for the win. Cline describes her vault below. As a gymnast you spend most of your time in the gym practicing your routines. You train around 20 hours a week and spend a total of four to five minutes actually competing. The Huskies traveled to Michigan State for our first competition. I competed vault and bars, both events that go by pretty fast... especially vault! Before I compete vault I take a deep breathe and remind myself of all the great vaults I have done. My teammate Hatsune gives me a pep talk before every vault to help me get pumped up. The judge raises her hand and I salute and step onto the vault runway. My focus narrows and it is just me and the vault. As I run down the runway my mind starts to clear, everything is going so fast. I hurdle and round-off on to the board focusing on pushing through my legs. I then back handspring on to the vault. The moment I feel my hands hit the vault I immediately start to push off my hands to create a block. I do a layout with a half twist in the air squeezing every muscle in my body. My feet hit the ground and I stick my landing. I get a rush of excitement as I turn and salute the judge and my teammates start to high five me. I feel so proud that I trusted my abilities and helped my team!! |
