After its first victory of the season last weekend versus Hamline, Gustavus’ Women’s Gymnastics team is raising its expectations for the upcoming meets this weekend and for future meets to come.

Senior Christina Sorensen was optimistic about the goals for the rest of the season. “Our long-term goal is Nationals; however, right now we’re focusing on this upcoming weekend. We need to hit our routines, stick the landings and get the little things right. Accomplishing the small tasks will all pay off in the end,” Sorensen said.

Up to last weekend the girls had struggled getting the little things right. They lost their three previous matches by five points, which is a large margin in the gymnastics world. However, despite the adversities they faced, the Gusties also achieved some of their goals this year. Junior Captain Kelly Matthewson was pleased with the recent accomplishments. “Winning our last meet at Hamline was huge for us, not only because it was our first win, but also because we started out shaky and ended strong taking home the win,” Matthewson said.

Accomplishing goals during matches boosts the team’s morale. However, First-year Samantha Opsahl feels what they accomplish during practice is just as important as what they accomplish during their matches. “[During practice] whenever someone throws a new skill and accomplishes something individually, it helps the team’s confidence and inspires everyone to try something new and go outside their comfort zone,” Opsahl said.

Practice time is important for gymnasts; they need a lot of time to perfect what they know and master the areas that are a little more difficult. The Gusties have been training since mid-September for their meets in January. The long season has been both a blessing and a burden for the team. “Our whole team is used to training year-round, so the extensive preseason training was not a surprise to anyone. It is especially important for [first-years] to have plenty of time to adjust to college gymnastics versus club or high school gymnastics,” Matthewson said.

“The long preseason was definitely helpful for myself and the other [first-years] to transition into college gymnastics. It helped me master some of the more difficult routines that I didn’t know and get better at skills I already knew,” Opsahl said.

However, with the long season also comes a big risk for injury, which definitely plagued the gymnastics team this season. “Some of the upperclassmen got injured early on in our [preseason] practices. We adjusted very well, though, and our [first-years] really stepped up and learned to be ready for anything,” Sorensen said.

Everyone rose to the occasion last weekend at the Gusties’ meet against Hamline, as they defeated the Pipers 172.850-170.325. “Every meet we take steps forward and backward, but this time we nailed our floor routine and kept a positive attitude throughout the entire meet,” Matthewson said.

Even though the Gusties Gymnastics team is young, they have many strengths out on the floor. “We’re a small team, therefore we have great chemistry and a team bond. We’re also great at staying motivated throughout entire matches,” Sorensen said.

“We’re really good at finding the good through the bad and correcting our mistakes. Because we’re a new team, we’re going to face challenging times that we’ll just have to work through,” Opsahl said.

They have certainly faced difficult moments this season but still remain optimistic. “Our season is going well so far. We have been working on building our strength. We have a lot of [first-years], and we want them to be ready to compete. We have also been working on bringing our routines together,” Sorensen said.

Matthewson felt that this year is just a building block for next year’s team. “We’re a new team, and that is important to consider when we’re getting ready for our matches. Next year this team will be a really strong team, and it will definitely be a fun year,” Matthewson said.

The next Gustavus gymnastics meet is in La Crosse, Wis., on Friday, Feb. 19, at 6:30 p.m.