When 24 ice bags were needed for the 10 gymnasts at practice Tuesday, the team realized that mid-season had arrived.
Coach Lisa Simonton recognized it was time to modify the week's schedule in preparation for Sunday's meet with Central Michigan. After Tuesday's practice she changed Thursday's practice from four hours of gymnastics to one hour of conditioning. Simonton talked to the gymnasts about making a transition in the way they train.
"The bodies are starting to hurt," Simonton said. "It's mid-season time. I know this, I recognize this, and I want you as an athlete to know that I know that. We're not just going to keep pounding."
Simonton is placing emphasis on time management for the athletes. She believes that higher education is the key to success. During the trying times of mid-season, she encourages the team to communicate with instructors.
Simonton said the gymnasts are students first, athletes second. She brought this opinion with her when she came to Ball State last fall. Since then there has been significant improvement in the team's overall grade point average.
The team has an overall GPA of 3.368. Junior Lauren West had a GPA of 3.9 last semester, the highest of the team. She appreciates that Simonton highlights the importance of academics.
"I think it's really great that if we need time, and if we need to take an academic day, she allows us to do that," West said. "It's really helpful. I didn't feel last year that I could do that."
Traveling is another stressor for the athletes. There are no more home meets for the team this season.
"It's going to be a challenge for us," Simonton said. "Luckily we've already been on the road one time. We know how we're going to work together on the bus."
There are six gymnastics meets left in the season. West said the team's routines are progressing. She is looking forward to traveling and they now know what to expect.
Several changes have been made to the gymnast's routines. Simonton expects continual improvement from the team.
"At our last home meet we added a lot of upgrades, put them in the testing grounds and gained some confidence," Simonton said. "The majority of them were successful. Let's have a higher percentage of those upgrades get in the hit column versus just trying them out."
The meet is on Sunday at 2 p.m. While it is the second away meet, it is the first for the whole team to travel together.
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