DULUTH, Ga. “”mdash;
Coach Valorie Kondos Field’s opening statement:
We all say it. We can’t take it for granted, getting to Nationals. Regionals, as we know, is the toughest meet of the year for us. And so to be here and to be moving into the Super Six is beyond words exciting. But really, right now, as my peers have said, the power of the Pac-12 is just overwhelming. I don’t feel like we’re three individual teams up here. I feel like we’re one team, and we’re all thinking that we’re sending out orange vibes there next few hours. For us, it was an okay meet. It wasn’t a great meet. It’s great when you get your team that says, “˜No, we’re not going to give up. We’re not going to settle for less.’ And nobody has done that better this year than the senior that’s sitting next to me, Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs. She is unquestionably one of the most beautiful gymnasts performance wise in the world. We had two uncharacteristic falls with two of our guns, and Elyse had to follow both of those athletes and just was absolutely brilliant. What a fun day, huh?
On the possibility of a Super Six with three Pac-12 and three Southeastern Conference teams:
I think all of our programs have experienced being in the Super Six with very heavy SEC representation. And it is a bit odd. You do feel like you’re a foreigner sometimes. Obviously you don’t once the meet gets started. But walking through the hotel, walking through the hallways here, walking onto the floor, when the teams are marching out, that’s when it really hits you. And when you’re surrounded by so many SEC schools, you feel like you’re a foreigner. And with our conference getting immeasurably stronger with University of Utah here and Stanford, there is a comfort to familiarity. I think that’s a natural psychological thing that happens.
On UCLA’s below average start on vault, their strongest event:
The team did exactly what drives me crazy. They sometimes feel like they need the first rotation to shake off the cobwebs even though there is no reason there should be any … and we are not going to do that tomorrow.
Senior Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs on what it’s like to perform well when her team needed her to:
All year, I’ve thought about just going out there and doing my best for the team. You can’t control what people do after you go, you can only control what you are about to do. So, I just go out there and enjoy every single minute.
On the possibility of an all Pac-12 and SEC Super Six:
I can speak of our team only, but we go out thee and stick in our Bruin bubble. We focus on our team, having fun and going out there and performing because that’s what we all enjoy doing. It’s great to have all Pac-12 teams advancing from this session, but that’s not what’s on our minds when we’re out there.