Kristen Riffanacht Tells Of New Stuff In the Gym

Sept. 22, 2004

SALT LAKE CITY -
Each week, a Ute gymnast will contribute an excerpt for the Utah Gymnastics Diary. This week's edition of the Utah Gymnastics Journal is provided by junior Kristen Riffanacht.

Hello Red Rock Fans,

We have finally finished our voluntary workouts and out-of-season conditioning. We ended last week with some circuit training and a little bit of hip hop on Saturday, followed by some weight lifting with our new strength coach Annette. We started our required workouts on Monday.

WAHOO, here we go! I know the coaches are excited, that's for sure, but we are all totally psyched because it is just one step closer to the competition season. We can't wait for our intra-squad and "meet the team" night on December 3, in the Huntsman Center. You had better be there. It's going to be great. We will start everything at 7:00 PM.

Last Saturday night Ashley, AB, Katie, Queenie, Steph, and I had a little BBQ at an off-campus house where some members of our swim team live. We all watched our Utes play against Utah State and kick some major booty! Natalie had the privilege of going to the game in Logan, and not only did she go, but she got to be ON THE FIELD! WOW!

Our freshmen seem to be adjusting quite well to the college atmosphere, meeting all kinds of interesting people and having new experiences, especially up at the Heritage Center food court... right girls? They have all fit in so-o-o well. We love them!

Everybody really used the voluntary practices well and things are looking great.

Flying high in bungee

It actually gave us an opportunity to play with some of Greg's new "toys" in the gym. During the summer he had a few upgrades installed. We have a new bungee system over our in-ground trampoline. It's just like the ones that the freestyle skiers use to develop their skills. If fact, I think Greg got the idea from the Olympics Training Center in Park City. Basically it is an automated spotting device. It allows us to flip and twist around and try new skills without worrying about landings or doing things incorrectly the first time. Ashley has a great mission impossible maneuver she can show you. Even Megan has gotten in the belt a couple of times and played around. She was doing double twisting double backs the other day. Once a gymnast, always a gymnast. GO MEGAN!

My favorite upgrade to the gym has been the new video system. We have three wall mounted cameras around the gym that can be operated robotically and rotate in every direction. They can video every event from several different angles. It then shows everything on a delay of from about 10 seconds to two minutes. We can select that based on what we're doing.

For instance, when we are vaulting, we will set the timing of the delay for about 10 to 15 seconds.

AB and Megan review replay

That is just enough time to vault, and then walk over to watch yourself while it is recording the next person's vault. If we are doing floor routines, we set the delay for about one minute and 45 seconds. Then I can watch my routine while it records Queenie's. It's all automated, so no one has to do anything. We have two monitors, one on each side of the gym, a 63" plasma screen and a 30" TV. It is so awesome to have something like that in the gym because it is easier to learn new skills and make corrections when you can actually see what you are doing after every attempt. Greg said he got the idea for it from a friend he has at the Australian National Training Center where they have a similar set-up.

In our team room, we now have a projection screen digital satellite system. The screen is about six feet by six feet. IT'S HUGE! It has satellite TV, as well as DVD, VHS and digital tape players. It is also hooked up to our new computers for presentations. Greg thinks it's for watching gymnastics stuff, but when he's not looking we sneak in a little MTV too.

Last but not least, and I must admit my least favorite additions: We got three new treadmills and three new Stairmasters for our cardio area. I love gymnastics, but I hate cardio. Oh well, you take the good with the bad. Anyway, our fans donated all these new things. We have the best fans IN THE WORLD!

That's about it for this week. Remember that we have open practices from 1:30 - 5:30, M,T,H,F. So come on in and check out Utah's "Red Rocks"! See U soon.

GO RED ROCKS! GO UTES!

Riffy

Don't forget to read Dom's journal next week!

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Kristen Riffanacht Tells Of New Stuff In the Gym

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