Jay Clark and Konnor McClain talk about the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad Meet and preview their upcoming meet against Kentucky on Friday.
McClain
McClain
- Felt the meet went well. They had their up and downs, but felt they finished strong on bars.
- Says she loves college and the team environment. Said she'll never forget getting her first 10 and having everyone celebrate with her.
- Her only goal is to go into every meet and have fun with it.
- She passed the opportunity to take this year off and train for the olympics, but she feels she made the right decision. She still can try for the olympics and feels LSU is helping her in her quest to get to the olympics. Calls making the olympic team her "number one goal"
- Feels the team needs to be more confident on beam. They have so much confidence on the other event, but feels they're lacking on beam.
- Says Oklahoma is an amazing team, but she feels they're just as good and have everything they need to compete with the No. 1 team in the country.
- This team is known for their fight, which was shown in the first two meets when they came back in the final rotation.
- Calls Haleigh Bryant the best teammate and the best person.
- She definitely wants to compete in more events when they need her. She's competed on bars in both meets and did beam in the first meet, but wants to get on floor soon.
- Says the goal with McClain wasn't necessarily gymnastics, but getting her to place where she can enjoy the sport again. She had back surgery and hand surgery and it made her begin to lose the love for gymnastics. Feels she's doing great now.
- He agrees with McClain in the fact that their confidence is down on beam. Doesn't want to make any huge changes, because that could make it worse, but feels he needs to address it and get it corrected.
- Thought floor looked fantastic and bars were absolutely amazing. Says the team is known for fighting their way out of bad situations, which is great, but he doesn't want them to have to do that. Wants to see more complete efforts from the team.
- Feels they'll make some minor training adjustments this week instead of making major lineup changes in the beam department.
- Says when you look at all the falls on beam, they've come from freshman and Kiya Johnson who's coming off a torn achilles and hasn't performed in a year nearly.
- Says Konnor is talented, but she also has this physical ability that stands out to you when you watch her. Says her release on bars is very rare to see at this level, and she's doing it as a freshman.
- When he talks to people at ESPN, they tell him that they're getting some very big viewing numbers on TV. He can't get exact figures, but says they've been positive in talks with him.
- Thinks parody is at an all-time high. Says he remembers when there were 3 teams that dominated every year, but feels now, if you're in the top-15, you can compete on any given day.
- Feels the environment at the PMAC for gym is amazing for the sport.
- Says Kentucky has had their number the last few years and they're going to give them a run for their money again on Friday. They've got their hands full, so he encourages the fans to get here and help them out.
- Says they came out of Utah with everybody healthy.
- Thinks Livvy is good on floor. Felt her floor routine could've scored a little higher. Said she's doing a great training on bars and beam too in practice.
- Feels good about where the team is in week three, minus the hiccups on beam.
- Thinks Konnor has a steep hill to climb to make the olympic team. They're going to support and help her, but says getting there is her responsibility.
