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PARENTS
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COLLEGE
GYMNASTICS
By
Kristen Riffanacht
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Kristen
Riffanacht is a sophomore at the University of Utah,
and a leading member of Utah’s women’s gymnastics
team. As a freshman, she led the team on Vault, and was a
contributor on all three other events. She was the top
first-year athlete on the team, and brought new life to
one of the country’s best gymnastics teams. At the NCAA
National Championships, Utah placed 6th, and
Kristen was named an All American. Kristen Riffanacht is
also the very first alumnus of Gymnastics Revolution. |
| College.
What a small word. When it is spoken it can send
shivers down your spine, put goose bumps on your
arms and makes the butterflies in your stomach fly
high. Well, I am sure that not everybody feels
that way, but I sure did. When I got to school I
was absolutely petrified. The school was so big
and there were so many people, I would be living
with 3 people I didn’t know and working with
coaches and professors I had never met before. The
schoolwork was going to get harder, the
expectations higher, and the schedule more
demanding. I was going to be on my own for the
first time ever, 2500 miles from home. I was an
absolute nervous Nellie. But, once I moved into
the dorms and met my roommates, we instantly
clicked and from then on it was great. The first
day of classes came and went and it was not so
bad. After
a few weeks I learned the campus like the back of
my hand. Now, the first day of practice was
another story. I was so extremely nervous to
workout for the first time. But once I got in
there, it was like I was just doing my thing and
the coaches were right behind me in any way
possible. I learned to adjust to their very
different coaching styles and things just came
naturally.
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The
Utes Gymnastics Team regularly draws more than
10,000 spectators to the home meets. More than
any other NCAA Gymnastics Team.
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In Utah, the John
M. Huntsman Center almost fills every Friday
night that we are at home with 10,000 plus people
in the stands. We have loyal season ticket holding
fans with whom we are very close. Our fans come
into the gym and see what we are up to and how we
are doing. |
One
of the greatest experiences that I had at school
was living in the dorms. I absolutely loved it. I
made so many new friends not to mention met tons
of different people. Our Residential Advisor is
like our big sister and we were really close with
her. There were tons of activities that she would
put on for us such as a Halloween party, a Pajama
party, movie nights, dancing lessons, yoga and
tons of other things. It was an experience that I
wouldn’t have traded for anything in the world.
I would recommend the dorms to any freshman going
in to school.
There is a huge
difference in college gymnastics than in club
gymnastics, and that was TEAMWORK. Of course we
all worked together and supported one another when
we were in the gym, but when it came to the
competition floor, it was always about me. I never
had 11 girls behind me cheering me on, and
depending on my hit routine. When the teamwork or
togetherness falls apart, the team begins to fall
apart and will self-destruct.
Everybody has to
pull his or her weight and put the effort in.
Our team is so close we are like sisters.
It is great because when somebody is having a
problem they will know exactly how to get you to
fix it. As a team there is only one goal every
year, to win a NCAA National Championship.
Everyday is just another step towards our
goal of winning |
| Workouts
are very different than what I am used to. We
workout four times a week for four hours a day.
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 1:30 –
5:30. We condition twice a week, on Wednesday from
6-7:30am (YES…in the morning) and then Saturday
from 9-11. We will do cardiovascular work, like
aerobics or a spinning class and weight lifting
with our strength coaches. We do routines from
December all the way through until the end of the
season in April. We compete 12 meets in a row,
which is 12 Fridays in a row.
Where I was used to competing maybe 6 times
in a year! Many
of them are home, but about half of them are away.
We bring work on the road so that we don’t fall
behind. After every Friday meet, we will do
conditioning on Saturday morning. This gets us
used to getting up and going the morning after a
meet so that when we have to compete 2 or 3 days
in a row at nationals it will not be as big of an
adjustment. Traveling definitely makes our team
closer, and not just the girls, the coaches too.
There is nothing
like experiencing a home meet. We run in through a
tunnel and the lights are off and they announce
our names and the crowd goes absolutely wild.
After our routines, the crowd cheers and it gets
you so pumped up. There are cheerleaders on the
floor and our mascot is out there getting the
crowd involved. It is like nothing I have ever
experienced before.
Besides the
gymnastics the schoolwork is not too hard to keep
up with. Greg only makes us workout actually doing
gymnastics for 16 hours a week so that we can have
plenty of time to study. He demands good grades,
which is A’s. I have found that when I get a B,
I am extremely upset with myself, whereas in high
school I used to be satisfied. I usually come home
from practice at night and will eat dinner around
7 or 8 and then sit down to study for on average
about 3 hours a night. Sometimes it is more, and
sometimes it is less. I usually don’t have too
many late nights but there are the occasional
ones. There are several perks to being a college
athlete. When we are having trouble with our
schoolwork all we have to do is arrange for a
tutor through the athletic department. It is one
of the many perks of being an athlete in
college. |
| Another
experience that I always dreamed of was
going to the NCAA National Championships.
The cameras are everywhere the crowd is
crazy. We have a very well traveled bunch
so our fans tend to make it on TV a lot.
It was amazing to compete there. When you
get off the floor the cameras are in your
face while you are trying to catch your
breath. It is very obnoxious but so cool
at the same time. It was everything that I
ever hoped it would be, even though we had
a poor showing. But number six in the
country is not too shabby I say.
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Another
perk is having a trainer right in the gym. Thomas
looks out for all of us and cares so much about
us. He comes in on Sundays just to do treatments
with us so that we can be at our best when it
comes time for the competition. He is one of the
best people that I know and I look up to him a
lot. He will set up massages for the team as well.
He puts up a list and they will come in 4 times a
week and we have to sign up. It is nice because
when you are really hurting they can fix you right
up. We have a great support staff including a
Nutritionist and a Sports Psychologist. I
personally have seen the sports psychologist
several times and he has really helped me to
better my approach to gymnastics and to life.
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Video
Streams of the meets are available on the Utah
Gymnastics Multimedia site:
Streaming
Meets
You
will need QuickTime Player to view the videos.
Clik below to download.Some of Kristen's Video
Clips are available for download at Utah
Gymnastics Multimedia:
Vault
Floor
Bars
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| A
year later, I look back on myself as I was getting
ready to graduate high school and go off to
college and there is a HUGE difference in me. The
most noticeable difference is my attitude. I have
found a new love for gymnastics. I have learned
that hard work will get you wherever you want to
be and to attain all of your goals. I set a goal
at the beginning of each year as to what I want to
do. This year it was to be an all -American on
vaulting, and I did it! I enjoy being in the gym.
Training is not so much a hassle as it is a job
and enjoyable at that. Who doesn’t want a job
that is enjoyable to them? Secondly, I strive for
perfection more than I ever have before. I want
straight A’s not B’s. I have met so many
people who have begun to influence my life and
what I want to do with it. I want everything so
much more now than I ever did before. I put in the
extra work and go in on the days off and study on
the weekends because I want to make the best of my
life and not waste any time or talent.
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| To
sum it up, college has taught me to be
myself, and that plain old hard work will
get you wherever you want in life. I was
picked from my team to be our
representative on the SAAC or Student
Athlete Advisory Committee for the next
three years. The coaches and professors
have noticed my work ethic and attitude. I
learned all my discipline from my early
years in gymnastics. All I have to say is
that the sweat, tears, blood, pain, broken
bones, sore joints, long days, hard times
are all worth it in the end. They make you
a stronger person and you can enjoy the
fruits of your labor, which for me is
competing for the #6 team in the nation
for gymnastics. |
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SEASON
HIGHLIGHTS:
Season
Vaulting Average: 9.856
Season
Uneven Bar Average: 9.704
Season
Floor Average: 9.767 |
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Tel: 203-798-8651