Gymnastike had a few minutes to talk with Stanford junior Taylor Rice as the Cardinal prepare for their second competition of the 2015 season. Number 10 ranked Stanford will be taking on San Jose State on Friday, Jan 9 and you can watch the meet LIVE on Gymnastike Gold. 

 

Tell us about how last weekend’s competition went- for the team but also for you personally, as you earned your career high all-around score.

We only had five people in the lineups for three different events - on vault, bars, and floor so going into the meet we obviously knew it wasn’t going to be our strongest because we would have to count every single person that went. But not withstanding, I had a really strong a meet. I just kept a confident approach, did the work that I did the training to do, and tried not to let fact that we only had five people up in the lineup distract me. We attacked the meet with the same approach we always have - just go out there and do our work, do what we’ve been prepared to do, but we had a few slip ups here and there. 

 

What are you doing as a team to improve for this weekend’s meet?

First of all, just having six people up in every single line up is something we can definitely improve upon, and then just getting more fired up for this meet because I know this past meet definitely left us with a sour taste in our mouth. So going into this upcoming meet we really want to beat San Jose State and show people what we’ve been training for this entire preseason. 

 

Tell us about the team chemistry this year.

We have five seniors and they show a lot of leadership this year. We’ve also made a ton of changes to our program, it’s just an entirely different dynamic than we’ve had in the past. In the past it’s been very hierarchical and now it’s more all-inclusive on the team so everyone is giving an equal share of leadership on the team. Obviously the seniors have a little more leadership than the freshman do but everyone is given more of a voice and more of a say in what we’re doing this year.

 

Tell me about Stanford's slogan for the year.

Ivana Hong made it up and it’s “Do It Big, Stanford” or “Dream It Big, Stanford.” It’s pretty self explanatory- we just wanted to go out there and do it big, really just show everyone that Stanford isn’t an underdog, that we do have the capability and the potential to go out there and do it big and just show everyone what we’re made of.

 

What are you most excited this season, personally and as a team?

Personally, I just love competing floor every meet we do. That for me is exciting every single time I go out on the floor. As a team I’m really excited for the end of the season when we have Elizabeth Price, Kristina Vaculik, and Nicollete McNair all back and healthy because we’re going to have the strongest lineups ever. I think it will come as a surprise to our competitors because they don’t expect us to be that strong, especially because of our performance last meet. 

 

What are your goals for this season, personally as a team?

My personal goals are to make some upgrades hopefully with my dismount at the end of my bar routine- I’m hoping to upgrade that to a double layout, and on floor as well to make some upgrades- potentially a full-in as my first pass and a whip-half, rudi as my second pass. 

 

As a team we just want to have a healthy team because as a healthy team we will have a really strong team. so just getting everyone back will help. Then also remembering how confident we should be with our ability and our preparation. As a team our goal is to make it to the Super Six competition at the end of the year and I just know when we have our healthy bodies back we’ll definitely be there.

 

Tell us about your floor routine this year. Did you choreograph it yourself?

Yes, I choreographed my routine again this year and it’s a mix of really up beat songs- a few house music songs, I just love the music. I don’t really choreograph [with a story behind it] I just kind of go- “yeah that looks really cool.” I’m very satisfied with [how it turned out] and I love performing it. I hope everyone likes watching it to!

 

What are some other routines we should look out for?

Elizabeth Price for one. This past week she only did a [Yurchenko] full on vault and obviously she’s capable of much more than that so look out for her to do a double full on vault and probably stick every one. Also, her bar routine is absolutely incredible. She does a shaposh to immediate uprise, free hip, to a piked ray to immediate shoot over to immediate stalder up. I think she has one of the most if not the most difficult bar routine in the NCAA. Kristina Vaculik is looking really strong too. She’s battling an illness right now but she will be back really strong just like she ended last season. Nicolette McNair is also a very strong all-arounder coming back from a minor foot injury. She will be back and strong and fully capable of getting a 9.9 on every event. 

 

Watch out for Stanford, don’t put us under the radar!

 

 

Related:

Watch Stanford at SJSU LIVE Here

Meet Preview: Stanford at SJSU

Meet the Team: Stanford Cardinal

Meet the Team: San Jose State Spartans