Women’s Gymnastics: Team invites fans, friends and family to watch practice

Anna Ripken
Fri, 18 Oct 2019 02:56:06 +0000
Gymnastics, News, Sports, Alexis Mattern, Big Ten, Buckeyes, gymnastics, jamie stone, janelle mcclelland, jenna swartzentruber, Meredith Paulicivic, morgan lowe, ohio state, Ohio State gymnastics, Ohio State women's gymnastics, olivia aepli, Stefanie Merkle, women's gymnastics

Senior all-around gymnast Olivia Aepli and the rest of the Ohio State women’s gymnastics team are opening up a practice session to fans, friends and family at 1 ?p.m. Sunday in the Covelli Center. Credit: Anna Ripken | Copy Chief

It’s time for Ohio State women’s gymnastics fans to flip out: Friends and family can swing through an open house practice Sunday, as the team trains for the upcoming competition season.

The women’s gymnastics team is extending an invitation to the community to hang out in the Covelli Center as the gymnasts take on a training session, practicing on each of their four events.

“The main purpose of the open house is really because my team has not been in Covelli, and to kind of get a feel for the equipment and the lights in our own home arena is important,” head coach Meredith Paulicivic said.

The open house will feature three groups of gymnasts divided into vault, bars and beam, before the team goes to the floor for tumbling and dance-throughs, Paulicivic said.

The practice will also give fans the opportunity to pick up new women’s gymnastics posters that detail the upcoming season, which includes home meets against teams including NC State, Minnesota and Penn State.

“A matchup with Minnesota is huge for us this year,” Paulicivic said. “They are a perennial powerhouse in the Big Ten, and having them at home gives us a little bit of an advantage. We’re really hoping we can eke one out at home against them.”

For home meets such as Minnesota, season ticket holders will be able to choose seats for the season at the open house event, and others in attendance can purchase season tickets. Other activities such as face painting, a prize wheel and a post-practice meet-and-greet will complement the training session.

Paulicivic said meets typically range from an hour and a half to an hour and 45 minutes in order to accommodate the attention spans of younger fans in the interest of a family-friendly event.

The open house is not only an opportunity for families. It will give the gymnasts a chance to adapt to the new arena — complete with an audience — and show the freshmen how the team warms up for competition.

“I’m really focusing on just the team and making sure everybody else is doing OK and kind of grabbing my freshmen like, ‘Come on, OK, we can do this,’” senior all-around gymnast Olivia Aepli said. “There are days it’s kind of really difficult for them to adjust to college life and college gymnastics life compared to high school and club domestic.”

They won’t be resting this weekend, though. The women’s gymnastics open house is 1-3:30 p.m. Sunday in the Covelli Center.