2018 Women's NCAA Gymnastics Championships

Schweihofer On Huskers' Regional Performance, Taking On NCAAs

Schweihofer On Huskers' Regional Performance, Taking On NCAAs

Nebraska junior Megan Schweihofer chats challenging skills and Nebraska's stellar performance at regionals.

Apr 13, 2018 by Lauren Green
Schweihofer On Huskers' Regional Performance, Taking On NCAAs

After struggling at the Big Five meet on March 17, Nebraska has put together back-to-back impressive performances. At regionals, the Huskers clinched the second seed out of Raleigh. There was just a tenth and a half separating them and the No. 2 team in the country.



Megan Schweihofer has been a solid all-around competitor for the Huskers. It is a new role after the junior spent her first two seasons in Lincoln competing a combination of vault, floor, and beam. She has competed in the all-around in all 12 meets with a season-high 39.525 coming at the Big Ten championships. Schweihofer is particularly strong on floor, where she scored a 9.900 or better in six of her last seven routines. 

 


This is the fifth-straight year the Huskers advanced to compete at the NCAA championships as a team. The Huskers enter the NCAA championships ranked in the top-10 on vault (ninth) and floor exercise (10th). They will need another strong performance in the NCAA semifinals to advance to the Super Six for the first time since 2014.

Nebraska faces LSU, UCLA, Arkansas, Georgia, and Alabama on April 20 in the first semifinal session.

FloGymnastics: What is your favorite event to perform on and why?

Megan Schweihofer: It would be floor because you’re able to show your personality and that’s when the crowd and your teammates really get involved.

What is your favorite skill to perform on any event?

My favorite skill would have to be my jaeger on bars. It took me the longest to learn so it makes me feel really accomplished.

What is the most challenging skill that you’ve learned and what made it challenging for you?

That would be my [double layout] on bars. I don’t know why it would be most challenging, honestly. It just took me six years to get the proper technique down and be able to perfect it.

null


What was the biggest thing you took away from the regular season that you’ll look to use during nationals next week?

Really to go in with a confident mindset and to not go in with expectations. That’s what the coaches have said a lot before regionals. Not going in to win, just to be better versions of ourselves and just to be genuinely happy for one another and being there for one another.

How does the adversity that your team faces in the regular season help prepare you for this postseason run?

Obviously it wasn’t expected but it gives us motivation to outperform the other teams because we know that wasn’t who Nebraska was at Big Fives. Just being able to come back from that and at regionals, that was our highest all-around in like five years at Nebraska. Just going in with that confidence and no expectations.

How does that great performance at regionals give you more confidence heading into nationals, especially after finishing just a tenth and a half behind LSU?

It was amazing and it’s not like we didn’t think we had a chance, but just being able to see how close you are to the number two school in the nation is such an honor. We’re all going in with our heads high and knowing we can do anything we put our minds to.

How do you bounce back from a fall?

Just a lot of training. Sometimes it just happens and you just have to think, "Hey that was one turn, and it is what it is." You just have to move on and let it go because that’s the only way to move on for the next weekend.



What has been the biggest challenge for you personally this season?

It would probably be competing in the all-around every single weekend. I’ve never done that before and it’s definitely a bigger role on the team. I just felt a lot more pressure than my previous years here.

How would you describe yourself in three words?

Confident, trustworthy, and positive.

What are you most looking forward to about competing at nationals next week?

Just to be able to spend one more weekend with the team. This is all we have left with this team at UNL and just being able to get all of our last memories in. Just to be able to show the world what we’ve got.