Cuff tames nerves to win all-around

Lady Lion gymnast Gemma Cuff approached Saturday's meet against North Carolina State in a different fashion than the previous two weeks.

Giddy freshman anticipation aside, Cuff was more focused and took the payoff -- a first-place all-around finish and a healthy boost to her confidence.

"I was very pleased," she said. "I was a bit nervous going into it, but I settled down once we got into it."

For Cuff, a native of Loughborough, England, this season has been full of high emotions. The season and home openers were both powerful experiences in which the atmosphere and excitement proved to be the most overwhelming factors.

The chance to concentrate and give a solid performance finally presented itself against N.C. State, Cuff said.

"The first meet I enjoyed because it was my first collegiate event, and at Rec (Hall, in the home opener) I was really nervous . . . there was a lot of pressure being in front of the home crowd. (Saturday) night, I wanted to go in and have a clean meet."

Scoring no lower than 9.6 on any apparatus, Cuff accomplished her goal and finished the night with an all-around score of 38.8 -- good enough to edge out teammate Missy Leopoldus by one-tenth of a point and take first-place honors.

"I've always wanted to get the all-around high score," she said. "I want to keep trying to improve and get a better all-around score."

Though Cuff was pleased with the win, both she and coach Steve Shephard saw at least one flaw in her performance.

Cuff's lowest score of the night was on bars, where she made her most blatant mistake. Dragging her feet along the mat when she moved from the lower to upper bar, Cuff's score suffered a three-tenths deduction.

Instead of a 9.6 on bars, she could have easily scored a 9.8, Shephard said.

Cuff's performances on beam, vault and floor more than made up for the mistake on bars and were better than what the judges scored, Shephard said.

"Gemma's beam was the best I've seen her. I thought she was a little underscored on floor and her vaulting was tremendous. Again, I think she was little underscored there, too."

Underscored or not, Cuff thinks the chance to get higher scores is within her reach.

"I can improve in every event," she said. "Especially on floor. I can smile more and on beam I can get my confidence up.

"I guess I just have to be myself."