Welcome back, Pioneer Supporters!

My name is Leslie Pladson and I am a senior Health Studies-Pre Occupational Therapy major. My senior year has started off with a bang and I am excited to see what becomes of my last year here at TWU. The team has already started to become a cohesive unit and it is great to see this so early in the year!

Being our second week back in the gym, everyone is getting into the groove of things and handling it well. On each Sunday practice, an upperclassman picks a word that we, as a team, are going to strive toward. This week, senior Kelsey Nixon picked the word accountable. So, for the entire week our focus was to be accountable for our actions both in the gym and out of the gym. It is a fun way to grow as a team and move toward our overall goals.

We started our week off with a little outdoor conditioning. The prior week we had to do most of our conditioning indoors because of the rain. But Coach surprised us with an outdoor excursion and the team loved it. We cheered each other on and even got to interact with the soccer team a little bit and show our support for them. As our bodies are starting to respond better to the conditioning, I am seeing improvements being made in the gym. We had major releases going on bars, flights on beam, double backs on floor, and twisting vaults.

We finished up our week with team pictures on Friday. We all dressed up with our meet hair, make-up, and new leos! As soon as I walked into the studio, I got chills seeing everyone in meet attire. The feeling you get when you are with your teammates, all as one, is an incredible feeling and a memory that will always stay close to my heart. The pictures went really well and everyone is excited to see how they turn out! Saturday morning, our new assistant coach Theresa invited us over for a day at the pool. It was nice to relax and enjoy the Texas sun. Also that day, a few went over to Pioneer Hall to watch the volleyball team take on West Texas A&M. That night, we met up and went to the UNT football game. A fun time was had by all of us dressed in green, dancing to the music, and cheering the mean green on!

Overall, we are off to a wonderful start and I am thrilled to see what is in store for us! Stay tuned as we have our infamous “Pioneer Challenge” this week! It’s a battle of the classes and a fun way to finish up our month of September.

Thank you for your support!

Dream. Desire. Vision. We are ONE.

Leslie Pladson