Our performance until now has been expected. I think the people who are surprised by our performance are those on the outside looking in. We expected this to be a special year.

Increasingly we're seeing strong company performance, and that's starting to generate improved job prospects and feeding through to consumers. That should lead to a distinct turnaround in sentiment this year.

Over break, you don't have other worries such as school. The point of the trip was to maintain the training, get some competition in, and give the team some bonding time. We reminded the girls that this is the home stretch, and we want them to refocus on our goals.

I think that this meet showed we're a great dual meet team. It really showed that we can rally when our backs are against the wall.

For me, when I get to the venue and have the people and the audience, my performance boosts up. I skate at a much higher level. I'm one of those people that feel like I can feed off the energy and be better. I love to perform.

I would say that it was generally a mixed performance. There were some people on the team who did very well and a few who were disappointed with how they raced.