Mark Stevenson Quotations

I believe when you recruit a highly intelligent individual, you can teach them more than you can teach someone who is not very intelligent, and they can become a lot better athlete.

Having Karen in the gym has been such a huge plus for us because she is so good at the choreography and dance and the look of the routines on beam and floor. She is a also a Level 10 judge, so she is able to tell the girls what the judges look for and where certain deductions come.

We took a lot of feedback from people who were in the event. ... They wanted the route to be more difficult.

Larry has contributed immeasurably to the vision of how to build a bank uniquely geared to the needs of Portland-area businesses and business owners. His commitment to that vision has given Capital Pacific Bank a solid foundation from which we will continue to grow and evolve. We wish Larry the very best.

Laurie actually had surgery on both knees, and she is only a few months out of surgery and has been cleared to get back in the gym. Her strength is up, and her conditioning is really good. I could see her both on bars and beam, and as her knee gets better maybe back on vault.

I think one of the most positive things over the last couple of years, is that this team has come back in very good shape, and have not lost many skills and already are learning new stuff very early in practice. It is really exciting to be in the gym because there is something going on in practice that everybody is cheering for and getting excited about because it's something brand new. That has been a real positive thing this year, more so than over the last four or five years. Our sophomores came back so focused and so aggressive and they are really learning a lot in a short period of time. I truly think we have the potential to be good on all four events.

Kelsey has come back with a tremendous attitude this year. She has a learned a 10.0 vault since she got her, and we are having more success with her vault as she continues to practice. Beam is coming along as she is stepping that up, and bars and floor are going to be good once again. She is learning a lot and working hard.

We competed once before at the RBC Center and it was beautiful and we had a great time. It is more work in setting it up and such, but it is worth it cause we get the video highlights of routines and just get to go out and compete somewhere else. Everybody at NC State does such a great job in preparing for our regular meets in Reynolds, and I'm sure everybody will be just as excited to pull off a great meet at the RBC Center.

Beth is a walk-on who has competed a couple of times for us over the last few years, and has done a really nice job for us when we needed her to step in when we've had people out. Beth stepped right in whenever we asked, and its always good to have people like that on our squad.

The thing I like the best about this group is how focused everybody is and how hard each gymnast is working so early in preparing for the season. They are not afraid to tell each other that the effort needs to be picked up at times, because this group has the mentality that it is not about everybody not about individuals. They are very excited about learning and listening to each other and the coaches.

Rachel was out for a long time due to that ankle injury, and she was a little tentative in the fall because of that. Overall we all know she will be fine once the middle of the season comes around, and I'll expect her to keep doing vault, bars and floor. She is one of our top scorers on vault, so all of us are excited to get her back to full strength.

Ashley has the potential to see some vault down the line, but I she her as a starter on floor for us. She is a beautiful dancer and has some really nice skills. Right now Lauren is a great kid working hard in floor, beam and vault.

We have to stop being defined by what we own, and start being defined by what we create.

When we talk about the future, we often talk about it as damage and limitation exercise. That needn't be the case - it could be a Renaissance.

Keith Richards ... was once asked how he came up with all those amazing guitar riffs. His answer? He just starts playing until he makes the right mistake. In other words he's optimistic he will create something good by virtue of getting something "wrong."