Consistency was key to Nelson’s success
It seems improbable that a gymnast who struggled with consistency before coming to college would only fall once in 56 routines.
Especially in her freshman year.
But Utah State gymnast Meagan Nelson did just that on her way to a school record 39.200 all-around average.
“Boy, talk about consistency,” said USU Head Coach Ray Corn.
For her performance this season, Nelson is The Utah Statesman’s choice as the top female athlete for the 2002-03 academic year.
Corn said when Nelson entered the Utah State program, she had the skills to be a great gymnasts, but wasn’t always consistent.
“The program stabilized her and made her consistent,” he said.
Nelson said, “In club, I had a really hard time. I was the girl you were praying to get through a meet, and this year I only fell once out of like 56 routines, so that was really exciting and a good goal to accomplish.”
Once she got going, the freshman from Las Vegas, Nev., quickly became one of the top performers on the team, and by the end of the season had helped lead the Aggies to their best ever Regional Qualifying Score of 195.150.
Opening the season at Cal State Fullerton, in her first meet as an Aggie Nelson scored a 39.175 in the all-around to start a string of seven straight scores better than 39.000.
She continued the next week with a 39.050, then, in the home opening meet, in what Nelson said was one of her favorite of the year, she scored a career high 39.500. That score also put her fourth on the USU all-time all-around list.
“It was just we had a huge crowd, the team was so into it, we had a lot of support,” she said. “We rocked beam that meet. It was just so exciting.”
Although her scores remained steady throughout the season, scoring so high so early was a bit of a surprise to Nelson.
“I got used to it in the middle of the season, but at the beginning I was like, ‘A 9.8? OK,'” she said. “You’re shocked at first but you get used to it at the end of the season.”
And by the end she definitely should have been used to it. Of the 14 meets she competed in, Nelson scored above 39.900 in 12 of them, a school record. She also finished the year with the all-around average record.
Nelson’s scores also kept her ranked nationally in the top 50 all-around performers most of the season. She finished the season ranked No. 41.
At the Western Gymnastics Conference Championships, Nelson finished third with a 39.275 to take first team honors, and she also earned conference academic honors.
She still wasn’t finished though. Her performance earned her a trip, along with teammates Jessica Parenti and Nicole Kilpatrick, to the NCAA Regional competition in Salt Lake City as an individual all-around competitor. Although she finished with a 38.875, her lowest score of the season, Nelson still finished ninth.
“It was a good experience,” she said. “We got to learn, we got more experience with it, but it will be more exciting going back as a team next year.”
Looking back at the season, Nelson said although it wasn’t perfect, she wouldn’t take any of the bad moments away.
“I think every mistake we made this year was a good learning experience,” she said. “I don’t think I’d erase any of them.”
One of the biggest differences for her, Nelson said, was competing in front of large crowds. In club gymnastics, she said the biggest crowd she competed in front of was 200 or 300 people.
That changed in the Spectrum when the Aggies had the chance to compete, at times, with a couple thousand fans looking on.
“I liked competing on floor at home with our home crowd behind us, because they know our routines, so they were getting involved and that pushed you that much harder,” Nelson said. “When you’re sick, tired, hurting, it really pushes you through.”
Although Nelson had such a great year as only a freshman, Corn said he wasn’t too surprised. He said he had been watching her since she was 12 or 13 and expected her to be able to have the type of performances she did.
“We knew how good she was,” Corn said. “I knew she would produce big scores. I just didn’t know it would happen so quickly and be weekend after weekend.”
With such a successful first year, there isn’t a lot of room to go up, but Nelson said she’ll look to keep getting better.
“I did fall once,” she said. “There’s always places you can improve on.”
Overall though, Nelson said her first year was a great experience.
“It was fun and exciting,” she said. “I was able to accomplish many of my goals, staying consistent all year long, so I’m happy.”
-slbk5@cc.usu.edu