Lessons learned from gymnastics
The Utah State University gymnastics team is awesome. Not only are they the most flexible people I know, they are fun to watch and never give up.
We could all learn some lessons from our Aggie gymnasts. I have been taught a few things since I started covering gymnastics and am prepared to let you in on a few of my secrets.
First off, it is possible to dislocate your shoulders and pop them right back into place while still smiling. I learned this lesson watching Kirra Seeley’s uneven bars routine.
It’s difficult to describe the phenomenon, but in the middle of her routine Seeley suddenly flips her body through her arms without letting go of the bar. I don’t know how she does it. All I know is it is medically impossible and looks painful.
I find myself involuntarily cringing every time.
My theory is her routine alone is the reason there are always medical personnel hovering around.
Another thing I’ve learned is the munchkins on the Wizard of Oz … yep, they’re gymnasts. You may not realize it when you’re watching them compete, but the unofficial average height of our USU gymnastics team is about 3′ 6″ tall. To be fair, my estimate is probably a little low, but at 5 foot 7 inches, I definitely tower over them.
Every time I interview our Aggie gymnasts I feel like the Jolly Green Giant. Except I’m not green.
Picture this: I go to practice to interview a gymnast, let’s say Jessenia Abrego. She is the oldest one on the team, but don’t let that deceive you. She is only 4-foot-11-inches tall.
As I walk over to talk to her, I realize I’m about 10 times taller than her and am waiting for a “how’s the weather up there” joke. I momentarily forget why I came as I wonder if she is straining her neck too hard to try and look all the way up at me.
I’m expecting a lawsuit any day for causing undue neck stress.
Another thing you might not know is the blue pads they train and compete on are the best-kept secret I know.
I’ll probably have a price on my head after letting this secret out, but I feel you as the public deserve to know. You see, those pads are really trampolines. It’s true.
You don’t need Nike shoes to jump higher, you just need a top-secret blue thingy. Every time I walk across them in all my journalist seriousness with my notebook in hand, I am tempted to be very unprofessional, take my shoes off and have a good bounce.
Those of you with young children would do well to invest in one of these pads. No springs for the little ones to hurt themselves on and it will probably stunt their growth so they, too, can be munchkins when they grow up.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, “Shotgun” is a technical term used to describe the pumping of the arms that follows a solid performance. The first time I witnessed this was watching freshman Katie Rutherford at the conference meet Friday.
After a solid landing following her amazing bars routine, her arms started to spasm and Head Coach Ray Corn lifted her up. Initially, I thought he was trying to rush her to an ambulance, but later discovered the Shotgun is a perfectly safe technique and Coach Corn was just lifting her up in celebration.
That’s a relief.
One more little tidbit for you: When the going gets tough, the munchkins get going.
Despite losing some of its best gymnasts – starting with Tina Ellis and most recently Mika Love Houston – for medical reasons, the team never gave up. Even when all the odds were against them qualifying for regionals, our Aggies came through at the conference meet with their best score of the season.
They just found out Monday they will go to Denver, Colo., and compete at regionals. If anyone deserves to go and do well, it’s them. I’m proud of our team this season. Even though their scores haven’t been the best, our gymnasts never gave up and always gave their best.
Congratulations and good luck to our Aggie munchkins.
Katrina Cartwright is a junior majoring in print journalism. She is the senior sports writer for The Utah Statesman. Comments can be sent to her at kcartwright@cc.usu.edu