***UPDATED 1/10/05!!!***
Hey! My name is Keri....
Age: 19
School: Clemson University
Major: Graphic Communications
Hometown: Greenville, SC
College Sport: Cross Country
Hobbies: Making websites, hanging out with friends, running,
tumbling every once in a while, scuba diving, and horseback riding.
My Past:
Gymnastics:
Ok, So I began gymnastics when I was three years old....and stopped
last summer when I was 18, so yeah for 15 years of my life I was a gymnast.
I began Gymnastics at what was then called Golden Gymastics Center
or something like that. I started through a program at my daycare center where we went once a week. I stayed there
until I was 6 years old. Then I moved to a gym that was closer to my house. This gym was called Greenville Gymnastics
training center. I will never forget the first time I walked into that place. The bars were right at the front
of the gym and I saw some of the older team girls doing giants on them. I was so scared that they were going to make
me do that and I started crying and did not want to go in. My dad had to go into the gym with me and take me to my class
and they showed me that we would be doing things like handstands and cartwheels, etc.; things I was already able to do.
Well then i was fine. I continued to progress (although, not nearly as fast as Carly did! lol) and I started competing
at Level 2. Yes, competition used to start at Level 2. Now it starts at Level 4. After beginning competitive
gymnastics, I increased a level per year. I wasnt the greatest gymnast (I usually got low to mid 8s with the rare 9).
I won my first gold medal on beam. Which is probably why it has always been my favorite event! (Just like Carly's!)
But my best event was vault. My coaches said it was due to my powerful run (haha). Bars was always my least favorite.
And I guess floor and vault were tied for second favorite.
Anyways. The summer before 8th grade, I was in either level
5 or 6 ( i dont really remember). Well there was this new coach that came to the gym and she had an idea to start a new team.
This team was a General Gymnastics team, a team that does group floor routines with props and stuff. Well she watched
all of us at practice and picked 10 of us from Team (competitive) that she thought had the best personalities for this
type of team. Most of us accepted the new challenge and we were called the Greenville Gymnastics Exhibition Team.
We had a really great choreographer that created a great routine that had tons of powerful tumbling in it as well as great
dance moves. We practiced for hours and hours, on top of our practices for Competitive Team. I was in the gym
for hours and hours at a time (but still probably not as much time as Carly spends training). We decided that we were
going to try to make it to Nationals. Some of the moms made us some awesome costumes and we continued to perfect our
routine. We also did many performances around town to get publicity as well as donations. We sent in a tape of
our routine to see if we would be invited to Nationals and we were! So we went to Nationals around Labor day in 1998.
It was in Austin, TX. And we kicked butt. We were one of the top groups there. But the routines are not
judged in General Gymnastics. It is more of a for-fun thing than competitive team. Well anyways, we were one of
the few (i think maybe there were 20) teams from the US to be invited to go to the World Gymnaestrada (like the olympics
but for General Gymnastics) the following summer in Goteburg, Sweden. Well, many of the girls decided that this
new team was taking away from their Competitive gymnastics, so they quit the Exhibition team. We held tryouts and got
girls to replace them, but we would never be as good as we were at Nationals in '98. But we were still pretty darn good.
We just had a lot more dance in our routines than tumbling. Anyways, we did end up going and having a great time at
the World gymnastrada. I was one out of i think 600 USA gymnasts to participate in it. So it was a great experience.
Here is the list of the USA participants of that year.
So then I went to high school. And I decided to join the
cross country team with one of my best friends. It was impossible for me to be on all 3 teams at the same time, so I
quit the Exhibition team. I stuck with competitive and cross country. Well, by December of my freshman year (1999)
I decided that I was going to take running seriously, because i loved it and I was much better at it than I was at competitive
gymnastics. So i did the hardest thing and went to my parents, and then my coach and told them I was going to be quitting
the team. But I just loved gymnastics so much that I couldnt give it up completely. So I went back to the
Exhibition team. There was a new coach now for this team, and the team had dwindled down to not too many girls.
There were none of the girls left from the original team. She gladly let me back on the team. At this point and
from then on, I was the star of the team. It was cool. Well then we got better and better over the years and the
summer before my senior year, we went to Nationals again. This time it was in Orlando, Florida. It
was actually held at Sea World. We performed on the stage and had a great time. We were yet again
invited to the World Gymnastada the following summer. This time it was going to be in Portugal. We were all very
excited. But then disaster struck. Many of the girls could not afford to make the trip. We tried fundraising
and getting donations but it just wasnt enough. And we decided as a group to just not go. :(
Well, that was my last summer as a gymnast. I had to stop
gymnastics completely because I was going away to college and I was going to be on a Division one college cross country team
which left for very little free time. it was very sad for me to quit, but I continued to follow gymnastics
over the next year and I was cheering Carly on the entire time and watched her throughout the Olympics. She's my all time
favorite gymnast. I went to the TJ Maxx tour and it was the greatest moment when I got her autograph! She really inspired
me and made me want to get back into gymnastics VERY badly. So now that cross country season is over, I have some free
time and I occasionally go to local gyms and tumble some. :) THE END
Running:
Facts-
Began running: the summer before my freshman year of high school
Team I currently run for: Clemson University Cross Country team
Fastest 5k- 20:24
Fastest 10k 42:00
Fastest (official) Mile 5:55
Fastest (official) 800 2:34
Major Accomplishments:
*Member of the 2000 South Carolina State Champion Cross Country
Team*
*All-region 2002-2003 for Cross Country and Track*
*2002 Mauldin High School Cross Country team 110% Award*
