Q) Tell us a little bit about yourself in general
A) I am a New Hampshire native still trying to adapt to the southern ways. I enjoy skiing (in the snow that is), fishing, reading, running, and any other sport not involving hand-eye coordination or a ball. I am a baseball fan and am awaiting the Red Sox to claim the pennant.
Q) How old were you when you started gymnastics? Where? Coaches?
A) I was 4 when I started gymnastics. I took classes once-a-week in a basketball gym converted to a gymnastics facility, only 2 minutes from my house. In high school I trained at Atlantic Gymnastics with Tony Retrosi and Cori Hart. AGTC is an hour from my home and we put many miles on our car.
Q) When did you determine that you were talented enough to compete nationally/internationally?
A) It was never a "determination" factor, but an eventual fact that I would be a competitor in national competitions in order to improve my competitiveness.
Q) Do you have a favorite gymnast? Who? What is it about that gymnast that you like in particular?
A) My favorite gymnasts are my teammates because they inspire me everyday.
Q) What is you favorite apparatus? Why?
A) I enjoy bars in practice, but I love competing floor exercise in front of the home crowd.
Q) What was you best competition performance?
A) Nationals -1998 at UCLA - As soon as I landed my bar dismount I knew
I had just done the best performance of the season. What made is sweeter was the 2nd night of competition and our crowd was cheering for us right in front of the bars.
Q) Favorite competition location?
A) Home, of course! What beats 15,000 screaming fans all in favor.
Q) Tell us about you collegiate recruiting experience. who recruited you, how many visits did you take and at what point did you decide to attend the University of Alabama?
A) I had many choices as to what school I wanted to attend. Unfortunately some schools had stronger academics while others had stronger teams. Alabama came into the picture very late and now I know how lucky I am that I had not committed to a school yet. I came here in Mid-March for my trip when it was snowing in New Hampshire and 80 degree weather in Bama. I learned that the last scholarship had been signed, but there was still a spot open on the team if I wanted it. I fell in love with Bama, one of the reasons being the coaches are deeply committed to academics and gymnastics.
Q) What skills are you currently practicing and do you expect to contribute on each apparatus this season?
A) I hope to contribute on bars, beam and floor. I am currently working on a new dismount on bars. A double layout fly away, which is amazing because I've never competed any form of a fly away.
Q) What are your academic and athletic goals for the upcoming season?
A)I want to come into this season in the best possible condition and have a chance to contribute to this team. I want to help the team bring home a 1999 National Championship Trophy.
Academics I would like to improve my GPA and remain a Scholastic All-American.
Q) Do you have a best and worst experience involving gymnastics?
A) The best experience I've ever had is competing with the team on the 2nd night of Nationals and standing on the awards stand. I felt like we had won.
The worst, but most educational, experience, was sitting in the stands the 2nd night of the 1997 Nationals in Florida.
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