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February 28, 2006
First-year phenom balances sports, time
First-year Brynn Stenslie has been a major asset to Hamline’s gymnastics team, competing in the beam, vault and floor this year.
Stenslie, from Hazen High School in Washington, began competing in gymnastics thirteen years ago when her mother, Pam, decided it was where she belonged. “I always flipped around the house when I was little, so my mom decided to put me in gymnastics,” Stenslie said.
Her love for dance has contributed to her performance in the floor exercise, her favorite event. “I like the floor exercise because it shows everybody’s individual style the best,” Stenslie said.
She has been lucky; the only serious injuries she has encountered in her career have been shoulder problems which prevent her from competing in the bars.
However, she is very dedicated to gymnastics and her team; so dedicated that if something were to occur at a meet during an exercise, she would be sure to finish it with class, just as Kerri Strug did after spraining her ankle in the vault during the 1996 summer Olympics. “I was just happy that we won the gold. It was amazing that she was still able to pull it off,” Stenslie said as she recalled the gymnast’s accomplishments.
Stenslie expected college competition to be a lot more difficult than what she has experienced. “The competition is about the same as it was in high school,” she said.
Stenslie’s biggest challenges and struggles have been with adaptation and time management. “I had to move around to a lot of gyms because of coaches moving, and I had to address to different coaches. I also learned about time management because I competed in high school and club so I had to train twice as much,” she said. According to Stenslie, pressures in developing eating disorders among gymnasts is just a stereotype. “In club there was a little pressure, but in high school and here it is not an issue,” she said.
Outside of the gym, she enjoys diving, shopping, hanging out with friends and watching TV- especially the OC and Desperate Housewives. The only thing that really gets on Stenslie’s nerves is bad attitudes at practice. And yes, gymnasts can totally take on ninjas in a showdown.
Stenslie’s goals include staying healthy and making it to nationals this year. In regards to the upcoming regionals, Stenslie predicts the competition to be close and is hoping to get into the top three. The Pipers have competed against all the teams that they will face at the WIAC championships, save one. Regionals will take place on Friday, March 3.
Posted by dwright at February 28, 2006 01:49 PM
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