Green Valley gymnasts make training pay off

It just didn't seem right that one would make the Junior Olympic national team and the other would fall just short.

Gymnasts Erica Oswalt and Ciera Perkins always seem to be together. They are juniors at Green Valley High School, they compete for Henderson-based Gymcats, and they have committed to Boise State.

So, of course, they should be on the same national team.

Perkins clinched one spot by finishing second in the all-around in the Senior A competition at the national meet May 7 and 8 in Dallas, but Oswalt was one spot out of the top four in Senior B competition.

One gymnast, however, declined her spot on the team, allowing Oswalt to share the honor with Perkins.

"I started jumping up and down, and all the coaches were looking at me," Oswalt said.

It's not unusual for those making the national team to turn down a spot if they have the opportunity to move from Level 10 up a spot to Elite, which is more on an Olympics-preparation path.

Not that making the Level 10 national team is easy.

"For a lot of girls, placing in the top four was a big goal all year long," coach Jill Preston said. "So for them to do that was such a big deal."

Perkins claimed No. 2 in all-around by tying for first in the vault and winning the floor exercise. Oswalt was third in the vault.

Making the team earned both a trip in late June and early July to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

That experience should help them as seniors at Green Valley, but more than anything, making the national team was the payoff for the long hours each gymnast has poured into the sport.

Perkins wakes up at 5:30 a.m., and after attending school, she and Oswalt get to Gymcats by 3 p.m.

They train until 7 or 7:30 p.m. working on conditioning and three of the four gymnastics events. Then it's home for dinner and homework, and Perkins said she sometimes doesn't get to bed until 11:30.

"You go through those days where everything's hard," Perkins said. "And you go through those days when you make everything perfectly. There are times when you're stressed, but it balances out."

Such long hours can make staying focused difficult, and Oswalt's situation is complicated by dealing with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. She has been on medication since she was 5.

"Sometimes if I don't take my pill, I'm a little off," Oswalt said. "But the coaches help me stay focused."

The gymnasts have another year of long days to make another national team before heading to Boise State.

Broncos co-coach Neil Resnick, who previously owned a top gymnastics center in Sparks, first offered Perkins. Oswalt's choice came down to Boise State and Minnesota.

So both gymnasts will be together, just as it should be.

"Teammates again," Oswalt said.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914.