Girls athlete of the week

// The Post-Gazette’s top female performer from the past seven days

The past week: Grimm won the Diamond Advanced Division individual all-around title at the WPIAL gymnastics championships on Feb. 27, the highest of the four divisions of competition. The senior took home three gold medals and two silver medals on the day, finishing first on the balance beam and floor exercise and second in the vault and parallel bars.

Check this out: Grimm set a WPIAL record with a score of 9.80 on the balance beam, which she considers to be her strongest event. She also

helped Central Valley capture the WPIAL team title the day before the individual championships.

How were you able to win the WPIAL all-around championship after finishing outside the top 15 last year?

It was very weird, let’s just say that. Because for the past two years, I had struggled mentally with gymnastics. I got in my head for a bunch of reasons. I don’t even know why. Coming back this year and being able to get it done, I’m so happy it finally paid off.

Were you a bit surprised to see your record-breaking score on the balance beam?

Oh, definitely. It blew my mind when the score flashed. I came off the beam and I knew that it was a nice routine, but I didn’t realize it was that good. How old were you when you started doing gymnastics? I was put into gymnastics at like age 3 in those little preschool classes. And by age 5, the coach kept asking my mom, ‘Can you put her on team?’ But my mom wanted me to be old enough to understand the commitment, so I didn’t join the team until I was 7. Now, my coaches, they’re very happy to say the least.

Have you decided what you want to major in when you get to college?

Yeah, I want to major in biochemistry and then let that take me onto graduate school to become a physician’s assistant.

What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you? I never have matching socks. On a day-today basis, my parents and the girls I coach, I walk in, and they’re constantly making fun of me for it.

What’s one prized possession you can’t live without? So, I have this 16-year-old airplane pillow. … I was crying in the car one day and my parents gave it to me to shut me up, and I’ve held onto it ever since. I can’t sleep a day without it. That’s definitely my prized possession. We had to write a speech about it in a speech class about something you would save in a fire, and that was the item I picked.