The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Madison’s Blackford working hard to repeat
Senior is reigning state champ in vault; she’s also Blue Streaks’ only gymnast
Gabby Blackford gets the inevitable question quite a bit these days.
Can she repeat as a state champion?
It’s a loaded question for the Madison senior, who has a lot going on these days.
First, Blackford doesn’t even attend Madison High these days. The honors student with a 4.4 GPA takes classes at Lake Erie College as part of the credit plus program for high school students that qualify.
As for the Madison gymnastics team, Blackford is it. She’s not a lonely competitor, though. She’s part of a network of gymnasts from the schools such as Mentor, Perry, Riverside and Lake Catholic who train at the Lake Erie Gymnastics School in Mentor.
“The girls consider themselves one big team,” said Jessica Araps, who serves as coach for the aforementioned area gymnasts.
Blackford cherishes her spot among the area group. She might be the defending state champion in the vault but considers herself just another member of the team.
“Almost all of my friends I play sports with,” said Blackford, who is also a standout softball player for the Blue Streaks.
Blackford also plays volleyball, and has recently begun CrossFit training. She was also a member of the Blue Streaks’ homecoming court.
“Everyone loves Gabby,” said Araps. “She’s not cocky. She stays very humble about everything, but the girls (at LEGS) look up to her and respect her.” There’s plenty to respect about Blackford in gymnastics. She won the state title in the vault last March with an impressive score of 9.725. It was a surprise to win, she said, mostly because Blackford had hoped to just finish a bit better than the sixth place she took in the event as a sophomore.
She got hot with her routine at the right time, and it played out as a day to remember. But now it presents a different situation as a senior. There’s plenty of expectations — and questions. Namely, can she do it again?
“Yeah, I think that’s there, but I’m competing with more confidence, and I’m more experienced,” Blackford said. “That (state) title helps with confidence, but I don’t want to think about it and put pressure
on myself. I just want to do my best.”
In her first meet of the season Dec. 6 at West Geauga, Blackford was first on the vault with a 9.5. She also won the all-around, an area she hopes to continue improving.
“That’s my big goal this season,” Blackford said. “I want to be on the podium (at state) in the all-around.” That’s not to say repeating in the vault isn’t a goal because it is. Said Blackford: “It’s something I definitely want to do.”
Blackford began gymnastics at age 3 when her mother took her to LEGS mostly because Blackford wouldn’t stop doing cartwheels in the house. She performed her first vault in sixth grade.
“I was terrible at it. Really bad,” Blackford said.
It wasn’t until seventh grade — when she began doing vaults Yurchenkostyle — that her routine began to click. A Yurchenko vault is named after Soviet gymnast Natalia Yurchenko, and entails a gymnast doing a round-off onto the springboard and a backward handspring onto the vaulting table.
“I’m not sure what it is, I think I’m just naturally better backward,” Blackford said.
She might have natural ability as a gymnast, but Blackford puts the work in. Her coach notices.
“Just last Sunday, we had a practice with a lot of conditioning, and Gabby showed up after a softball game and she was still strong,” Araps said. “Gabby is a busy girl, but she works very hard.”
Because she’s so busy, Blackford is a bit of a rarity in gymnastics circles. She doesn’t compete yearround, and Blackford likes it that way.
Her big break from gymnastics comes after the season is complete.
“I take two months off right after,” said Blackford, who plans to attend Cleveland State, then go to veterinary school. “I definitely need that break. It’s good to take a step back.”
That step back could be the path to taking a big step forward to becoming a two-time state champ. Time will tell.
“I’m definitely going to work hard to try to win (at state) again,” she said.