Winning Ways

Wallace Vaulting to Gymnastics Success

By Jaunita Crawford Muiga

World Staff Writer

Sapulpa - Beth Ann Wallace has come a long way since the time her parents placed her in a gymnastics class when she was just a tot. The 16-year-old Sapulpa resident captured the first-place all-around title in regional gymnastics competition Sunday among some 240 competitors from seven states. Last month, she took the same honors in state competition. It is her second year for success at the regional contest. Last year, at the competition which is held in Little Rock, Ark., she won first place in all-around competition and on the balance beam.

At the Tulsa World of Gymnastics where Wallace trains, co-owner Wayne Bradshaw said Region 3 in which Wallace won is the strongest region in the United States. It is comprised of seven states, including Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma. Wallace also recently competed in the Atlanta Crown Invitational in Georgia at which she captured first place in vault, bars, beam and floor competition and first place all-around.

Wallace, who is now a sophomore at Cascia Hall Upper School in Tulsa, remembers how she got into gymnastics at the age of 2. "I was very active as a child, and my parents wanted to put me into something that would make me sleep at night," she said, laughing "I was hyper." But the decision made by her parents 14 years ago has become her choice today. "I continued gymnastics because it was fun and made me feel good about myself and what I was doing," she said. "Its made me a lot more organized because I learned to manage my time between gymnastics and school," she said.

Wallace now trains every day at the Tulsa World of Gymnastics, 7020 E. 38th Street. The champion gymnast said her long-term goal is to go to the Olympics. She has participated in seven meets this year and won all of them in her age group, she said. Bradshaw said there are usually about 10 meets held each year and that all of them are invitational, except for the state and regional meets. Participants must qualify for state and regional meets he said, adding that they qualify for regional competition through the state.

Wallace's mother, Carol, explained that each region is allowed a designated number of competitors at the regional meet. Some states will have more participants than others because of size, she said. For instance, Texas has more gymnasts competing than Oklahoma. Selection to the regionals is based on the state meet score, and the girls with the top 10 scores are picked for the regional competition, Carol said.

Beth Ann won first all-around at the state meet in Jenks last month, sending her on her journey to the regionals. In state, she placed third on the vault, first on the bars, second on the beam and first on the floor. She also won first all-around at the Pikes Peak Cup in Colorado Springs, Colo., last month placing first on vault, first on beam, bars, and floor.

She said the beam is her favorite. "For most people it's more challenging," she said. "You feel you've done a good job and you feel good." Although she practices an average of four hours each day and studies her school work another three and a half hours Beth Ann said she doesn't feel like she's missing anything.

"I try to do stuff on the weekends with my friends," she said. "It's important to have a social life." It does take lots of hard work to win, she said. A winner is a dedicated person who wants to achieve a goal and does their best to achieve it, she said. "In order to do well at any meet, I rely on the hard work and dedication it takes to train for the meet," she said.

While preparing for the regional competition, Beth Ann said she felt some pressure because she won last year. "But I'm just going to do my best and whatever happens, happens," she said, smiling. "Because I'm not just going to kill myself." For other youth aspiring to be gymnasts, she said good coaches will help them go further.

But there is the personal factor. "If they want to achieve their goal, they just go for it," she said.