After sitting through four of Saturday’s six rotations at the NCAA Division 1 women’s gymnastics regional at the University of Illinois, it was time for Waterford’s Taylor Westrick to perform.
It was Westrick’s only event of the day, as her team, Southeast Missouri State, had not qualified for regionals – and Westrick did not perform in the all-around this year.
So, with her season down to one performance, SEMO assistant Mary Fredericks went through the usual pre-routine ritual with Westrick – and reminded the gymnast of her source of motivation: “No options.”
“That’s what I say. ‘No options, no excuses,’” said Westrick, who anchors the event for her team. “No matter what happens … I have no other choice but to go up and hit my routine like I do in practice.
“It gets me fired up to do the best I can.”
Westrick did that – and more Saturday. She became the first SEMO gymnast to qualify for nationals since the program went Division 1, posting a score of 9.90 to tie for the regional title on the event.
The top two teams and top two all-arounders not on qualifying teams advance to the national meet, but in order to advance on an individual event, a gymnast must win or tie for an event title.
That’s often a tall order for an event specialist, who performs after the sixth-ranked team of six in the regional. Westrick came into the regional ranked in a tie for 49th nationally on the event with a season average of 9.793 on the event.
However, Westrick scored above 9.80 in her final seven performances of the season, including a 9.90 March 24 to win the Midwest Independent Conference balance beam title.
Her routine Saturday was equally as good. There was one minor hitch in the routine, as Westrick came out of a turn at an angle, but the rest of the routine was spot on.
“I was excited, and relieved,” Westrick said. “I was just happy that I was able to go up and hit a solid routine. From there on, I was just anxious to see what would happen with that routine.”
From there, it was a nerve-wracking wait as Stanford – which went on to qualify for nationals as a team – competed on the team and hit all six routines.
“I was keeping an eye on scores the whole time,” Westrick said. Stanford’s Amanda Spinner posted the team’s top score, a 9.90 to tie Westrick and two other gymnastics, but Westrick didn’t know if tiebreakers would play a part in determining her nationals fate.
Westrick found out from Fredericks when the assistant went across the floor to talk with officials about tiebreakers – and then texted Westrick from across the arena.
“I didn’t answer her back,” Westrick said. “I was so shocked. I was shaking that whole last rotation.”
SEMO head coach Kristi Ewasko missed the meet because she is expecting a child, but wasn’t surprised to see the junior perform well.
“In a way, I am not shocked that Taylor did this,” Ewasko said. “I know she’s capable of competing at a national level. At the same time, I am very proud of her.”
And as happy as Westrick is to be making the trip, it’s not the end-all and be-all of her season. She wants more, and is already making plans to step up her routine for the national meet. She will compete in the evening session of the NCAA meet April 19 in the Gwinett Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
“I’m planning on adding some new skills,” Westrick said. “I just really want to go and hit that solid. Hopefully that score will get me into finals.”
The Southeast Missouri State Sports Information Department contributed to this story.
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