In 2017 when Makenna Smith switched gyms, moving from G-Force to Gold Cup, she did not yet know that her career was about to take off and that three years later she would become one of the best level 10 gymnasts in the country, accepting a scholarship offer from Utah for the 2023 season.
Switching clubs “was a big turning point for me,” Smith said. “I got stronger, [my gymnastics improved] and everything came together.”
In her first year at Gold Cup, she started competing as a level 10, learned four different vaults and new skills on bars. She grew more consistent on beam and improved her height and technique on floor. In the two following years, Smith won two silver medals on floor at level 10 nationals and competed at the 2019 Nastia Liukin Cup, where she finished first on floor. In 2020 she also qualified elite, though the pandemic put an abrupt end to those dreams.
Bars is the apparatus on which Smith has shown most improvement since the switch. “I love my bars,” she said. “It’s cool to watch what I did before and where I’m at now.”
Smith credits her success in gymnastics to her coach at Gold Cup, Ed Burch, who is a well-known name in the sport. He has coached five male Olympians, including 1992 Olympic champion Trent Dimas, and his gym boasts a 98% rate of athletes who were offered collegiate scholarships.
Burch’s coaching philosophy of “quality over quantity” has worked wonders with her, Smith said. “He wants to see good technique and good lines. [He wants us to] focus on the basics because as long as your basics are good, everything else isn’t as hard.”
Burch is a close friend of Utah head coach Tom Farden who, according to Smith, has a similar coaching style, which she hopes will help her excel in college. Farden’s coaching philosophy, as well as the fact that a former gymnast at Gold Cup, Tory Wilson, also attended Utah, were among the reasons for Smith eventually committed there.
The Red Rocks, though, were not her first choice. Smith was originally committed to Ohio State, the first college to make her an offer. “I was really young [when I made the decision],” she said. “I was very excited to have an offer, so I decided to commit there.”
After her commitment, however, she was not able to talk to her future collegiate coaches for over a year because of a change in NCAA rules banning any contact with college coaches until her junior year of high school. As her gymnastics improved, moreover, her coach started to receive phone calls from other schools, who showed their interest in Smith’s potential and made offers.
Ultimately, it was the pandemic that made Smith change her mind about Ohio State. “COVID-19 was crazy,” Smith said. “And I [wanted to make sure that] if something like this were to happen again, I’d be closer to my family [in New Mexico]. I started looking at places that were closer, and [one of them was] Utah.”
During the winter holidays last month, she went on an unofficial visit to Salt Lake City where she fell in love with the campus. “It’s close to home, it reminds me of home but I get to be far enough away that I learn to be independent,” Smith said.
Being alone and far from home worries Smith a bit, so she felt reassured when her future teammates told her that the Utah coaching staff prepares them for life and not just for gymnastics. “The whole ‘how to be on my own’ thing scares me,” Smith said. “I still feel so young and little.”
Given that the current Red Rocks claim to have developed a very strong bond and to feel like “a second family,” Smith hopes to develop the same kind of relationship with her future teammates once she arrives in Salt Lake City.
At Utah, Smith would especially love to compete on floor and to show off her huge double Arabian. “It’s one of my favorite events. I get to perform and that’s my favorite part,” Smith said. She would also like to help the team on vault, where she performs a different skill than most: a Yurchenko half-on front pike, which has a 10.0 start value in college.
Ultimately, she hopes to compete in the all around and to help the team as much as she can. “I’d really love to score a perfect 10.0 on every event—that would be my dream,” Smith said. “But whatever is going to be best for the team is where I want to be.”
The team aspect is, indeed, what she is most excited about of her future collegiate experience. “While J.O. gymnastics is about showing that you are on top, collegiate gymnastics is about showing that your team is on top,” Smith said. “I’m really excited about having a whole team of girls whose common goal is to be No. 1.”
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Article by Talitha Ilacqua
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