When Crawfordsville gymnastics needed a good performance this past season, they turned to senior Halle Elliott. This past winter, Elliott was the one who helped guide the Athenians. Along with her leadership, Elliott was the go-to gymnast in every event for CHS and she proved why at the county meet where she took home the all-around title with a score of 30.60.
The senior knew that she would be relied on to perform for the Athenians and was very meticulous in her practicing to make sure she was ready for all four events.
“Since I was involved with all four events: bars, floor, beam and vault I definitely had to put time and effort into all of them,” Elliott said. “It was a challenge practicing all four events at practice since our practices were only two hours long. Most of the time, I would work on the skills I struggled with at the most recent meet, then work on each of my full routines. I payed extra attention to beam since it was always the hardest event for me.”
Elliott who has been a gymnast all four years with the Athenians worked her way up the ranks to reach the point where she is today. The hard work and determination for the Crawfordsville senior has paid off as Elliott is the 2022-23 Journal Review Gymnast of the Year.
Elliott notes how she was drawn to the sport by watching Gabby Douglas compete with Team USA.
“I have done gymnastics for about ten years and the thing that really drew me to gymnastics was watching the Olympics and watching Gabby Douglas compete on Team USA,” she said. “The sport looked challenging and Gabby inspired me. I constantly choreographed my own floor routines in our living room and taught myself new tricks and flips on the trampoline. I then transferred the skills to the floor. I started tumbling at Centre Pointe. Once I was ready for bars and vault, I joined Leisa’s Gym in New Market.”
Constantly teaching herself and being a part of the gymnastics team at CHS has taught Elliott many life skills. It’s been a balancing act (pun intented) with having to juggle all the things that comes with being a student athlete, but through it all it was worth it for her.
“Being involved in gymnastics has definitely taught me so many things,” she said. “It has encouraged me to try new things, be disciplined, have mental toughness, learn time management skills, and has given me a big boost of confidence. I used to be really shy, so competing on an event independently with numerous people solely watching me was definitely nerve wracking. Through the years I became much more confident in myself. I definitely had rough practices along the way where things didn’t go well and I was exhausted, but I believed in myself and kept putting forth 100% effort. Senior year has been busy in more ways than one, and having late practices every night from 6-8 was rough but I’m thankful for the memories my teammates and I made. I will always cherish the time I had in gymnastics. Time truly does fly by in a blink of an eye.”
Elliott also made sure to thank those throughout her entire career who have helped her become the gymnast she is today. She also gave a little advice to all of the young girls out there aspiring to be a future gymnast.
“I am blessed to have had a great senior season and end to my gymnastics career,” she concluded. “I want to thank my wonderful teammates for all of the memories. Christen, Olivia and I have done gymnastics together for about six years. We fought hard to make ourselves better in and out of the gym and I love them both. We went out strong together. Lily and Ellie were fun teammates- I could always count on them for a laugh on my hardest days. They have had a big impact on my life and I can’t wait to cheer them on next year. To all of the young gymnasts out there, remember to have fun, smile, take chances and know that you can do anything that you put your mind to.”
Elliott put a bow on what was a fantastic career with the Athenians and showed that you can achieve anything you put your mind to. This spring she’ll round out her athletic career playing softball for CHS.
