University of Minnesota Athletics
Turning a Negative into a Positive: Freshman Gymnast Ashley Stanton
2/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
At age 14, Ashley suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee, an injury that can be devastating to a gymnast. She had her knee surgically repaired, and returned to competition. She remained competitive at the Junior Olympic national level, advancing to the national championship in 2001 and 2003. At the 2003 national meet, Ashley finished in the top five in three events.
Ashley joined the Golden Gopher program in the fall of 2003, and trained hard in practice during her first semester on campus. At the team's first competition of the 2003-04 year, the annual intrasquad meet, she was slated to compete in three events, the vault, balance beam, and floor exercise. Unfortunately, Ashley never got to compete in the meet, as she re-injured her right knee while warming up before the competition.
Not only was Ashley out for the rest of the season, but the possibility of her returning to compete at all was in question. For a gymnast to overcome one ACL tear is difficult, and to return to competition after two such injuries is even harder. Co-head coaches Jim and Meg Stephenson sat down with Ashley and asked if she wanted to go through the rehabilitation process again, or if she was ready to be done with gymnastics.
"Jim and Meg talked to me and the said that the next steps were up to me. I had to decide if I wanted to come back, or if I was done with my gymnastics career," said Ashley. "I knew that my coaches and my family would support me in whatever I decided to do, but I wasn't ready to be done. I knew it would be hard to come back a second time, but I also knew I had to try."
There were several reasons why Ashley decided to make a comeback after a second injury, and her family played a big part in her decision.
"I'm very close to my family, and my parents have been so supportive of my gymnastics career," Ashley said. "My younger brother is also a gymnast, and I feel like he looks up to me. I just couldn't give up, I wanted to make my family proud."
Because Ashley's injury had occurred before the season started, she qualified to use the 2004 season as a redshirt year, meaning that she could still have four full seasons of eligibility to compete. While she has sophomore academic standing in the 2004-05 school year, she is a freshman in athletic eligibility.
Ashley went ahead with surgery to repair her knee a second time, which turned out to be a more difficult procedure than her first ACL repair. While she endured another surgery, and began the long rehabilitation process, her team went on with its season. Ashley, along with teammate Andrea Cornelius, who was also injured, attended home meets and practices, but weren't able to travel with the squad to away meets.
"I did feel close to my teammates last season, but I always felt like there was a little part missing," Ashley said. "I was at the home meets with the rest of the team, but it's different when you're not in uniform and getting ready to compete. I definitely feel closer to my team this season when I get to fully participate."
Over the summer, Ashley stayed on campus to train rather than return home to Centennial, Colo., to spend the summer with her family. "It was really hard not to be home, I really miss my family," Ashley admitted. "I know they were a little disappointed that I didn't go home for the summer, but they understood why I needed to be here."
Throughout the rehabilitation process, Ashley had an extensive support system to help her through. While her family doesn't live close enough to see them on a regular basis, Ashley and her parents talked on the phone often.
"It was hard to be away from my family when I was hurt," Ashley explained. "They were my main support the first time I was injured. This time we had to call each other all the time. My boyfriend was also really supportive, so were my teammates. The coaches were great, they knew when to push me, and when to make me back off a little bit. They made me a smarter athlete. I was also really fortunate to work with an athletic trainer like Erika (Esterby). Erika was so great, she knew exactly what she was doing."
Gymnastics is a very demanding sport on the body with so many jarring and pounding movements. Ashley was five years older than when she came back from the first injury, and her body had been through more wear and tear. Although the process of coming back from a knee injury as a college-age gymnast was sometimes overwhelming, Ashley kept going.
"I kept telling myself that I could always be going through something worse, and that as long as I worked hard, I could accomplish my goals," Ashley said. "I had the desire, and I knew I could do it. That's my favorite word, desire, because it's been so important to me in coming back from the injury."
By September, Ashley was training at the same level as her teammates. She learned a new vault this fall, one that doesn't require landing forward, in an effort to protect her knee. She hasn't competed on vault yet, but is still training on the event, and will vault in competition when she's ready.
Ashley has competed on the beam and floor at every meet this season and has been very successful. On the beam, she has the team's highest average score (9.745), and is the anchor of the team, competing sixth in the line up. Last weekend against Utah, she earned a 9.800 to tie for second place with the 2002 World Champion in the event, Utah's Ashley Postell. Her score from the Utah meet is not only her highest this year, but also the best by a Golden Gopher gymnast in the 2005 season.
Ashley admits that her floor exercise routine is a bit watered-down, but she plans to add more difficult elements as she can. Each of her tumbling passes are new this season, and she has met the challenge of learning the new tumbling skills as well as the new vault in a single season. She has tallied her season-high floor exercise score of 9.825 twice, and has an average floor score of 9.775, which ranks second on the team.
While the hard work to come back from injury isn't completely over for Ashley, she is pleased with how things have turned out so far. "I'm a smarter gymnast, and I've learned a lot about myself and what I'm capable of," she said. "I'm really happy with my progress. I'm very motivated, I have the drive to keep working hard and to get better every day."
Suffering through a second serious injury in a young collegiate career could have signaled the end of competitive gymnastics for Ashley. Instead she chose to look at the injury as an opportunity to improve as a gymnast, grow as a person, and prove that hard work and perseverance really can pay off.
Story by Sara Berhow, Athletic Communications contact for women's gymnastics Albert Einstein once said, "In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity." Golden Gopher gymnast Ashley Stanton embodies this sentiment perfectly. While overcoming a potentially career-ending injury not once, but twice, she has risen to every challenge. She has not only returned to a highly-competitive level of gymnastics, but has grown and improved as a gymnast, and as a person, in the process.
At age 14, Ashley suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee, an injury that can be devastating to a gymnast. She had her knee surgically repaired, and returned to competition. She remained competitive at the Junior Olympic national level, advancing to the national championship in 2001 and 2003. At the 2003 national meet, Ashley finished in the top five in three events.
Ashley joined the Golden Gopher program in the fall of 2003, and trained hard in practice during her first semester on campus. At the team's first competition of the 2003-04 year, the annual intrasquad meet, she was slated to compete in three events, the vault, balance beam, and floor exercise. Unfortunately, Ashley never got to compete in the meet, as she re-injured her right knee while warming up before the competition.
Not only was Ashley out for the rest of the season, but the possibility of her returning to compete at all was in question. For a gymnast to overcome one ACL tear is difficult, and to return to competition after two such injuries is even harder. Co-head coaches Jim and Meg Stephenson sat down with Ashley and asked if she wanted to go through the rehabilitation process again, or if she was ready to be done with gymnastics.
"Jim and Meg talked to me and the said that the next steps were up to me. I had to decide if I wanted to come back, or if I was done with my gymnastics career," said Ashley. "I knew that my coaches and my family would support me in whatever I decided to do, but I wasn't ready to be done. I knew it would be hard to come back a second time, but I also knew I had to try."
There were several reasons why Ashley decided to make a comeback after a second injury, and her family played a big part in her decision.
"I'm very close to my family, and my parents have been so supportive of my gymnastics career," Ashley said. "My younger brother is also a gymnast, and I feel like he looks up to me. I just couldn't give up, I wanted to make my family proud."
Because Ashley's injury had occurred before the season started, she qualified to use the 2004 season as a redshirt year, meaning that she could still have four full seasons of eligibility to compete. While she has sophomore academic standing in the 2004-05 school year, she is a freshman in athletic eligibility.
Ashley went ahead with surgery to repair her knee a second time, which turned out to be a more difficult procedure than her first ACL repair. While she endured another surgery, and began the long rehabilitation process, her team went on with its season. Ashley, along with teammate Andrea Cornelius, who was also injured, attended home meets and practices, but weren't able to travel with the squad to away meets.
"I did feel close to my teammates last season, but I always felt like there was a little part missing," Ashley said. "I was at the home meets with the rest of the team, but it's different when you're not in uniform and getting ready to compete. I definitely feel closer to my team this season when I get to fully participate."
Over the summer, Ashley stayed on campus to train rather than return home to Centennial, Colo., to spend the summer with her family. "It was really hard not to be home, I really miss my family," Ashley admitted. "I know they were a little disappointed that I didn't go home for the summer, but they understood why I needed to be here."
Throughout the rehabilitation process, Ashley had an extensive support system to help her through. While her family doesn't live close enough to see them on a regular basis, Ashley and her parents talked on the phone often.
"It was hard to be away from my family when I was hurt," Ashley explained. "They were my main support the first time I was injured. This time we had to call each other all the time. My boyfriend was also really supportive, so were my teammates. The coaches were great, they knew when to push me, and when to make me back off a little bit. They made me a smarter athlete. I was also really fortunate to work with an athletic trainer like Erika (Esterby). Erika was so great, she knew exactly what she was doing."
Gymnastics is a very demanding sport on the body with so many jarring and pounding movements. Ashley was five years older than when she came back from the first injury, and her body had been through more wear and tear. Although the process of coming back from a knee injury as a college-age gymnast was sometimes overwhelming, Ashley kept going.
"I kept telling myself that I could always be going through something worse, and that as long as I worked hard, I could accomplish my goals," Ashley said. "I had the desire, and I knew I could do it. That's my favorite word, desire, because it's been so important to me in coming back from the injury."
By September, Ashley was training at the same level as her teammates. She learned a new vault this fall, one that doesn't require landing forward, in an effort to protect her knee. She hasn't competed on vault yet, but is still training on the event, and will vault in competition when she's ready.
Ashley has competed on the beam and floor at every meet this season and has been very successful. On the beam, she has the team's highest average score (9.745), and is the anchor of the team, competing sixth in the line up. Last weekend against Utah, she earned a 9.800 to tie for second place with the 2002 World Champion in the event, Utah's Ashley Postell. Her score from the Utah meet is not only her highest this year, but also the best by a Golden Gopher gymnast in the 2005 season.
Ashley admits that her floor exercise routine is a bit watered-down, but she plans to add more difficult elements as she can. Each of her tumbling passes are new this season, and she has met the challenge of learning the new tumbling skills as well as the new vault in a single season. She has tallied her season-high floor exercise score of 9.825 twice, and has an average floor score of 9.775, which ranks second on the team.
While the hard work to come back from injury isn't completely over for Ashley, she is pleased with how things have turned out so far. "I'm a smarter gymnast, and I've learned a lot about myself and what I'm capable of," she said. "I'm really happy with my progress. I'm very motivated, I have the drive to keep working hard and to get better every day."
Suffering through a second serious injury in a young collegiate career could have signaled the end of competitive gymnastics for Ashley. Instead she chose to look at the injury as an opportunity to improve as a gymnast, grow as a person, and prove that hard work and perseverance really can pay off.
Story by Sara Berhow, Athletic Communications contact for women's gymnastics
