FRIDAY, April 28, 2000 SPORTS THE DAILY COLLEGIA Nikki Smith beams as she makes her mark in Happy Valleyfi By Brent Seberhagen Champions,' from Queen. It's an old memo- tion prize in the form of second team All- member ofthe audience. Playing in the back- COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER ry. When I was 14, I won level-7 state cham- American recognition on beam. ground was Van Halen's "Right Now." And it pionships. Living a mostly happy-go-lucky life until was right then when Smith executed the What any little girl would give to be Nikki "The girl who came in second," she said, that point, the gymnast set her senior goals most difficult part of her routine the flip,' Smith. "her parents were making fun of me after the higher than ever before. And after the first flop layout-layout. Immediately after Smith.q, Growing up in sunny California, Smith meet. I don't know why. And my parents just week of competition, Smith was named the executed the string of moves, an incredibles..i seemingly had it all. An animal lover atheart, grabbed my hands and we walked away Big Ten Gymnast ofthe Week. It looked like smile shot across her face and the rest war.% Smith was surrounded by a collection of hug- singing 'We Are the Champions.' " smooth sailing from there. history. She stuck her dismount, jumping aryl gable animals that would rival Old McDon- Her growingtalent was alluding to greener But, as seen on E! TV's True Hollywood skipping back into the arms of her team,,;, ald. Her parents called her "goatie girl." pastures. Stories, this Hollywood version would take a mates. The crowdrepeated chants of "10, 141,..; But Smith was a California girl atthe same Not that the pastures in California weren't turn for the worse. 10..." ..,„ time. She could hit the beach, hit the ski green enough after all, Smith was sur- As a senior tri-captain, she felt it was her And the judgesput up the score. It was sit slopes or hit the hay with her Arabian horse, rounded by dairy farms and horse pastures. dutyto lead the freshmen andcarry the team perfect 10. Her teammates exploded in celc-R il Calais, at will. She skied down the powdery But the 5'4" blond-haired, blue-eyed Smith to a breakthrough season. Smith stymied bration, and Smith went down in the historyar slopes of Mammoth at the age of two. Jazz, simply couldn't shake her Valley Girl status. herselfwith the pressure. She forgot how to books as only the third person in Penn State tap, ballet and dance were a few of her other From Jurupa Valley High School (outskirts execute in competition, stuck in a funk with history to score a perfect 10. She holds the. extracurricular activities. of Silicon Valley), she wrote a letter to Penn no foreseeable way out. Big Ten Championships record for that,": "When she was three, four years old, she State, expressing her desire to join the Lady "Ikind of got into that slump, or whatever event. was just all over the place doing tumbling Lions squad in different valley Happy Val- you want to call it," Smith said. "And that was Just as Smith watched in awe as Mary and learning cartwheels, and things of that ley. the one thing that I did not want to happen Retton won the Gold Medal, she sudden,,, nature. You couldn't stop her," her dad, Den- Penn State women's gymnastics coach this year. found herself surrounded by a mob ofyoung, nis Smith, said. Steve Shephard didn't hesitate in welcoming "I, don't know what I was thinking. I just admirers. "She had her imaginary horse that she Smith to the squad. didn'tknow how to make it right again." Nikki Smith's goal coming to Penn State would gallop around on." After idolizing John Cappelletti, no one Enter senior tri-captain Heather Duggan was, "To follow my heart and follow rnyc„, But that was all justfor fun. was happier with Smith's decision to attend to the rescue. dreams and succeed in something I waj,T.:, One day in 1984, at the age of seven, Smith Penn State than her father, who fantasized of Duggan had a long talk with her counter- good at." tuned into the being held in donning the Blue and White for Joe Paterno. part, insisting that Smith release the lethal She can rest easyknowing she did exactly..., nearby Los Angeles. She watched with It was difficult to watch his only daughter dis- buildup ofpressure she put on herself. Smith that. amazement as gymnast appear 3,200 miles away, but Dennis Smith listened and relaxed. "Nikki Smith. She's a true leader," fresh-,..je captured the Gold Medal for the United saw the opportunity for her to attend "one of Then enter assistant coach Jessica Bas- man Katie Rowland proclaimed. "When she States. She was fascinated bythe beauty and the greatest schools on the planet." tardi. Bastardi spent a lot oftime with the ail- scored a 10.000 on beam, that was the high- grace displayedby the Romanians. Suddenly, Smith, who describes her favorite colors as ing gymnast, tailoring her mental approach light of my career (at Penn State). That was Smith would make a decision that would "Blue and White, of course," liked the combi- to improve her tactics. the most exciting thing, seeing a 10.000 go upt. overshadow her California girl status and nation of athletics and academics offered by "We took a different track on her cues," in Rec Hall and everybody being so excited. transform her into an entirely different kind Penn State. Bastardi said. "We really specified so that "She's a very talented a great all around of girl forever an All-American Girl. Dreaming ofstepping right in and compet- she knew exactly what she had to do every gymnast. Ikind of look up to her. We're bast' "I just wanted to be able to do all the flips ing in the all-around competition, Smith time to make it successful. We fine-tuned it cally similar because we have the same body that they were doing," Smith said. "I just couldn't wait to strut her stuff in Rec Hall. Barbara Ovrutsky/Collegian and reevaluated it and made it more specif- type and I've always wanted to be like her." wanted to flip around and run around." She had a vision of building a national repu- Nikki Smith performs on beam at the Big Ten ic." Smith was at a loss for words in describing So in the time she could spare from her tation for the Penn State women's gymnas- Championships. Smith's received a perfect 10. Smith took her new attitude, cues and the feeling of a perfect 10, but her glowing quest of reading the entire Black Stallion tics program a vision of exposing the preparation into the Big Ten Championships. face said it all. book series, Smith would take to gymnastics magic in Happy Valley for the world of gym- After she stuck herfirst , Smith's face She can look back 20 years from now and lessons where she excelled in flipping. tum- nastics to see. contribute to the team. But it was her junior lit up and everyone knew she was back. The know she reached the ultimate pinnacle of bling and shooting her body through rolling The big plans would be delayed due to a year when the gymnastreally came into her born-again gymnast would excel through absolute perfection in the sport of gymnas- hula-hoops. And it was in this period when slight miscue on the vault as a freshman, own. bars and , and finally took to the last tics. Smith found her favorite sport and her leading to an unsightly torn ACL and two She was part of a talent-laden squad that event the beam routine. "I think she's just an incredible human favorite song. torn meniscuses. went to nationals. While the team ran out of Ironically, Smith was thevery last gymnast being," Dennis Smith said. "and I'm just* "My favorite has always been 'We Are the Smith came back her sophomore year to gas, Smith was able to bring home a consola- in competition and had the attention ofevery proud to be her Dad."

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