Without ample time to prepare in between, taking one’s talents from the basketball court to the volleyball gym is no minor task. The same goes for those who commenced the 2021 wrestling season immediately following a grueling campaign on the football turf.
The list of possible combinations goes on. Simply put, CHSAA’s modified calendar has forced more multi-sport athletes than not to endure tricky transitions amid an unprecedented year of preps.
However, in light of beginning her junior gymnastics stint subsequent to utilizing similar skills on the diving board, 2020-21’s drastically altered activities schedule has proven abnormally convenient for Kiarra Lapp.
“All the practices we had compared to years past were cut short,” Lapp described. “And we didn’t have as many practices before the season as normal. So it was tough. But a lot of the twisting and the flips are definitely the same as diving. So that really helped the transition over. It was a lot of fun using those in gymnastics.”
Though Lapp didn’t qualify, it’s worth noting how the gymnastics domain’s ball began rolling about a week before the state swim and dive meets took place. Therefore, the overlap hardly provided a day or two for Lapp to exhale and shift her mindset toward the next sport.
Making matters more complex, the upperclassman also missed the first week of 4A gymnastics while quarantining. Nevertheless, despite the problematic circumstance, Lapp overcame the odds of excelling from start to finish as one of the region’s top competitors.
Now, LHS’ all-around star takes home well-earned RH all-area gymnast of the year honors.
“She also does club gymnastics, so she had been working out a bit more than some others before the season,” LHS coach Jessica Toomey said. “So that helped her bounce back pretty quickly too. She was definitely bummed about being out that first week, but she did a great job right when she came back all the way through. She just works so hard in the gym. She always puts a great effort forward and strives to update and get new skills.”
As one of Loveland’s two individual participants, the junior placed 22nd on vault (8.50), 30th on beam (7.98) and a respectable 43rd on floor (8.25) at 2021’s 4A state meet.
Speaking of floor, Lapp’s performance at state represented her career-best after placing 11th by tallying a then-personal-most 8.15 points a few days earlier at regionals.
Exemplifying her mature perspective, Lapp recognized what she could and couldn’t achieve floor-wise during the shortened season. Hence, rather than worrying about her weaknesses, she primarily honed in on her strengths en route to assembling efficacy within her floor routine.
“I completed some of my harder floor skills towards the beginning of the season,” Lapp said. “But then something just didn’t work with them. So I wasn’t able to complete those towards the end. But I took some of those lesser skills and just tried to perfect them and make them look nice.”
“She’s got a good skill base when it comes to tumbling, and she’s worked really hard on her leaps and jumps,” Toomey said. “It’s just about having the stamina to piece those together in your routine. But it’s hard to get to that point. You can practice and have a lot of skills but not necessarily be able to put it all together when it counts. She did a good job this year of powering through that process.”
With a full season at her fingertips next year, the soon-to-be-senior plans to focus on some of her less-established aspects on floor in hopes of producing a comprehensively refurbished routine.
Aside from floor, Lapp continues chomping at the bit for further opportunities to demonstrate her newfound joy for springing off the vaults –– which materialized as both her best and preferred facet over the recent campaign.
While hitting a career-best 8.80 twice in 2021, the difference between Lapp’s junior stint on vault and a freshman season filled with high-7s and low-8s is night and day.
“She had a really big concentration on her vault this year, and it became one of her favorite events,” Toomey said. “Whereas in the past, it was just another event. She really pushed herself on vault to make strides and perfect her technique. That’s probably the area she shined most.”
With staggered events and a limited number of teams granted access into Thornton High School at once, 2021’s state meet comprised its fair share of unique complications –– an appropriate conclusion to a season marred by restrictions.
Still, similar to how she optimistically approached the diving-to-gymnastics transition, Lapp discovered the silver lining at her third state-meet appearance in as many years.
Owning plenty of elite-stage experience, Lapp experienced minimal stress at state with fewer eyes on her than in previous years. So, the junior let loose. And as her final scores entail, Lapp’s composed efforts paid dividends.
“There was less pressure this year because there weren’t as many teams inside the gym, and we, unfortunately, didn’t make it as a team,” Lapp said. “It was quite upsetting not having the whole team there. But I used that to take the nerves off. It ended up being pretty fun, and that’s what gymnastics is all about for me.”
Though the high school gymnastics slate concluded more than one month ago, Lapp’s overall athletic toolbox continues coming full circle during CHSAA’s modified calendar. In fact, it’s as if Lapp is experiencing Deja Vu amid LHS’ current track season.
As a short-distance specialist, the junior certainly hasn’t placed her gymnastics skills on the back-burner upon naturally bouncing off the blocks throughout Season D.
From diving, to gymnastics, to track, each aspect of Lapp’s multi-sport identity fits together like a glove.
“Vault definitely helps with my sprinting,” Lapp said. “And my sprinting helps with my vault and jumping and stuff like that. So I honestly believe that had I not done any of my gymnastics, that I wouldn’t be as good at my track as I am. And, again, diving definitely helps in gymnastics. It all just kind of works.”
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