Athlete Spotlight: Laurel Raymond

Okay, hear me out, I am a swimmer, so doing land sports is not really my forte. But a few years ago, my swim coach decided to switch things up a bit. So with the North Bay Gymnastics team, we decided to spend a practice in each other's shoes. And let me tell you, their practice was one of the most tiring land workouts I have ever done. However if you asked our very own Level 10 gymnast, Laurel Raymond, what we did was LIGHTWORK. Our workout was basically just their warm up routine and jumping in the foam pit... How does she do it, I ask? Well, let’s get to know a little more about our very first Athlete Spotlight candidate!

Laurel is currently an 11th grader here at ACHS and has been doing gymnastics for 12 years now. You may be wondering, wait 12 years? She's only in 11th grade? Yeah, my exact thoughts. Well, Laurel's gymnastics journey actually started in preschool on a field trip to a gymnastics facility. She was told to try and hold an L-pose on the rings, and unlike most kids TWICE her age at that time, she was able to hold the pose for 30 SECONDS! After leaving the gymnastics coach in shock at her natural talent at such a young age, her dad got her signed up right away.

12 years later, she is now already competing at some of the highest level qualifying meets in places like Arizona, New York, Missouri, Idaho, Washington, South Carolina, Boston, New Orleans, Minnesota, SoCal, Palm Springs, Vegas, Utah, and Ohio. One of Laurel’s highest accomplishments so far was qualifying for the level 9 Westerns meet, which consists of all qualifying gymnasts on the Western side of the U.S. In order to qualify for this meet, you must first receive an all around score of 32 at a regular meet to go to states, then receive an all around score of 34 at states to compete at regionals, and finally place in the top 7 at regionals to go to Westerns. Yeah, crazy right! And this is only the start of her gymnastics journey.

With qualifying for these competitions, it obviously takes a lot of hard work, commitment, dedication, motivation, and time management. So how does she handle it all? Well, the way she explained it, she has better time management than I’ve ever had! With going to school and practicing over 15 hours a week, she has learned over the years that every minute counts. Starting in just elementary school, she explained, academics has always been a main priority of hers. Within the 30 minute break she had between school and gym, the moment she got home, without wasting a second, she would go straight to her homework to get as much done in the time she had. In doing this, it allowed her enough time to go to the gym and even hang out with friends after if she wanted.

Laurel is definitely a true example of what it is like to be an ACHS student-athlete. One of the biggest lessons she has learned from being in this position is how to persevere through those hard obstacles life throws at us. With being an athlete, she explained, comes many mental blocks and tough challenges that you just have to find your way to overcome. With gymnastics specifically, Laurel has learned a lot about self determination and self drive whether it be setting a goal for herself to accomplish for gym or just staying motivated to do school work. However, sometimes obstacles can get tough even for her.

So her advice to all you student-athletes out there is to, “Remember that you can lean on your teammates for help. As a team, everyone should be supportive of each other so don't forget they are there. And if you have a goal don't let anyone stop you from accomplishing it, including yourself.”

You heard it here first from our very own, Laurel Raymond. Thank you so much for being an amazing role model for all ACHS Wolves inside and outside the classroom. We are very proud of all your accomplishments so far and can’t wait to see what gymnastics or school goal you decide to tackle next. Keep up all the good work Laurel!