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07/02/2012 12:00 AMAllison Chann knew the day would come when she would have to turn the page on her gymnastics career. Ten years of dedication, sweat, tumbles, and the occasional fall had Allison building towards one final moment when she'd grace the stage in a national competition.
Allison, who just graduated from Morgan, put the final touches on a 10-year gymnastics career earlier this spring when she competed in the 2012 Junior Olympics Level 9 Eastern Championship. Years of hard-and at times, unnoticed-work led Allison to the grandest of stages, a fitting place to make her career's final dismount.
"For me, I knew this was going to be the last meet of my career," Allison says. "I wanted to go have a good time. There wasn't any pressure; I just wanted to end the year on a good note. I just wanted to do the routines I had been practicing to the best of my ability because I knew everyone was really good. I'm happy with how I did."
Allison traveled to Landover, Maryland in early May to compete in the Eastern Championship, posting an all-around score of 34.375. She scored highest on the vault with a 9.025, followed by an 8.725 on the floor, an 8.675 on the bars, and a 7.95 on the beam. All totaled, she finished in 19th place in the meet.
"It wasn't my best meet, but it was fun to go meet other gymnasts from this half of the US," says Allison. "It was fun to compete because that was the biggest event I had ever competed in."
It is somewhat ironic that Allison finished so highly on the vault-16th overall-considering she says the vault has always been a thorn in her side. According to Allison, her favorite events are the bars (11th overall) and the floor (23rd overall), where she also posted some fine scores.
"The hardest event for me has probably been vault; it has never been my favorite," she says. "My favorites are the bars and the floor. Bars are so different than anything else and on the floor tumbling is my favorite thing to do."
In fact, this season on the floor, Allison busted out a new trick: the tumbling double fall. She says it was a trick she spent lots of time mastering and didn't have the confidence to use in competition until midway through this year. At a regional meet, Allison needed to finish in the top eight to earn a berth in the Eastern Championship, and with the tumbling double fall in hand, she did just that, punching her ticket to Maryland.
"I was really excited [after regionals]; it was definitely the best way my season could end," she says. "When I found out [I made the Junior Olympics], I was super pumped. The regionals were definitely my best meet of the year."
During her gymnastics career, Allison competed for USA Gymnastics at Campbell's Gymnastics in Clinton. Morgan doesn't field a team and so her athletic notoriety wasn't always noticed by her peers. Allison never had the opportunity to represent her school as a gymnast, something she would have gladly done.
"I could not say enough about her or her family. She is one of the most consistent athletes I've ever had. She took total pride in her work and I've never had an athlete do more without being told," says her coach, Earl Campbell. "Allison didn't look like a standard gymnast; she is tall and skinny, but she was a powerhouse. She did the hardest tricks ever in my gym. I'd take a 100 of her."
But now, after 10 years of competing, the ride has come to an end. There won't be anymore four-hour practices four days a week or weekends away at competition, a realization that stirs up mixed emotions for Allison.
"It is kind of sad, but it is also nice to have a lot more time to do other things," Allison says. "I don't know what I'm going do with that time yet, though."
In the short term, Allison will be turning her attentions towards college. She will be attending Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., and is considering pursuing a degree in psychology. A new chapter in Allison's life will begin to unfold at Assumption, but the senior will never forget what she has achieved on the mats.
"I'm going to miss being at the gym with my friends," Allison says. "It was some of the most fun I had, learning new tricks and trying different ones."