St. Anthony's Elle Golison shines at gymnastics Junior Olympic Nationals, prepares for college

Elle Golison admittedly doesn’t allow herself much time for anything outside of school and a rigorous training program, but wouldn’t have it any other way as gymnastics has set her up for quite the promising future.

The St. Anthony High senior recently placed second in the U.S. on the vault with a score of 9.750 and fifth in the floor exercise (9.625) at the Junior Olympic National Championships in Fort Worth, Texas.

Nationals is the final qualifying event of gymnastics competition season. Participants must advance through regional and state championships to qualify and Golison finished first all-around (37.425), on the vault (9.750) and on the beam (9.45) while taking third on the floor and sixth on the bars at regionals.

All that Golison has accomplished and countless hours of training have landed her a full athletic scholarship to Utah State begiing in the fall.

She began participating in gymnastics at the age of 4 and gaered much more than perfect 10s and medals along the way.

“My mom put me into the sport because I could not keep myself still and I was always upside down,” she said. “Gymnastics has become more than just a sport to me. I’m in the gym more than I am at my own home. Gymnastics has taught me so much and I’m so grateful for all the opportunities I have had because of gymnastics. I have leaed how to manage my time as well as my priorities. This sport has taught me determination and perseverance.”

The 18-year old goes from school to her gym, Wildfire Gymnastics in Lake Forest, where she trains every day except Sunday for a total of 25 hours, plus about 12 hours of driving per week.

“Going straight from school to the gym makes getting schoolwork done very difficult,” she said. “I’ve leaed to not procrastinate and start any assignments that are given immediately. The biggest challenge in gymnastics is managing a lifestyle out of the gym. It’s really hard to have any type of social life out of the gym when training 25 hours a week. My teammates and I are so close to me they have become more of a family.”

Golison’s has trained with her close friend, Los Alamitos High freshman Nicoletta Koulos, since the two were very young and they workout together at Wildfire. Koulos also had a strong showing at nationals, placing second on bars (9.625) and fourth all-around (38.125).

She has already verbally committed to UCLA on a full athletic scholarship and hopes to major in nutrition or sports psychology.

“Competing with Elle is always a blast as we are a great team together” Koulos said. “We both emulate and feed off each other and I love that about us. Elle and I are both driven and focused. We are also leaders in the gym and role models for the younger gymnasts. We are both passionate about our sport and hope to be an asset to our college team.

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“Elle and I have been friends since we were toddlers,” she added. “Her energy is contagious. We are serious about competing and strive to do our very best for our team, our coaches and to make ourselves proud too.”

Plaing to study interior design, Golison hopes to put together a healthy athletic career while working on her degree.

“Athletically I want to be able to compete injury-free and contribute my gymnastics to the team,” she said. “I wan to take all the things I’ve leaed from Wildfire Gymnastics and bring them with me to college. Wildfire has taught me what it’s like to be in a college atmosphere and I’m so glad they’ve given me that opportunity. I was extremely fortunate to be a part of Wildfire’s team. They’ve completely prepared me for college gymnastics and the challenges ahead.”