CRAWFORD COMPETES IN NATIONAL MEET

It has been one busy spring for one young gymnast.

Kara Crawford, a 12-year old sixth grader at Clippard Elementary in Cape Girardeau, is already making a name for herself around the country and one day she hopes to make a name for herself around the world.

Crawford -- who practices more than 25 hours, sometimes seven days a week, hoping one day to be an Olympian -- qualified for the USA Gymnastics Level 9 Western National Championship in Seattle last weekend. The highest level is 10. After that, gymnasts enter elite competition.

Crawford placed 11th out of 59 participants in the vault at nationals. But just to get to that meet -- especially at her young age -- is quite an accomplishment. Most of the girls who placed ahead of her were second-year Level 9 participants. Crawford was at Level 7 about a year-and-a-half ago and basically skipped Level 8.

"She's the youngest gymnast in southeast Missouri to make it to nationals," said Tammy Javier, Crawford's coach at Elite Express Gymnastics. "She's probably two years ahead."

Javier said Crawford's dream of becoming an Olympian is "definitely possible. She trains 25 hours a week and we go pretty hard. She competed one meet at Level 8 and she blew everyone away. Then we really knew she was on track at Tampa when she placed first."

The meet which Javier referred to was the Gasparilla Classic, billed the largest meet in the world with more than 3,000 competitors from around the country.

"She's definitely a power gymnast," Javier said. "Her strengths are the floor and the vault. She focuses real well and when she puts her mind to it, she can accomplish anything."

Crawford had a little difficulty focusing, though, at the national meet.

"It was a little scary and I was nervous, but I was just glad that I made it," Crawford said. "I was at level 7 last year and I was planning to go to level 8, but my skills really improved so my coach moved me to level 9. (Javier) is a great coach. She told me that I had a lot of talent and she brought it out in me.

"I could probably go to level 10 next year. I hope that I will but I'm not sure."

To qualify for nationals, Crawford had to advance out of the Region IV meet at Minneapolis. There, she placed in two individual events and eighth in the all-around.

Also this spring, Crawford competed at the Missouri state meet and took first in the vault. Her all-around score qualified her for the Region IV meet held in April in Minneapolis.

Crawford, a 4-foot-9, 80-pound specimen, has been active in gymnastics since she was three years old.

"It's pretty hard work," she said.