Lake City Leapers Get Perfect 10 For Dedication, Pride
Shannyn Morse’s flexed feet are as far apart from each other as they could be. And upside down. And at least 6 feet in the air.
Her arms support her like steel girders. Even her two dark pigtails seem taut. One second, two, three. Then some cell inside her moves right and throws everything off balance.
She lands lightly on her bare feet, undisturbed, next to the balance beam and turns the equipment over to her teammate, Tally Gardiner.
“We’re training really hard on all the events,” Shannyn says needlessly. She’s leapt and arched, sprung and straddled all over the beam for 30 minutes straight.
The two girls head to the national gymnastics championships in Florida next month, along with 500 other young gymnasts. They’re Level 8 elite competitors out of 12 levels. Outperforming the majority of girls at nationals would be a staggering achievement.
“The top 36 make finals,” Tally says. “I’m hoping to make that.”
Tally’s 14 and specializes in the balance beam. Shannyn’s 13 and prefers the uneven bars.
“I like to be high above the ground doing stuff,” she says and proves it by taking several giant swings around the high bar.
They’ve grown up at Lake City Gymnastics. Tally’s parents own it. She’s lived gymnastics since birth.
But Shannyn hasn’t. She taught herself to cartwheel at 6; a neighbor suggested lessons. Shannyn and her sister signed up and practiced on couch cushions thrown on their living room floor.
Her sister eventually quit, but the challenge gymnastics presents and the focus it requires appealed to Shannyn.
Even a fall from the high bar onto her neck didn’t deter her. She cried and left the gym on a stretcher, but competed three days later. Then she practiced the move that threw her until she conquered it.
Neither Shannyn nor Tally remember when it happened, but they know gymnastics has consumed them. They can’t shake the pungent odor of gym mats from their noses. Chalk has turned their palms into ghostly road maps. They’re as comfortable on their hands as on their feet.
And hard work has become habit.
“I’ll follow it wherever it takes me,” Tally says.
Which is bound to be far.
The girls need $2,500 to get to the nationals next month. First Bank, 1233 Northwest Center Court, has opened the Shannyn and Natalie Fund for donations.
Where the ark?
Medimont’s Jed and Susan Rodgers missed the boat when they named their new son Jeremiah Paul. All signs pointed to the name Noah.
The Rodgers just made it down the road from their house May 14 before Cave Lake and Medicine Lake merged over the road. Susan stayed at the hospital in St. Maries that night after giving birth to Jeremiah. But Jed headed home - after he found a friend with a boat.
The day Susan brought Jeremiah home, Medimont Road was under 4 feet of water. So she loaded the baby and all his gear, her two older boys, Jed and the groceries onto a borrowed boat.
She was marooned at home for a week but had no complaints. What could be better with a new baby?
Big money
Don’t underestimate the power of creativity. The Coeur d’Alene Public Library Foundation recently raised a cool $25,000 auctioning off 110 gift baskets based on literary themes.
I want to know what theme went with the basket that sold for a staggering $1,500. It offered a dinner hosted by Bob and Sandi Bloem, Duane and Lola Hagadone, Doug and Pam Potter and Tim and Wanda Quinn.
Odd jobs
What is the strangest job in your community and who does it? Unearth a doozy for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID, 83814; FAX to 765-7149; call 765-7128; or e-mail to cynthiat@spokesman.com.
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