Saxons’ Michelle Curtis wants to vault to state

Sometimes a bit of disappointment helps an athlete savor victory.

Ferris High School gymnast Michelle Curtis has had a taste of both.

After qualifying for the state meet in the vault as a sophomore, Curtis surprisingly fell short in her bid in her junior season.

“To qualify for state, you really have to have your best meet on the day of regionals, and she didn’t quite have her best vault at the regional meet,” said Saxon head coach Jaime Smith.

“I definitely don’t want to miss state this year,” Curtis said. “It’s one of my big goals because it was such a great experience to be able to go.

“It was just crushing to not be able to do it junior year, but it just makes the senior year all the better.”

Curtis, who will captain the Ferris team this season, is hoping that her final year will lead to one last state appearance in the vault and is working hard toward that goal.

“The one thing Michelle has shown by example is you can continue to improve if you’re in good physical condition,” Smith said. “Michelle is someone who keeps herself in good shape, and that allows her to continue to improve, especially in events like the bars, where a lot of times high school girls have trouble because they don’t have that upper body strength.”

Curtis is expected to lead a young but talented Ferris team this winter and hopes to teach the lessons she learned as an underclassmen.

“We had a really strong team my freshman year. There were girls who had competed at the state level, so I just looked up to them.” Curtis said.

“The mark that they left for me to follow – I just want to set an example for the other girls to follow, so they can have as great an experience as I did.”

While vault is her specialty, Curtis will compete as an all-arounder this year.

“She’s improved the most on the bars, vault and floor,” Smith said. “She’s learned to become a much better tumbler and with her jumps. She’s taken it up to the next level.”

The one event Smith and Curtis would love to see improvement this year is on the beam.

“I’m just trying to get past my fear of the beam and just put it to the back of my mind and just go as hard as I can so I can just stick it (my routine),” said Curtis. “I want to do the best I can every meet.”

Curtis will draw a lot of motivation this year from her twin sister, Christy, who serves as the team manager. While the two team up as doubles partners on the Saxon tennis team, ankle injuries have prevented Christy from competing with Michelle in gymnastics.

“She’s at practices, so she can see if I’m having a tough time on an event; she knows exactly what to say,” Curtis said.

“If I’m having a tough time in an event, I think about, ‘What would Christy do in this situation?’ I just know she would go as hard as she could, so that really is a motivation for me.”

Curtis, who was honored as the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) Winter Athlete of the Year last season at Ferris for her work in athletics, in the community and in the classroom, hopes to study criminal law in college next year before becoming a defense attorney like her father.

“It’s always been my goal,” she said. “Just watching my dad, I’ve always looked up to him.

“I’ve always wanted to follow in his footsteps, and that dream has never really changed since I was just a little girl.”