U-Hi senior Olympics-caliber player

Ryan Gienapp plays the tuba. So well in fact, that he was chosen to perform with the Blue Devils, a brass ensemble from Concord, Calif., for the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Because of a scheduling mix-up, the Blue Devils won’t be performing but he was selected just the same. “I still feel honored to have been selected, even if I’m not going,” Gienapp said.

Gienapp began playing instruments in the sixth grade. “My mom kind of made me, but I fell in love with it,” he said. He has played the trombone, the euphonium and the saxophone. He started playing the tuba in his freshman year. He has won awards, participated in a state competition last year and will be going to state again next month.

“Music is very important to me,” he said, “I will always play but not as a career.”

A senior at University High School, Gienapp maintains a 3.5 grade-point average and aspires to be a pediatrician. He wants to attend either Washington State University or the University of Washington.

He chose the profession when he was about 8 and has not lost sight of it. When he was about 4, he fractured his skull while running around a tennis court.

“After a lot of vomiting, I was taken in for some tests, and they found a blood clot.” Surgery followed, leaving some permanent damage to his sight and hearing though not enough to sway him from his goals.

Gienapp’s hobbies include skiing and wakeboarding, and he is a “weekend basketball player.” He hangs out with friends and does what teenagers do except get in trouble. “I have a lot of freedoms that I don’t want to risk. So, I stay out of trouble.” Peer pressure has never been an issue for Gienapp.

“I have good close friends,” he said, and he keeps his eye on the prize; a career in helping other kids who might take a tumble on a tennis court.