TAMPA, FL -- They start them young at LaFleur’s Gymnastics Club.
That’s where the dream begins.
“It’s a wonderful thing to be a part of,” Assistant Program Director/Coach Alecia Pollina said.
Coach Pollina admittedly has a great job. She gets to watch dreams come true. And she had a front-row seat when two of the club’s elite gymnasts, Moorea Linker and Julianne Fehring brought home the gold.
“They’ve worked their whole lives for this,” Pollina said. “You put in all this hard work and it’s nice to see it come to fruition and pay off and know that everything that they did was worth it.”
Linker started at age two and quickly rose up the ranks, skipping levels, before reaching the top of the podium.
“It was honestly one of the greatest feelings ever cause it’s not just at a regular competition because I’ve gotten first at other competitions,” Linker said. “It’s like Nationals. There’s not many people that get those.”
Linker was the best in the nation in the Senior A Division on the vault and repeated as the floor exercise champion. But she upped the ante with this year’s routine. Linker nailed a move so difficult only one other girl in the competition attempted it, a double-double.
“I screamed fairly loudly,” Pollina said. “It’s a really hard skill. There’s very few people in the J.O. program that do this skill because of how hard it is, so that made it even more special.”
They specialize in special at LaFleur’s. Fehring added to the medal haul with her winning vault in the Senior B group. Her gymnastics journey began at age five and she soon developed a knack for collecting medals, but none bigger than the national championship gold.
“It’s awesome. You’re like, I did that, I just did that,” Fehring said. “And then all your coaches and everyone’s so proud of you, it’s so fun.”
Two national champions from one gym. They share more than a collection of gold medals. They share a college destination. The two will continue to be teammates at the University of Oklahoma, the two-time defending National Champs.
“To go to Oklahoma with my best friend is so amazing because I know I’ll have her as a lifelong friend now,” Linker said.
And a chance to add to their already impressive medal total.
“They’re wonderful to work with,” Pollina said. “They make your job that much easier because you want to be around them, you love helping be a part of their journey, you love being a part of helping them win their national championship and watch their dreams come true.”