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Persistence key to Potente

March 25, 2008 12:15 am

The bar for measuring success varies from gymnast to gymnast.

One might view an individual score of 8.0 or better as the pinnacle of success. But for veteran year-round gymnasts, such a score might represent a major disappointment.

Carissa Potente finds herself in a similar predicament when reviewing her performance at the recent Group AAA state gymnastics meet.

A 9.7 score on floor exercise netted her a runner-up trophy, but her sense of accomplishment was higher on the uneven bars.

"Bars always has been my weakest event," the North Stafford High senior reflected recently. "But I actually placed at state and had a pretty high score [9.65, good for seventh place]. It was the best routine of my life."

The Free Lance-Star's gymnast of the year is at a loss to explain her late fall off the balance beam routine on a movement she normally performs without a hitch.

The mishap cost Potente a 0.6-point reduction that dropped her from a tie for first place to 13th overall, as well as a fall from fourth to seventh place in all-around (38.2).

If the state meet provided a bittersweet finish to Potente's high school career, she still has plenty of reasons to be upbeat.

This weekend, Potente and Stafford phenom Aylssa Borschein will represent the Stafford Royals club team in the USGA Level 9 state meet at Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake. A strong showing would assure Potente a spot in the regional competition for a third straight year.

Concerning her mental approach, Potente said: "I'm trying to keep a positive attitude and a mental state where I'm going to stick everything."

Earlier this month, Potente discovered she was named to the national team that will train in Florida in May.

"Alyssa beat me at districts and it was a bittersweet moment," Potente said of the Stafford freshman. "I love to see her win, but she is my competition at the same time.

"Gymnastics is so mental. So before [club] events, she will say, 'Carissa, you have this,' and I'd be the same way for us. We're really trying to push each other to be the best that we can be."

Between high school and club meets and practices, Potente sometimes was performing or refining her gymnastics skills seven days a week.

And there is no sign of a burnout. The soon-to-be 18-year-old plans to try out for the club team next fall, either at James Madison University (where she already has been accepted) or the University of Virginia.

Two of her biggest influences have been her mother, Liz Potente, a one-time gymnast at Plymouth (N.H.) State University, and Don Maddox, her Royals coach for the past eight years.

As a youngster, Potente was bitten by the gymnastics bug when she attended high school meets with best friend Brittany Jones.

And the slender gymnast is attempting to pass along the torch of the next generation of gymnasts being developed at the Stafford Gymnastics and Recreational Center in Falmouth.

"I love the kids and I'm always trying to make them laugh," she said during a recent club practice. "I could have this wrong, but I think they see older girls competing; and I hope I'm giving them the inspiration to be there some day."

Ironically, her parents were initially opposed to the venture, due to the sport's arduous schedule and the possibility of injury.

"I did dance for a while and I got bored with that," Potente said. "So I wanted to do gymnastics and my parents were like, 'No.' But I eventually got into it and it was funny because when I started, I was moving up a level and the cost was going up and my parents were like, 'Carissa, are you sure you want to do this?'

"And I said, 'Yeah, I'm sure I want to do it,'" she recalled. "And now my tuition has skyrocketed. But it is definitely worth it."

Kurt Nicoll: 540/374-5441
Email: knicoll@freelancestar.com