Norah Herland didn’t start the sport of gymnastics until last fall. She’d been in some other types of sports, but as a result of her cartwheeling and wanting to try tumbling, her mom, Katey Herland, put the girl in a real class in September.
They traveled to Telluride Gymnastics and CrossFit, owned by Teresa and Andrew Brachle, so that Norah could practice tumbling and see what that was like.
Within a few weeks, the coaches agreed that Norah needed to advance and join the competitive gymnastics team. She skipped the first level, bronze, and went straight into silver.
Then, came the practices, three hours a week from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., three times a week. She had to leave school in Nucla early to make it there on time. Norah told the Forum the Nucla school was supportive, and her teacher Mr. (Hank) Nelson was very encouraging and “completely understanding.”
“He always loved asking how my practice was the day after, or if I was going to a meet,” Norah told the Forum. “He was always supportive.”
The rising sixth-grader had her first gymnastics meet in Santa Fe this year at the end of February. There she competed on the vault, floor, balance beam and bars. She said the floor routines are actually her favorite.
In Santa Fe, Norah ended up surprising herself. She went into it a bit nervous, but mostly excited. And, she took third all around in her division — and that was competing against girls from surrounding states. That meet alone qualified for her for the state gymnastics meet.
She competed again in Montrose afterward, but then sprained her elbow and had to take it easy. She had to stop some practices, and for other sessions just work on conditioning and elbow exercises. Only recently has she been been able to train like she used to.
The state meet just happened in Denver, May 31-June 1. Norah competed in all four gymnastics events for it. She said her arm was healed, but she had to be careful not to over-extend it. She started out “low,” she said, not doing do so well in her tough floor routine with a score of 8.2.
Next, though, she won the vault event with a score of 9.6. She said she’d never gotten even a score of 9 on vault previously. Now, she’s got the gold state medal.
She competed on bars too, but didn’t place there. Her score was 9.375. However, she ended up taking second place, receiving the silver medal, for balance beam. With a score of 9.725, she tied her good friend and teammate Kayden Right, of Placerville.
Needless to say, Norah was very happy with her accomplishments, and she said her coaches were thrilled. She took fifth at state in her division.
Now that she’s found her sport, she’s ready to keep going. She plans to train all summer at the Telluride gym, in order to level up. Yes, she’s competing at the silver level, but she wants to make the gold team before school starts. She knows she needs to be able to do a “kip” on the bars, and she has to get her round off-back-handspring-back tuck. She told the Forum she’s really close to advancing.
“And in gold you get different routines,” she said. “You get your own routine for floor and beam.”
(The bronze and silver levels have uniform routines that all girls have to learn and execute.)
Norah also wants to make sure she makes the three big meets next year, especially the ones out of state.
It’s been a big year for the 11-year-old. She’s had to invest in multiple leotards. She’s had to learn the terminology of the sport, something her coaches were more concerned about than the actual maneuvers, since gymnastics includes many French terms.
And, she’s had to make a new group of friends. But, she’s so happy she explored her passion. She said it’s all been worth it, even better than expected. She’s grateful for her new friends and her new coaches.
“I love all my coaches. They’re all so supportive,” she said.
Her mom agreed.
“It’s a great experience. The parents are great, and the kids are great,” Katey Herland said.
