Summit High School student Naya Rostad prepares for her floor routine during a recent gymnastics competition. Last season, Rostad placed fifth in the state in Level 7 competition and eighth in regional competitions.
Naya Rostad / Photo courtesy
The sport of gymnastics is already a great commitment, with many hours spent perfecting form in practice and money spent paying knowledgeable coaches.
Summit High School student Naya Rostad’s commitment to gymnastics goes beyond that of the average gymnast. Rostad not only trains four hours a day after school for her next gymnastics competition. The Summit County local also travels to Vail five days a week to prepare for practice. The result is almost 250 miles and at least five hours of driving time per week.
The investment of time has paid off for Rostad. The young Level 7 gymnast placed fifth overall at the 2022 Colorado Level 7, 9, 10 State Championships in March.
Rostad placed fifth overall against older competitors by placing first in vault, eighth on parallel bars, fourth on balance beam, and eighth on floor. Rostad was pleased with her jumping performance, where she scored 9.05 out of 10 to win the event.
After participating in the state championships, in April Rostad had the opportunity to participate in a regional meeting for level 7 gymnasts. Rostad shone brightly again at this Region 3 event when she placed seventh on vault, 10th on parallel bars, sixth on balance beam and 12th on floor. Rostad collected a total of 36,725 points from 40 points, finishing eighth overall.
Rostad has been doing gymnastics since she was 3 years old but didn’t compete until she was 6 years old. For the 10 to 12 years since she started the sport, Rostad trained at Silverthorne Recreation Center before deciding to enroll at Vail Gymnastics Center to be coached by former Olympic hopeful Julie Cotter.
Though the commitment to driving to Vail every day — sometimes in a full-blown snow storm — has been challenging at times, Rostad sees the hours he’s put in commuting to and from practice as rewarding, especially after spending the past season has achieved excellence.
One of Rostad’s biggest challenges with spending a lot of time commuting is figuring out how to balance gymnastics and a full high school academic workload.
“I usually go straight from school to workouts, so I do most of my work at school or late at night,” Rostad said of how she makes time for gym and school. “This past February I skipped about 20 classes due to travel and stuff, and I just ended up catching up.”
Rostad said the teachers understood when she shared that she was working to complete the assignments. Rostad is also supported by the post-pandemic classroom, which still consists of online assignments that are easier to complete on the go.
In gymnastics competitions, Rostad feels most comfortable on the floor.
“My best event is the floor, which has always been my favorite since I was younger,” Rostad said. “You can choose your music and dance to it.”
Summit High School student Naya Rostad prepares to perform her balance beam routine during a recent gymnastics competition. Last season, Rostad placed fifth in the state in Level 7 competition and eighth in regional competitions.
Naya Rostad / Photo courtesy
Rostad’s success in recent years has not been without bumps. Like many gymnasts, Rostad struggled to overcome mental barriers as she began to grow and develop.
“As you grow, you start to change, and it gets a little harder to work with your mind,” Rostad said. “Typically, gymnasts start out when they’re very small, and as you grow, it can be difficult to adapt to all the skills that you knew before.”
With so much dedication and time put into the sport, Rostad aspires to continue growing as a gymnast in the years to come.
“I would love to get a college scholarship to a Division I, II or III school, which would be nice, but I would also like to coach gymnastics later in life or be part of the gymnastics community,” Rostad said.
Rostad has finished competing this season but will continue training for competitions from December.
Naya Rostad performs a vault from the balance beam during a gymnastics competition last season. After graduating from Summit High School in 2024, Rostad hopes to earn an athletic scholarship to compete in gymnastics at the college level.
Naya Rostad / Photo courtesy
Comments are closed.