Southeast Missouri State University gymnast Taryn Vanderpool has made a significant impact on the team after battling a foot injury the past two seasons of her collegiate career.
"In vault I did a skill called the 'Yurchenko Full,' and it's prone to injury if you make any mistakes," Vanderpool said. "I wasn't very consistent, and so I tended to land in a way that you shouldn't land and I ended up breaking my navicular bone both years."
Vanderpool said that she was in a lot of pain while the bone was healing but is glad that she's able to compete at full strength now.
"I'm really glad that I'm still competing even though the season is almost over," Vanderpool said. "It's really exciting to compete without an injury because when you have an injury, it's like sitting on the sidelines. It's still fun, but when you're doing it, it's so much better."
Vanderpool, a junior, said she was introduced to gymnastics when she was 3 years old. In 2011, she came to Southeast as a walk-on.
"I'm not fully on a scholarship," Vanderpool said. "I'm on a lot of academic scholarships, and I applied for extra scholarships outside of school. I spent hours doing that, but I do get some help, so that's awesome."
Vanderpool leads the team with 10 first-place finishes in individual events and in the all-around this season. She has finished in first or second in the all-around in seven meets thus far.
"This is the kind of year we expected her to have her freshman year," Southeast gymnastics coach Kristi Ewasko said. "We knew this was in her. Her determination was to fight back after her injuries. She's come back with a vengeance, and I'm very excited for her."
Ewasko said that in practices, Vanderpool brings a "steady rock" about her to the team.
"Granted, she's had a couple falls," Ewasko said. "We're all human and we're going to make mistakes, but more than likely there is no doubt of whether or not Taryn is going to stay on the equipment, do the routine the best she can and really contribute to our team's score."
In Vanderpool's performance against Eastern Michigan University on March 3, she recorded a career-best 9.900, the third best bars score in school history, to win the event and place third in the all-around. The Redhawks beat the Eagles with a season-high score 194.775-194.675.
"I got a 9.900 on bars, which was very exciting," Vanderpool said. "I've been trying to get that since I don't know when and I feel like the whole season has been really fun. I really enjoy bars. I score the best on bars."
Ewasko said that Vanderpool is in the rankings to perform at regionals as of right now.
"She's our second all-arounder, in our region, outside of the teams we expect to qualify," Ewasko said. "The top five go."
Ewasko also mentioned that junior Megan Fosnow, another all-arounder, has the chance to perform at regionals as well.
Fosnow has finished either first or second in vault six times this season, and has placed in the top five in all meets in the all-around so far.
In Division I gymnastics, teams take their top six scores and drop the highest one, then average the other five scores to get a regional qualifying score. Within those six they must count three away meets. The top 36 schools with the highest scores will receive an automatic bid to an NCAA regional championship.
The Redhawks' next meet will be against the University of New Hampshire, Kent State University and Cornell University at 6 p.m. Friday in Kent, Ohio. The Midwest Independent Conference Championships will be on March 23 in Shreveport, La.
"She's kind of in there, but we still need the next two or three meets to be solid for her in case someone underneath her has a couple good meets to bump her out," Ewasko said. "But as of right now she's pretty solid to go to regionals.
The NCAA regional championships will take place on April 4.
"We've made adjustments to her vault, and we've changed it up after her injury last year to a brand new vault," Ewasko said. "So that's been really fun to watch her grow and mature into a new vault that has been very consistent this season. It's clean, and it's pretty and I really expect her to explode there next year."
