The Barometer Online

Issue date: 2/13/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Peter Strong Kera Bolen has become one of OSU's most consistent gymnasts on the bars and floor this season after earning a scholarship.

Typically, collegiate athletes come to campus already having proved themselves to be worthy of a spot on the team and - in many cases - an athletic scholarship. This is not the case for everyone. Kera Bolen, known as KB to her teammates, walked onto the OSU gymnastics team as a recruited freshman. One season later, she is on scholarship.

Gymnasts begin training at a very young age and are forced to confront injuries, daily four-hour practices along with life in general. In a sport where the average retirement age falls around 17, it takes a special kind of determination to find the strength to pursue dreams of collegiate gymnastics. Bolen, who began her career in the second grade, has made a huge impact for the Beavers this season, and has done it all with a smile.

Bolen began her gymnastics career at Metro Gymnastics in Tigard, which is known for its strict training environment. She was rushed though the early levels and began competing at level 10 during her sophomore year in high school.

"I skipped level one and I went to level two." Bolen said. "I was in level two for about a week and then I moved to level three and I was there for like a month. I skipped level four and then was on pre-team for a month. And then I started competing."

Bolen rose to the challenges of club gymnastics, driven to prove wrong those who said she didn't have the ability to perform a particular skill or event.

"My favorite event to practice is bars," Bolen said. "But my favorite event to compete is floor. I always liked bars because it was a challenge for me in club. My coaches always told me that it was my worst event. They told me to just focus on bars and floor because that was what I would end up doing in practice. I was pretty motivated to get better at bars, and I didn't always have a major routine, this was the first year I put my Jaeger in."

Bolen qualified for level 10 nationals in 2003, 2004 and 2005. She was also a three time Oregon state floor champion. However, during her senior year, Bolen suffered an injury to her knee. The diagnosis was a torn posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), but Bolen decided to compete anyway.

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