The Barometer Online

Issue date: 1/21/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Jeff Wick Mak, performing the "Pak full," is admired by veteran teammates and fellow freshmen alike for her hard work in the gym and ability to shake off a bad day.

For a freshman walking onto the Oregon State campus, questions are bound to arise within their heads.

"Where are my classes? Will my roommate and I get along? When will I get to talk to Mom and Dad?"

Gymnast Leslie Mak had more questions to be answered.

Where would she fit in on the OSU gymnastics squad? Would the Pak full catapult her into the bars lineup during her first season at Oregon State?

Mak has begun to answer these questions, making a name for herself early in her collegiate gymnastics career.

Coming from Ontario, Canada, the sister of a collegiate gymnast, Mak has taken her own path to Corvallis and earned the early respect of the upperclassmen on the Beaver roster.

The Toronto native benefited from growing up with another gymnast in the house, as she lived and competed with teammate and sister Allison. The Mak sisters competed at the elite level of Canadian gymnastics, and through this, the younger Mak learned how to deal with a bad day, something her Beaver teammates praise her for.

"It is really cool because we were teammates for so long," Mak said. "Her and I understood each other well. We could go home if we had a bad day, and we both understood what it was like to have a bad day of training and just want to go home to peace and quiet."

Mak's current teammates are impressed by the poise the young freshman shows in the face of adversity.

"She is someone I look up to," senior Jami Lanz said. "She is a hard worker, and if she has a rough day on an event, you never see it. She never lets her emotions show when she is frustrated. That is a great asset to have because once you show emotion, things can crumble from there - she doesn't do that. I think that is really impressive."

Rough days and change are things that one must get used to in competing at the international level. Mak was a member of the Canadian National Team, which allowed her to participate in competitions in England, Slovenia and Ukraine. But a big change came for Mak prior to her senior year of high school.

Continued...

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