W. Gymnastics: Iowa walk-on has a lot of balance

Andrea Hurlburt's love for gymnastics was apparent from the start.

At the age of 2, she tried to stand on her head. When she was 6, she was enrolled as a gymnast at Black Hawk Gymnastics Club. At the age of 18, she was considered one of the best at her club.

However, despite the success, the Waterloo native did not get recruited by any collegiate teams.

That didn't stop her desire from participating in the sport.

"I loved [gymnastics]; I loved it from the second I walked into the gym," she said. "There's just such a great feeling when you're flying through the air or knowing you can do stuff that most people can't."

Hurlburt was involved with club gymnastics at Iowa during her freshman year but missed the competitive aspect. Linas Gaveika, a former men's gymnast for the Hawkeyes, suggested that she try out as a walk-on for the women's squad. While the notion had crossed her mind before, she wasn't sure if she was good enough to make the team.

Eventually, she decided to give it a shot.

"I sent [Coach Larissa Libby] a couple of videos and sent her an e-mail that just said, 'I know this isn't normal, but I was wondering if I could [try out]' and she said, 'You know, I'll put you on our freshman e-mail list, we practice at this time, and we'll see you in the fall,' " Hurlburt said.

Libby felt that she could fit in perfectly with the requirements of the team and offered her a spot.

"We take walk-ons every year; we've always done it. We're not really one of those programs that feels like we're in the position where we can just turn away walk-ons," Libby said. "Now, we do have requirements for them, because we want them to be able to feel like they're part of the team.

"If you can't at least contribute to one event or up to the level that everyone else is, you're not going to feel like you're part of the team, so we do have those stipulations. We have academic requirements for them as well."

Hurlburt brought along a positive attitude and skills on the balance beam that Libby sought. However, the transition to collegiate gymnastics and a stricter schedule wasn't easy.

"I wanted to quit, I really did. I thought about it really hard," Hurlburt said. "It's not easy being an athlete in college. It's not like we sit around and do nothing all day."

Despite her uncertainty, Hurlburt stuck with it because of support from the coaching staff as well as her own competitive desire to become a better gymnast.

"I just wasn't a very good gymnast [at the start]," she said. "With the help of Talya [Vexler] and Larissa [Libby], I just learned a lot. It's really good for me to be around people who are better than me because I'm really competitive and I tried really hard and it worked and so now I'm really enjoying myself and I feel like I'm getting better everyday."

Hurlburt's competitiveness sticks out to her teammates when they watch her compete.

"She won't give up," senior Jenifer Simbhudas said. "If she's falling on a move or wobbling, she'll make sure she's doing it right with no wobbles and clean legs. She has determination in her."

After all the work, Hurlburt recently competed collegiately for the first time on her specialty, the balance beam; an event she believes she is getting better at every day.

In addition to beam, she is also currently working on trying to crack the vault line-up by working on a front handspring pike-half.

"Andrea's come a really long way from when she first came on the team. Her coaching was minimal, but her drive was very large, and I loved that," Libby said. "She has essentially worked her way to our beam lineup. She has replaced people who are on full scholarship and should be in our beam lineup, but her drive has pushed her to make our lineup as a starter.

"She works hard every day, and she gives 150 percent in and outside of the gym, and that's not who she was. She's evolved into that, clearly on her own desire to want to be the best."