♪♪ [Colin Payne] In the simplest terms, gymnastics is mastery of movement, learning how to move and use your body in ways that a lot of people would think impossible.

[Emily Barrett Payne] Simpson College decided to add women's and men's gymnastics in September of 2021.

♪♪ [Emily Barrett Payne] Myself and my husband decided to make that leap together and go through that interview process and take those positions and move down here.

Now we just finished our third year as a program.

The big thing especially with that first class was that we didn't really have anything to show them.

So, that just required a lot of buy in on their part to help us create a program here.

Morgan Svec is our first senior.

That very first year she was our only Iowa athlete on the team.

Prior to Simpson adding gymnastics, Simpson was not even really on her radar.

[Colin Payne] We have found a place that gymnastics is attractive to.

At this point, between the men's and women's programs we're at 49 athletes.

That is a big number in three years for an institution like Simpson that is looking at 1,200 students enrollment.

Men's gymnastics there's only 15 programs in the whole country in Divisions I through Division III and there's only three including Simpson that are Division III.

So, for us to add another program is just a huge piece to show that we can grow an Olympic sport, a non-revenue sport can grow in the current NCAA environment.

[Milo Stanley] Being a part of a new program and creating a legacy that no one else has done before, all these teams are being cut and we're finally adding a new team, it's something very special and important to me.

♪♪ [Milo Stanley] I was around ten years old when I first started gymnastics and I'd say just the daily challenges is what drives me to do this.

It's a new thing every day and it just pushes you to be better.

So, in the past I've qualified to NCAA championships the last two years and that is definitely another goal of mine this season.

Being able to compete at such a big competition with the best athletes in the country, it's truly an amazing experience.

♪♪ [Alex Catchpole] Some of the meets at the beginning of this year we went against really big schools.

We went against Michigan, we went up against Air Force, Stanford, OU, really top dog contenders for the NCAA title.

I was able to win the p-bar event title against the Naval Academy.

It lights a fire inside of me to get even better, to do even more.

As a gymnast, I'm focusing on achieving the best work that I can possibly do and that takes everything for me.

There's a lot of days where I come in and I'm tired, I'm hurting and I'm thinking to myself, I don't really know how I'm going to get this done today, but I've got to focus up and really think about what I want to get out of that day.

And how can I make that day a success no matter how I feel?

♪♪ [Emily Barrett Payne] Gymnastics is one of those sports that you start when you're really young.

Some people call it an early specialization sport.

So, I started gymnastics when I was four, but didn't really get into it until I was eight and went to the University of Denver and my senior year, I competed beam quite frequently.

Beam you have to be calm when you're on that event.

It requires a lot of mental focus and concentration.

[Brooklen Morgan] Before my beam routine, I walk over to the chalk, I wipe my feet in there, I wipe my hands on there, rub them together and then I just walk up to the beam, I do a couple of taps and then I'm more of just the type of person to lock it in, get on the beam and do what I know how to do.

I actually had elbow surgery in the summer.

So, I was very uncertain what this season was going to look like and fortunately I was able to get back at the end of preseason and make beam and floor lineup every single meet.

I was throwing up the highest scores I've ever thrown up and I was genuinely having fun.

And I think at the end of the day that is the best thing I can ask for is just enjoying what I'm doing and exceling at it all at the same time.

♪♪ [Brooklen Morgan] To be a successful gymnast, it takes a lot of hard work and drive and you have to be able to be really resilient and have that grit and know that you're going to be knocked down so many times and you're going to be expected to get up and do it all over again because you have to fail to succeed and that's not just something that you have to do in gymnastics.

It really just translates well into life.

♪♪ [Izzy Brown] I started gymnastics when I was seven, but I had a couple of baseline skills before that and yeah, I've been doing gymnastics ever since, so I think that's about thirteen years.

Usually when I'm competing floor, I'm mostly just feeding off the energy of my team and I also think about trusting my legs, so trusting all the training that we put in, in preseason and all the cardio that we've done to prepare.

♪♪ [Izzy Brown] I think gymnastics will benefit me really well throughout life.

It has taught me dedication, resilience, it has taught me how to be a leader.

I feel like I've already become a totally different person that just works harder and is just dedicated to finish everything through the best that I can.

[Kaelyn Tally] So, I started gymnastics when I was about two years old.

So, I'm going on almost 20 years of gymnastics, which is crazy.

That's my whole entire life.

The vault I do that qualified me to nationals is called a hand front half out, or the book term is called a hand front tuck with a half twist.

It's a 9.95 start value, so a 9.95 is the closest start value you can get to a 10.0 in college.

It's a forward entry vault, which is not something that you commonly see in women's gymnastics.

♪♪ [Kaelyn Tally] I put in so much work into that vault and into my gymnastics and seeing it pay off in the scores and the event titles and obviously now qualifying to nationals I think is just really rewarding for me.

♪♪ [Colin Payne] We bring value by bringing in quality student athletes.

That's how we bring value to Simpson.

I think it's a hopeful story and it's a positive story for all non-revenue and Olympic sports.

Find the ground underneath you, bring your feet to the spot.

[Alex Catchpole] I hope that more schools start up a program and give athletes the opportunity because that's really what men's gymnastics is for me, an opportunity to continue my dreams and to continue in the sport that I love.

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