Florida Gators
Charleston Southern
Gators gymnast Caquatto is keeping a busy schedule as she attempts a rare challenge
Monday, August 29, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Gymnastics, Scott Carter
To fully grasp what Gators sophomore gymnast Mackenzie Caquatto's schedule is going to be like the next several months, let's take a peek at her itinerary for just last week.
In an attempt to make the U.S. National Team, Caquatto competed in the Visa National Championships in St. Paul, Minn. Caquatto accomplished her goal, finishing fourth overall on the final day. Equally important, Caquatto earned an opportunity to make the U.S. team that will compete in the World Championships in Japan in October.
The next morning she packed her bags and drove seven hours with her family to their home outside Chicago. She was able to get a few hours sleep before the alarm went off. On Monday morning Caquatto woke up at 4 a.m. for an early-morning flight to Florida for the start of fall classes at UF.
On Tuesday she was back at the O'Connell Center with her teammates working out. Caquatto is headed out again in a few days to go to Houston for a training camp at the Karolyi Ranch, the national training center for USA Gymnastics.
Caquatto and other members of the U.S. National Team will compete for a spot on the world team. The group meets in Houston once a month to work with Martha Karolyi, the team's coordinator since 2001, in preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
That's why Caquatto will keep such an insane schedule the next several months. And we haven't even mentioned she is planning to compete for the Gators once the NCAA season starts in January.
“Since I was little and watched the 1996 Olympics it's always been one of my goals,'' Caquatto said. “But it never really seemed a possible reality until last year. It's definitely something in the back of my mind, something that I want to do, but right now I'm just trying to take it one step at a time and see where it takes me.''
In elite-level gymnastics, it's rare a college athlete tries to earn a spot on the Olympic Team. The demands of class and training and practice and travel often seem like too much for most to even consider the challenge.
Not Caquatto, who has already competed in international events in Japan, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands during her career.
Gators coach Rhonda Faehn was an elite-level gymnast during her college career at UCLA and understands the difficult challenge Caquatto is undertaking. Caquatto is the only current member of the U.S. National Team competing in college.
“She really has her mind set and we are going to do everything we can to help her achieve this goal,'' Faehn said. “It's very rare. There have been some athletes who have come back after college and have done it, but while trying to tackle a full [class] load and do this, it's very rare and extremely challenging.
“I really think she can stay disciplined and focused and give it a shot.''
Caquatto has already surprised Faehn once this summer. After the Gators' season ended in April and classes concluded, Caquatto went home to Chicago and took time off to rest her injured ankle.
“It was really in bad shape,'' Faehn said.
In June she started training heavily for the Visa Championships. Faehn traveled to Minnesota to watch the competition and was blown away by how much more confident Caquatto was in her routines compared to April when the ankle was hampering her at the NCAA Finals in Cleveland.
“It was wonderful to see what had transpired over the summer,'' Faehn said. “She really, really put the elite routines back together and had a very good performance at championships.''
Caquatto's best routine in Minnesota was on bars, which is her top event. She didn't fare as well in the floor and vault, but with her ankle healed, she expects to improve in those events in Houston next week.
Caquatto said her biggest task is sharpening the routines and slowly adding more difficult moves into them as she progresses.
“I feel at this stage that I'm at a good point in my training and competing,'' she said. “When it comes to the Olympics, anything can happen. People get injured, stuff like that happens and so that's why you have to take it one step at a time. I feel like I'm in a good place in making this year's World Team, which is the first goal.
“It's just a process of getting back in shape and getting my skills back after the injury. They have been coming back, but we just have to take it slowly so we don't injure my ankle.''
Insane schedule and all, Caquatto is moving forward. When she isn't on campus, she'll take classes online and continue to practice with the Gators when she is in town.
Despite the odds, her college coach isn't counting Caquatto out.
“She has her mind made up. She is very set on doing everything she can to put it all out there,'' Faehn said. “We are really proud of her.''
