A year of experience gives confidence to Claire Boyce
Friday, January 30, 2015 | Gymnastics
By Eden Otero, UF Communications
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Experience is a key element in collegiate gymnastics and Claire Boyce has it.
With a successful freshman campaign behind her and three promising performances into the 2015 season, Boyce's success has made her a key competitor for the Florida gymnastics team.
For the 5-foot-6 sophomore, the jump from freshman to sophomore year means more experience and fewer nerves, but it also means becoming a rock for her younger teammates – Kennedy Baker, Alex McMurtry, Grace McLaughlin and Ericha Fassbender – to lean on.
“I'm bringing in experience because freshman year you come in and you have no idea what you're doing,” Boyce said. “You're just leaning on the upperclassmen, waiting on them to tell you what to do. But now after a year under your belt, you know what's to be expected of you and when you travel you know what you're supposed to do.”
But before the season opener on Jan. 11 at Ball State, Boyce went through a preseason that left her eager to get out of the training gym and back in the front of the judges.
And once back in the arena Boyce performed like there was no offseason.
Boyce's first meet of the 2015 season at Ball State was nothing compared to the jitters she felt in her first collegiate meet in 2014 against then-fourth ranked UCLA.
Against Ball State, Boyce's experience helped settle her, something she couldn't use in her meet against UCLA in her freshman season.
But even with the distraction of the change in pace and excitement from club to collegiate gymnastics, Boyce put up numbers in her collegiate debut versus the Bruins that any freshman could be proud of. Her 9.85 on beam and 9.825 on the floor exercise were just a preview of her All-American freshman campaign.
Fast-forward to 2015 in Ball State's Irving Gym and Boyce opened the 2015 season with a beam performance that equaled her career best (9.925) and helped her win her first beam routine of the season. She added her second beam win of 2015 last Friday at Alabama with her mark of 9.90.
“Last (2014) first meet I was so nervous about everything,” Boyce said. “I didn't really know how the meet worked and ran. Then this year it was a lot better because I knew what to expect. Yes, there were still nerves because it was the first meet, but I was a lot more confident.”
The 2015 opener did have something new for Boyce, as she made her collegiate debut in the Gators' uneven bars lineup. She turned in a 9.85 – even more impressive as Boyce underwent elbow surgery following the 2014 season, which limited her training time on the event during the early fall training period.
The Gator freshmen at the 2015 opener were nervous for their collegiate debuts. Boyce was there with some sage advice gained in year one.
“College is a lot different than club, it's way louder and way more energetic and I think they struggled with that at first,” Boyce said. “I just remember on a couple events that it got a little quiet and I turned around and I told them, 'Guys come on, cheer.' If you're cheering then you're not thinking about yourself and you're not nervous. That always helped me.”
