Lifelong friends - Florida's Amelia Hundley (left) and LSU's Lexie Priessman - compete tonight in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Friday's top dual meet in the nation.
Parallel Stars
Friday, January 18, 2019 | Gymnastics
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Lifelong friends Amelia Hundley and Lexie Priessman - compete for opposite teams tonight in a key SEC meet.
By: Lauren Staff - UF Athletics Communications
Even though they will be on opposite sidelines at tonight's meet, Amelia Hundley and Lexie Priessman share a bond that can't be broken by a competition.
"We've grown up together," Hundley said. "We're like sisters."
The two gymnasts from southwest Ohio have known each other since they started their gymnastics career together at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy. They were coached by Mary Lee Tracy.
They trained together 40 hours a week while traveling all over the country to compete in meets for over 12 years.
And, like sisters, after every meet, whether or not they did well or not, their parents would take them out for ice cream, Priessman said.
Lifelong friends Lexie Priessman (left) and Amelia Hundley compete tonight on different teams in a key Southeastern Conference meet. They both were part of the U.S. Senior National Team while club teammates at the Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy.
The two didn't attend public school because of their demanding training schedules. Instead, they were homeschooled together.
"I grew up being with her more than I was my siblings," Priessman said.
Life wasn't always so serious for the two, though.
The first time 7-year-old Hundley visited 8-year-old Priessman's house, she did a gymnastics trick in the basement.
Instead of landing the trick, however, Hundley instead hit Priessman's older brother Nicholas in the face, accidentally ripping off his braces. It is a funny family moment they all laugh about now.
The two were split apart when Priessman switched to a new gym, Perfection Gymnastics School, during her senior season.
"The one thing that held me back at first was our friendship and the relationship that we had because I didn't want to lose that," Priessman said.
Even after moving away from home and starting new chapters in their lives at two different colleges 590 miles apart, they have remained as close.
"I just look at her as that person in my life, if I need anything or something happens, she's literally the first person I tell, over anyone," Priessman said. "Just because she's someone I've done everything with."
The pair still hangs out during breaks from school at Thanksgiving, Christmas and during the summer.
Last summer, they were only home at the same time for 12 hours, but they made it a point to hang out for all 43,200 seconds.
"We're always at each other's house, our families are still close," Hundley said.
They are each a support system, leaning on the other when injuries or struggles have happened in their elite and collegiate careers.
"We remind each other that there's more to life than gymnastics," Hundley said.
Tonight, when the No. 3 Gators take on the No 5 LSU Tigers on the road, the two, of course, will both be cheering for their respective teams.
But that doesn't mean they also won't be cheering for each other's success.
"We're of course rooting for our own team, but we're secretly watching each other on the other events hoping they do well and hoping we do our best for each other," Hundley said.
And even after their collegiate careers come to an end, Hundley believes their bond will never fade.
"It's just a really neat relationship," Hundley said. "I think it's a friendship that we will always have."
