Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 7, 1990 TAG: 9007070109
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Suddenly, she got sick and couldn't take another bite.
"There were points where I just thought I was going to lose it," she said.
The reason: Epperly, a highly successful Elite gymnast from Roanoke, had moved with her mother to Allentown, Pa., in the fall of 1987 to attend the Parkettes gymnastics school for a year of intense training. Epperly's goal was to make the 1988 U.S. Olympic team. But it was too much. Nine months later, in May of '88, Allentown - and Epperly's Olympic dream - were history.
"Everybody up there was emotionally disturbed over [gymnastics]," Epperly said, referring to 25 hours per week of training and tactics such as fasting to lose weight. "It wasn't me; I wasn't weak. I'm not a weak person emotionally. I can handle things. But especially leaving home like that . . . I felt I had sacrificed a lot in my lifetime. I just needed to relax a little."
Epperly's mother, Patricia, was working full time in Allentown to support Christie, but her daughter's decision uprooted both of them quicker than a gardener yanking a weed.
"It was devastating for me because we really thought we had it worked out financially to support her, and she was getting so close," said Patricia Epperly.
But the Epperlys hardly are unsettled now. Christie voluntarily dropped two levels, from Elite to Level 9, which involves dropping the compulsory moves in routines and reduces the practice time needed. Her goal is to earn a college scholarship. She will be a senior at Cave Spring High School this fall and has been receiving letters from schools such as Georgia and William and Mary. Said Patricia: "That's something I'm real proud of her for."
On Friday, she had another reason to be proud. Christie won a silver medal in the balance beam at the Virginia CorEast State Games while competing in a grouping of levels 9, 10 and Elite. She finished fifth in the all-around and said she was pleased with her performance. But once, she might have won.
"There's nothing they were doing that I haven't done already or can't do," Epperly said of the top competitors. "I've been there. It's hard to sit back and watch, but at least I know in my heart I can do it."
Epperly's history includes winning the Group AAA title as a freshman at Cave Spring in 1988 and being named Timesland gymnast of the year that season. After she left the Parkettes - pulling out in the middle of a meet - she finished 21st in a national juniors competition. This year, representing the Roanoke Academy of Gymnastics, she qualified for the Eastern National meet June 27 in Macon, Ga., but didn't win any medals there.
One of her coaches at Roanoke Academy, Keith Bullock, has worked with her for the last six years and admits a bit of frustration at comparing the new, content Epperly to the old, driven one.
"Talent in this sport does not come along that often," Bullock said. "But you come to a realization that an athlete is only going to be as good as an athlete wants to be. The heart has to be there. If the heart isn't there, then pushing an athlete just isn't going to work."
Epperly, 17, apparently had more than heart six years ago. As an 11-year-old, she was telling friends to watch for her in the '88 Olympics.
"I was gung-ho, I was all into gymnastics, it was my life," she said. "That was my peak, I believe."
But when a shot at the Olympics seemed just a few steps away three years later, Epperly couldn't lift her feet. Asked if she feels guilty about giving up her lifelong quest, she states a theory that a certain 11-year-old would have debunked with distaste.
"Gymnastics is here today, gone tomorrow," she said. "Gymnasts come and they go. Anything's possible: You can get injured, can just get wiped out at one meet. It's a lot of sacrifices, a lot of pressure. At least I got to experience that.
"But now, I really don't regret [dropping levels]. I like where I am now. If I get into a good college, then I'll really think it was all worth it."
by CNB