Kristal Uzelac

Background

Uzelac was born on June 27, 1986 to parents Donnie and Brenda. Her mother, aunts and grandmother are all gymnastics coaches. Uzelac began gymnastics at the age of two at her mother"s gym, Turners.

Education

She also played baseball and was a wrestler, but ultimately chose to dedicate her time to gymnastics.

Career

When she was eight, Uzelac began training at the Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where she made rapid progress. Uzelac"s first major competition as an elite gymnast was the 1998 United States National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana. The gymnastics community began to take notice of Uzelac, who stood barely over four feet at the time, as her second day balance beam score was the highest of the field, and her overall total was just over a tenth away from capturing the title.

In 1999, Uzelac began her domination of the junior ranks.

Uzelac also competed in two dual meets: United States of America versus Canada in Toronto, and United States of America versus

France in Normandy, France. She competed at the 2001 American Cup, where she placed third in the all-around and beam and second on floor exercise.

Uzelac was named to the American team for the 2001 Goodwill Games, but was replaced by fellow Parkettes teammate Tia Orlando after spraining her knee in training.

In 2002, Uzelac was eligible for senior competition. She competed at the 2002 United States. National Championships, but injuries forced her to withdraw from three events on the second day of competition. The 2002 Pacific Alliance Championships was Uzelac"s last major international meet.

After leaving elite gymnastics and taking a year-long break, Uzelac returned to compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association gymnastics for Penn State.

Uzelac graduated from a therapeutic massage school in 2006.

Achievements

• A junior national all-around champion for three consecutive years, she was considered one of the United States" most promising junior gymnasts in the late 1990s. She was a member of the Total Operations Processing System national developmental team in 1995 and 1996, and, at the age of 11, won the all-around title at the Junior Olympic national championships and qualified as an elite. She won the all-around bronze medal behind Morgan White and Ashley Postell. She also competed in the 1998 Canberra Cup in Australia, an important meet for junior gymnasts, where she placed 10th all-around and won silver medals on vault and floor exercise. She won all-around at both the United States. Classic in Rochester, New York, and the American Classic in Pomona, California, and, at the 1999 United States. National Championships, captured the all-around, floor, balance beam and vault titles. Uzelac also enjoyed success in international competitions: she was a member of the first-place junior United States. team, and won the floor exercise title, at the 1998 International Team Championships in Richmond, Virginia. She won the team, all around, uneven bars, and beam titles at both meets. Uzelac won the junior all-around title in 2000, and again in 2001, which made her the only gymnast ever to win three consecutive junior all-around National Championships titles. She was a member of the gold medal-winning United States. team, won an individual gold medal on vault, and placed third in the all-around. She was a member of the PSU team for the 2004–2005 season, during which time she won the uneven bars and balance beam titles at the 2005 Big Ten Conference.

Membership

Uzelac was a member of the American squad for the junior competition at the 1998 International Team Championships, where she placed second with the United States. team and fifth in the all-around.