Senior Profiles 2007

01/14/00 1:00PM

Williamsburg - 2007 William and Mary Senior Profiles

Senior Profile: Andrea Dochney

Andrea has been a specialist on the balance beam the past two seasons for the Tribe, earning USAG Collegiate All-America honors in the event last year. At the conference championship last season, Dochney scored a 9.550 on beam to earn her first-career all-conference designation, taking home Second-Team All-ECAC honors. This year, Dochney has come on strong in the team’s last two events, including a career-high tying score of 9.775 on beam just this past weekend at Towson. The score matched her personal best in the event, set back in 2004 as a freshman at UNC. Andrea sat down before tonight’s senior meet and talked about her senior season, gymnastics career and time at W&M. This is the second of four senior profiles, which can all be viewed on TribeAthletics.com. Features on Janelle Greene and Jess Randall will be included in the JMU program next week.

Wednesday night’s meet is Senior Night. Are you excited, or nervous?

AD: We’re excited to have our families here for the senior night meet. My entire family is here, but I wouldn’t say I’m nervous. I just want to perform well in front of my brother and grandmother, who rarely get to see me compete.

After a bit of slow start, the team has improved and posted much better scores the past couple weeks. Any keys to the success?

AD: I think we’re starting to approach each event and line-up in a more cohesive fashion. We’re figuring out what combinations work well in each spot in the line-up. For example, I had been leading off on beam, but I moved to the second position the last two weeks and recorded my two best scores of the season [9.5550 at Cat Classic; 9.775 at Towson]. We’re trying to adjust our attitudes and be more enthusiastic and positive after each routine.

How tough was the early season stretch after last season’s success and the high expectations for 2007?

AD: It was pretty hard, especially factoring in what we lost when last year’s senior class graduated. They were so consistent and contributed a lot to the team. It was tough for me because I can only compete in one event, and then Randall injured her wrist, and now Janelle is out with a torn ACL, so we lost a lot of leadership. It really put a lot of pressure and responsibility on some of the younger girls to step up, and I think we have responded well to the adversity.

What kind of experience has the “senior-leader” role been for you this year?

AD: It has been a great experience for me. Because I only train one event, I have two rotations in practice where I can peer coach and help out. I’ve enjoyed working with and helping some of the sophomores, who couldn’t compete last year because of injuries. They’ve really stepped up this year, and it’s rewarding to see their hard work pay off. We have some gymnasts, who were doing exhibitions last year and looking kind of nervous, now coming through with some of our biggest scores. It’s exciting to see that success. We also have girls competing in events they didn’t’ even train last season, out of necessity. It truly is rewarding for me personally to see them excel.

Are you excited about the ECAC Championship meet quickly approaching, especially with the team starting to come together?

AD: Going into the ECAC meet, I think we’re going to be at a point where the entire team is consistently hitting together. The ECAC meet is something that gets the entire team excited. Last year, we kept building on the momentum of each event as we went. We hit more and stuck a couple landings here and there and just kept improving, the team kept feeding off each other’s success. I think we can make a big impact again this year.

After ECAC’s, one of the team’s main goals was to improve upon its finish at USAG Collegiate Nationals.

AD: We’re excited to get back to that meet and see some of the teams we only see at USAG’s. I know we can beat a lot of those teams. Last year, it was exciting for me to beat Rutgers, because I am from New Jersey and a lot of my former club teammates compete for Rutgers. Hopefully, this year we can improve upon our finish because I know we’re a good team.

Is it difficult for you to only compete in one event now?

AD: It’s especially tough for me personally because I have a move named after me on bars, and I can’t do it anymore. There are also times at meets when the girls hit their floor routine, and you see the crowd get into it, and I wish I could still do double-tucks and stuff like that. But, at the same time, it’s also nice to be able to focus on one event. The skills I’m doing now are skills I’ve been doing almost my entire career, so it’s almost second nature to me now.

Tell me about your move on bars, the “Dochney”.

AD: We had a pit-bar in my club gym, and I was trying to find a way to get into inverted giants [a grip position]. My club coach suggested I try doing a regular giant, so I just kind of threw my body over the bars a couple times and thought it was pretty interesting. I worked on it and became consistent enough where I could incorporate it into a regular routine. I had to submit a form and compete with it in a national level event to have it formally named after me. So, I had to make Level 10 nationals and compete there, which I did.

Have you seen anyone using “The Dochney”?

AD: I was told one girl from UNC competes it, so I’ll have to see if she wants my autograph. Whenever I go back to my club gym, I try to teach some of the youngest girls so it will stay around. But, I haven’t seen any Olympians do it yet. It’s probably too difficult for them.

Do you enjoy coaching gymnastics, and is that something you might like to do down the road?

AD: I think gymnastics will always be a part of my life because I have been doing it so long. I wouldn’t say I would never coach, but I feel like if I started I would become a serious club-level coach and never get out of the gym. I’ll always be involved with gymnastics in some way.

Do you have any post-graduation plans?

I’ve been looking into non-profit work and doing a public service program through the career center in Philadelphia.

The gymnastics team is a very close-knit group, how much have you enjoyed being a part of it here?

We’re a special team, because I know for a fact that a lot of collegiate gymnastics teams don’t get along like we do. I don’t know whether or not it’s because of the size of our campus, or the size of our team, but there’s just enough of us where we can all be best friends and all support each other in a way that is personal to one another. Even though we all have a lot of different interests, we have one common bond in gymnastics. It is a difficult sport emotionally, so we each know what one another is going through. Plus, add in schoolwork on top of that, we all know how difficult it can be. So, when we do have a free night, we want to spend it together having fun and hanging out.

A Few Good Questions with Andrea Dochney
Favorite TV show?: Brothers and Sisters on ABC, [W&M men’s gymnast] Dave Ridings and I watch it religiously.
Favorite movie?: Mallrats.
Favorite web site?: I don’t want to say Facebook, but it might be true.
Hardest class at W&M?: I don’t take hard classes! But, my hardest was probably ethics.
Favorite class?: Life and Death in 19th Century America. It was about disease and the way America handled it.
Favorite thing to do in Williamsburg?: Eat sushi.
Best cook on the team?: Janelle makes Sunday dinners, although I can make a mean slushy.
Best singer on the team?: I think I am the only singer on the team, but Stephanie Bevan sings when she dries her hair.
One thing you miss the most about W&M?: My teammates, and just being part of a team.
Message to the team?: Perseverance is crucial. Even if you think you can’t keep going, you can. Keep pushing yourself because it will be worth it in the end.

Senior Profile: Christina Padilla

Christina Padilla is a team co-captain and has been one of the program’s most successful in and out of the gym during her career. Padilla was the ECAC Vault Champion as a sophomore in 2005, earned All-ECAC honors in the event again last season and went on to gain USAG All-America accolades on both vault and bars in 2006. But, in addition to her sterling gymnastics resume, Padilla’s credentials in the classroom are even more impressive.

A 4.0 GPA student majoring double-majoring in neuroscience and kinesiology, Padilla was a 2006 ECAC Scholar Athlete of the Year and an at-large First-Team Academic All-District selection by CoSIDA and ESPN The Magazine. The at-large team is made up of student-athletes from all women’s collegiate athletic teams, outside of basketball, volleyball, soccer and cross country/track. Additionally, Padilla is a three-time ECAC All-Academic team selection, a three-time NACGC National Scholar Athlete and is the College’s reigning Martha Barksdale Award winner, which is given annually to a rising senior, female student-athlete with a GPA of 3.25, or higher, who is an outstanding student and athlete.

Christina sat down and talked about preseason practice, season goals and her plans after graduation. The following questions and answers are part of the conversation, which can be found in its entirety on www.TribeAthletics.com.

How has preseason practice progressed, and how excited are you and the team for Sunday’s first meet against UNC?

The practices have been good. The team has really kept its spirits up and maintained a positive attitude, despite some injuries. The juniors [Tricia Long and Stevie Waldman] have been a big help and have become great leaders on this team. I’m excited, and I think it’s going to be good year.

It seems like the injury bug is an issue this time of year each season. Has it been frustrating to have so many injuries each season?

It is a little frustrating at times because you can see how much potential this team has, but at the same time, I think it’s something that a lot of collegiate gymnastics teams have to deal with every year too. It comes with the sport at this level, injuries are just part of gymnastics. But, I think even with the injuries we’ve done pretty well so far.

Fortunately, you’ve had the ability to stay healthy for much of your career and obviously have been a key part of the team’s success because of it.

I think coming up my club gym was a little less intense, than maybe some of the other gyms that my teammates worked out in. So, when I got here I was able to progress quickly and stay healthy, whereas we’ve had a lot of girls come in already sort of banged up and worn down.

The team will be missing a number of performers against UNC, but some will be back during the year. Do you think the injuries have affected the team’s goals for season?

Well, I think this meet against UNC is going to give some of the younger girls, and some of the ones who haven’t competed, a chance to step in and show what they can do. I think they’ll do well. We’ll get Jess Randall, Stevie, Alison Medeiros and Stephanie Bevan back this year, and those four will really help once they’re back because they’re a huge part of the team. I think it will only get better from here and we can only go up. It’s going to be a good season and a successful one. I’m not worried about the injuries right now, because I know by the time ECAC’s and USAG’s come around, we’ll be full strength and doing well.

You mentioned some of your teammates having a chance to step up and play an important role this season. Has any one been particularly impressive so far this season and really stood out?

Sarah Jacobson has been amazing in practice and has really become a team player. She learned a bars routine in like a month and is going to do a floor routine, despite a severe ankle injury. She might even do a vault. She’s a little nervous, but Sarah is going to go all out and do a great job for us. And, Megan Vincent, who hasn’t competed for us yet, is going to do beam.

Last year, head coach Mary Lewis received her second ECAC Coach of the Year award. What kind of influence and impact has she made with this team, having to deal with the injuries and other issues this team has faced?

Well first, Mary is a great spotter and a great teacher in the gym. We’ve been through a lot since I’ve been here, including three different assistant coaches, and one year with no assistant coach. Mary has always found a way to make it work, get us through it and have a successful season. This year, she has really stepped it up and knows what’s going on in the gym every day with each girl on the team, whether it’s mentally or physically. I think we’re all impressed with the job she’s doing this year.

One of the team’s biggest goals for the season is to win the USAG Collegiate Nationals. It was kind of disappointing fourth-place finish last year, so how much is the team looking forward to getting back to USAG’s in the spring?

I cannot wait for the USAGs. I think everyone on the team is excited and thinks we can win, because we can and should be able to win. There’s a lot of potential for individual success as well, and I think the whole event brings a good name and reputation to the program.


Outside of the gym, in the classroom you’ve been equally as successful [Reigning ECAC Scholar Athlete of the Year, Three-time ECAC All-Academic Team selection, Three-time NACGC National Scholar Athlete, a CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine First-Team Academic All-District selection]. Talk about the pride you take in your academic career and your plans for medical school.

I’m a hard worker in general. I approach academics just like approach gymnastics and everything else. It takes hard work to be successful. I’m definitely going to medical school, which is exciting. I’ve been accepted to Mt. Sinai in New York and Emory in Georgia. I’m still waiting to hear on some other applications, but if I don’t get in anywhere else I will probably end up at Emory, and I’m excited about that. I’m interested in sports medicine. The doctors that work with our team, like Dr. Potter, have had an influence on me. I’d prefer to work with a collegiate team, maybe gymnastics, maybe not, but definitely on the college level.

As a senior, having post-graduation plans and your immediate future on track, it must make the year a little easier?

Last year was so hard in school. But this year, I feel like I can just focus on gymnastics in the second semester.


Again along the lines of being a senior and a team captain, how have you handled being in a leadership role and kind of spreading your influence on the team?

It’s been a little bit of an adjustment. I forget sometimes, for example I’ll be asking ‘well, who’s making the decision, or who’s in charge of this?’ And then, I realize it’s me. The senior class is very close to the juniors as well, so really there are six of us who are leading the group. I’m more of a lead by example person. Randall will get on you, so I kind of leave it that way.

The team has always been a very close-knit group in and out of the gym, and you all obviously spend a lot of time together at practice, but what is it like outside of the gym?

Everyone on the team is, more or less, best friends with each other, which I think is a little unique for a collegiate sports team, especially gymnastics. There are some teams that don’t get along, and that can be a little feisty with each other, but we have a great time together. I live with two teammates, and whenever we do anything, we’re calling our teammates to go out. Not just because they’re on the team, but it’s because we’re all so close and want to hang out with each other. It makes being on the team and competing together that much more fun.

A Few Good Questions With Christina Padilla:
Favorite TV show?: Grey’s Anatomy
Favorite movie?: Good Will Hunting
Favorite web site?: Facebook.com
Hardest class at W&M?: Bio 204, because it was so much information to learn.
Favorite class?: Anatomy Lab, I’m a nerd. It was a very cool experience.
Favorite thing to do in Williamsburg?: I’d say the usual routine of the deli’s.
Funniest teammate in the gym?: Janelle Greene, because she speaks her mind and tells it like it is.
Best cook on the team?: Jess Randall is a pretty good cook.
Best singer on the team?: Andrea Dochney, she likes to sing show tunes.
Teammate who shops the most?: Monica Goldblatt, every day is Christmas for her.