For The Tribune
Kellsye Warner said one of the best decisions she has made while a student at Seymour High School is joining the gymnastics team her sophomore year.
“I’ve enjoyed the relationships that I’ve made with my teammates and my coaches,” she said. “My teammates have really pushed me, this year especially, and I wouldn’t have been able to make it to state or to regionals this year without them, and my coaches too.”
Warner was a regional qualifier her sophomore season, advanced to state individually her junior year, and will lead her team in the state meet at Ball State University in Muncie on Saturday afternoon.
She is the only senior on the team this season.
“I started when I was around 5 or 6,” Warner said. “My mom put me in classes and I’ve loved it ever since. I started at Jody’s Gymnastics Zone in Columbus. Then I went to Girls Inc. (Seymour), then I went to Gymnastics Lane (Seymour).”
Warner, who sat out her freshman year said, “Everyone on the team had done gymnastics before, and my friends convinced me to come back.”
Warner works in all four events, and led the Owls at the Connersville Regional by placing ninth with a score of 35.125 points. She was the Owls’ top performer in beam (third 9.525) and floor exercise (sixth 9.2).
She made it to state her junior year on beam and advance to regional her sophomore year in floor.
Warner said her favorite events are the beam and floor.
“I like everything about the beam,” she said. “It’s just so exciting. My highest score is a 9.55, at the Bloomington North meet last year. (On floor) I enjoy the dance. We get to pick our own floor music. We get to dance and do tumbling in general. I like to tumble.
“On bars I like the giants. Those are fun because they’re just like swinging around the bars and stuff, and the vault I just do a flip over.”
Warner said she prefers to do her beam routine first.
“I like to start on beam to get it over with because usually if I start out with a good beam routine then the rest of the meet I’m good,” she said.
At the regional, the Owls started with floor and beam was their fourth event that day.
Warner said Coach Angie Mellencamp told her to “think of one event at a time and get it over with.”
“The most nervous event is definitely beam,” Warner said. “I psych myself out a lot of times, and that’s when I fall. The most exciting would probably be floor because it’s the most fun. We get to have fun in it with our dance and our music.”
In floor, teammates cheer for the performer that is doing their routine. Warner said, “If you watch the gymnasts on the side, whenever people are doing their floor routines, you can see other gymnasts do parts of the girls’ floor routine with them.”
This was the first season for the Owls to practice and have their home meets at Gymnastics Lane.
“It’s a lot bigger and we get a lot more stuff done,” Warner said. “My favorite (away sites) would be Columbus East and Columbus North. They have really nice equipment, and their floors are really bouncy and we do better there.
“Practice is definitely important. ‘Practice makes perfect,’ as they say. Getting in the gym and doing numbers is definitely the key to success.
She said going to state last year, “was exciting to see all the different schools and everything, and what skills they’re doing. I watched some new skills and I said ‘I want to do that.’ I’ve been working and I’ve put in new skills that I’ve seen the better gymnasts do.
“This season has been my best throughout every year, and it’s because of more practices in the gym and everything. We’ve definitely had more practices this year than in the past.”
Warner said she enjoys watching Olympic and college gymnastics competitions on TV.
“I like watching them do these fascinating flips and vaults and stuff, and I just want to be like them so I just put more effort in the gym,” she said.
Warner could also be found on the sidelines the past two seasons, as a member of the cheerleading team.
“It’s definitely exciting to see everyone in the community come together and cheer on our basketball, and we get to help them cheer them on,” Warner said. “I cheered football this season. It was cold sometimes. Other than that it was really fun because the students get into it and everything. It’s really fun to cheer with them.”
Warner said she has enjoyed being a student at Seymour.
“I feel they give us a lot of opportunities,” Warner said. “A lot of my classes last year and this year are AP (advanced placement). I’ll definitely look back and remember my friends. I want to keep up with all the relationships I’ve made. I just want to remember that I put in the most that I could and I’m happy with my high school experience.”
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Name: Kellsye Warner
School: Seymour High School
Parents: John and Amanda Warner
Siblings: Kohnyr, Kynadee, Kingstyn, Knoyx, Kaisyn
Sports: Gymnastics 3 years, cheerleading 2 years
Athletic highlights: 3-time regional qualifier, 2-time state finalist; most valuable gymnast
Plans after high school: attend Ball State University, major in nursing
Favorite food: Italian
Favorite musician: Thomas Rhett
Favorite athlete: Simone Biles
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