Even as a little girl, Taylor Houchin showed an enthusiasm for gymnastics that was immediately apparent to her coach.
“Always had a big smile and always enjoyed coming to the gym,” said Gold Medal Gymnastics head coach Cash McGowan.
Taylor has parlayed that joy for the sport into a college scholarship at one of the biggest programs in the country: Nebraska.
“Always from a young age, I would watch the gymnastics competitions,” she said. “We would go to one and there would be colleges there. I just thought it was cool for the girls on the gymnastics team, how you could do college and gymnastics all in one.”
But college wasn’t always the light at the end of the tunnel for Taylor. For the longest time, making it to the Junior Olympics nationals was the goal, one she accomplished in eighth grade, when she realized she was truly better than most.
“When I made it to that, it was kind of eye-opening,” she said. “I realized, ‘Well I kind of have to switch gears and train for college. There’s more after than just nationals now.’”
So she continued to put in the work.
“I’ve trained twenty hours a week ever since I was like, little-little,” she said.
But then, when she was about 15, her foundation was rocked. Her coaches, McGowan and his wife Sara, who had been with Taylor since she was five, packed up and moved to New York.
“That was tough,” Sara said.
After a year at another local gym, Taylor realized she wasn’t happy and wasn’t performing her best.
“My mom said, ‘Well, maybe we should move there,’” she said. “I hadn’t ever really thought about it, because it’s New York, it’s crazy.”
So they didn’t. She did. Alone, at 16 years old.
“It was crazy at first, it was hard,” she said. “I had to get back in shape and I had to be away from my family, and it was all kind of crazy.”
When she moved to Long Island, Taylor moved in with her coaches, and had just about a week and a half to qualify for the New York state competition.
She qualified—“barely,” said Sara—and she won.
“She went to regionals and won regionals as well,” Cash said. “She’s highly motivated. We just gave her a plan to follow, and she did everything we asked.”
Taylor stay in the northeast wasn’t long. After winning regionals, she advanced to nationals, where, on a tumbling pass during floor exercise, she injured her knee, requiring surgery. That sent her back to Republic for the procedure, and she stayed, finding another gym and continuing success.
About that time, a close friend was subtly hinting to the McGowans about buying Gold Medal Gymnastics and bringing them on as coaches. The timing was right, they came back to Missouri, and Taylor came back to her home gym.
“I was back to where I used to be,” she said. “I was with my coaches that I had been with since I was little, so it was like being back to where I was supposed to be.”
Now, they plan to close out the year strong at nationals again. Her best finish is ninth. The goal is better than that.
“We’re trying to go make some noise this year,” Cash said. “We got one more meet.”
Then it’s off to college, where Taylor Houchin will carry lessons learned at Gold Medal Gymnastics with her.
“’Don’t stop till you make yourself proud,’” she said of what she’ll remember. “That’s one of my favorite things.”
The journey hasn’t been easy, but…
“It’s just worth it,” she said. “All of it has always been worth it to me.”
Taylor Houchin, Nebraska signee, is our Arby’s High School Athlete of the Week.
