Six weeks ago, Ashley Niebrugge was afraid her gymnastics career might be over.
The Columbus North senior was dismounting the bars when she hit her right foot on the apparatus. She went to OrthoIndy that night to get it checked and found out it was broken.
“My toes were pointed, so it was the top portion of my foot right above my toes,” Niebrugge said. “I had broken one of my feet before, and it kind of felt similar. I wasn’t sure, so I wanted to get it checked out. It was a lot more painful than just a normal sprain.”
The doctor told Niebrugge to take it easy for four to six weeks.
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“At that time, I had counted up the days, and it was six weeks before state,” Niebrugge said. “So I was hoping that four weeks would be the best, but I was definitely not as hopeful as I probably should have been. I was a little bit nervous that I wouldn’t be able to compete again.”
But about a week-and-a-half ago, Niebrugge began practicing on her best events, the beam and floor, in hopes of making an appearance in the posteason for the fourth-ranked Bull Dogs.
“I was a little bit cautious at the beginning because they never told me my foot was healed,” Niebrugge said. “They just said it was almost healed. So I was trying not to get it hurt again if there was potential for state.”
Niebrugge caught a break when the Columbus East Regional was delayed from Saturday to Monday following a crash involving the New Castle team bus on the way to the meet. That allowed her foot an extra two days to heal, and for her to get in another practice on Saturday.
“On Saturday, it was more of a question than it was on Monday because instead of having the meet on Saturday, we went and practiced, and that practice was a really good practice for me,” Niebrugge said.
So on Monday, Niebrugge was in the North lineup for the beam. As luck would have it, the Bull Dogs started on the beam, and Niebrugge was the first competitor of the night on the event.
Niebrugge came through with her best score of the season on the beam, an 8.825. That was the second-best score for North behind sophomore Emily Moore, who won the event, and Niebrugge tied for 10th overall in the event.
“I was pretty proud of my performance,” Niebrugge said. “My one goal was pretty much just to stay on the beam because I can do that, and I know if I do that, my score will be pretty comparable to the other gymnasts on my team. I was just really hoping and fighting hard for those skills.”
North co-coaches Bob Arthur and Sandy Freshour were proud of Niebrugge, as well.
“We were pleased that she did well and scored as well as she did, especially being the first person up because that does set the tone for the event,” Arthur said. “She did a great job.”
During the time she was unable to do gymnastics, Niebrugge, who plans to attend Purdue and major in chemistry with the hope of becoming a dentist, swam a few days and worked out on an elliptical. She began doing more gymnastics-related workouts and routines the past couple of weeks.
“She took a good little bit of time off, but was able to condition,” Freshour said. “She’s a competitor, and she definitely wants to compete.”
“She kept herself in shape,” Arthur added. “She continued to train and condition as she could. She swam. She kept her body in good shape, so she was ready to get back into it, although she hadn’t done all the skills that she had done in her routine for weeks. She did come back and perform those skills last week and gave us the hope that she might be able to return.”
Barring any setbacks, Niebrugge is set to compete in her fourth state meet Saturday at Ball State’s Worthen Arena. She performed on the floor her first two years and on both the beam and floor last year.
“Ashley is a phenomenal choreographer,” Freshour said. “She’s not quite ready strength-wise to go on floor yet, but she will certainly be working hard this week to try and earn a spot on the floor.”
That remains a big goal for Niebrugge. Teams are limited to four gymnasts per event in the postseason, and the Bull Dogs already have four solid floor participants in Moore and seniors Sami Heathcote, Alayne Davis and Grace Ellis.
“I know that I can do the skills,” Niebrugge said. “It’s just a matter of endurance and doing the floor routine because that’s what I haven’t gotten a chance to do yet. Last year, I actually would have placed (at state) had I not fallen, so I was hoping this year to place on floor, but I’m not sure that’s a possibility anymore. But that’s still my ultimate goal.”
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Gymnastics State Finals
When: 1 p.m. Saturday (opening ceremonies start at 12:30 p.m.)
Where: Worthen Arena, Ball State University
Who: Nine teams, including Columbus North; plus individuals including Columbus East’s Taylen Lane
Admission: $10 (free for preschoolers)
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All four of Columbus North’s senior varsity gymnasts have made the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association Academic All-State team.
Alayne Davis, Grace Ellis, Sami Heathcote and Ashley Niebrugge were named to the 15-member first team. To qualify, seniors must have at least a 3.5 GPA and scored at least an 1100 on the verbal and math sections of the SAT or a 24 on the ACT.
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