Junior Kaelyn Tally’s name will go down in program history as the second national qualifier for the Simpson College women’s gymnastics team. Tally secured her spot among the nation’s best for vault after having a season average score of 9.7625, ranking fourth in the country. After competing on March 22 in Saint Peter, MN, Tally secured a top-10 finish, recording a 9.725 and tying for ninth place, narrowly missing All-American honors at the event.
Tally was excited after finding out that she qualified. “I feel like I set myself up really good this season to just be able to compete at Nationals and be successful at Nationals. So, I kind of had a gut feeling that I would make it,” Tally said. “But hearing that confirmation that I made it was satisfying for the work I put in all season.”
Head coach Emily Barrett Payne was thrilled about Tally’s qualifying season. “We kind of knew for a few weeks prior that she was going to qualify just based on her ranking, but we were really excited for her,” Payne said. “She did great. We’re so proud of her, and we’re glad that she got to represent us.”
Tally’s vault performance, which included a front handspring and front half vault, isn’t as common in women’s gymnastics as it is in men’s gymnastics, which makes it unique. She believes she was able to stand out with her routine because of its cleanliness and execution, which she worked hard to perfect.
Making Nationals was Tally’s main goal for the season. “I felt grateful to be there and very excited that I was able to represent Simpson at Nationals,” she said. She also completed her other goals for the season: hitting her routines and confidently performing them. “I think I had pretty simple goals, but across the board, I was able to do all of them pretty successfully,” she added.
Tally’s favorite memory this season was breaking the vault record at the last home meet. “It was super exciting because I had been working towards that all season, especially with my vault and how I’d been scoring. I knew that I was capable of doing it; it just hadn’t come yet,” she said. “Being in front of the home crowd, with that [breaking the record] happening, makes it my favorite memory because everybody knew it was my goal, and everybody was super excited for me.”
Not only will Tally go down in record books for vault with her 9.800 performance at home against Gustavus Adolphus, but she’ll also go down in team history for becoming the first All-American for the program after being named to the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association Second Team.
Next year will be Tally’s final year, not only competing for the Storm but also as a gymnast. She wants to go into the season with the same mindset she had this year, competing and performing with confidence and letting her team have her back when needed. She also wants to enjoy her time with the team and sport.
“It’ll be bittersweet, but I think as long as I stay strong in the mindset that I can do all my routines with confidence, the same way I did this year, I think it’ll be a good season,” she said.
In order to prepare for next season, Tally will spend the summer training, both physically and mentally, and wants to lock in on her upgrades so she can compete well next year. As for the team’s goals, Payne said she would like the team to be more competitive so they can beat more teams.
“That work is starting right now. We started our off-season, so the girls are training on their own, working on upgrades and trying to get those higher start values so we can maximize our scores,” Payne said.