Creslyn Brose Enjoying Success in Freshman Season
The college decision process is commonly known to be very stressful as it is easy to put a lot of pressure on where to spend the next four years of your life. For Kentucky gymnastics freshman Creslyn Brose, the decision was simple as she fell in love at first sight with Kentucky and it became her new home.
“Everyone always told me it was supposed to feel like home, and I almost felt like I was trying to force that feeling,” Brose said. “But when I came on this visit, immediately I just loved it. I saw the campus and everything and I was like yeah, I can picture my life here.”
Team chemistry is extremely important in sports, and it can make or break one’s decision to join or compete at a specific university. Luckily, the members of the Kentucky gymnastics team were just a cherry on top to Brose’s visit, giving her another reason to commit to the Big Blue Nation.
“When I met the team, I was like okay this is exactly where I’m supposed to be,” Brose said. “Everybody is just so supportive of each other, and I feel like that’s really hard to find.”
Brose does not have the typical college experience for a freshman as she is competing on a top five team in the country. She expresses gratitude for this opportunity and attributes a great deal of her success to the support she receives from her teammates.
“Team 50 is extremely special. We are so good, and I think part of that reason is because we’re so close,” Brose said. “Outside of the gym, we all want to hang out and get together on our own. And then competing, I’ve been in the gym. I’ve been doing what I can. But everybody wants what’s best for everyone, so if that’s taking someone’s lineup spot, everybody is so supportive.”
Brose is known to have one of the more of a goofy and lighthearted personalities on the team. The role of the gymnast on the sidelines can often be overlooked, but Brose explains why not taking everything too seriously benefits her individually as well as the team.
“I love to just be goofy and weird. I think it helps the team have a good time, but it also helps me feel loose too and it makes it easier to just be more positive,” she said. “Obviously, there are going to be hard days, but when you can just be a little weird, the positive things are easy to notice. Also being on the weirder side, I don’t get embarrassed very easily. Embarrassment is a state of mind and I don’t live in it.”
Along with her fun personality, Brose is extremely dedicated in the gym. She received a 10.000 score from one judge in the Wildcats’ Southeastern Conference meet against Missouri, but she viewed her imperfect score from the second judge as room for improvement.
“Seeing the 10 was amazing. My team was like 10, 10, 10, 10 and then I saw it from one judge and that’s what matters,” Brose said. “But the other judge is not going to make up corrections. There’s obviously other things I need to fix. I get really nit-picky with that, so I’m gonna go into the gym and train what I need to. If that’s a flexed foot, point it.”
Floor is one of Brose’s best events but presents a challenge every time as she competes right before fifth-year senior Raena Worley, who has received two perfect 10’s just this season. Brose knows that going before Worley presents a certain amount of pressure.
“I go out there and do what I can and I obviously want to set her up the best that I can, but I mean she is just so good,” Brose said. “She’s so consistent in the gym and on competition floor. I feel like there’s nothing I can do to make it one or the other because she’s just so good and so consistent. She’s gonna go out there and do her best and it’s her best every time. Even if it’s a 10 or not a 10 they all look the same to me. It’s just so perfect.”
The perfection of Worley motivates and reminds Brose that she has nothing to lose. While Brose might not have a specific mindset going into her floor routine every week, she does have a superstition to help bring her confidence.
“I don’t really get nervous, but I do have a superstition,” she said. “I will always have Chapstick in one hand and water in the other and before the routines I will literally put so much Chapstick on, take a sip of water, put more Chapstick on and then before I salute I’ll do it again before I go.”
Overall, the freshman is finding joy and success through not only her impressive performances, but through the relationships she has made on the Kentucky gymnastics team as well.
