Pine Creek's Kristin Milardo is high school Athlete of the Week

Pine Creek’s Kristin Milardo placed third in the Class 5A all-around competition at the state gymnastics meet last weekend. She tied for second but dropped to third on a tiebreaker. For being the top area performer, Milardo is The Gazette’s high school Athlete of the Week.

How did you feel about your overall performance?

I felt really good about the performance Friday night. I was really glad that I got third, which was a lot better than I did last year and the fact that I was sick, I was just really glad that I was able to hit four-for-four, help the team, and tie for second and then place third so I was really pleased with how I did.

How about your individual events?

Saturday was a little disappointing for me. I probably could have done a lot better if I hadn’t been completely under the weather, but it’s not about winning or taking first. I was just glad that I did my best and didn’t have any huge mistakes or any big falls and that I was safe.

What are your college plans?

I have a scholarship to the College of William & Mary for gymnastics, so I’ll be attending William & Mary in the fall and I’m hoping to compete as an all-arounder for them.

Were you looking at other schools?

Yes, I was looking at the University of Pittsburgh, also for gymnastics, and Seattle Pacific University for gymnastics and William & Mary was just a powerhouse for academics and athletics.

Why William & Mary?

Well I had been to Pittsburgh before and there’s not really a whole lot of campus life and seeing something completely different. I was able to tell the type of life that I wanted kind of a small, secluded college campus that was just beautiful. And what you think of when you think of a college campus and Pittsburgh wasn’t that way for me. I just loved the campus. William & Mary is a very renowned and well-known academic institution.

What are you doing to train for the college level?

I’m going to be doing private lessons two to three times a week with my club coaches at Colorado Aerials. I’d like to compete this season in Level 10 (college level), but I don't know if that’s going to happen, I just want to stay healthy and keep my skills and endurance up before I go to college. I like to run and I’ll run track in the spring time.

Who is your favorite athlete?

My favorite athlete is Carly Patterson. She won the Olympics in 2004 for gymnastics and I’ve had the opportunity to meet her a few times and see her at competitions a few times prior to her winning the Olympics. I just look up to her so much and especially in gymnastics situations and she’s just like the ultimate athlete.

Who is your real-life hero?

Probably my sister (Kara). She’s out on her own. She’s a senior in college and just the less and less she comes home I miss her.

Was she a gymnast too?

Yeah, she was a gymnast. She had a really bad injury. She broke the growth plate in her knee and it put her out for a really long time. She had surgery and it was one of the worst injuries that the doctor who did her surgery had ever seen. She went back to gymnastics and still struggled with it, because it was such a bad injury that it became chronic thing, so she had to quit and never went back. But luckily her knee doesn’t give her any problems now.

Do you think about her when you compete?

Yeah, it’s real sad because I wish she could be there sometimes during competitions.

Do you have a favorite sport besides gymnastics?

My whole family is really big into basketball. We like watching professional basketball. I also really like to watch hockey a lot.

Do you go up to any pro games?

Well, we see the Nuggets when they're playing the Spurs.

We used to live in San Antonio and were Spurs fanatics so we go see the Nuggets and we root for the Spurs (laughs).