PINCKNEY — Nadia Jacobs is proof that an athlete doesn’t have to begin a sport shortly after learning to walk in order to be successful.
The Pinckney senior made all-state in gymnastics, a sport she didn’t begin until sixth grade.
She is also a regional champion pole vaulter, an event she didn’t try until her freshman year.
The two sports complement each other well, similar to the relationship between gymnastics and diving.
“I definitely would not be as good at pole vault if not for gymnastics,” said Jacobs, the Livingston Daily Athlete of the Week. “As much as I love gymnastics, being able to translate those skills and body control, I can be good at more than one thing. It makes it easier trying to convince all the girls on the track team who have done gymnastics to do pole vault, too, because it’s really fun.”
Jacobs concluded her gymnastics career two days before the start of track and field practice, tying for second place among Division 2 competitors in floor exercise at the state meet in Grand Rapids. She posted a score of 9.475.
Despite a higher-caliber field and tougher scoring at the state meet, Jacobs improved her placement and score from regionals, where she tied for fourth with a 9.275.
Floor has become her favorite event after preferring bars early in her high school career.
“I used to get really nervous to compete on floor,” said Jacobs, who also qualified for state on vault and bars. “Now it’s more fun to perform and put on a whole routine and show for everyone. Most people watch the floor during meets anyway. I just grew to love that a little bit more.”
While gymnasts often start as early as preschool learning basic movements, Jacobs didn’t begin until sixth grade after being involved in dance and cheerleading through elementary school.
“I was never a super lover of talking during routines and all that stuff,” she said. “I always wanted to learn to tumble. In sixth grade, my mom put me in classes at Livingston County Gymnastics. She knew Pinckney co-opted with Fowlerville in high school. I immediately loved it. I was pretty good at catching on quick.”
She was also a fast study in pole vault, qualifying for the state meet in her second year as a sophomore by placing second at regionals.
As a junior, she won the regional with a personal-best leap of 10 feet and placed 11th in the state meet at 9-9, three places shy of the all-state podium.
“I never did track before freshman year,” she said. “One of my friends who did cheer did pole vault. She was talking about it. That sounded really cool. I don’t love running, but flipping upside down is something I do love. One practice, they dragged me down to the pit. I started slow, but got better and had a lot of fun.”
Jacob’s goal is to break the school record of 10 feet, 6 inches set by Lauren Boyes on May 7, 2010 at the Golden Triangle meet in Saline.
Jacobs competes with her classmates during the spring, but was part of a gymnastics team sponsored by Fowlerville that also included athletes from Pinckney, Morrice and Webberville. In recent years, Byron and Perry had gymnasts on Fowlerville’s team.
“It’s nice,” she said. “I don’t have to see people from the same school every day, whereas I do from my other sports. It makes it fun to make new friends.
“It was probably a little awkward at first. We didn’t know each other, but all of us are very close now. My co-captain Morgan Thomas, me and her have gotten so close over the years because there were so many girls in the same grade as us who slowly quit. That just left us. Even though we don’t go to the same school, we’re still able to be really close.”
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
