University of North Carolina Athletics
Bumpers Aims For Perfection At NCAA Championships
April 15, 2004 | Women's Gymnastics
April 15, 2004
by Kim Conrad
UNC Athletic Communications
Powerful. Energetic. Happy.
"Those are the words people always use to describe me," says Carolina gymnast Courtney Bumpers, "so I guess that's how I'd describe myself."
She couldn't be closer to the truth.
The sophomore from Stone Mountain, Ga., is excited when she talks about gymnastics. She loves the thrill of competition and the ability to fly through the air.
"I think that's the most fun thing to do because regular people don't get to do that," she says with a giggle. "They don't get to go seven feet in the air and flip around."
It is something Bumpers has done, though, for 17 years. She has loved gymnastics ever since her mother enrolled her in a "Mommy and Me" gymnastics class as a two-year-old.
Smart mother. Bumpers became the first All-America in UNC gymnastics history at the 2003 NCAA Championships, where she earned a fourth place finish on balance beam. She was the 2003 East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) Rookie of the Year, the 2004 EAGL Gymnast of the Year and the 2004 Southeast Region Athlete of the Year.
On Thursday, April 15, Bumpers, who holds school records on vault, floor exercise and all-around, will be the first Carolina gymnast to compete in the NCAA Championships for the second time. She is ranked No. 14 nationally in the all-around, but more importantly, No. 1 in the floor exercise.
"It means a lot because I know I've worked really hard for it," Bumpers says of her floor exercise ranking.
 "Everybody in the country is going to be waiting to see Courtney's floor routine," says head coach Derek Galvin. "She has the biggest routine in the country right now. And if she does a routine like she did at the EAGL Championships or NCAA regionals, she'll be in the finals."  |
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umpers will compete in the preliminary round of the NCAA Championships at UCLA on Thursday at 10 p.m. Eastern Time. Rotating with Arizona State, she will face the teams of UCLA, Louisiana State, Utah, Alabama and Michigan as well as individuals from Illinois, Central Michigan, Iowa State, Denver, Washington and Boise State. She will automatically qualify for the finals on Saturday if she finishes in the top eight on Thursday.
umpers returns to this year's national event with experience, something she didn't have last year competing as a freshman. She will be missing a key component, however, that she did have last year - the support of a teammate. Senior Anna Wilson qualified with Bumpers for the 2003 nationals.
Although she is satisfied with her own accomplishments, Bumpers' future plans at Carolina include bringing the rest of the team along to the NCAA Championships, a hurdle the Tar Heels have never crossed as a team.
oth teams Bumpers has been a part of have inched toward their first national qualification, each time missing out by the narrowest of margins. The 2003 squad placed third in the Southeast Regional Championships after being edged out by .05 points by Florida. The 2004 team came back with high hopes, only to be crushed by Nebraska by a closer margin of .025 points.
umpers says bringing the team to nationals was one of her goals from the start. "For the team, I just wanted to help the team make it to nationals and help build the team stronger because the people who have come before me had already done so much - people like Anna (Wilson) and Maddy (Curley) - so I just wanted to build on what they had done."
The smiling gymnast has another two years to accomplish that feat, but for now she is focused on her solo performance this weekend. Her biggest goal is to do well on floor exercise.
"I'd like to hit my floor routine because I'm ranked one, so I'd like to at least finish in the top three," Bumpers says. "Ideally, it'd be one."
umpers' first tumbling pass includes a double layout with an immediate punch front - a skill head coach Derek Galvin calls "the kicker" of her routine.
Combined with the rest of the skills in her routine and the power and precision with which she executes them, that punch front has won Bumpers seven perfect 10.0's in a single season and multiple standing ovations from rival fans at away meets.
Anxiously, she waits to see what she will be awarded at nationals.
"Everybody in the country is going to be waiting to see Courtney's floor routine," says Galvin. "She has the biggest routine in the country right now. And if she does a routine like she did at the EAGL Championships or NCAA regionals, she'll be in the finals."
Players Mentioned
