Texas Woman’s University gymnasts fight adversity as they eye national championships

“We’ll host the top eight teams in USA Gymnastics along with the top individuals in each event, as well,” said Morgan Lair, TWU’s assistant athletic director for communications.

The championships, which will occur in Kitty Magee Arena on the campus of TWU, will feature Division I, II and III schools that offer less than eight full scholarships per team, said Rachel Duke, the communications coordinator at USA Gymnastics.

The Texas Woman’s University Pioneers are listed as this year’s second seed, with the first being Lindenwood University in Saint Charles, Mo.

The Texas Woman’s gymnastics team consists of young women who have fought against misconceptions about the sport, dealt with stubborn injuries and yet remain true to their efforts to become better gymnasts, they and their coach say.

Alix Pierce and Kyla Podges, 22, have fought their way through adversity. They and their coach say they never allowed their challenges to end their careers as gymnasts and now, as they wrap up their final season at TWU, they’re proud they persevered.

The Pioneers took home their 12th national championship last year, and they look to win their 13th on their home floor.

Radiating positivity

During practice, Podges enters the gym with an eager smile, waving to her teammates and coaches. Her positivity radiates as she prepares to start training.

“Never once, never for a second, has she felt sorry for herself,” said Lisa Bowerman, head coach of TWU’s gymnastics team. “She just works her butt off, and gives everything she has to everything she does and every person around her.”

After she was adopted from China, Podges began gymnastics at 18 months old as a way to help her with her underdeveloped motor skills. Gymnastics is her safe haven and has been since the divorce of her parents when she was 7.

By the time she reached high school in Lexington, Ky., Podges was competing at a level 10 -- the highest level a gymnast can reach before college. But it was during these four years that she began to develop a troubling relationship with gymnastics.

Injury after injury became increasingly frustrating. The pressures of wowing recruiters and receiving college scholarship offers took its toll. “My love for the sport was honestly not there,” she said. She worried about tuition costs and the financial burden it might be on her parents.

Podges’ teammate had just signed to TWU, a Division II school Podges had yet to consider. Her dream had previously been to sign with a Division I university, but after time went on, she explored other options.

She reached out to TWU and received interest from the coaches. Her official visit to the campus made her realize that the school she dreamed of was in Denton. “I didn’t realize that Division II athletes… could compete at that level,” she said.

Podges began her freshman year with a new found love for the sport. She was starting as an all-around gymnast, meaning she would get to compete in bars, beam, floor and vault.

Two months into TWU’s pre-season, she tore her ACL, forcing her to sit out for her entire freshman season. Eight months later, in 2020, she was back home for physical rehab, but COVID-19 made recovery difficult.

Podges spent most of her recovery back home in Kentucky. She had two physical trainers — one from TWU in Denton and the other Kentucky. Her surgeon was in Ohio. Those long distances made communication difficult.

Less than a year later, she suffered another ACL tear after trying a standing back tuck. The time she spent in rehab did not stop her from being part of the team. Podges found her voice and learned how to use it to encourage her teammates.

“It was no longer about me. It was about the team,” she said.

Podges was a member of the TWU team that won the national championship in 2022.

From Saskatoon to Texas

Like Podges, Pierce began her journey as a gymnast at a young age – 3 or 4 years old. Her parents enrolled her in a gymnastics class as a way to keep Pierce busy and active.

She began to reevaluate her love of the sport after several injuries throughout high school. “I sprained a bunch of muscles in my neck because I had landed on my head my sophomore year,” Pierce said.

With each injury, the recovery process felt harder and longer, but Pierce looked to her mother for guidance and reassurance.

Pierce was part of Seattle Pacific University’s gymnastics team as a walk-on her freshman year. The university offered Pierce a full scholarship starting her sophomore year. It was a dream come true. But before her sophomore year, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and she was stuck inside her parents’ basement back in her hometown of Saskatoon in Canada.

To her surprise, the coaching staff called for a team meeting over Zoom. The head coach delivered a shocking announcement about the end of the gymnastics program.

The university committed to keeping team members, including Pierce, on scholarship if they decided to stay. But at that point, Pierce had only competed at the college level for one year. She wasn’t ready to give up the sport.

Pierce’s Seattle coach, who had a close connection with Bowerman, put Pierce on TWU’s radar.

Now, as a senior, Pierce looks back on her accomplishments at TWU. She was initially concerned about moving to Texas as an openly queer woman, but her decision to take a chance on Denton paid off, she said.

She looks forward to an additional national title for her TWU team as they prepare for their competition next week. Pierce hopes to earn an individual title, as well.

More than meets the eye

Gymnastics can sometimes be seen as a feminine sport, Pierce said, but the team’s training consists of more than just “frilly dance moves.”

People may “believe that all these gymnasts should be tall and lean and, honestly, very thin and toned,” Podges said. “I’m very built. I’m very stocky. I’m a very powerful gymnast.”

In addition to the artistry that can be seen in gymnastics, an important part of the sport involves mental toughness and grueling training, Podges said.

This holds especially true as they prepare for the upcoming national championships. “I have no doubt that what we do right now, in these moments before nationals, will pay off when we get there,” Podges said.

Event information

The USA Gymnastics Women’s Collegiate National Championships will take place in Denton, April 6-8. Tickets can be purchased at twuathletics.com.