POULSBO — By now, Jessica Lindberg knows Kitsap County pretty well.
The 17-year-old high school gymnastics star lives in Port Orchard, goes to Bremerton High School and practices at the TREK facility in Poulsbo after school.
“The commute can get pretty tedious,” Lindberg said.
But the Vikings are glad she’s going to the trouble. As Bremerton has no official gymnastics squad — Washington State high schools have been cutting back on the sport, due to liability issues — Lindberg has been able to compete in the purple and gold leo and add her score to North Kitsap’s overall team numbers. Only when the post-season begins is she obligated to compete on her own.
“It’s a win-win situation for us,” said North Kitsap prep coach Kris Goodfellow. “She’s a really positive role model for the other girls.”
Her results speak for themselves — at last weekend’s district tournament, Lindberg had to go solo. Still, the junior scored a 9.0 on the vault to take fourth, an 8.4 on the bars to take 14th, a 9.225 on the beam to take 10th and a 9.55 on the floor to take second — with 120 total girls competing. She qualified for every event at state as well.
Over the course of the year, Lindberg’s added score has often propelled the Vikings to victory. But she has also fit in nicely as a teammate in the group, Goodfellow said.
“Last year, she was shy but this year, she’s really connected with the other girls,” Goodfellow commented.
Lindberg started in recreational gymnastics when she was barely out of diapers, 3 years old, and at 6, she was already competing in the sport.
She first competed in Kitsap County at Mile High Gymnastics in Port Orchard for two years, before switching to the North American Sports Academy in Gig Harbor.
For 10 years, she developed her four routines at NASA. But when she was 16, she ran into a problem with her coach there.
“My old coach (at NASA) didn’t want me to do high school (gymnastics),” Lindberg said. “He thought it was a waste of time.”
Lindberg disagreed. She started making the journey up to Poulsbo each day to practice and developed a high school routine — as well as rapport with her North Kitsap teammates.
Now, Lindberg views her club competitions like her high school ones.
“I think that club and high school gymnastics are equal,” Lindberg said. “They’re more or less the same.”
“Club is a lot more competitive,” she added. “High school is a lot more relaxed and care free.”
Still, she doesn’t let herself get too relaxed.
“I don’t like losing,” she said. “But you have to take it in stride.”
And as state approaches, the nerves become a bigger factor, she said.
“Around state time, you start to feel (the pressure),” Lindberg commented. “But you get used to it.”
Competing in gymnastics in 14 out of 17 years of her life has made her an accomplished gymnast — but the junior said she also needs a break sometimes.
“You have days when you want to go away,” she said. “Everyone has their breaking points — it’s a mental struggle sometimes.”
Nonetheless, she said she’ll continue the sport on the high school side of things.
“I’ve just been involved in the sport for so long,” she said. “I feel attached to it.”
Casually joking with the team, Goodfellow explained to Lindberg that there was no reason why the junior shouldn’t return next year.
“You already bought the purple leo,” Goodfellow said with a grin.