Athletes come in all sizes, and sophomore Julia Hays is a perfect example of this. At five feet tall, the dual sport athlete excels at everything she does. She is an integral member of both gymnastics and dance team. Hays has been participating in gymnastics for most of her life, and this year she joined the dance team. This is quite impressive, considering that the two seasons overlap. Her experience with gymnastics has helped her be a better dancer, and vice versa.

Why did you decide to do gymnastics?

I started doing gymnastics when I was really little and have been doing it my whole life, and I thought it would be really fun to do it in high school.

How long have you been doing gymnastics? How has this affected your high school career?

I have been doing gymnastics my entire life, and it has made high school gymnastics pretty easy and I’m able to do harder skills.

Why did you decide to join the Yorktown dance team?

I decided to join the Yorktown dance team because I thought it would be really fun to try something different with my friends that was slightly less stressful than gymnastics.

What are the similarities between the two, and how do they overlap

They are similar because they both involve flexibility, athleticism and memory, and I’m able to do both because the practices are slightly after each other. However, when we have gymnastics meets, I have to leave dance practice early.

How does doing two activities affect your chemistry with your teammates?

Doing the two activities doesn’t affect my chemistry with my teammates, and I’m able to have friends on both teams, but doing both keeps me really busy.

What do you do to pump up yourself before meets?

To pump myself up before meets, I mostly just talk with my teammates, and we get really excited during warmups and have pep talks before the competitions start.

What is your favorite part of being on the gymnastics team?

My favorite part of being on the gymnastics team is that it allows me to still do gymnastics, practice my skills and still see my old teammates because I recently quit club gymnastics.

What is your favorite part about Yorktown dance team?

My favorite part about Yorktown dance team is mastering a new dance and performing at football and basketball games.

Will you continue to do both for the rest of your highschool career, even with the added pressure of more school work?

I will definitely do Yorktown dance team for the remaining years of my high school career, but I’m not entirely sure if I will continue Yorktown gymnastics junior and senior year because I would have very little time to do homework and relax.