Everyday Champions is a program that recognizes the complete student-athlete – the student-athlete that makes a difference and makes an impact not only on the field of competition but in the classroom and in the community.

The Everyday Champion exemplifies the characteristics of STAR:

Stewardship

Teamwork

Achievement

Respect

In an attempt to recognize those student-athletes that go above and beyond the call of duty, Oregon State will choose an Everyday Champion each week throughout the school year and highlight their accomplishments.

Yuki Lamb (Knoxville, Tenn./Karns HS) is a sophomore on the Oregon State gymnastics team. Yuki suffered a dislocated elbow just before Thanksgiving, but is working hard to return to the lineup before the season ends. During the 2005 season, she suffered a pair of ankle sprains just prior to Christmas forcing her to miss the early part of the season. However, by the end of the season she was the team’s most consistent vaulter solidifying the end of the vault lineup. Yuki had increased her skills in the offseason and was close to securing position in all four lineups prior to her injury. Yuki maintains a 3.95 grade point average while studying International Business and is on schedule to graduate on time. Recently, she took time to talk about her gymnastics career, her experience at Oregon State and her plans for the future.

Judging by your grades and the results here in the gym (prior to her elbow injury), you put as much emphasis on the student part of student-athlete as the athlete portion. How do you balance that?

“Lots of organization. I’m a very organized person. As we get busier with school, practice and travel, it doesn’t affect me much. It also helps that I handle pressure and stress well. To me, I value academics over gymnastics. I chose OSU for gymnastics, but I realize that the education will be what I have when gymnastics is over.”

“My parents have always emphasized school. In third grade I got my first B and my mom pulled me out of gymnastics for a couple weeks to tutor me. That was the first year of making a team for me and she could see that gymnastics was becoming important to me. I really respect that she did that to show the importance of academics. I’ll always have the academics when my gymnastics career is over.”

You injured your elbow two days before Thanksgiving. What kind of time table have you set for yourself?

“I have been following the doctor’s orders and what Deb (the gymnastics team’s athletic trainer) have told me to do to make sure that I recover correctly without setbacks. I got my brace off today so now I can start addressing the range of motion and strength in my arm.”

So, what are your personal goals for the season?

“It is a multi-step process for me. The big goal is to help the team make Nationals. But that goal is too overwhelmning right now. First, I need to work to rehab and take care of myself outside of the gym and to make the right decisions to get better. The next goal is to get my endurance back so I can complete my floor routine. Then, the next goal is to get my 10.0 vault back. Then there is that ultimate goal for our team to get to Nationals on our home floor. Right now I just want to do anything I can to help my teammates... show them where they can make corrections or anything else I see at practice to help make them better.”

You’re studying International Business. What are your plans for the future?

“Part of my degree includes the option of taking certain classes on campus or actually going abroad to study. If I have my way, I’ll complete that portion of my degree in Hong Kong. Beyond Oregon State,I know grad school is in my future. I plan to take some law classes here to try that aspect, but if I don’t like that then I’ll go for an MBA. Eventually I want a job that travels internationally but that may not happen right away. My dad has always told me that my twenties are my time to have a good time and try new things, so we’ll see where that takes me. The only sure thing in my future is a top graduate school.”

When your gymnastics career is over what will you do to stay active?

“Like I said, my dad supports me to do new things. I would really like to try pole vaulting. I know that lots of gymnasts do it and are successful. Since vault is my best event, I think that an explosive event like that could be great for me. Tim Mack, who won the gold medal at the last Olympics, trained at my gym in Tennessee. It just looks fun. I’ve competed track before, but my size doesn’t make it my sport and I’m not a fan of running long distances. We don’t have field events at OSU, so I don’t know where I could try it. Plus I’ll be out of eligibility when I leave OSU but I would love to give it a shot.”

You came all the way to OSU from Knoxville, Tennesse. How did that come about?

“This was my fourth recruiting trip and everything here was better than my other trips. My grandparents used to live at the coast, in Florence, so I knew that I liked Oregon. The coaches and team were great and the coaches’ expectations gymnastics-wise were what I wanted. Academically the university met my needs and even the campus is beautiful. Everything just fit. I had thought about wanting to leave home and to set out on my own as an adventure. I’m really happy with my decision. It is great to have the support of the entire town with everything we do.”

How did you get into gymnastics?

“I was taking tae kwon do when I was four but lost interest when I was six. My mom wanted me to be involved in something. I had watched the ’92 Olympcs and suggested gymnastics. Mom opened the phone book and called a gym. Gymnastics probably wasn’t supposed to be a permanent thing but I love the feeling you get from completing a routine. It is a unique sport, in that I can go to a gym and play basketball, maybe not very well, but I can do it. But somebody else can’t just walk into our gym and start doing gymnastics and succeed. I love that feeling that unique feeling.”

Your teammates are very superstitious. Do you have any pre-meet rituals?

“No. I’m not superstitious. I guess, before a meet I entertain myself observing their rituals. But there isn’t anything that I need to do.”

When you have time away from the gym and studying how do you spend time?

“Last year in Megan (Devencenzi) and I made a great group of friends living in West Hall. They are my break from gymnastics. All they know about gymnastics is that it looks neat. That kind of break is really important for me to relax whether it is a trip to Portland or a trip to the movies, it is just good to be able to get away once in a while.”

What other kinds of things are you involved in?

“I tutor, mostly math, to my teammates. It isn’t exactly community service but I enjoy helping them and helping the team get the best GPA possible. Knowing them already makes teaching them easy. Last year, I was involved in ELI, the English Language Institute. I signed up to help a student from Japan. I requested a Japanese student because my mom is Japanese and I wanted to learn about my cultural background. My role was to create a comfortable environment, like a coffee place, for her to practice her English and ask questions about American culture. It was really a cool experience to get to know her.”