UA senior gymnast Danielle Hicks scored a 9.875 on the beam during last Saturday’s NCAA North Central Regional in Minneapolis. It was her second-best score ever and she just missed earning a spot in the NCAA National Championships. The Arizona Daily Wildcat caught up with Hicks yesterday to discuss her favorite Gymcats memory, the NHL playoffs and her upcoming marriage.
Wildcat: On the beam, you finished in second by .025 points. How do you think you did?
Hicks: It was definitely my best routine at a regional meet throughout my career and it was exciting to end my routine on a good note.
W: And your career is now over. Has it sunk in yet?
H: No, it feels like the end of season, everyone is finished. We are all doing normal senior banquets and voting for things and all the extra little team meetings and stuff. It just feels like the season is over.
W: You finished your career with more than 1,000 career points (1,503.775 to be exact) and were the anchor of the beam all four years. Did you ever feel pressure, being the anchor when you were a freshman and sophomore?
H: It’s a pressure situation depending on what’s happened in front of you so some meets I have definitely felt pressure, and I’ve always felt that I’ve thrived under pressure and usually tend to do better in pressure situations.
W: How important was it to be able to compete on bars by the end of the year?
H: It was really important to me. The last time I competed bars was my sophomore year at regionals. I fell over the bar on a shoot-over. I stayed on the bar, but I was determined to finish off on a good routine, which I feel like I did.
W: What is you favorite memory of this season?
H: Oh my goodness there are so many. I’m not sure, can we come back?
W: I suppose so. You’re from Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Have you been following the NHL playoffs at all?
H: No, but go Leafs, that’s all I can say.
W: They’re not in the playoffs.
H: Oh, that’s terrible (laughs). No, I don’t follow it at all.
W: What is your favorite thing to do that is not gymnastics related?
H: Um, I’m not sure. I’m about to find out. I’ve never really done anything before. My fiancée just bought me roller blades for my birthday so I’m going to rollerblade and stuff. But I don’t know, I’m going to find out.
W: Have you ever ice-skated before?
H: Once or twice.
W: It’s kind of like that, only a little harder. OK, favorite movie?
H: “”How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.””
W: I think all girls like that movie and “”The Notebook.”” Waffles or pancakes?
H: Pancakes.
W: McDonald’s or Tim Horton’s (Canadian fast food restaurant)?
H: Tim Horton’s, good question (laughs).
W: Which is worse, Oshawa winters or Tucson summers?
H: Oshawa winters. I’d much rather be warm and try to cool off than be chilled to the bone and try to warm up.
W: You graduate in December; what are you looking to do?
H: I’m looking to do some personal training, but my end goal is to go to chiropractic school, but I don’t know when that will happen because I’m getting married this summer, and I don’t know where my soon-to-be husband is going to be.
W: When is the date?
H: June 15. It’s kind of become my thing.
W: You didn’t fall at all on beam you freshman and sophomore year. How impressive do you think that feat is?
H: I don’t know. But I thrive under pressure and my goal was to not fall at all, which didn’t really work out, but I’ve enjoyed being in that spot, and I’m proud of being in that spot, so whether I fell a couple of times or not, it was a good position for me and I’ve enjoyed being in that spot.
W: Favorite memory?
H: (sighs) Probably senior meet, with my parents walking me out. My dad came down with my mom and he hadn’t been down here since my sophomore year to move me into my first house. So that was exciting having them both here, walking me out because they’ve both been the reasons why I’m here and it was nice to be able to include them and have them here.
– interview by Michael Fitzpatrick
