In February, sophomore Lauren Stevens presented two awards at the second annual Meet Scores Online Gymnast banquet sponsored by International Gymnast Magazine. Over 350 guests gathered at the Westgate Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev. to celebrate the hardworking and talented gymnasts across the country. Stevens presented the award for the Junior Olympic Gymnast of the Year to 10-year-old Annie Beard from Alexandria, Ky. Beard moved from Kentucky to Texas in order to follow her dream of being on the National team and eventually the Olympic team. Stevens also presented the Senior Elite Olympic Gymnast of the Year to 18 year-old Maggie Nichols. Nichols is a 2016 Olympic hopeful who helped team USA come home with the gold medal.

Stevens’ passion for the sport of gymnastics began when she was only 3-years-old and she advanced to become a competitive gymnast herself. However, more than 19 broken bones and her above average height forced her to quit the sport she loved. Stevens admitted that this was a challenging period in her life. “ I struggled to find a way to still be apart of the gymnastics community,” she said.

The solution was combining her gymnastics background with her hobby of videography. Stevens started by making simple tutorial videos on Youtube and eventually started making team highlight videos. Her work caught the eye of the officials from MeetScoresOnline, a website that publishes the scores of gymnastics meets across the globe. She was offered a job to make videos, create athlete profiles and perform anything else the company needs. Two years ago, she proposed the idea that meet scores online join forces with International Gymnast Magazine to host a banquet in order to present the gymnast of the year awards.

Stevens said, “I had no idea that the banquet would turn into what it has in just 2 years. It feels absolutely amazing to be presenting awards for a magazine. The best part is the expression on the gymnasts faces’ when they find out that they won.”

When asked how she juggles her busy schedule, Stevens said, “It does get hard sometimes to balance work with school, family and friends. I definitely have to make sacrifices with my free time in order to work for MeetScoresOnline, but it’s definitely worth it when I receive positive feedback.” Stevens hopes to eventually have a career that pairs a business degree with videography. Stay tuned for Stevens’ documentary on Xavier’s Spiritline team.