Tarah and her mom were living in Oklahoma while her dad and brother kept life going in Arizona.  She continued to attend the University for her sophomore year, and did gymnastics daily (with many road trips for out-of-town competitions and other extra-curricular events thrown in as well). In May though, natural disaster struck in the form of the infamous May 3rd F-6 tornado. She and her mom lived through the 318 mi./hr. winds that hit much of Oklahoma City less than 20 miles to the south of her residence.  It was even closer to the gym and the scariest part was that Tarah was working out at the time.  The vicious cyclone was spiraling down the freeway towards her. Luckily Tarah’s mom was able to rush into the city and retrieve her child before disaster struck. Sadly, many of Tarah’s friends weren’t so lucky, as the next day she learned that several of the surrounding houses (including bits & pieces of her neighbor’s even) had been destroyed.

       In June, along with many National/International gymnasts and coaches around the globe, Tarah attended the huge wedding reception of the most decorated gymnast in the country, Shannon Miller (to Christopher Phillips). It was a festive occasion that helped Tarah get back in the swing of things after such a huge blow to her current surroundings.  Later on this year, she arranged, choreographed, and recorded a Harp piece to which she danced. It was her 1st full-length musical arrangement for performance purposes, and it was a success.  She was also selected as one of only two girls to perform at the National “Juice Plus” Product Convention in Memphis Tennessee (Juice Plus is a huge gymnastics sponsor). She hit her beam routine and received a standing ovation from the crowd witnessing her performance.         

      Onwards and upwards.  At the USAIGC National Championships in Orlando, Florida, Tarah was named the Vault National Champion and Floor Reserve National Champion.  She was the subject of a front-page article in the “Edmond Sun” and gained valuable publicity and support from her town because of it.  She traveled to Houston next and qualified to attend the U.S. National Classics in Rochester, New York, and then went with her coach and four other teammates (as the event neared) to camp in up-state New York.  As Nationally ranked gymnasts usually are able to acquire sponsors more readily, Tarah's coach took all 5 of his International Elite gymnasts to camp, (all expenses paid), with the idea being to quote, “prepare the girls” for this meet.  But it ended up being a complete wash, as surviving the “camp from Hell” turned out to be the bigger challenge!  The problem? … Unsuitable conditions for the bodies of top level athletes.  It is hard enough to handle the physically demanding sport on good equipment without injury, let alone now practicing for a National Competition on out-of-date, run-down, and non-standardized equipment only initially intended for lower level campers who paid to be there for the summer.  It ended up with none of his gymnasts making the score necessary to advance on to the USA National Championships (again, where the National Team/Top 20 gymnasts in the country are chosen), and in fact, all except Tarah and one other Junior Elite gymnast were too injured by the end of camp to even compete at the Classics after this quote, “preparation”!  It wasn’t a complete disappointment though, as, while in New York, her coach did take his gymnasts to the city to sightsee and attend “Cats” on Broadway before it closed for good.  Tarah Loved it, gleaned as much as she could about the performance (and New York in general), and talked for weeks afterwards all about the awesome experience and how she would have adored performing that night as the “White Kitty”…instead of just watching.

                   To browse a new page