From daredevil to champ, Redmond star 'just hooked' on gymnastics

REDMOND — Mother and daughter remember the moment well, if only because of what has happened since.

They laugh and smile broadly when retelling this family legend, of how one day Mandy Giusti walked in and found her 3-1/2-year-old girl perched precariously on the back of the sofa, arms spread like an airplane, doing her toddler-best impression of a tight-rope act.

The little daredevil had already been riding a bicycle without training wheels for a year, but this latest stunt sent mom over the edge.

"That was just, like, it for her," said Redmond sophomore Dani Okerlund more than a decade later. "She was just like, 'We're going somewhere where it's matted and you're safe and they can try and start teaching you.' "

Thus began a quest that eventually landed both at the Northshore Gymnastics Center in Woodinville, where for the better part of the past 10 years Okerlund has trained under the tutelage of coaches Jen Huffman and Dan Young.

So much has happened in between. The 16- to 20-hour training weeks produced countless trips to state, regional and national meets. Life lessons of discipline, sacrifice and time management were learned. And somewhere in it all Okerlund, one of the top high-school gymnasts on the Eastside and the defending Class 4A state vault champion, realized a passion.

"I was just hooked," Okerlund said, shrugging.

She is sitting in the bleachers on a recent evening at Inglemoor High School, where her Mustangs are halfway home to beating the defending state champion Vikings, 169.95-164.35.

She has found time for a brief interview between events. And though this would be like the star quarterback talking to a reporter during a water break, Okerlund doesn't seem to mind. There is no pretense here.

She has just finished the vault, her best event, which she has won the same way she won last year's state meet: a laid-out Yurchenko, one of the most difficult vaults performed at the high-school level.

She has scored 9.5, which on this night is sixth-tenths of a point better than her closest competitor.

"I didn't even warm-up vault today because my ankle was hurting," Okerlund said. "I think I do better when I just know I have to do it. It's just kind of an adrenaline-rush thing."

Watching Okerlund vault is like watching a running back hit the hole, or a basketball player drive to the hoop. It's all power and controlled speed.

"She's very aggressive. You can't teach aggressiveness," said teammate Maggie Catlin, a senior. "And you have to have a heart. She's got heart."

Okerlund proved that last year when, as a 15-year-old freshman, she won the all-around at the District 1-2 meet and went on to win the state vault title with a score of 9.65 while finishing tied for fifth in the all-around (37.5).

"We knew she'd do good, but we definitely did not expect her to win it," Catlin said. "It's definitely a lot more competition, a lot more pressure once you get to state, and it was nice to see her rise to that challenge."

Okerlund is already looking forward to defending her state title, saying she "definitely thinks about it," and calling it one of her "bigger goals," but she also wants to make it clear that this season is not about her.

One of the reasons she says she turned out for the high-school team — many club gymnasts do not — was for the camaraderie and the opportunity to compete in a more relaxed and fun environment. She enjoys helping teammates choreograph their floor routines. And she loves to laugh. The other day, for instance, Okerlund disappeared from practice for a few minutes only to return wearing a wrestling singlet, amusing first-year coach Kim Dare and doubling-up teammates with laughter.

"It's totally more laid-back," Okerlund said. "The team aspect of this is way cooler for me."

And that's why Okerlund says the larger mission this year is qualifying for state as a team, something that, to the best of anybody's knowledge, has never been done at Redmond.

"Everybody is just determined," Okerlund said. "There's nobody that is in here whining. Everybody wants to be here, and state is the goal."

Dare agrees, pointing to a talented supporting cast that includes Catlin and fellow seniors Clara Cantor and Jillian Houck, juniors Emily Luty and Allison Young, sophomore Taryn Sykes and freshman Sabrina Yates.

"She (Dani) has been quite an asset," Dare said, "not just as an athlete, but as an encourager of others. She has a team focus. And that's what the focus has been this year."

But go to a Redmond meet and it's hard to miss Okerlund. The girl who once walked the furniture now walks all over the competition.

"She's really talented," Cantor said. "I don't think she really realizes how much talent she has."