Wednesday, March 29, 2023 /
/ Women’s Month — 5

For senior gymnast Gabby Wilson, 
attending Michigan was just a matter of 
when. 
Born in Ann Arbor and raised in 
Ypsilanti, the University has always been 
on Wilson’s radar athletically and aca-
demically. 
The athlete gene runs in the family. 
Her parents were All-Americans on the 
track and field teams of Illinois and East-
ern Michigan. Her younger sister runs on 
the track and field team at Michigan State, 
just like her parents.
And while Wilson has stayed true 
to her family’s roots by competing athleti-
cally for Michigan, she’s also put her own 
spin on that tradition.
“Growing up, we all were trying 
different sports, but I only did gymnas-
tics mostly,” Wilson said. “We’ve always 
been a really active family, even before we 

did sports, and we’ve always had a love for 
physical activity in general.”
As a young athlete, Wilson looked 
up to her educators and outstanding 
Black gymnasts like three-time Olympic 
gold medalist Gabby Douglas.
“Of course, when I saw Gabby 
Douglas win (the Olympics), it was really 
cool that people were kind of making that 
comparison,” Wilson said. “And it wasn’t 
necessarily me thinking ‘because she won 
the Olympics, I can win the Olympics and 
do that.’ But it just made me feel like there 
was no reason why I couldn’t do anything 
that I set my mind to.”
So, Wilson did just that.
Her commitment and prodigy 
earned her recruiting letters starting at 
just age 13 from interested programs, but 
Wilson was still unsure on what to look 
for in her future home. This was before 
the NCAA adopted its new rule in 2019 to 
push athlete recruiting to after their soph-
omore year of high school. With the help 
of her parents, she was able to prioritize 

her academic and athletic goals before 
making a final decision.
“I was really just trying to think of 
which school had the most opportunities 
for me, athletically, and academically, and 
Michigan just happened to be down the 
street,” Wilson said. “So it was really a 
no-brainer, I only visited Michigan and 
Oklahoma.”
Nine years later, Wilson is a team 
captain and key contributor to the wom-
en’s gymnastics team. In her freshman 
year, she was ranked in the top 50 nation-
ally on vault and floor. Now in her senior 
year, she’s since continued to rack up 
numerous accolades including multiple 
All-American honors, a team National 
Championship and three career 10.0s 
on floor and vault. In addition, her per-
formances on floor and vault aided the 
Wolverines’ consecutive Big Ten cham-
pionship wins, earning the individual 
vault title in 2023.
Wilson’s continued success and 
unique floor performance stems from 

her musicality and storytelling, which she 
credits to her family. 
“Ever since level seven, where we 
get to have our own routines on the floor, 
I’ve always loved being able to perform it 
to the best of my ability and really use it 
to show my personality,” Wilson said. “I 
would say that my college years have been 
the most impactful in terms of my full 
routines. I’ve actually been able to tell a 
story and show what I’m passionate about 
through my dance, my music choice and 
the choreography.”
For Wilson, music evokes emo-
tions that allow her to express her person-
ality and passion for the sport. With her 
impressive dancing and overall floor exe-
cution, she boasts a season floor average 
of 9.900. She also attributes her passion 
and success on the floor to assistant coach 
Maile’ana Kanewa-Hermelyn, Michigan’s 
floor choreographer.
“I’ve cherished my time being 
coached to hone in on what I wanted peo-
ple to think about when I was performing, 

and just see that I love being out there,” 
Wilson said. “I want people to know just 
from watching me that this is what I love 
to do and I’m doing it for my team. I love 
my sport.”
Although she’s in her senior sea-
son, this isn’t the end for Wilson. She 
recently announced that she will return 
for a fifth season and obtain a master’s in 
public policy through the Ford School.
“After COVID, we knew that we 
had an extra year of eligibility and I want-
ed to be intentional about what that meant 
for me, and what that meant for my aca-
demic goals first, and then thinking about 
athletic opportunities,” Wilson said. 
“After the fact, I never wanted to really go 
anywhere besides Michigan.”
As the Wolverines continue to face 
tough competition, Wilson’s decision to 
stay home again will be beneficial as her 
passion, roots and creativity flourish in 
her performance. Because just like when 
she first committed to Michigan, those 
are the elements that drive her.

How sticking to her roots led 
Gabby Wilson to success

KENDALL MCCASKILL
Daily Sports Writer

LILA TURNER/Daily

