Interview with Michigan's Senior Leader- Joanna Sampson

In the last few years, Joanna Sampson has transformed from the newcomer to the star and leader of the Michigan gymnastics team. Looking back to last season as a junior, Joanna had a remarkable year individually and helped the Michigan Wolverines do things they didn't even expect to be doing. They started the season ranked first in the nation after scoring a 196.575 at the Cancun Classic- their first meet of the season. From there things continued to go well, despite dropping in the rankings, the Wolverines continued to post record breaking scores (such as a 197.550 at UCLA) and remained 3rd in the rankings for majority of the season. (They were also ranked #1 again going into the fourth week of competition!) Michigan won every meet during the regular season except for one, they lost to Big 10 opponent Minnesota by .025, but still claimed a share of the Big 10 Regular Season Champ title. Going into the post season, Michigan placed 2nd to Nebraska at the Big 10 Championships and qualified a team to Nationals after their performance at Regionals. However, after competing in a tough subdivision with three former national champions, they missed qualifying to the Super Six by  .035. Although they didn't have the success they would have liked to during the post season, it was still a fantastic year for Michigan overall. Individually, Joanna had plenty of success too, she scored career highs on bars, beam, and floor, was named Big 10 Gymnast of the Year, and was ranked 6th or higher in the all around all season long. At the NCAA Championships she tied for 3rd all around and made vault and floor finals. At the conclusion of the meet she won the floor title, becoming only the 4th gymnast from Michigan to win a National title. Going into her final season at Michigan, Joanna will continue to be a leader and one of the key players for the Wolverines. We caught up with Joanna to talk about her success last year and her goals for this season. 

Photo Credit: Erin Long

Can you talk a little bit about last season and how you feel the team did? Do you think the team exceeded its expectations? 

 Last season really was such an amazing year. I'm so glad we were able to give our seniors a season to remember and be proud of. In terms of our expectations, I don't think we necessarily exceeded them, but at the same time I think we did in many ways. Our primary goal was to make it back to Nationals and ultimately back to Super Six. While we didn't make it to Super Six, we did accomplish so many other things along the way. We made it through the season with everybody staying healthy and we had a lot of depth on every event, which are two of the more important things. Coach Bev always tell us that the teams who win National Championships are the teams with the athletes in the numbers 7, 8, and 9 spots, who could fill in at given moment. Other great things that came out of the season were the records that we broke or tied, without even trying. Those are the kinds of things that are cool to accomplish along the way, but you don't even think about in the process.

Individually you had a very successful season last year, you tied for 3rd all around at NCAA's and you also won floor. What was that experience like for you? 

I still have trouble finding the words to describe the experience that I had. But, it was absolutely amazing. Not only did I place 3rd, but Katie [Zurales] did as well. It was so special to be able to share that experience with her and I couldn't be happier with it. As for winning floor, it was so exciting. I had never been in event finals before. I still clearly remember the feeling I had minutes prior to my floor routine because I had just witnessed Katie finish her last beam routine, and an absolutely stunning one at that, of her career. I had to hold back my tears of how happy I was for her because I still had to compete myself! But, getting up on to the floor the last thought I had before letting my brain go on auto-pilot was "this is for my team." I really wanted to do my absolute best for them. They're the reason that I was so confident in what I was doing and was able to get through it. Before my last pass I looked at them in the stands and heard their cheering, and it gave me the last bit of energy that I needed to finish the routine. After finishing my routine and walking off of the podium, to me it didn't really matter how I did, I just went back to hugging Katie.

 You were team captain last year as a junior and again this year as a senior, what is your role as captain and how is that position decided?

 The main role as a captain is to always lead the team in a positive direction. As a captain you know that your teammates are always looking towards you when it comes to reactions and handling any situation, good or bad, that arises. The position is decided through a combination of the coaches and current team members. It's often like a voting process where each person will give their top three choices along with the reasons for choosing them.

We saw a video of you training a laidout full in, can we expect to see that this season? 

It's a possibility, but I don't necessarily have anything in mind. It's definitely a dream of mine to be able to compete it, but there are a lot of factors that will go into deciding it I'll put it in, like the consistency of the skill, how my body is feeling, and most importantly if it will benefit the team in any way. It's one of those skills that it just might not be worth the risk, but a time may come where we say "hey, why not?"

 

 What are some of your goals for this season, both as a team and as an individual? 

 As a team, as always, our end goal is to make it to Super Six. Along the way we set up mini goals for ourselves as a team. Last year we made a road map that had a stop sign representing each meet of the season. At each stop sign we listed small goals that got harder as the season went along, like hit 5 out of 6 routines, or stick "x" number of landings on each event. Along with having a goal of making it to Super Six, we always have the goal of being Big Ten Champions. Individually, it's hard to say just one thing. Aside from staying healthy, really all of my individual goals are about what's best for the team. I just want to always be able to do whatever the team needs me to do and know that my teammates can always count on me.

How have you grown as an athlete since your freshman year? 

 I don't even know if I can describe how much I have grown since freshman year. Honestly, as a freshman I came in very stubborn and set in my ways and thought I knew what was best about everything. Each year my mentality and personality have changed in such a positive direction,  that I am a completely different athlete than I was freshman year. I have also pushed myself to grow as a gymnast and have continued to try to learn new skills each year in the summer. Some of those skills have not been so successful, but others have. I look back and can't even remember the person who I used to be, but that's not a bad thing. I have definitely changed for the better, and I can attribute almost all of that to my own classmates and the seniors on the team my freshman year.

What are your plans for after college? 

As of right now, my plans are to move back home and find a job, and I'll be finishing up planning for my wedding in October. At some point I'm thinking about going to grad school, but that won't be for a little while after everything else is settled.

We want to thank Joanna for her time and wish her the best of luck going into her final year at the University of Michigan.

For any local fans, Michigan will be hosting a free intrasquad this weekend (Sunday, December 8th) at 2:00pm ET in Crisler Arena.