2008 Woodie Awards
Lopez soars in gym and new language
Brooks Kirchheimer
Issue date: 4/10/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 2 next >
|
"It was really hard. Everything was very different. I didn't know any English and I didn't understand my coaches or my teammates. In classes I was like, 'Ohmigod, what am I going to do?' It was a really hard process," said Lopez about the shock and stress of her arrival at DU.
Lopez was born on Jan. 22, 1986 in Caracas, which is about a six-hour plane flight from Denver.
The diminutive, 5-foot athlete first began her career in the gym at the age of 4, when she would follow her 8-year-old sister around the gym.
"I would go to the gym and play around and that is how everything started."
Then at the age of 10, Lopez was recruited by national coaches to join the Venezuelan national team.
Lopez's first journey to the U.S. was in 1996, when she was on vacation with her family in Orlando, Fla. Her next and most important trip to the states was in 2002, when she came to Colorado to train with one of her Venezuelan coaches. It was then that Lopez was noticed and later recruited by DU assistant coach, John Figueroa. Figueroa and DU would later offer her a scholarship, allowing Lopez to become part of the Pioneer family.
She has full heartedly embraced DU. "I enjoy competing, the team, coaches and hanging out with my friends here at DU," Lopez said.
Last season Lopez had one of the best freshman seasons in DU history, leading the Pioneers in average on the uneven bars (9.744) and second on beam (9.713) while competing in all 13 regular season meets. Lopez had her best meet of the season against Ohio State, when she won three event titles, all being career-highs: a 9.95 on bars, 9.9 on beam and a 9.9 on floor exercise. She has since raised her career-high to 9.95 on beam against Arizona State, the highest DU score on beam since 2004.
Be the first to comment on this story