A crucial member of the Gunn gymnastics team, junior Kaylyn Reyes started gymnastics as a toddler and is now a level 10 gymnast, the level preceding that of Olympic athletes. Having started with one class a week, she now practices five days a week at Airborne Gym in Santa Clara.

With at least 26 hours of practice time each week, the time commitment is very demanding. However, the time factor has been somewhat beneficial to Reyes because it has forced her to keep focused during school and finish all her homework on time.

Although Reyes competes in all of the events offered, her favorite is floor, which is the most complicated event, according to teammate sophomore Miranda Der. Reyes excels in other events as well, and has been accredited as the first girl to get a 10.0 on bars in the history of CCS.

Since joining the Gunn gymnastics team, Reyes has accumulated many awards. Freshman year, she went through her season undefeated, winning States, Regionals and Western Nationals as well as CCS. In addition, she placed second in CCS as a sophomore and qualified for Regionals this year. She returned home from Leagues and CCS this year with a first place overall, with combined scores from bars, beam, floor and vault.

Members of the Gunn team respect and admire Reyes’s dedication to the sport. “Kaylyn not only contributes awesome scores and outstanding routines, but she also has a great attitude,” Der said. “She’s really good at lightening the mood, and everybody loves watching her compete because she’s really graceful and makes everything look easy.”

“Kaylyn is always very happy, easygoing and very nice to all the other girls,” Gunn gymnastics coach Amy Chasteen said.

For Reyes, gymnastics has not always been a painless hobby. She now has tendonitis in her knee from continuous practice. Despite this, Reyes plans on continuing gymnastics in college. “The best part is the feeling you get after you’re done competing to know that all your hard work has finally paid off,” she said.