The Nittany Lions are coming off their sixth consecutive West Point Open team title this past weekend in West Point, N.Y. One of the highlights of the event was Favian Valdez returning from an elbow injury to earn his first-career pommel horse title.
Head coach Randy Jepson said Valdez is a gymnast who competes consistently and he displayed that trait in West Point. Primarily a gymnast who scores highest in all-around, Valdez going for pommel horse victories is a shift of focus.
In addition to his pommel horse victory, Valdez finished second in high bar and sixth in floor exercise. He is back this season after an elbow injury that kept him out of competition last season. Being unable to compete and restricted to the sidelines during competition was frustrating for him, so he got right back into training after NCAAs.
Valdez, a redshirt sophomore, previously won the title Big Ten Freshman of the Week on four separate occasions during the 2017 season and ended that season with 14 podium finishes. He grew up in Kearny, N.J. and In his gymnastics career prior to Penn State, Valdez was a seven-time Junior Olympic National Qualifier, an all-around state champion and captain at his home gym for the 2015-16 seasons.
"I'm really excited to compete this year and definitely help out the team in a big way," Valdez said. "It was nice getting out there again. It felt like forever since I competed."
Valdez said he completed a lot of rehab to get himself ready to be back in competition this season. He resumed training in late spring last year and has been working hard ever since. He also competed for Puerto Rico at the Central America Games over the summer and is glad to have had that opportunity for a smooth transition back into competition.
"It's definitely a different feeling competing for Puerto Rico," Valdez said. "It's more of an individual competition, and now it's definitely team. When you're out there hearing your teammates cheer for you, and then after you compete you cheer on your teammates, it's more fun."
Head coach Randy Jepson likes to say there are four different types of athletes in gymnastics, and he explains these tiers when coaching his team. To him, there is the athlete who doesn't train well and doesn't compete well. There is the athlete who doesn't train well and competes well, the athlete who trains well but doesn't compete well, and finally, the athlete who trains well and competes well.
According to Jepson, Valdez is the type of athlete who is stronger in competition. Fresh off last season's injury, Valdez competed in five events during preliminaries the first day at West Point and qualified for the finals of every event.
"Our thing with Favian has always been 'let's raise the bar and get even better in competition,'" Jepson said. "He can compete. He's a guy that we're counting on."
Gymnastics is as mentally demanding as it is physically, and Valdez experienced the mental toughness of the sport while injured last season, but was able to overcome the mental blocks of not being able to practice. Even though he could not compete, Valdez was in the gym doing mental routines and watching his teammates, staying as involved as possible. He says that staying active in the sport mentally made it easier to come back into competition this season.
To emphasize the mental aspect of gymnastics, Jepson focuses on a team mindset, to get the gymnasts thinking as a team, even though the sport is highly individual. The team often cheers each other on during practice and has some fun together in the gym before practice starts.
"I think as they looked around as the dust settled from the weekend at their counterparts across the country, they can be in the thick of it," Jepson said. "That builds enthusiasm. We're excited going into the next meet."
The Nittany Lions will head back up to New York for a dual meet with Army on Saturday, Jan. 19.
