University Park, Pa.- Goofy.
Goofy is the first word Penn State women's gymnastics head coach Sarah Brown thought of when describing her energetic all-around gymnast, Cassidy Rushlow. The spunky freshman who has put up some big numbers for the team early in the season is quickly being seen as someone with a personality that lightens any room.
"Just in the sense of like, she's just a kid playing gymnastics, and I love that about her," Brown said. "I mean goofy in the nicest way because she's just, you know, she's just a goofball when she's in here, but the other words that I would use to describe her are driven, athletic, smart and talented."
Those words, from goofy to talented, encompass quite a bit you need to know about one of the newest Nittany Lions.
Rushlow first discovered gymnastics by watching her sister trying to perform skills. Her sister taught her the skills she was learning, which ignited her passion for the sport.
"My older sister started doing classes and it was basic, like preschool classes kind of thing," Rushlow said. "She could do a backbend, and she taught me how to do it. I was one of the kids that was always bouncing around my house, jumping on the couch, and I just kind of started."
Since the beginning of her recruitment process in seventh grade, Rushlow was looking for a place to find her home — a place she felt welcomed. From the first time she arrived on campus in Happy Valley for a developmental camp, Rushlow fell in love with the community Penn State offers.
"I really liked the environment," she said. "It was welcoming and it was friendly. It just seemed like a campus that everyone was together. That's also what I was looking for and I wanted a team to be like, and that's exactly what it's been."
For Brown, Rushlow's strength during the recruitment process was undeniable. Not only were her skills top notch, the potential she had was limitless.
"I think her athleticism stood out to us," Brown said. "Right away, we knew that she was a strong athlete."
Not only is she a strong athlete, but you can add determination to her list of traits.
Rushlow possesses the physical and mental aspects of a strong athlete. In her first collegiate meet, in California on Jan. 4, she had a couple falls but nonetheless fought through the challenges and mental setbacks.
"She started off the meet with a fall and came back and hit a vault for us that was huge," Brown said. "Then made a mistake at bars. It would have been really easy for her to throw the meet away, but she actually came back as our highest beam score that week as well."
Since her first collegiate meet, Rushlow has continued to turn heads all while having a smile on her face. In Penn State's home opener against West Virginia, Rushlow claimed the all-around and bars title, and won the Ann Carr Award, awarded to a Penn State student-athlete who had the most inspirational performance of the meet.
Performing at home was an experience Rushlow knew was the start of something amazing. Having a strong performances at Rec Hall, Rushlow felt the unity of everyone on the team competing as one.
"It definitely felt like something special," Rushlow said. "It was comfortable. We just went out there as a team and it was like the mindset was, 'We own it. We got it.'"
With many more meets and seasons left in her young career, Rushlow is looking forward to the journey ahead. She is grateful for the opportunity to wear Blue and White, and to represent something that has so much meaning to her.
"I am more than grateful to wear Penn State on my leo(tard) and it's just such an amazing experience," Rushlow said. "It's just overall saying, 'I'm part of such an amazing thing.' I'm so grateful to have that opportunity"
As Rushlow reflects on the journey that led her to Happy Valley and her first few meets as a Nittany Lion, it is clear to her she made the right choice.
"This is definitely where I want and need to be."
