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Seaman, Gentile lift each other through injury

Junior Samantha Seaman takes one last look at the vault before going into her flip on March 15 in meet against Bridgeport. The meet against Bridgeport was Senior Night and Seaman’s first meet after her injury. (Photo by Arianna Grainey)
Junior Samantha Seaman takes one last look at the vault before going into her flip on March 15 in meet against Bridgeport. The meet against Bridgeport was Senior Night and Seaman’s first meet after her injury. (Photo by Arianna Grainey)

 

Sophomore Natelle Gentile extends both legs as she floats in the air in a meet against UA on March 2. Gentile thought she would never need surgery in her gymnastics career, but in mid-January she broke her nose during a vault routine. (Photo by Arianna Grainey) Sophomore Natelle Gentile extends both legs as she floats in the air in a meet against UA on March 2. Gentile thought she would never need surgery in her gymnastics career, but in mid-January she broke her nose during a vault routine. (Photo by Arianna Grainey)

It was mid January at Wells Fargo Arena. Mats, bars, beams and vaults covered the familiar basketball court, and the ASU gymnastics team was warming up for its first meet of the season against Oklahoma.

Sophomore Natelle Gentile had just broken her nose.

“When gymnasts talk about getting surgeries, I was always the one that was saying, 'Oh, I'm not going to have a surgery,' and then I end up getting one that first meet,” Gentile said months later.

Junior Samantha Seaman, who was in a boot due to a partial ligament tear in her foot, saw Gentile hit her nose on the vault.

Seaman hobbled over to hold her teammate’s hand both figuratively and literally during the incident.

“I remember being like, ‘No Sammie, I’m scared; I’ve never gotten stitches before!’ because at first they told me I only had to get stitches,” Gentile said.

Gentile received nasal reconstruction surgery later that night, as her nose was shattered from the incident.

Gentile and Seaman sit on the cement benches outside the gymnastics practice facility towards the end of March and re-enact the stitches scene from Jan. 12.

The two laugh about event now that Seaman’s boot is gone and the only remnant of Gentile's vault injury is a small red scar crossing the bridge of her nose.

Time heals all wounds.

That saying is true about Seaman’s foot and Gentile’s nose.

Both are back competing on a limited basis for the Gym Devils. But it’s the mental wounds that need a little more time.

For any natural competitor, the worst part of having an injury is having to sit and watch his or her team compete without them.

"It made me want to be out there really bad," Seaman said.

"Yeah!" Gentile interjected.

Seaman continued:

“I wanted to help them. I wanted to contribute. But we did what we could, being on the sidelines contributing there, helping them through their fears and coaching them really.”

Seaman’s injury came the Monday before Gentile.

The team was going through its floor routines at practice and a missed landing left Seaman clutching her foot on the ground. The prognosis was not good for the team, as she would be out six to eight weeks.

Seaman, ASU’s all-around competitor last year, hoped to pick up where she left off and lead the team as an upperclassman.

“It was a struggle, because I still wish I could do all around, but I'm just happy with what I could contribute right now,” Seaman said. “When I was out, I would go through my routines, like, 10 times each night. You know, I'd go through each of my skills to make sure, because now when I'm back, I feel like I've been doing it this whole time.”

Seaman made her debut at Senior Night with a 9.85 vault the short-handed team had been missing all year.

It is not often in other sports that athletes hurl their bodies through the air, contorting their arms and legs into strange positions.

At any moment, they could injure themselves seriously. Any false move, any misstep, and their careers are over.

“There's always this doubt in your head, like, 'What if this happens again? What if that happens again?'” Gentile said. “But if you're going to be in gymnastics, you just have to put it in the back of your head.”

Junior Samantha Seaman takes one last look at the vault before going into her flip on March 15 in meet against Bridgeport. The meet against Bridgeport was Senior Night and Seaman’s first meet after her injury. (Photo by Arianna Grainey) Junior Samantha Seaman takes one last look at the vault before going into her flip on March 15 in meet against Bridgeport. The meet against Bridgeport was Senior Night and Seaman’s first meet after her injury. (Photo by Arianna Grainey)

The girls are trying to put these injuries in the back of their mind.

Seaman has trouble watching her teammates during competition.

Gentile has a new, weird relationship with the vault, her favorite event growing up.

“As we go on, I can watch the girls vault, I couldn't watch the girls vault right after it happened," Gentile said. "There's a part of me that wants to do vault in the gym, just so I can say that I did it again and I overcame that fear."

“Right after it happened, I had nightmares. I still have a couple of the situation happening. But you just have to think to yourself, that was one in how many vaults that I've done? So even though it was really hard and really traumatic and I have those nightmares, I just have to think about all the good ones that I've done in my career.”

Both gymnasts will look to put the past behind them in their NCAA regional appearance April 6.

 

Reach the reporter at mklau@asu.edu


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