Lane Jarred competes on the bars May 14, 2011 at the J.O. Nationals in Long Beach Arena, Calif. (Photo by Ben Feria of Feriagrafix.)

When Lane Jarred competed in the 2011 J.O. Nationals gymnastics competition last May, her score wasn’t the only thing that attracted the judges’ attention. Jarred, 18, had performed a new skill that she and her coaches had perfected, which will be officially listed in the gymnastics code of points — the scoring system for each level of competition — as the “Jarred.”

“It was a big deal for us ... I had worked on it last year for a little while. My coach and I were kind of playing around with it, and it just happened,” Jarred said.

Jarred had been practicing a dance element called “Elusion” with coach Ann Kolasa, when she accidentally missed her foot.
“When she kind of did it, I said, ‘Wait, try that again, and this time miss your foot on purpose,’” Kolasa said.

Jarred spent two years practicing the skill, but an injury had prevented her from performing it last year. So when she qualified for nationals again as a senior, she knew it was her last chance.

The recent Lawrence High School graduate participated in the 2011 J.O. Nationals, where she placed 5th in the floor, 10th in the beam and 24th AA. She was also named 2011 State Champ AA in the bars and beam, placed second in floor and fourth in vault.

Jarred received a full athletic scholarship to compete for North Carolina State University in the fall, and said she’ll spend the summer training and maintaining her current skill level.

She’s come a long way since she first began gymnastics classes at age four, and began competing at age seven.

“When I first started, the people who were training me told my mom, ‘We want to put her on the team.’ So I guess I was doing something right,” Jarred said.

Now she practices for more than three hours a day, five days a week. She has been training at Arena Gymnastics in Hamilton for the past four years under the direction of Ann and Valdi Kolasa.

“She’s a great competitor, it’s one of her best qualities,” Ann Kolasa said. “She knows how to turn it on in competition.”

Kolasa said Jarred has a combination of skill and looks not common in most gymnasts.

“She’s a very pretty gymnast, almost like a ballerina,” Kolasa said. “Usually when you get that in gymnastics, you don’t get the power. She’s unique in that she has both qualities at same time.”

Jarred competes in vault, bars, beam and floor events, but said her best and favorite event is the beam.

“She’s a good competitor. It’s just a combination of her artistry and athleticism wrapped into same event,” Kolasa said.

But Jarred hit a roadblock on her way to finally competing nationally at level 10, the highest level of competition short of elite (Olympic-level) competition. Her junior year, she competed at J.O. Regionals, where she ended the competition on a bittersweet note. In her last vault, Jarred broke her ankle with a faulty landing. She still scored in the top 7, making her eligible to compete for the first time in level 10 at the J.O. Nationals for the first time.

But instead, Jarred was sentenced to two months of crutches before she could even begin physical therapy.

“I’m a very active person, and I had to be on crutches every day,” Jarred said. “I never thought I’d get back up to where I was.”

Though she had to give up the opportunity to compete in nationals, Jarred still spent her injury time conditioning her upper body. After several months of recovery, she was back at regular practices for the sport she’s enjoyed her whole life.

“I enjoy how it’s so much different than the other sports,” Jarred said. “It’s kind of hard to relate to any other sport, because it’s so different. You need to be flexible, strong, artistic, you need to be fast. I think it’s cool to have everything in one sport.”