Focus and determination.

These two words define the character of Pitt’s April Pearson,… Focus and determination.

These two words define the character of Pitt’s April Pearson, senior co-captain of the women’s gymnastics team.

After she tore her right ACL twice in high school, not many gymnastics programs considered Pearson. However, one coach in western Pennsylvania still thought the Florida native had potential.

Pitt head coach Debbie Yohman needed one more recruit, one capable of competing on the uneven bars, and offered Pearson a scholarship.

Pearson liked Yohman’s interest despite her history of knee injuries.

“Coach Yohman told me that she was confident that I’d still be a strong competitor,” Pearson said. “She said I had a good head on my shoulders and good leadership skills.”

Pearson proved Yohman’s choice a risk worth taking, competing in all but one event in her first season.

Pearson, an applied developmental psychology major, started on the uneven bars as a freshman, then moved to the vault and floor as a sophomore. Her dexterity made the switch easy.

“The judges always liked her,” Yohman said. “She brings energy and talent to each event, and really shows that she enjoys what she does.”

Pearson began her junior year with a solid performance at Penn State in Pitt’s first meet of the year. But then disaster struck.

Pearson rolled her ankle landing off the vault and began feeling tightness in her foot.

“I landed really short off the vault, and I definitely felt it,” Pearson said. “There was a lot of pressure on my foot, but I just wanted to tape it up and keep competing. I really wanted to finish the meet.”

Following the injury, doctors and trainers kept both Pearson and Yohman in suspense. The diagnosis took some time, and when it came, it was bad news.

Pearson had torn a ligament in her ankle. Her season was over.

“It was so hard to hear, so disappointing,” Yohman said. “We really missed her, but gymnastics is a tough sport and gymnasts are competitive kids. April wasn’t going to just give up.”

Pearson started treatment on her ankle, doing simple exercises and stretching, regaining her strength and endurance.

The competitor inside Pearson wanted to come back right away, but her memory of the past injuries – combined with advice from her mother and coach – slowed her down. She decided to gradually work her way back with thorough rehabilitation.

“We wanted to make sure she was fully healthy before she came back,” Yohman said. “She still had a full year of eligibility left, so we didn’t want her to rush anything.”

Pearson’s mother, Yvette, knows her daughter, and understood the competitive nature of April yearned to see time on the mat once again.

“When she got hurt again, it was really discouraging for her,” Yvette Pearson said. “This time she needed to take things slowly. I listened to her make her own choices. She’s an adult and she makes the right decisions for her body and mind.”

Pearson kept working her muscles and maintaining her strength. Words of encouragement from her support system and a dedication to healing fueled a strong recovery.

The senior competed for the first time since her ankle injury at Michigan State on Jan. 14. Pearson worked the uneven bars, helping Pitt to a second-place finish and victory over Western Michigan.

During the all-day events that meets tend to be, Pearson keeps her mother in touch via text messaging.

“I just want to make sure she is doing well and feeling OK,” Yvette Pearson said. “She is enjoying her time back in competition and I am 100 percent behind her.”

Pearson’s return to competition in the 2006 campaign allows a chance for redemption. To Pearson, it feels great to be back. She wants to help the eight new freshmen on the team improve while being the best she can be.

“My role now is to be a role model, to be a leader for the team,” Pearson said. “I really want the younger girls to carry on the tradition of this team after I’ve left.”

Coach Yohman expects her co-captain’s leadership and toughness to take center stage in Pearson’s senior season.

“April tells it like it is and is very, very effective as a team leader,” Yohman said. “Even if she wasn’t able to compete, I know that she would still help her teammates improve and support the team.”

In the minds of those aware of her past, the sight of landing hard off the vault or uneven bars might send shivers down their spines. But Pearson says the pain is gone.

“I still have to ice my ankle and knee after each meet, but it’s the same for every gymnast,” Pearson said. “I just focus on what I’m doing and push the other things out of my mind.”

Pearson wants to fully complete her comeback by competing in the vault, uneven bars and the floor exercise.

“I get really pumped doing the floor,” Pearson said. “I like to pace before the vault, relax before the bars, and just mentally prepare for each event as if it were the only thing I do.”

But just being back isn’t enough for Pearson. She wants to challenge for the top spots in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League.

“She is back and ready to compete,” Yohman said. “Kids with her focus and drive always fight hard and show toughness.”