As a champion gymnast and pole-vaulter, Nikki Carroll relies on her superior balance. But when she found out that she won the Amateur Athletic Union High School Sullivan Award, she became uncharacteristically shaky on her feet.
(Photos courtesy of Nikki Carroll)
“I was just so shocked. I couldn’t even believe what she was saying,” Carroll recalled about the phone call confirming she won the award. “I had to hold onto the table that was next to me. I almost fell on the floor.”
While the AAU hands out the award to four male and four female athletes around the country, just one of each wins the top prize of $10,000 in scholarship money. Carroll, who lives in Land O’ Lakes, beat out hundreds of applicants around the country to take the top female athlete prize.
Her athletic accomplishments are impressive – she’s a two-time high school state pole vaulting champion, and she took the top all-around position for gymnastics at the AAU Junior Olympic Games.
But, it takes more than physical skill to win the top Sullivan prize. In addition to participating in at least one AAU sport, athletes are also judged on academics, leadership and character, and had to prepare essay responses on the application.
In those areas, Carroll also compared favorably to her peers. She maintained a 3.7 grade point average in high school, coached younger athletes over the summer and volunteered at Feeding America Tampa Bay, where she sorted food and distributed it to the needy.
She won’t win any medals by volunteering, but Carroll said the result is rewarding just the same.
“It’s such a great feeling, being able to help other people,” she said.
Helping young athletes learn new skills was particularly rewarding, Carroll said. Perhaps that’s because she used to be one of those young athletes herself. She’s been doing gymnastics since she was around 5 years old, and her dedication to two sports has required much of her limited free time. At Tampa Catholic High School, Carroll spent several hours a day after school on gymnastics, whether it was beam, bars, floor or vault work. Weekends meant a trip to Merritt Island to practice pole vaulting at Pole Vault City.
And that doesn’t count the out-of-state traveling. As an AAU participant, Carroll travels to places like Iowa and New York to compete in gymnastics and pole vaulting events. She’s been to the Big Apple several times just this year, she said.
She has enjoyed competing against athletes from different states.
She also has had the chance to meet coaches, too, who have provided valuable advice and critiques on her form. She’s even planning to attend a camp run by a coach she met at a competition.
Now that she’s graduated high school, Carroll’s schedule will change.
But it won’t get easier.
She’ll miss gymnastics, but pole vaulting will become a priority, since it earned her a full scholarship to the University of South Florida.
Her academic studies will focus on integrative biology in pursuit of a career in either trauma medicine or forensics.
And the $10,000 in scholarship money won’t hurt, either.
While the monetary prize and the state champion accolades are nice, Carroll is most proud of not just being named a Sullivan winner, but in taking the top female spot out of all eligible high school athletes.
“This is on a whole other level than everything else that I’ve done,” Carroll said.
Published July 15, 2015
