Shoreline Gymnastics: Consistency And A Title: Valley Regional's Katie Frese

Consistency And A Title: Valley Regional's Katie Frese
The Hartford Courant
April 23, 2009

Katie Frese, a sophomore at Valley Regional High School, has been named the The Hartford Courant's gymnast of the year. (STEPHEN DUNN / HARTFORD COURANT / April 2, 2009)

Katie Frese Valley Regional-Deep River
Class: Sophomore

Coach: Carl Cavrell

Accomplishments: Led Valley Regional's team of four (three sophomores, one junior) to its first Class S championship. ... Placed first in the all-around at the Class S meet with a score of 8.94. Also finished first in the vault (9.2), uneven bars (8.9) and floor exercise (9.075), and tied for second in the balance beam (8.6). ... Helped Valley to a second-place finish at the State Open, where she was seventh in the all-around (8.8) and tied for fifth in the vault (9.2). ... Had the fifth-highest regular season average in the vault (9.12).

Frese said: "I think I did really well. I struggled on beam, but I pulled it together on the other events. It feels really good [to win the Class S meet] because no one really knew we had a gymnastics team. We're finally getting recognition."

Cavrell said: "She's consistent across the board. She doesn't freak out or get flustered. You're comfortable knowing she's up. It's kind of like how it was with A-Rod and Joe Torre. You know she's going to get it out of the infield."

Up next: Competing in the USA Competitive League and hopes to qualify for regionals. ... Wants to follow up the Class S win with a better performance, individually and as a team, at next year's State Open.

In 10 years: "I never want to stop doing gymnastics. I don't know if I'm going to do it really competitively, but I definitely want to keep going and I'm going to try my hardest to be able to do it in college."

Miscellaneous: Frese and her teammates were honored at a school assembly on March 31 for their Class S win. ... Has been in gymnastics since she was 6. ... Best friend is Melissa Luster, also a Valley and USA gymnast and member of the All-Courant team. "It's really fun," Frese said. "We don't really compete; we always cheer each other on." ... She is a vegetarian. "It's always grossed me out to eat meat." ... Her aunt, Diana Frese-Marchese, got her into gymnastics and owns Shoreline Gymnastics, where Frese trains. ... Favorite meal is pasta. ... Enjoys science and says she'll probably pursue it in college.

— Justin Verrier