Zaziski Celebrating Recent Success with Wolverines
2/9/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Feb. 9, 2017
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- You never know what junior Paige Zaziski might say during a practice or what celebration she might do after a routine, but as unpredictable as she is, she has been very consistent in hitting her routines the last few University of Michigan women's gymnastics meets.
Zaziski is coming off her first Big Ten weekly honor, earning Event Specialist of the Week on Monday (Feb. 6) following her performance at Maryland, where she scored 9.875 on all three of her routines. That meet continued a string of success that started with the team's home opener vs. Illinois.
After struggling in the two road meets to open the season, Zaziski was very hard on herself. As fun and lighthearted as she can be, she is extremely competitive when it comes to gymnastics.
"My family is very competitive," said Zaziski. "Also, in the gym our club coach taught us to want the best for ourself and the people around us. I was trying to figure out what I was doing wrong and my club coach just told me 'you just have to get it done' so it was just having grit and challenging myself."
She answered the call with a career-high 9.975 to win the uneven bars and draw admiration from the home crowd. The next weekend against Nebraska at home she tied for the win on bars with a 9.925 and scored 9.850 or better on both vault and balance beam. That led to another strong performance at Maryland.
When she is competing she is focused, but after the routine is over she likes to have fun.
"Everyone is different, but for me I have to focus while competing," said Zaziski. "I call it a bubble. I talk to myself a lot during routines, and my team is on my bubble. I need a vent in my bubble to keep my focus but I need my team on my bubble cheering."
Part of the turnaround for Zaziski was also competing at home after starting the season with two meets on the road. She transferred to U-M last summer from the University of Arkansas so she could be closer to home. Now only an hour away from her hometown of Chesterfield, Michigan, she has a comfort level with friends and family close by as well as a long-time friend, Nicole Artz, and former club teammate, Sam Roy, on the team with her.
"Nicole made the transition a lot easier because she knew me really well," said Zaziski. "She has done a lot for me and helps me through a lot of things even to this day."
Zaziski has an infectious personality and fit in with the team right away. She will often times say or do random things that lighten the mood and make her teammates laugh. She will tell her teammates new words she learned during the day and how to spell them. She uses her bars grips to make horse-looking figures on her teammates' arms.
"I got lucky and am really happy with all the girls on the team," said Zaziski. "They have all accepted me for who I am, and I'm thankful for that."
She has also shown compassion as well, which goes a long way. She will leave notes for her teammates in their lockers and always has encouraging, uplifting words for them. Outside of her team she applies these same characteristics during her weekly visits to C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.
Her personality has carried over to meets as well and can be seen in her post-routine celebrations. Whether it was her handshakes after vault at Maryland, snapping her fingers against Nebraska or doing a "tree and a koala" with sophomore Olivia Karas after bars against the Huskers, she has helped the team rise to No. 7 in the rankings with her high-scoring routines and fun celebrations.
What else does she have planned for this year?
"You will have to stay tuned for more because we can't reveal any of that."
Name this celebration!! Paige with a 9.875 on vault. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/niPGjO4AeK
-- Michigan Gymnastics (@UMichWGym) January 28, 2017
Well this is one way to celebrate with teammates. https://t.co/SzEAVTV7O5
-- Michigan Gymnastics (@UMichWGym) February 5, 2017
