In more than 40 years of operation Palmer’s Gymnastics, Inc., has produced two United States Gymnastics Association national champions.

Sarah Beste was a Level 9 champion in 2005. In May, Maggie Lundeen became the second champ to emerge from the Bloomingdale facility.

At USAG’s National Invitational Tournament in Puyallup, Wash., near Seattle, the St. Charles resident and Level 10 gymnast posted a score of 9.4 on her floor exercise to capture the national title in the event. It was her first trip the NIT meet.

“I knew if I hit my routine I could place. I worked hard and put my best floor routine of the year out there,”  Lundeen said. “It was really cool to win. It felt good. It shows that if you work hard it pays off.”

It also paid off with a third-place finish on beam and a sixth-place showing in the all-around scoring.

Hard work is the norm for Lundeen, who will be a junior at St. Charles North in the fall. But she had to take it to another level after undergoing surgery on her right knee last August and recovering from a twice-broken left arm a year and a half ago. She admits that her knee still hurts sometimes, but one of her strengths is overcoming adversity.

“She’s very strong willed,” said Jason MacDonald, who has coached Lundeen at Palmer’s for a year and a half and previously coached her at another club for nearly four years. “She has a high pain tolerance and she just pushes through things. She has an idea of what she wants, and she goes for her goals.

“She’s very self-disciplined and very self-motivated.”

That’s why MacDonald expected Lundeen to place well at the NIT. She had qualified for state meets several times before and won a few events at that level of competition, but even as she recovered from her injuries, she was consistently among the top placers at the events in which she competed.

“She’s been doing well on floor all year,” MacDonald said. “She’s been first or top three in all her events, so it was not a big surprise that she placed that high (at nationals).”

MacDonald was not able to travel to Washington for the meet as his wife was expecting to give birth, so Palmer’s vice president and girls program director Debbie Palmer accompanied Lundeen. Her emotions were off the charts when Lundeen’s score won the floor.

“I got gooshy eyed,” Palmer said. “It was great. She had a couple nagging injuries but she worked her toosh off (to get there) and it paid off.”

For Lundeen, it was a high-water mark in a gymnastics career that has spanned most of her life. She started training at the age of 4 and entered her first competitions at 7. She made sure her trip to the NIT wouldn’t be in vain.

In advance of the meet she upped the difficulty on her floor routine in hopes of posting a top score.

“I tried to play it safe at state and regionals because I wanted to make sure I qualified for nationals,” Lundeen said. “For nationals I upgraded my floor routine. You have to upgrade at nationals. I was off the bar for two months because I wanted to focus on my floor routine.

“I already had a pretty strong floor routine, but I added a harder ending pass, the last pass the judges see of your routine. It felt good. I think they liked it.”

The national title isn’t the end for Lundeen. With two more years of competition ahead of her before college, she is hoping to avoid the injury bug, add a couple more national titles and move on to collegiate gymnastics.

“An injury-free run is my goal, and have fun my last two years. I want to enjoy this,” Lundeen said.

“She definitely can get a college scholarship,” MacDonald said. “That’s what she wants. We’ll work on getting her routine ready for college and getting back to nationals next year.”

Maggie Lundeen at NIT meet
EVENT        SCORE    PLACE
Floor              9.4         1st
Beam            9.35        3rd
Vault            9.125       16th
Bars              8.30        13th
All-around    36.175      6th

For more
Lundeen trains at Palmer’s Gymnastics in Bloomingdale. To find out more about the programs Palmer’s offers, a directory of staff and to take a photo tour of the gym, visit www.palmersports.com.