1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Kinsey Davis (Nebraska Gymnastics): July 11th, 10am

Episode Date: July 11, 2022

Getting to know Kinsey, as she will be taking over Talkin' TensAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's time to go one-on-one with D.P. Coming at you live from the couple Chevrolet GMC Studios. Here is your host, Derek Pearson, brought you by Mary Ellen's Food for the Soul, on 93-7 The Ticket and the Ticketfm.com. Welcome to it on a Monday one-on-one. Thank you guys for hanging out with us, and we've got a good one for you, so buckle up. Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter Live,

This video stream is up so you can see what's going on. Thank the folks from Mary Allen's Food for the Soul for taking care of our student athletes. We sent several of them out there last night to get their first taste and sampling of Charles Phillips and what he does out there. And, of course, the reviews were exceptional. Fried chicken, catfish, whatever your thing is. Charles hooks you up. So we can do that. 402-464-5-6-85, the starter hamann text on the Honda-Lincoln Hotline.

if you want to be a part of what we're doing and participate in the conversation. As a part of what we do and in the evolution of the ticket, the student athletes are building their own way and kind of setting themselves up, getting comfortable in front of microphones and telling their story rather than having people tell their story. And it's much more interesting to get their perspective on what it means to be a Husker and how they get through their week from day to day and from practice to practice or game to game.

We talk about their families and how they ended up in Lincoln, Nebraska. Because quite frankly, each one is a pretty amazing story of a lot of really amazing people accumulating in one space to get a student athlete here to Lincoln, Nebraska. One of those people joins us today, and I'm thrilled, because she's going to take over what was talking tens, and we don't know what she's going to call it yet.

We'll kind of pick her brain on that as well, but she's all everything. Scholastic, All-America, 4.0 GPA. Did I get that right? Yes, sir. Look at you. Look at you. Let's bring in Kinsey Davis from Nebraska Gymnastics. How are you? Welcome back. Thank you. I'm doing well. Like this whole thing, this whole process. and getting to know and giving exposure to all the student athletes who are willing to share those parts of their person.

And it's a lot. Like it's a lot. But in this, I'm able to identify pretty quickly people who would succeed at this. And so when you came on talking tens and I went, yep, that's the next one right there. There she is. There she is. No, good stuff all around. So first of all, you got to go home.

How was home? What did you do this summer? It was good. So I went home for six weeks about. And I had planned several trips before I left Lincoln. And I told my parents, I was like, by the way, I'm going to be in and out. I have my plans. Like, don't mind me.

They had a car for me, which I'm very grateful for. It was my sister's car. And she recently was able to buy a new one. so she's, you know, moving up in life. So I was like, let me use your car. So I'm grateful for that. But one of the first things I did the first or second weekend was I went to the beach. I went to Wrightsville Beach in Wilmington and visited one of my high school friends who goes to UNCW.

And she lives in the cutest little beach house and works at the cutest little seafood place. And we just had like a couple beach days for like four days, I think. and yeah I really knew that I'm not even a beach girl because I'm a redhead so I heard and I haven't been to the beach and I don't remember how long but yeah I was excited to go and then the following weekend I went to the mountains my aunt has a cabin up in Bryson City oh yeah it's really pretty up there um oh your accent just came out your accent just came oh you look look look look she She let a little bit of Carolina out.

She did. Leave her alone. That's so good. No, that's amazing. Like, I'm always intrigued because... Wait, on what word? There, you went... Oh, it's really pretty.

You went all the way out. That's amazing. It happens. No, I think it should happen more. I think it should happen more. Because not everybody's from here. And so sharing who you are is important. It allows people to know that home matters deep down.

I mean, you're a Carolinian, so you just happen to be a Husker. And the two things combined. Let's talk about how you got here. And usually that starts with the parents. Let's talk about the family. Who are mom and dad? Well, my mom and my dad are UNL alumni. They were both in the gymnastics team here.

Both had a similar path to myself, got recruited, ended up going to Nebraska for gymnastics. My mom is from Chicago, but she trained in Oregon for a little while. And then my dad's from Georgia in Atlanta. So they met here at Nebraska, actually the first week of school, and the rest is history. That's a great story. That's a great story. Yeah, unfortunately, I did not follow in those. footsteps. I'm still waiting for my prince charming.

Own path. I mean, it could be somebody you met the first week. You don't know. Maybe, I guess. Come back around. Yeah, that would be a full circle moment. You got a whole other year this year coming where you actually get to be social again and you get to meet folks. Did they tell you why they picked Nebraska? I think just for the same opportunities of, you know, going far and really prioritizing gymnastics in school, the same resources I have today. My dad, he ended up going to the Olympics in 1988 the year he graduated from here. So I think that he was set on that. And, you know, Nebraska was the place to do that. And that was his goals. So, yeah, he had a successful college career and then went right off to the

Olympics to kind of hit his peak. And then I feel like, you know, in the back of his mind, he wanted to accomplish that. And same for my mom's strong gymnastics program. She had gone on a couple visits and she tells me how she was telling her parents she wanted to visit Nebraska and they're like what and then she went and she was like yeah I'm going to go here and they're like okay I guess this is a thing so give give the names mom and dad um my mom is Elizabeth uh Bertolotti made a name Davis and my dad is Kevin Davis that's I mean look that legacy thing matters oh it does I literally like part of the reason that I did commit here is not because of my parents but because when I got here, their names were on the wall,

and my dad's face was on the wall. And I was like, oh, wow, that is really pretty insane, actually. And everybody knew them. There was a small little Lincoln family and community around here, and the legacy does absolutely matter. I mean, like, it made a big deal out of that. Well, I mean, and to think that as you're being recruited, did you reach out to Nebraska or did Nebraska reach out to you?

How did that work? Both. I think I reached out to Nebraska kind of in a lump sum of like several schools and then kind of like had, you know, my order of, because I was pretty young. I was like an eighth grade. So I, but they were one of the last schools I visited. I stayed around home a little bit just because I think I was younger and I, you know, wasn't super deep into the recruiting process yet. And I was like, oh, I'll stay around here. And then as I got older and competed more and more Big Ten school started showing interest, I started actually, you know, hopping on a plane and going on an unofficial and doing that type of thing. But I think both, I think they really demonstrated a strong, like, recruiting moment for me, which also is great because that's what made me ultimately feel like really wanted in the program and not just like, oh, come if you want. Like, you know. The one factor matters.

It does. You said you walked in campus. You saw their names and you saw them in this space. what else did you see the first time you came to Nebraska and looked around as a potential student athlete? Well, we drove from Kansas City the first time, so I saw a lot of corn on the drive from Kansas City to Lincoln. But then after that, I was pleasantly surprised because I think the first time I came, I was 15, like, barely. And I didn't know what to expect in Nebraska. Like, that is really, like, halfway across country for me.

I don't know. So I think that in the back of my mind I was a little nervous. I didn't know what it was going to be like. I thought it was really going to be actual cornfield and nothing. So I do remember stepping on the campus and kind of seeing like downtown and Haymarket. And I do remember being like, wait, this is so cute. And so I think I was like pleasantly surprised. And, you know, we have this amazing facility now, the Allen Training Center.

But even before at Mabel Lee, like that was a huge gym. like compared to my club gym. So even that was just, of course, like as a young athlete, when you don't think about school or anything, just like starstruck with, you know, the resources athletically. So, yeah, everything, like, checked out really good. We're talking to Kinsey Davis of Huskers Women's Gymnastics and coming off quite the year,

um, relocating yourself in the program, right? It's pretty cool to watch. You talked about the early recruiting at, at, at, at, at, at, at, at, at, at, at, at, at, at, at, at, at, at, grade? How is it possible to know what you want to do and where you want to do it at that age? How is that possible? In my opinion, I don't really think it is fully, truthfully. I've seen it before when people commit pretty young and they fall all the way through and they end up loving the school and I think that it can work out like that. But I kind of had to be, you know, aware of others around me were saying, you know, my parents definitely wanted me to make a good choice,

not on the flashy, you know, gyms. Like, you know, it's my dad, actually, he always said it's not what you train in. It's like what you do in the gym, like not where you train. But, yeah, honestly, I think a lot of highly competitive schools who are recruiting all kind of offer, you know, good resources academically and athletically. So I don't think you can go super wrong there. but there's definitely is differences in schools. Even like our life skills has been incredibly helpful to me for what my goals are,

which I recently got the Sam Fultz Award at the night of the lead. And my goal is to get heart and soul by my senior year. So that relies on a lot of community service and like extra activities outside the gym and outside of school. And this is something that I want to do myself, that no one's like making me do, but I'm just passionate about it. And so each program might not care so much about that. They might only, you know, throw the sport down your throat or something like that, as well as just, I don't know, offering different things.

So when you are young that way, you don't really know what you want until you're older. How will you provide the sort of service and service level that you're talking about? Like, how do you want to affect this community while you're here? Well, some things I've done is I visit with a superfan Stuart Shepard. I'm sure you guys are aware. I like to visit with him as often as I can. We've thrown a birthday party for him. I've also volunteered at like cry schools, daycare.

I'm not sure entirely where it is now off the top of my head, but that was really fun. Some of my teammates and I went. And then overall, towards the end of season and the semester, there was locally going on school is cool and um i was asked if i wanted to talk at some of the elementary schools um and i said yes i would love to do that and myself and like three other people would go one including nicklin hames who's obviously a huge name here um so i just kind of want to jump at those opportunities so really anything that gives back to like kids around the community or

you know, special needs or anything like that that I can offer that, you know, can help someone or just like make someone excited. I can tell you that you're going to have, you haven't met your super fan yet. Her name's Ellie. It's true. Rico's daughter. She's adorable and she loves her. She's a firecracker.

We got a pool, a bigger pool than we had. And we just hung out in it this weekend. Let's see. Oh, she, oh yeah, she's got a spunky personality, I can tell. How old is she? She is, she just turned three last month. Oh, my gosh, she's a baby. She is a problem.

Oh, my gosh, wait, side now, if you ever want me to babysit, I love little kids. I'm in wanting to babysit somebody. You don't understand. This is why I said. She's so cute. Well, she also has a little brother who turns one next month. Oh, my gosh, even better. Babies.

I have such baby fever right now. I will babysit your children. He is also a problem. well that's because you're he's a he's not that much bigger than the other babies in the baby room at daycare

but apparently he's a bully oh my gosh what's his name uh cade we call him kj oh my gosh kj's my nickname yeah there you go perfect this is I knew this what happened

I absolutely do this one I absolutely knew no no I absolutely knew this was gonna happen like here you go take these yeah this is this is how like you were the I'm a when it comes to student athletes, a lot of its energy and vibe.

And you can tell whether somebody's legitimately into the thing that they're into. And those people draw you into what they're doing, which is why I know Husker fans are going to fall deeper in love with you because you have the spirit. Like, 4.0 student, 4.0 doesn't happen by accident. where does that come from with you where does is it because you it can't be accidental it has to be purposeful where does it come from i just have this fire inside of me i'm such a perfectionist like i seriously since i've been like eight years old it's just like if i'm going to do something i'm going to do it all the way and i'm going to commit everything or nothing but what's funny is i've always tried my best i've always worked hard but in high school i did not get straight as i mean i'd

get several Bs. I was awful at math. I'm still awful at math. And I was like, whatever. And, you know, that's fine too. But then when I got to college, I just, you know, I was going to try. And then I was doing well. And then I wanted to try harder. And then once I got it the first time, I was like, oh my gosh. And then once I saw I was capable of it, I've just been like, I know where the bar is set now. So I just strive for that every time. But I definitely have also maybe had a tear fall when I got my first A-minus in college, which, yeah. But it's been two semesters since that happened, so I've gotten four-ohs both times. I can see you're tearing up just talking about it. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. That's the one that ruined my cumulative, but it's okay.

What, because you're a perfectionist and that gymnasters is such a detailed, detailed sport. What's more difficult? The 4.0, or the 10? Oh, the 10. Controllable at all? Partly. Also. Oh, that is so hard.

Although judges. Although judges. Well, that can come with teachers too because they can grade stuff and be like, well. You fail at this. Wasn't good. Right. Right.

That paper. No. I think, like, how feasible it is. Okay. Here's a perfect example. Once I got it the first time, I don't think I was expecting that, as I just mentioned. Like, I was just going to try and it kind of happened. But then once I did get it, I was like, oh, I can totally do it.

The 10 has yet to come. So I don't think that it's like too far out of reach, but it definitely is intimidating because it hasn't happened. So it still is like a hypothetical. Is this an all-around year for you? Is this where you want to be? the last person performing on every event? I would love to.

Unfortunately, I don't think Floor will happen. Why? I have a really bad back, and I'm already not a super strong tumbler. And again, the thing about trying and going all the way is, like, when I did try to tumble a lot, it was just kind of hindering all my other events as well. I have, like, a really bad back.

And so I can't train the same as everyone, or if I try to, then I, like, can't walk, the next day. So I did try. I always try, but I came in, you know, messing around with some stuff, but, you know, ultimately not ready to put a routine together. And then coming into my sophomore year, I tried more. I tried really to think about what passes, you know, I could do. And I kind of went all the way through the fall until it got around time to really put it on like the floor and the hard landings. And we had an inner squad coming up and I kind of like landed wrong and it hurt my back. And then I was like, well, now I don't know if I can do everything else.

And then once I, you know, that just set me back a couple days. But once I did come back, I was like, okay, I'm just going to focus on three events. And that's what happened. And then I, you know, honestly excelled this year with just the three. So my theory is just to do those three as perfect as I can. And, you know, part of me wants to chase floor, but not if it's going to affect everything else. So we'll see, you know, not out of picture, but right now, not. not really what I'm working towards.

Help me with this, because watching the rotations and watching the different members of the roster kind of being maneuvered and manipulated. But I noticed that the person who anchors this thing has a different level of responsibility and there's a different accountability because everything's in front of you. You can see what people are doing. You have to wait. you know your preparation time kind of fall how do you handle being at the back end of the three events because you see everybody else and you get to hear Heather coaching them all how do you

handle that this is a really good question um I don't think I've entirely figured it out I mean I I manage it but it's not like entirely comfortable um bars I try to remember remember that, as you said, there's kind of a different responsibility, and it's just common knowledge that if you are towards the back, it's kind of a more dependable role, and maybe you've like, you know, earned that for a reason. So on bars, I try to think, like, I've earned this to get myself confident and, like, less insecure. Vol, we have already talked about, so I don't even think about anything on Vol. Like, I don't even know. If you put me, like, anywhere in VAL, I feel like I'd do it the same every time. Um, and then Bars is just trying to get myself to

feel confident, like trying to not, you know, think about each individual person. Like, it's hard, especially warming up when you're like, okay, three have warmed up or I'm after her, I'm after her, because you have to know when you're coming. But I try to like, you can't make it speed up anymore. So I try to just focus on myself and remember that, you know, I'm there for a reason. And then Beam, that's an interesting story because my freshman year, I was definitely like second or third. And I was fine with that. If you put me up like, second like perfect but again with the kind of it means something to be later and then this year um i changed my routine around i put a triple series in i really wanted to strive for like um a little

bit more difficulty because freshman year i couldn't quite break the nine eights um and i saw some of my teammates with the more unique routine scoring higher and that's exactly what happened to me so um once i kind of upped this skill it was just about remaining consistent i mean it's about my performance at the end of the day and not so much my teammates like how i can help the team is doing my job so that's how i you know approached practice and the inner squads and then um eventually i just started getting moved back until finally i was like fifth and then but that was scary for me because even the first meet i had a bad first meet um of this past season and i was like it's because i'm so late in the lineup and then i like moved up slightly but then she moved me back later and i just

it is just repetition on the floor like doing dance doing dance and pretending that it's been like two minutes instead of 10 but yeah that's difficult because you do get cold and you do get worried because you're thinking more and you see the scores you see the scores in front of you're like oh which i do sometimes try not to look i don't know if you ask me in season i'm sure i'd have like a better you know telling of what's true because i feel like do i look or do i not look i don't really know but yeah i mean at some point in time i had to go for from literally second to towards the very end. And there's several times, especially on being, like, that's kind of the trickiest, like, whatever, trying to actually stay on the apparatus. Like, definitely you can hear a fall or you can see a fall. And I had to go after a fall, like, more than one time, and I knew they fell. But I just, you know, once I'm up there, I'm in my own group.

I don't think about that. I'm trying to do my own job, you know. There's so much to this. We have a couple of texts I want to get to as well. We'll throw it to break here. Kenzie Davis from Husker Gymnastics is with us on one-on-one. You've got to talk about the coaches in your family. We've got to talk about the rest of this roster.

We've got lots to cover here on one-on-one. Download our app by searching 93.7. The Ticket in your app store. You're listening to One-on-One-on-One with DP on 93-7 the Ticket in the Ticketfm.com.