Kara, Jerry Reighard share passon for CMU gymnastics
Chris McCarty
He visited one of the most highly recruited gymnasts in the nation: his daughter, Kara Reighard, at home.
“Kara got the feeling that I didn’t want her here,” Jerry Reighard said. “I wanted her here, but I wanted her to make her own decision.”
He said he almost missed the chance for Kara to come to CMU.
After they talked, it was evident that Kara Reighard was going to CMU. It became official in November of 2000.
“It was a great find on my part,” Jerry Reighard said.
He said it’s been a blast since Kara Reighard has become a part of the program, and being both a coach and father has been very enjoyable.
“It’s the best of both worlds,” he said. “If I was not her coach, I would never see her compete.”
He said seeing her compete is better than seeing video tapes and hearing about her compete, which would be the only way to keep in touch had Kara gone to a different school.
“I never prayed that she would come here,” Jerry Reighard said. “I prayed that she would follow where the Lord was leading her.”
Kara Reighard has enjoyed sharing both successes and failures with her father this season, she said.
“We have such a great relationship that has strengthened,” Kara Reighard said.
She said it’s a special feeling for her to hug her Dad after she scores a solid routine.
“When he tells me great job, I know he means it,” Kara Reighard said.
Now they spend more time together and have formed a unique bond, said Jerry.
“It really has been a lot of fun,” he said.
But for both of them, this is not a new situation. Her father has coached Kara Reighard, since she became interested in gymnastics.
He said it’s been rewarding to see her everyday progress, and fulfilling to be a part of her career.
Jerry said his daughter has been the typical freshman gymnast.
“She has glimmers of perfection, and then some days I wonder where it goes,” he said.
Kara is having a great season and has lived up to her potential and is learning every day about competing gymnastics at the NCAA level, Reighard said.
This year, Kara has twice been named the MAC Gymnast of the Week, and is ranked No. 6 in the NCAA Central region in the all around.
Her season-highs are a 9.775 on the vault, 9.825 on bars, 9.825 on balance beam, a 9.825 on floor exercise and a 38.8 in the all around.
Kara Reighard, a Mount Pleasant freshman, has been a part of CMU gymnastics since she was 4 years old after she took her first trip to gymnastics camp.
At age 5, she started performing mini-routines at the camp.
Kara Reighard started going to the Mount Pleasant gymnastics center at age 6 and went through 10 levels by age 13, a state champion at each level.
“I did it for fun,” she said. “My parents never pushed me, it interested me.”
Until the 10th grade, Kara Reighard rarely competed in meets outside of the Midwest region. But that was soon to change.
“She need more exposure,” Jerry said.
He said it was a tough decision to make, but Kara Reighard needed to compete throughtout the country.
So her family entrusted Kara Reighard to John Figaroa and he became her new full-time coach.
She joined Kentwood USA Gymnastics Club in Grand Rapids and joined a team with five other athletes.
She won the all around championship at the Florida Twisters Invitational, won the California Classic all around championship and the New Orleans Mardi Gras Madness all around.
Kara Reighard also was a member of the Junior Olympic national team for three years.
She took time off from competing with back problems and stopped traveling to meets her senior year.
“I was burned out and not sure if I wanted to continue to do gymnastics,” Kara Reighard said.
Jerry Reighard said he looks forward to the day when they are the first father/daughter team at the NCAA nationals.
Before that night when Kara Reighard talked with her father, she said there was a lot of tension in the family.
The nation’s top NCAA gymnastics programs were recruiting her, such as Michigan, UCLA, Alabama, Nebraska and Auburn among others.
“It was flattering,” Kara Reighard said. “But I never paid attention to any of the letters.”
She said at least three letters a day came for her offering scholarships. Instead of throwing them out, Kara Reighard kept them in a large shopping bag and never replied.
“Deep down, I guess I always knew I would come to Central,” she said.
Jerry Reighard said by her choice she didn’t take a lot of recruiting visits.
“She never wanted to make a trip, just to say she visited that university,” he said.
Finally, her parents forced her to visit Auburn, a university that pursued her very hard. It was Kara’s only recruiting trip.
“I hated it,” she said. “They didn’t do gymnastics right.”
Kara Reighard said the academics were poor, the coaches were not dedicated to the team and the team was developing bad habits, which were the same problems with the other programs.
But for her, Central was the perfect fit.
“I could not imagine going anywhere else,” Kara Reighard said.
