During a typically busy Wednesday afternoon at the Moshofsky Center, the Oregon acrobatics and tumbling squad quietly adheres to the upcoming practice schedule. Sandwiched between the softball team, the Oregon cheerleading squad, and a handful of track athletes, head coach Felecia Mulkey holds her team’s attention despite the distractions.
Among them stands Michelle Gawlik, drooped with gray sweatpants and a baggy black sweatshirt with the yellow Oregon “O” on the chest. The junior is listed as 5-foot-0, and she’s more than swimming in her pre-practice attire.
Gawlik plays a defining role as a flyer on the acrobatics and tumbling team, with a heavy emphasis on the acrobatics portion. In the newly designed format, acrobatics and tumbling is broken down into six events: compulsories, stunt, pyramid, basket toss, tumbling and the team routine.
Gawlik has made her living in the first four events this season, soaring to the front of Oregon’s up-and-coming program.
“Going out there and going head-to-head against a stunt group from another team — that’s what I thrive on,” Gawlik said. “I love watching them go first and watching them nail it. That just gives me even more drive to hit mine.”
Spending most of the meet airborne or held high above a pyramid requires a certain level of trust between Gawlik and her teammates making up the base. It’s a relationship, she says, which is growing each day in practice.
“They have so much trust in me and I know that when we go out there, their hands are going to be in the exact same spot,” Gawlik said. “As long as I do my part, I know that they’ll do their part.”
A native of Beaverton, Gawlik began honing her talents at an early age and eventually led her Westview High School competitive cheer team to two state championships. After winning the all-around competition her sophomore year, where she took first in three of the four events, Gawlik went on to become a two-time All-American honoree as a junior and senior.
But for the past couple years, Gawlik and the Ducks became all too familiar with the waiting game. When the program was first introduced on campus in 2008-09, Oregon’s roster was seven members deep, but that number quickly quadrupled the following season as Gawlik and a slew of new faces arrived.
It didn’t take long for Oregon to establish itself as a national contender, finishing third at last year’s National Cheerleaders Association Collegiate Nationals.
Now that Oregon is finally able to compete under the acrobatics and tumbling format, which is more suited to the team’s overall strengths, Gawlik said the wait was well worth it.
“I‘ve been able to grow and change with the sport,” she said. “And it’s cool to be able to be part of that those first couple years and give my input.”
According to Mulkey, “Midge,” as her teammates call her, is a special talent who brings more than her physical skill set to each meet. Gawlik may come off as mild-mannered initially, but her drive to compete sets her apart as a leader.
“I always tell her to make sure she has her game face on, because everyone else feeds on her,” Mulkey said. “When she walks into the pyramid, or the stunts, or whatever she’s doing — ’cause you’re right, the first half is all Midge pretty much — it’s all about how she approaches it, and the people who are under her follow her.”
Gawlik, who transferred to Oregon after spending her freshman year at Oregon State, has always been fueled by competition, and she says that’s the reason she’s in Eugene today.
“That’s why I transferred into this sport,” Gawlik said. “Cheerleading was fun, and I did it for a couple years, but I love the competitive factor of it.”
With Nationals more than a month away, the Ducks will continue to feed that fire in pursuit of a national championship trophy.
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