Illing Student Competes at National Gymnastics Competition

He took up gymnastics on a whim, but Shaun Herzog already has competed in places like Knoxville, Cincinnati, and even California, while being coached by an Olympic gold medalist.

Not bad, considering he is only 14 and says he gets his satisfaction simply from “all the flipping and jumping I get to do.”

An eighth-grader at Illing Middle School, Shaun’s latest trip came a few weeks ago, when he traveled to Long Beach, Calif., to compete in the Junior National Championships.

He advanced to the finals in two events and finished 41st all-around out of over 300 gymnasts – leaving his parents proud and appreciative of the benefits they get while they enjoy the ride.

“He’s taken us to places we probably would never have been to,” said Bill Herzog, Shaun’s dad.

Bill and Kelly first realized their son’s talents when they watched him jumping and rolling around on a trampoline in their backyard in Manchester when Shaun was only five. They signed him up for some classes at Wininger’s in town, and by his second visit the staff asked to add him to their team. Even at this young age, Shaun took advantage of this chance to get a taste of the gymnastics world by entering basic events and adjusting to the sense of competition. He was something of a prodigy at Wininger’s, and after two years made the switch to the Tri-Town gym in Vernon to compete at a higher level. While increasing his skills rapidly, Sean won two Connecticut state championships in the next four years.

At one of those regional meets came perhaps the most pivotal swing thus far in Shaun’s young career, when the Tim Daggett School noticed his unique skills and recruited Shaun to join them at their club in Agawam, Mass. Daggett is one of the biggest names in American gymnastics, winning gold and bronze medals in the 1984 Los Angeles Games and currently serving as the lead television commentator for NBC’s coverage of the Olympics. Shaun’s experiences at Daggett’s helped him to qualify for nationals three times.

There is an added benefit to the academy as well – Daggett’s son, Peter, is Shaun’s age, and the two are good friends while also providing each other with elite competition. In fact, Peter won this year’s Massachusetts state championship with Shaun barely finishing second, while Shaun had edged out Peter to win the year before.

Shaun and Peter will likely be seeing a lot of each other this summer, because even though Nationals are over with, there’s not much of an offseason in gymnastics. Shaun, who specializes in the floor routine, must continue to train 20 hours a week just to maintain a competitive edge. “It’s not like some other sports,” said Kelly. “If he even takes a month off, it will take three more to get him back to where he was.”

As he gets set to enter high school in the fall, Shaun plans on sticking with gymnastics through the coming years and hopes to compete in college. And of course, since he is often in the midst of Olympic-caliber coaches and athletes, the ultimate goal of qualifying for the Games is always a possibility.

But he doesn’t let the potential of the years ahead deter him from doing what he loves. For Shaun, the enjoyment is still all the flipping and jumping, with everything else merely a bonus. Makes sense, because it all goes back to his time as just a little boy fooling around on the trampoline.