After setting a career-high beam score last month, junior captain Delaney Garin is setting her sights on regionals this year.
Garin is one of two gymnasts to compete in beam at each meet for Temple. She has scored a 9.5 or higher in each one.
Garin scored a 9.9 on beam at the Ken Anderson Invitational, a new career-high, on Jan. 31. She also won Eastern College Athletic Conference Gymnast of the Week Honors for her performance at the invitational.
Garin is one of six Temple gymnasts to score a 9.9 or higher on the event.
“You know, you’re just trying to be out here, on the competition floor for your team,” Garin said. “But to be recognized for individual achievements … always boosts your confidence and helps you get through the next weeks of the season.”
Garin, a health professions major, started gymnastics at 4 years old and wanted to start competing because of the gymnasts’ uniforms and the “treats,” like cheese sticks and chocolate milk, her mom gave her after the events, she said.
“My mom was a gymnast in high school, and so she suggested, ‘Oh do you want to try gymnastics,’” Garin said. “And so I looked it up on the computer with her, and I saw the pretty leotards that they were wearing and I was like, ‘I want to do gymnastics because of the leotards.’”
She began to compete at 6 years old and reached Level 10 in 2013, which is USA Gymnastics’ highest level before the Elite Program.
Garin was a two-time Junior Olympic National Invitational Tournament qualifier and a 2014 Junior Olympic NIT first alternate.
“It really helped you prepare because you just learned all the skills that you do now, and so you did all the numbers when you’re here you try and save your body and do a little bit less numbers,” Garin said.
In 2019, Garin was part of the ECAC Championship beam lineup that set a new program record with a score of 49.225. The Owls won the program’s first ECAC Championship title. She earned a spot on the Division I All-ECAC Second Team on beam.
“It was just a super big goal that we’ve had since I’ve come to Temple,” Garin said. “And to actually do it, it wasn’t a surprise because that’s what we’ve been working toward.”
Junior Faith Leary, a health professions major, noticed Garin’s potential to be a top gymnast on the team and in the conference from day one. After the first time she saw Garin perform on the beam, she was “absolutely amazed,” Leary said.
“She’s very clean and very confident,” Leary added. “Everything she does, you can tell that she’s going to make it before she even starts.”
Garin also competes in floor and bars events. She has set personal records for both this season.
“Well [Garin] just keeps raising the bar,” coach Josh Nilson added. “The one big thing I’d say about [Garin] is that she outworks anyone in the gym. From last year’s stats to this year’s stats, she’s already doing way, way better. But she’s worked hard.”
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