Docksiders Gymnastics Dreams
Build a Wolfpack Legacy
Rachel Fincham and Stephanie Ouellette have competed side by side at Docksiders Gymnastics since they were 7 years old. The girls have traveled the same path for more than 11 years as teammates and friends. Though their birthdays are separated by only 3 months, they are a year apart in school. Rachel is a senior at Annapolis Area Christian School and will graduate in a few weeks; Stephanie, a junior at Long Reach High School, will graduate next year. However, their separation next month will not be long-lived as Stephanie and Rachael will reunite at North Carolina State University as Wolfpack gymnasts in 2010.
Heading into their final month of Junior Olympic competition together they reflect fondly on growing up in the gym: sleepovers, birthday parties, team outings and seemly-endless practices bring back laughter and tears. They have grown up together as competitors, mutual supporters … and ‘sisters.’ With 26 hours per week of training, and cross-country travel for most weekends of a six-month competitive season, they spend more time together than most siblings.
Future Wolfpack members Stephanie Ouellette & Rachel Fincham at the 2009 EAGL (Eastern Atlantic Gymnastics League) Championships hosted at NC State University. NC State won the Championships and Steph & Rachel were in the stands cheering them on!
Rachel is a 3-time Junior National competitor who was the Maryland State Champion in 2008. Rachel reached her highest place in the All-Around at JO Nationals in 2007 where she earned 8th place overall. Stephanie is a 4 time Junior National Competitor and placed 6th All-Around in 2006. She was a 3 time Maryland State All-Around winner, in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and last year she was the 2008 Regional All-Around Champion. Both girls excel on different gymnastics events and have their favorites, but both are also very strong All-Around competitors. They will once again compete in the same age group at Regionals for a coveted spot on the National Team. This year will be their last year as Docksider teammates, and possibly as National Team members. At the end of this season Rachel will conclude her years as a Docksider gymnast and head off to college to continue her education and participate in collegiate gymnastics. Stephanie will continue on to her senior year without Rachel by her side.
Rachel committed to NC State University for a full athletic scholarship in the spring of 2008. In November she signed her National Letter of Intent, which binds her to the university like a contract. Because she is a year ahead in high school Rachel made her choice first, but not without asking Steph for her thoughts. Steph advised Rachel that she needed to make her own decision about what would be right for her. She knew that when it was her turn next year she would do the same. Stephanie had always considered going to NC State, and after her unofficial visit to the university campus in September of 2008 she put it at the top of her list of possible schools. After visiting several other schools across the US she made a verbal commitment to NC State. Rachel and Steph were both heavily recruited by many schools with top gymnastics programs before they decided to join the NC State team. Both liked the climate of North Carolina as well as it being on the East Coast and close to home making frequent visits possible. Due to their rigorous gymnastics training and school schedule the girls will not get breaks like most college students. They will get only a week at Christmas, no Spring Break since it is in the middle of their travel season, and summer school will take up most of their summer break. Being able to come home for the occasional weekend visit will make it much easier on both girls.
Rachel has this to say about NC State, “Academically, I chose NC State because of their excellent scholastic reputation and their superb science program. After meeting the girls on the gymnastics team and visiting the campus I knew that NC State was my first and only choice to spend my college years. And I believe that the Wolfpack coaching staff and team are the best in the NCAA! I am so lucky that I will have the opportunity to be part of the Wolfpack family, and I am excited about the next four years of my life. I am so excited that Steph and I will be attending NC State together! Not only is Steph one of my very best friends, but she is also a great teammate. We have trained together for a long time and she always knows just how to push me to become a better gymnast. Together we plan to work hard to help the Wolfpack and I know that we can do it because the two of us make a great team!”
Stephanie has dreamed about being part of NC State’s team ever since she saw some of the older girls from the Docksiders program go off to compete there. She sums it up by saying, “I can't believe I get to be a Wolfpack team member! I have always loved watching the girls in this program compete. There is so much camaraderie and team spirit between them, and now I get to be a part of it all. Finding a college was so stressful, everyone pulls you in different directions and tries to help you choose. One of my old teammates, who is out of college now, told me that I would know it when I visited the right campus. She was right! When I visited NC State it felt so right. It was easy to say “Yes!” I can’t wait to join my teammate Rachel when I go to college. We have been great friends and training buddies forever. I know our competitiveness will push us both and make the Wolfpack team that much stronger. It will be very exciting to finish my gymnastics career with someone who has been by my side all along the way. It will make it that much more valuable of an experience. NC State has it all. Great coaches, great team girls, top notch academics and my Rachel!!"
Docksiders has a long standing relationship with NC State and their gymnastics team. The first Docksiders gymnast to attend NC State on a gymnastics scholarship was Gemma Robison, who graduated in 1995. In 1997 Docksider gymnasts Sara Dolan and Amy Langindorf followed Gemma in becoming Wolfpack team members. Andrea Petrocelli joined the ranks of the Pack in 2001, and just this past fall Katie Plummer became a Wolfpack team member. Rachel will be flipping off to NC State in the fall of 2009 and Stephanie Ouellette will become a wolf girl in the fall of 2010. Stephanie will be lucky number 7 when it comes to Docksiders sending athletes to NC State University.
All of the gymnasts that have gone to NC State have had very successful gymnastics careers and have graduated from the University and gone on to have great careers in their respective fields. Each looks back on their days with the Pack with cherished memories of good times and great friends. We caught up with a few of the Docksider-Pack Girls and found out what they have been up to since they left NCSU.
Gemma Robison was at State from 95-99 and got her degree in Psychology. She was a member of the only NCSU team to make it to NCAA Nationals in 1998. She spent most of her 20's traveling and enjoying life, she moved out to San Diego with an NCSU Teammate and worked as a Human Resource manager for both Hyatt and the San Diego Padres. She spent 2 years in Chicago living with another NCSU teammate and working for her dad's business, again in HR. Gemma headed back to Southern California and is now working as a Regional HR Manager for United Techologies Corporation, which involves travel from CA to CO handling 10 different offices. She is also working on becoming a certified Pilates teacher.
Sara Dolan attended NC State from 1997-2001, graduating in May 2001 with a degree in Business Management/Concentration in Marketing. Sara was on the same team as Gemma that went to Nationals in 1998. She moved to NYC in 2001 and currently lives in the West Village in Manhattan with her husband Bryan and new puppy, Kruger. She is currently a Design/Product Development Manager for Private Label Jewelry Company, Ballet Jewels, in NYC.
Amy Langendorf was a Pack Member from 1997 to 2002. It was a huge honor for her to help the Pack Team earn a trip to Nationals in 1998. She did the five-year plan due to an injured ACL in her senior year that allowed her to take a medical “red shirt” year that year. She graduated with a degree in Industrial Engineering and moved to Richmond, VA for four years. After doing sales for several years she then went to school to become a paramedic. She now lives and works in Stafford, VA as a firefighter/paramedic. Amy really enjoys her job and helping others.
Andrea Petrocelli competed for the Wolfpack from 2001 until she graduated from NC State in 2005 with a BA in Criminology. She is currently back at Docksiders coaching full time while earning a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She married fellow coach Mike Fleming (Who also works full time at Docksiders Gymnastics) in May of 2008. She hopes to teach in the elementary school system when she gets her Masters and Teachers Certification in 2010.
Katie Plummer is finishing up her freshman year at NC State University, and she absolutely loves it there. With NC State’s high standard of excellent gymnastics, Katie is working hard to make it into the Balance Beam lineup for the competition season of 2009. She knows she will help out the team when she is called on to step into the Wolfpack lineup, but until then it is hard work in the gym and in the classroom that keeps her extremely busy. She looks forward to her former Docksiders teammates becoming current Pack members in the next years and continuing the legacy that has been set forth.
The Docksiders family wishes all of our athletes the best of luck for a strong finish to this 2009 season! We also wish “God Speed” to Rachel as she heads off to NC State and continues a strong tradition of sharing “Docksiders Pride” with her Wolfpack teammates. Steph will carry the torch her senior year while keeping the Docksiders spirit and pride alive. In the spirit of a great tradition begun a dozen years ago, “Go Docksiders…Go Wolfpack!!”
