The Chicago area is a hotbed for men’s gymnastics, and one of the top gyms in the country is Buffalo Grove Gymnastics.  Former home of 2008 USA National Champion and Stanford All-American David Sender, Buffalo Grove is now home to one of the top men’s club teams in the country.  Head Coach Don Osborn is grooming an impressive crop of Level 10 (16-18) gymnasts that includes Wasef Burbar, Danny Berardini and Jacoby Rubin. Another important member of that team is Craig Hernandez.  We have a soft spot in our heart for Hernandez because he happens to be one of America’s rising stars on pommel horse.

Hernandez is a two-time JO Nationals level 9 pommel horse champion (2006/2007), and if not for an unfortunate fall, he likely would have won another title in 2008 as a level 10 (14-15).  He finished in 4th place behind his teammate, Jacoby Rubin (2nd), and current World Team member Danell Leyva (1st).  Hernandez is now working on a pommel horse routine with a 17.00 start value.  Incredible as that sounds, don’t think for a moment that Hernandez is a one-trick pony.  An accomplished all-arounder, Hernandez placed 13th at the 2008 JO Nationals and took 14th at the 2008 VISAs.  We also hear that he can do a layed-out Yamawaki on rings and is fantastic on floor.

A member of the 2007-2008 Junior National Team, not only does Hernandez shine in the gymnastics arena, but also in the classroom.  A junior at Libertyville High School, he currently is maintaining a +4.0 grade point average, while taking honors classes.  It must run in the family, since his older brother Alex is an engineering student at Iowa State.  Division I coaches throughout the country must be drooling at the prospect of landing this surefire All-American scholar-athlete.

According to his mother, Lisa, he learned how to overcome adversity and injuries early on in his life.  After having made his first gymnastics team at age five, he soon broke his wrist on the playground.  The next day "he was doing pull-ups and push-ups, so we knew he would be ready to compete as soon as he had the cast removed."  Disappointed after missing JO Nationals in May, Hernandez was highly motivated and determined to have a very productive summer working on new skills and preparing for the upcoming season.  A season, we might add, that he looks forward to very much.

Hernandez demonstrated his heart and desire at age ten while at the Region 5 Championships.  The night before the competition, he came down with the stomach flu.  Lisa told him that he couldn’t compete unless he was able to eat, so he promised her that he would.  After eating one cracker, he eventually competed on all six events that day, collapsing to the floor after each one.  One of his teammates had to help him get off the floor after his final event because everyone in the gym was applauding.  Why were they applauding?  Because he had just scored a perfect 10. On what else?  Pommel horse!

StickItMedia had the recent pleasure to interview Craig Hernandez.

SiM:  What inspires you to compete?

Hernandez:  What inspires me to compete is my desire to reach perfection.  I do all I can to reach this goal and all the long hours in the gym lead up to competition where I can try to reach my ambitions.  I also like to show people what I can do, so competition is the perfect opportunity for me to do this.

SiM:  What have been your biggest obstacles and challenges to remaining highly competitive?

Hernandez:  
Like a lot of people, my biggest obstacles have been injuries.  This year was no exception.  Days before nationals, I managed to sprain both my ankles, which ended my competition season.  I try not to let these things disappoint me though, because I know I have the ability to come back better than ever.

SiM:  What are the benefits you have enjoyed training with so many great gymnasts at Buffalo Grove?

Hernandez:  I get to see many of the top level skills in person.  From seeing these skills all the time I can better understand how to do them myself and hopefully learn how to do them.  Another benefit is the competitive push by my teammates to get better.  When we see each other getting new skills and getting better, we want to show that we aren’t falling behind.

SiM:  What are your gymnastics goals for the 2010 season?

Hernandez:  My ultimate goal for this season is to make the national team.  It doesn’t really matter to me which one it is, I just want to be able to finish off a good season.  Another one of my goals is to have a good showing at Winter Cup.  I want to see how good I can do against all the college guys.

SiM:  What have been your proudest gymnastics and non-gymnastics achievements?

Hernandez:  Some of my proudest gymnastics achievements have been winning nationals on pommel horse in 2006 and 2007 and making the national team.  My proudest non-gymnastics achievement must be that I am currently maintaining over a 4.0 GPA in school.  I feel proud that I can succeed in both gymnastics and school.

SiM:  What are your long-term academic and gymnastics goals?

Hernandez:  My long-term academic goals are to finish high school with over a 4.0 GPA and get over a 30 on the ACT.  These are my goals because I would want to get into a lot of good schools that have gymnastics, but I don’t want to rely on my gymnastics to get into school.  My long-term gymnastics goals include making the senior national team and competing internationally for the US.  Also, by the time I’m done with gymnastics I want to have at least one skill named after me.  I have a couple ideas already, I’ve just got to work them.

SiM:  What do you like to do other than gymnastics?

Hernandez:  Other than gymnastics, I’m actually a pretty normal guy and I like hanging with my friends. After the intense schedule of school and gymnastics, it’s just nice to relax with the people you like to be around.  Besides, I don’t really have time to do much other stuff.

SiM:  If not for gymnastics, what are the other sports in which you would compete?

Hernandez:  If I didn’t do gymnastics I would probably be in soccer.  When I was younger, I was pretty good and I would have gone into travel leagues, but I decided to go into gymnastics instead.  I think I would have done pretty well in soccer, but nothing close to what I am in gymnastics.

SiM:  What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Hernandez:  
Some of the best advice I’ve received is to never let things get in the way of your goals. I don’t remember who told me this, but all I know is that it has helped me get to where I am now.  I’ve learned there will always be obstacles, big and small, but you always have to persevere and work through it.

SiM:  What inspired you to become a gymnastics judge?

Hernandez:  The thing that inspired me most to become a judge was that I wanted to make a little money of my own.  As you can imagine, with school and gymnastics everyday, there isn’t much time for you to work. One of my friends did it the year before and he said that it wasn’t too time consuming, so I thought I would try it.  One of the results of me becoming a judge though, is that I have a better understanding of gymnastics in general and I kind of know what goes through the judges’ heads when I compete.  I think this has helped me a lot and I’m going to do it again this year.

SiM:  Who are your role models and why?

Hernandez:  Some of my role models would have to include David Sender and Justin Spring.  Of course they are both amazing athletes and I would love to be as good as them, but they are also the some of the nicest people I’ve met.  They are really down to earth and they don’t allow their great abilities to get to their heads and make them cocky.  I think it’s important to be a good person as well as a good athlete.

SiM:  What is your favorite thing about walking into the gym every day?

Hernandez:  My favorite thing about walking into the gym every day is the opportunity to get better.  It also doesn’t hurt that some of my best friends are there and I get to hang out with them for 3 or 4 hours.

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