For the third time in the last four seasons, the SCATS Men’s Gymnastics program (in Huntington Beach, CA) has produced a national champion.  Last month, Sam Mikulak earned the Level 10 (16-18) all-around gold in a hard fought battle against Jesse Silverstein.  Mikulak’s exploits were key to helping SCATS win the Level 10 national team championship as well.  In 2008, current Cal All-American and SCATS alumnus Glen Ishino won the Level 10 (16-18) all-around title at JO Nationals.  And Mikulak’s first national championship came in 2007, when he won the Level 9 all-around title.

Coached by Grigor Chalikyan and Albert Avchian, Mikulak is capping off a remarkable club career as one of the sport’s most consistent competitors over the years.  His 91.55 is the highest ever JO Nationals all-around score under the current scoring system.  Along the way, he has become one of America’s best vaulters, while also posting consistently high scores on all the other events.  To complement his 2010 all-around win, he also captured national titles on floor and vault.  As good as he is now, Mikulak’s upside for the future is staggering.  Here are some of the highlights of his resume:

• 2010  JO Nationals:  1st AA, 1st FX, 1st VT
• 2009  PanAm:  2nd FX, 3rd VT
• 2009  VISAs:  2nd AA, FX, PH, SR, PB
• 2009 JOs:  2nd AA, SR, PB, HB, 3rd VT
• 2008  VISAs:  2nd AA, FX, HB, 3rd SR, VT
  
• 2008  JOs:  4th AA, 3rd SR, 2nd HB, 1st VT
• 2007  VISAs:  (Level 10…14-15) 2nd AA, 1st VT, 2nd HB, 3rd PB
  
• 2007  JOs:  1st AA (Level 9)

Mikulak and teammate Jordan Gaarenstroom will be enrolling at Michigan in the fall, providing the Wolverines with more than enough muscle to earn a probable pre-season number one ranking, and enough credibility to be deemed a favorite to repeat as national champions.  Before heading off to Ann Arbor, there will be some business to take care of in August at the 2010 VISA U.S. Championships.  Mikulak would love to add another national title to his resume.

StickItMedia recently had the pleasure of interviewing Sam Mikulak.  As you will see, as he does with his gymnastics, he poured his heart and soul into our interview:

SiM:  What has it been like to have two former gymnasts as parents?

Mikulak:  The best part about having parents as gymnasts is that they are both very understanding of the sport.  They know how hard it is to keep committed and still push through all the injuries because this sport is painful!  Knowing this, they have made it very clear that I can stop at any time because they believe if you’re not passionate about what you do, then there is no point in doing it every day. But I love gymnastics still and it only gets better as the years go by.

SiM:  Please describe your experience training at SCATS for all these years… The gymnasts, the coaches and the friendships.

Mikulak:  Well, I’ve been at SCATS for around 15 years.  My mom trained at SCATS back in her day so she knew a lot of the people there when I started.  But I did many sports because my dad didn’t want me to take the gymnastics route, so I quit gymnastics for other sports like baseball and soccer for like 6 months when I was young, like 4 or 5.  But I loved gymnastics too much and I was determined to stick with it all the way through because I loved the friends I made and my accomplishments made me feel good.

The friend I’ve known the longest is Adrian de Los Angeles.  He’s been at SCATS since my 2nd year on the team, and is the only guy around my age that’s stayed with me until now.  I love all my teammates though, but everyone knows Jordan and I are the best of friends.  We have so much in common, and he is a good guy to push you in the gym and help you out.  Plus, going with him to Michigan will make things easy to get settled in.

As for the coaches, I have spent my whole life practically with Greg and Albert.  They’ve known me since I first got on the team when I was 7.  I’ve been working with them for 10 years now, and probably have spent more time with them than I have my family.  But it is ok, because my family understands the passion I have for the sport and know that my coaches are taking the best care of me as possible.  Though Greg can be a tough coach at times, he makes us get things done.  Even though younger kids see his yelling as being mean, they will one day understand that the fear of him is what makes you work hard.  But Greg isn’t always a stickler, many times we have fun.  For example, we have contests with sticks and circles, and playing dodge ball and soccer, or even having beach workouts sometimes.  Overall, everything that has happened at SCATS has made me a better person when it comes to listening and learning.  If anything, spending all my time there has kept me out of trouble and in shape.  If I could do everything over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.

SiM:  What will you miss the most when your SCATS club career is over?

Mikulak:  I will definitely miss all the younger kids, and how they look up to me.  I see them as the future, and they are all really cool kids that I’ve gotten to know over the years.  When I see them doing gymnastics now, I see that they all have potential to be successful gymnasts, and one day I’d love to see them on TV.  I will also miss my coaches.  Albert and Greg have treated me so nicely over the years and have done so much for me.  It will be tough without them to push me over the next four years.  But they have taught me enough that I will be able to work hard on my own.  The thing that will make me happy is when I come home for vacations and get to train back at SCATS with them and all my friends.

SiM:  What are the most important lessons you have learned as a competitive gymnast?

Mikulak:  Gymnastics is all mental.  The one thing when competing is to not let anything get inside your head.  Because when you do, you get nervous, and when you’re nervous, you’re not having fun.  What’s the point of doing something for so long if you don’t have fun with it?  So I make it my goal to go out and have as much fun as possible while competing, and even if I do fall, I get it out of my head and try to make my next events as good as possible.  Gymnastics is a show, and I want everyone to watch me and say wow, that was nice.  With that mindset, it allows me to focus on that one event, and to do it to my best ability.

For example, when I went to Brazil to compete in the Junior Pan American games, I had an epiphany and realized why I actually love gymnastics so much.  It was a close competition between the U.S. and Brazil, and Brazil competed in the earlier session and hit practically every event.  So we knew we had to go in there and have the meet of our lives if we wanted the U.S. to be on top.  We started off on rings, and we were totally unprepared.  We thought we had a one touch, so no one had their grips on and we didn’t have our chalk (the chalk in Brazil is totally different than in the US; it’s extremely slippery if not applied right).  Jesse (Glenn) was first up and rushed onto the rings and used the Brazilian chalk, and in his routine he peeled because it was so slippery.  Now rings started off shaky for everyone, and it wasn’t looking so good for us in the standings.  But after rings, we all got in the zone and blocked it from our minds.

We went on to hit the most beautiful sets and were starting to come back from the big gap Brazil had over us, but after high bar, Brazil was 5 points ahead of us.  So we went to floor and had some of the greatest routines we’ve ever seen.  We didn’t know how much we closed the gap, but we knew there was some difference.  We went into pommel horse knowing we would have to hit our routines perfectly if we wanted to have a chance at winning.  We got in a group huddle and got pumped up for our upcoming event.  I remember going up to the pommel… I was first in the line up and just thinking in my head, “Just do it how I would do it back at the gym. I’ve done this so many times, I can do this.” While I was circling on the horse, I just remember saying to myself I can do this, and before I came to my dismount I was in shock, it felt like I was a ghost in my body just circling around the horse.  When I did my dismount, I landed and smiled and could not believe I had pulled through.  It was the most pressure I’ve ever had and on the hardest event for me.  Knowing I hit a great set put the rest of the guys in the zone… I got the fire going.  Everyone was shouting, getting pumped and the energy was flowing.  Watching everyone hit their sets was one of the greatest feelings I’ve ever had, because everyone was able to pull through as a team and support each other all the way through until the end and never give up.  We didn’t win against Brazil, but we came back from 5 points behind to only 5 tenths.  However, going out and performing so well for the first time in an international competition, that was the true victory.  Afterwards, we made many friends and were treated like celebrities.  It was one of the greatest feelings and showed me how much fun gymnastics really can be.

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

Mikulak:  If you were to ask anyone at SCATS, they would all tell you, “Sam doesn’t come to practice enough.”  I’m sure every single one of them would say that.  But the real challenge in my eyes is injuries.  I definitely have been the least injured out of my team, and I think it comes from having occasional days off.  I did my senior project (a project seniors have to do throughout the whole year, that could possibly be a future career) on personal training.  From this experience, I found out I hurt myself way more than strengthen my body everyday I work out.  When I’m sore, I need more time to heal, not to push harder and make it even sorer.  Muscles grow by tearing the muscle fibers, and the muscle fibers don’t heal until your soreness is completely gone.  So if you stress your muscles when you’re sore, you could tear the muscle fibers to a point of injury, which happens way too often in this sport.

People will say I take the days off for social fun, which I do, don’t get me wrong, but if I’m going to take a day off to heal, why not be with my friends instead of sitting on a couch doing nothing.  Another challenge is finding time to be social, do gym, and go to school.  I feel I balance that time very well, and the way I do it works best for me.  It might not be the case for others, but I’m a guy about fun.  When I go every day, I get bored, so when I miss a day here and there, I’m able to go in and work hard because I begin to miss it and it’s so much more fun when you look forward to actually going to the gym.

SiM:  Which events challenge you the most, and why?

Mikulak:  I would have to say pommel horse is the most challenging event for me.  My wrists are really inflexible and make it difficult to do it for a long time with out injuring them.  So I usually have a watered down routine that I will never fall on so I can just keep good form and not have any worries.

SiM:  If you could give any up-and-coming gymnast any advice, what would it be?

Mikulak:  I would say just have fun with it.  Why do a sport that you wouldn’t enjoy?  Don’t ever get down on yourself, keep your head up, stay strong and put on a show.  Make your teammates your best friends, and make the best out of your time at the gym, because it will be where you’ll be most of the time in the years to come.

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

Mikulak:  I can honestly say all advice that I’ve heard throughout the years has been all the same.  Go to gym more, and work hard, which every kid hears.  What I did hear that motivated me most though, wasn’t any advice.  I was watching Paul Hamm at the 2004 Olympics.  When he stuck his high bar, that was when I saw what gymnastics was all about.  Hitting that perfect set, with the most amount of pressure possible, and coming from behind to win was the most spectacular sight I’d ever seen.  Every time I watch it, I get chills.  It’s moments like that, that make me work in gymnastics, hoping one day I can be in his shoes and fulfill that amazing feeling of knowing you did your best, and everything you’ve worked for leads to that moment which was worth it.

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

Mikulak:  My proudest moment would definitely be competing in Brazil.  But recently during the JO Nationals, I had the proud moment of becoming the national champ.  It was just a fun meet, and after my experience in Brazil, I felt I was able to handle the pressure very well.  So when it came down to the last events against Jesse Silverstein, I was able to be clutch, pull through, and hit my sets.  It made things fun, because I knew every time I went up, people were watching me, and that made me feel like putting on a show.  So I would hit those extra lines, stick my dismounts, and just make everything look as good as possible, even something as simple as a rollout from a handstand on floor.  The greatest non-gymnastics achievement I’ve had would probably be keeping up with my social life and maintaining good grades while working out hard at the gym.

SiM:  Who are your role models, and why?

Mikulak:  When I was young I loved Paul Hamm and Alexei Nemov.  But now my role model is Vitaly Scherbo.  His gymnastics were just perfect, and he was so confident.  Everyone loved the way he performed and he had his own style of gymnastics.  On his rings routine, he would cross the rings and do a dislocate through it, and that’s something the world had never seen before, but that is what made it so fun to watch.  If there’s anything about gymnastics I’d like to do, it would be to be different than all the rest and make it more interesting to watch.

SiM:  Please describe the process you went through to eventually choose Michigan?

Mikulak:  My parents both went to Berkeley.  From when I was very little, I was sure I wanted to go there.  Not until I went on my recruiting trips, did I see other options that were out there.  Besides Berkeley, Michigan, Oklahoma and Illinois all had excellent gymnastic programs as well as academics.  However, in the end, I felt like Michigan was the best fit for me.  I’m proud to become a Michigan Wolverine!

SiM:  What are your gymnastics goals for this summer and next season at Michigan?

Mikulak:  My goals are to get a few new skills, increase my starts a little, and make the junior national team.  If I do well there, my biggest goal is to make the senior national team.  I’d love to go on more international assignments.  After the VISA Championships, I am going to leave straight to Michigan, and there I plan on adding new skills, keeping healthy, working hard with the new team, and try to be part of another NCAA championship team.

SiM:  What are your academic goals at Michigan?

Mikulak:  At Michigan, I plan on attending the School of Kinesiology.  There, I want to go somewhere along the lines of sports psychology, as to learn more about the mindset of competing in stressful situations.

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

Mikulak:  What I like most is that every day offers something new, and a new challenge I must overcome to better myself.  These new obstacles make gymnastics challenging and fun, which will never make this sport boring for me.

Related Stories:

3 M’s Dominate 2010 Men’s JO Nationals Gymnastics Championships

Sam Mikulak Vaults to Win Qualifier at 2010 Men’s JO Nationals

Sam Mikulak on Training at SCATS – Via Gymnastike

Sam Talks About Hopes for 2009 Season – Via Gymnastike

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