By Lisa Harding
Dayna Smart-Allen has been doing gymnastics nearly all of her life, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. The 23-year-old senior is looking toward her final days in the sport that has been with her since just years after she learned to walk.
“I have worn a leotard for as long as I can remember,” Smart-Allen said. “I have been a gymnast most of my life, and it will be a little hard to let that go.”
The Sandy native began gymnastics when she was four years old after a neighbor recommended that her parents place her in something to channel all of her excess energy. She quickly moved up in the ranks of her classes and soon found herself at the upper levels of the sport.
“I started gymnastics when I was four years old and was level 10 by sixth grade,” she said. “Gymnastics was pretty intense growing up.”
ABOVE THE REST
Unlike many of her teammates, Smart-Allen is not instantly recognizable as a gymnast when she walks among the other students on campus. She stands just shy of 5-foot-7, which in the sport of gymnastics makes her stand head and shoulders above many competitors.
Yet Smart-Allen’s stature has become an advantage in a sport that favors pint-sized pixies. Although the added height can make maneuvers more difficult to perform, well-executed skills acquire an extra amount of grace through her long, tall lines.
Smart-Allen has become well known in her BYU gymnastics career for delivering solid beam performances under pressure.
“She’s been my anchor most of her career on beam,” BYU’s beam coach Shauna Mertz said. “You just knew when she got up she would get up and give her best performance.”
“She’s not what you would call a natural,” BYU gymnastics coach Brad Cattermole said. “Her height is built more for volleyball, but balance beam is probably her best event. She doesn’t fall off the dang thing. She’s got a great sense of balance.”
Smart-Allen came to BYU in the fall of 2003, but suffered a serious injury just weeks before the beginning of her freshman season. After taking a redshirt year, Smart-Allen returned the next season with a vengeance, quickly establishing herself as one of the Cougars’ top competitors.
“When I got hurt that first year, I just planned on being here for five years,” Smart-Allen said. “I am glad I have stuck with it. It has been really hard at times, but I knew I would regret it if I didn’t finish.”
Smart-Allen will leave the team with several records under her belt, including the second-highest floor score in BYU history, a 9.975. Last season alone she notched 23 individual titles-including five all-around titles.
Even though Smart-Allen has been one of the Cougars’ top competitors for the last four years, she is remarkably unaware of her own successes.
“I think I am somewhat of a perfectionist, like most gymnasts,” she said. “I expect a lot out of myself. My greatest accomplishments, I think happen in practice hidden behind the scenes.”
“She is her own worst enemy,” Cattermole said. “What makes her great is also her biggest challenge: She’s so hard on herself. OK is not good enough for Dayna.”
“She is so talented but expects more from herself,” Mertz said. “She is self-motivated and self-driven.”
“I am a competitive person,” Smart-Allen admits. “I love the challenge of this sport and pushing myself to be better.”
NO REGRETS
The BYU gymnastics team has precious few meets left in the postseason; it will compete at Penn State for the regional competition on Saturday with the possibility of advancing to nationals after that. As Smart-Allen prepares to leave a sport she has done for the last 20 years of her life, she has no regrets.
“It has been very difficult at times, but as a whole I have loved it and I wouldn’t have done it any other way,” she said. “I have a lot of good times and memories. The one thing that I will really miss is the friendships with my teammates. This has been the best college experience I could ever ask for.”
“I’ll miss her consistency,” Cattermole said. “She’s dependable, she’s hardworking, she’s a sweet kid.”
“Her stability will be missed,” Mertz said. “She’s put the package together. I’ll miss the sparkle she brings in.”
Smart-Allen has had a banner year in her personal life in her final season as a Cougar; she began her first year of graduate school and was married in November.
“It has been a hard year for me, very stressful and pretty challenging,” Smart-Allen said. “There have been some changes in my life, like graduating and getting married. These and other things have brought many different feelings and mixed emotions into my life and to the sport. It can be hard knowing that this is your last year you will ever do something you have done for so long.”
Smart-Allen will leave the competition floor this month and will head to Logan as her husband, Jase, finishes his degree at Utah State.
“He has learned a lot about the sport, and has done a great job at being patient with my hectic schedule and my up and down emotions,” Smart-Allen said of her husband.
Even though she will no longer be spending most of her day in a leotard, it is unlikely Smart-Allen will forget the lessons she has learned from the sport.
“Gymnastics requires so much time and effort to do it, and Dayna has done it for so many years, that it has inevitably had a large impact on who she is today,” said Smart-Allen’s mother, Patti Smart. “She has learned so many good things from the sport that she will take with her.”
Just as Smart-Allen is yet to appreciate the success she has brought to the gymnastics team, she remains humble about her legacy.
“I just want to be remembered, really,” she said. “Not just as a good gymnast, but as a good teammate and person. I have tried to be the best teammate I can. I have tried to be someone you can count on to perform, and to motivate and support my teammates.”
Although she may not realize it, Smart-Allen will cast a tall shadow that will be missed long after her final salute.
