The Essence of a True Spartan, Emily Lopatofsky

Dec. 2, 2008

She's only 5-0, loves Guitar Hero and lives on a farm back in her hometown of Waymart, Pennsylvania. You may have never heard of her and probably couldn't point her out at a Michigan State gymnastics meet, but remember the name because you're going to hear it a lot this season.

A junior on the Spartan gymnastics roster, Emily Lopatofsky is looking to make a big impact in 2009 on the competition floor, in the classroom and in the lives of others. With an impressive pre-season this year, Academic All-American honors from last and praise from her teammates and coaches, she's well on her way.

"Emily has really been doing great so far in the gym this semester," said head coach Kathie Klages. "She's getting back to her full routines on every event and looking better than ever. We expect great things from her."

After using the summer to recover from a frustrating ankle injury and surgery, Emily is feeling positive about her athletic progress. Teammate Katlyn Roggensack says her determination and toughness in the gym is something the rest of the team can look up to.

"She's adding more difficulty to her routines, she's working hard and she looks great," adds Katlyn. "We will definitely be able to use her in the line-up come competition season."

Her success so far has been the result of hard work and sacrifice, something Emily has had to learn the importance of during her collegiate career at Michigan State.

"The `new' Emily applies herself more, gets better grades, eats better and gets more rest," she says, comparing her new outlook on life with the way she viewed things back as a freshman. "I've really learned a lot over the past two years about time management, prioritizing and realizing what's important in life."

For Emily, her family ranks high on the list of things that mean the most to her. Her parents Mark and Elva have been her number one fan from the time she started gymnastics. After enrolling her in YMCA gymnastics classes at the age of seven they've been behind her every decision and move, supporting and helping her to reach her goals. As avid marathon runners themselves, they may even be partially responsible for Emily's agility and endurance in the gym.

"Whether they were working hard on the farm, driving me to practice or sacrificing themselves for me, they have always been there and they'll always come first," says Emily. "That hard work mentality has been molded into me because of my parents."

In addition to "working her butt off," Emily says she likes to have a good time and cheer people up when they're feeling down. Yet, she doesn't need to try very hard since her contagious high spirits and goofiness is a reason for everyone to smile.

This year she has a highly entertaining floor routine which is to - no surprise here - Mississippi Queen, a Guitar Hero favorite. "I can't wait to compete it," says Emily, who says she gets excited when it comes time to perform her floor routines. But ironically, one thing she focused on improving this year is her mind set when it comes to visualizing and performing skills.

"I like to analyze things way more than I should and for me, it's really more mental than physical," she explains. "I get too excited when I am doing my routines so I need to really feel my skills and have some control."

When she finishes her gymnastics career in 2010 and graduates with a bachelors degree in advertising, Emily's future plans include getting a job, moving to Colorado and hopefully, once she gets enough money, continuing her love for the sport and opening her own gymnastics club.

"Sure it's going to be the bittersweet ending when gymnastics comes to an end and moving on will be a whole new life, but I'll always have gymnastics as a part of me. I'll be excited to start a new chapter as a different Emily."

Until then, the MSU community and Spartan fans have the next two seasons to watch this upperclassman as she makes her mark on the steadily improving gymnastics program. Hopefully she leaves MSU as a Spartan gymnast that not only her teammates and coaches respect, but a student-athlete that people will associate with success.

"I want to be remembered as someone who always had a strong desire to improve, that I cared about my teammates, my grades, my gymnastics, and that I figured out how to realize what's important in life."

At this rate, it's safe to say she'll do just that.