Courtney Blackson was trying to hold it all together.
And then she looked up.
The Boise State senior gymnast spotted her parents in the stands after sticking the landing of her uneven bar routine at the NCAA Regionals in Fayetteville, Arkansas two weeks ago.
“My mom was crying and my dad was just staring at me with his mouth open like, ‘What did you do?,’” Blackson said.
She made history.
Blackson became the first Bronco ever to win back-to-back regional championships and did so while still nursing a potential season-ending calf strain in her left leg.
She will look to defy the odds one final time as the first national champion in the 50-year history of the program. The National Collegiate Women’s Gymnastics Championships get underway at 2:30 p.m. MDT Thursday inside the Dickie’s Arena in Fort Worth Texas.
“Once Courtney puts her mind to something, she does it,” Boise State head gymnastics coach Tina Bird said. “I know that her performance on bars at this National Championships will be nothing short of spectacular. She has it in her to be an All-American and event champion.”
Blackson has already been an All-American and very nearly a national champion.
That came during last year’s NCAA National Championships. Blackson qualified for it by winning a regional title in the vault with a 10.000 no less. It was the first perfect score by a Bronco at regionals and only the sixth all-time in school history. The mark is the highest in vault by a Boise State gymnast and one of her eight wins in the event, which has Blackson eighth on the all-time list.
However, that momentum didn’t translate over to nationals – at first.
She failed to hit her Yurchenko one-and-a-half vault on the practice day and during warmups. Blackson didn’t land it until the final touch right before competing.
“It was really all in my head. I think being at the national stage for the first time, I think that played a role,” Blackson said. “Also, I was just having a hard time adjusting to the equipment in general with it being on podium. The balance is just a little bit different and I’m not used to that.
“I was like, ‘Oh my goodness. I did not make it here to fall. I really need to pull myself together.’”
And she did.
Blackson posted a 9.925 – the highest vault score ever by a Boise State gymnast at nationals. It tied her atop the leaderboard with Denver’s Lynnzee Brown. And they stayed there too – right up until the final competitor. Oklahoma’s Olivia Trautman just knocked them out of being co-national champions with a 9.950 score.
But Blackson was still the national runner-up, which easily surpassed the best finish by a Bronco at nationals. The previous record was seventh held by Shani Remme (2018), Amy Glass (2012) and Diana Loosli (1998) – all in the balance beam. Blackson also eclipsed Julie Wagner’s ninth-place outing in 1993 for the best vault finish at nationals in Boise State history.
“That’s pretty awesome. But I kind of forget about the record books sometimes,” Blackson said. “I’m always just striving to do more and do better every year.”
She’s done just that this season.
Blackson has racked up eight wins and seven Mountain West Specialist of the Week awards spread across floor, vault and of course, uneven bars. She came into this season having 10 wins and eight Specialist of the Week in three years.
Blackson matched her career highs in all three events, including notching a 9.950 in floor three times. That score is tied with fellow teammate Emma Loyim for the highest in program history. Blackson also owns the best regional floor score (9.900) and is tied for seventh all-time for floor wins with five in Boise State history.
“Courtney came into this season with big goals and the confidence from her 2023 season’s success to know that she could achieve them,” Bird said. “Courtney spells out her goals and verbalizes them weekly. She achieved every single goal she set for herself and then kept making new goals. She was having her best year ever.”
Until the injury happened.
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Blackson’s Achilles had been nagging her all season. That was in her right leg, though.
The floor at San Jose State is notoriously known for being a little hard. So while warming up on the floor during a March 10 quad meet against San Jose State, Yale and Illinois, Blackson felt the other calf start cramping up this time. But the pain went away following another warmup pass.
Her routine was going perfect too – until the last pass.
“I just punched and something felt different,” Blackson said. “I fell down and then I could not get back up.”
She was in a walking boot for two weeks. Floor and vault were immediately ruled out for her as to prevent any further strain on the muscle. But even with those precautions, doctors still gave Blackson an initial return timetable of four to six weeks, which would keep her out for the rest of the season.
So Blackson had to miss both senior night and the inaugural Mountain West Championships, where the Broncos made history. They were the first-ever winners and brought home a conference title for the first time in five years.
“I thought my season was done,” Blackson said.
This wouldn’t have been the first time that an all-time great Boise State gymnast had a career ended by injury. Nearly five years to the day, Remme, who is a two-time All-American and the most decorated gymnast in program history with 23 career wins, tore her ACL in the same left leg and at the end of the season no less.
Blackson felt that same type of emotional toll.
“It was actually really heart-wrenching. It was hard to stay on the sidelines knowing that I could be out there,” Blackson said. “It was really hard sitting on the sidelines in a boot just knowing that I could possibly not ever be able to do this again.”
And she very nearly didn’t either.
Blackson had been working on her routine to get her endurance back. But she was doing it without the dismount. So with less than 48 hours before the team’s scheduled departure to Fayetteville, Blackson still wasn’t in the lineup.
It was only after she stuck the dismount the day before, that Blackson was allowed to go and compete.
“I was so happy to see Courtney make a comeback on bars. It is so emotionally rough to watch an injury occur and strip a student-athlete of their dreams, especially in their senior season,” Bird said. “To watch Courtney push herself to be able to handle landing her bar dismounts and compete at regionals when the team needed her, was a proud moment for all of us.”
Blackson scored a team-high 9.825 against BYU in the opening round of the NCAA Regionals. It was her first meet in nearly a month.
The two squads ended up tying at 195.750. Yet, the Cougars had the 0.25 advantage due to the dropped scores and won the tiebreaker.
But Blackson would get one final opportunity during the individual rounds. And she didn’t waste it.
Blackson became the first gymnast since Remme in 2018 to qualify for back-to-back nationals by winning the uneven bars with a score of 9.950. It tied Kelsey Morris’ (2014) regional school record, as well.
All with her parents looking on.
“When someone pointed out to me, ‘Hey, Court, you’re at the top of the leaderboard.’ I was like, ‘What? How? That can’t be possible,” Blackson said. “I went against LSU, Kentucky, Arkansas, all these amazing schools. No. No. That’s now how that works.’ It was pure shock. I was crying so much on the floor because I was so happy.”
Blackson is hoping to experience those same feelings Thursday.
Because while she does have another year of eligibility left, this will in all likelihood be her final meet. It would end a storied career that’s spanned nearly two decades.
However, even without a national championship or another All-American honor for that matter, just the fact that Blackson is here, speaks to her level of greatness.
“Courtney has left her mark on this program. Her name is forever in the record books,” Bird said. “She has had such an impact on us and is irreplaceable. We will miss her spark and competitive drive.
“Without a doubt, Courtney is one of the best gymnasts in Boise State history.”
