BOISE – It’s a simple phrase, but one Courtney Blackson leans on daily. So much so, that she had it tattooed across her upper back.
‘Everything happens for a reason’.
The Boise State junior gymnast had the proverb inked on her back as a reminder and motivation for how she lives her life.
“It’s dedicated to my mom,” Blackson said. “She always told me throughout my life when something doesn’t go as planned or when something is coming my way that’s positive, God has a plan and everything happens for a reason.”
That resounding belief has her at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas for the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships, which get underway Thursday. Blackson will compete in the vault just a few weeks after scoring the first 10.000 at regionals in program history. She and fellow junior Emily Lopez are the first Broncos to individually qualify for nationals since Shani Remme in 2018.
“People are afraid to dream too big,” Boise State coach Tina Bird said. “She (Blackson) sets high expectations for herself. She said I’m going to score a 10.000 this year and in the back of my head I’m thinking, ‘You know what, you go Courtney. You set that goal.’ She’s not going to stop till she gets there.”
That same mindset was ingrained in her from a young age. Two older brothers certainly helped with that. They were competitive in everything from kickball to dirt biking.
“If you got last, it was terrible,” Blackson said. “I just learned that I wanted to be the best.”
Something that was quickly realized by others, too.
“A year in, the coach, who was also a collegiate judge, went up to my dad and said, ‘Your daughter, she’s going to be great. You need to put her into more classes,'” Blackson said. “My dad was like, ‘What are you talking about? You want her to start training 10 to 20 hours a week? She’s 5.’”
But that’s exactly what Blackson did.
Competing out of Byers Gymnastics in Roseville, California, she captured titles at the Northern California State Championships and Junior Olympic Region I Regionals. Blackson was a multiple-time placer at nationals as well, which earned her an invite to the Junior Olympic National Team Camp with the likes of University of California Berkeley’s Nevaeh DeSouza. She is a five-time All-American with the Golden Bears, who will be one of just eight teams competing for an NCAA championship this weekend.
“It was very intimidating,” Blackson said.
(Photo by Boise State Athletics)
As was getting the chance to be alongside a Boise State legend.
Remme is the most decorated gymnast in school history. She holds multiple records, including career wins (23), is a two-time Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference Gymnast of the Year and a two-time All-American. During her senior year of high school, she was at Byers with Blackson, who was a seventh grader at the time.
“She was just an amazing gymnast. She was a lot of fun, super goofy, but I always looked up to her,” Blackson said. “It’s definitely a privilege to have someone who’s such a role model with you all the time.”
Courtney Blackson with a phenomenal 9.925 score on the bar. Blackson and Emily Lopez both scored 9.925 for Boise State. pic.twitter.com/TRmLtP3JB3
— Bronco Nation News (@BNNBroncoNation) January 28, 2023
Remme is also part of the reason why Blackson ended up at Boise State – a college she admits to never even hearing of.
“Her coach always said, ‘Hey, I got Courtney coming up. So as soon as she was a recruitable age, we recruited her,” Bird said. “She loved Boise from the beginning and just wanted to come. So that was fortunate for us. We knew how talented she was.”
However, Blackson arrived just months after the coronavirus pandemic had canceled Boise State’s year. So there were still restrictions in place for the following season. Classes were online, practices isolated and no social gatherings of any kind. The Broncos didn’t even get to have a team dinner that year.
Boise State had two meets canceled due to a team outbreak after coming back from the Christmas break. But despite all of that, Blackson claimed the vault title at the MRCG Championships, along with being named second-team all-league in both vault and floor exercise. She followed that up by being an MRGC Vault Specialist of the Week and notching a pair of individual championships during the regular season as a sophomore.
“Goodness, I had such a tough freshman year, then sophomore year, the atmosphere and college-wise, it got better, but my gymnastics still wasn’t where I wanted it to be,” Blackson said.
“So I think just not hitting that standard, I just pushed myself to do better this year.”
It showed.
Blackson was a specialist of the week seven times, including at six-time national champion Alabama on March 10, And she reclaimed her vault title at the MRCG Championships and was an all-conference selection in vault, uneven bars and floor – the first Bronco to make a first-team in that event since 2018.
It all helped Boise State, which dropped its first five meets, qualify for the NCAA Regional Championships for the 15th consecutive season.
“Really her and Emily Lopez both carried the team on their shoulders this year,” Bird said. “We had a lot of new kids (seven freshmen) and several doing events they’ve never competed in before.
“It’s hard to carry a team on your shoulders and we expected them to hit week after week after week, and they did.”
Courtney Blackson with a 9.900 score on the vault! Blackson and Emily Lopez both put up a team-high 9.900 in the event. pic.twitter.com/n3kNCl6zT8
— Bronco Nation News (@BNNBroncoNation) February 18, 2023
Lopez, a regular-season All-America Second Team honoree on the uneven bars, will also compete at nationals. She recorded the first 10.000 on uneven bars in Bronco history during Senior Night on Feb. 17. It’s the first time Boise State has had multiple individual qualifiers since Kelsey Morris (bars) and Ciera Perkins (floor) in 2014. Lopez qualified by being the regional co-champion on the uneven bars with a 9.950, while Blackson did so with perfection on the vault.
“She’s a competitor,” Bird said. “To have kids that are confident and can compete and just love to compete, that’s really a rare thing. Most kids do gymnastics and then when they get to the meets, it’s scary. But Courtney, she just thrives under pressure and thrives for that competition.”
But Blackson admitted to not feeling too confident the week before. The vaults at practice just weren’t up to snuff – by her standards.
“I’d stick a landing and I’m like, ‘Oh my God my chest was down.’ They were probably great vaults, but I’m just so hard on myself,” Blackson said. “I feel like whenever I don’t live up to my capability, I want more. And even apparently when I get perfection, I need more. I’m never truly satisfied.”
(Photo by Boise State Athletics)
She was on that night at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, though.
After receiving a 9.950 on the first day, Blackson made an immediate impression with her warmups on day two. After finishing up and walking away from one, freshman teammate Sydney Leitch overheard a judge say, “If she does that again, I’ll give her a 10.000”
So when it really counted, Blackson did her Yurchenko ½, which is a roundoff, a back handspring onto the vault, a backflip and a 470-degree twist in the air. All that was left for her was the landing – and she stuck it cold.
Blackson almost didn’t know how to react. Her jaw dropped for a few seconds before posing and instantly running over to her team overcome with emotion. She was so caught up in the moment that she didn’t even notice the three 10s going up at first. It was the teammates who had to tell her.
The sixth 10.000 in program history resulted in Blackson sharing the podium with Utah’s Jaadyn Rucker. But since the Utes had already qualified as a team, Blackson received the automatic bid to nationals. She and Lopez, who are roommates, will be just the 11th and 12th different gymnasts in Boise State history to compete at nationals.
“I feel like there’s no words to describe it,” Blackson said. “I hope it’s something to show the other girls, yeah we’re not ranked top-10, but it doesn’t mean it’s not achievable. I hope it just motivates other girls to show we are good enough and you are capable.”
The Broncos have never had a first-team All-American in the vault, yet alone a national champion in any event.
But no matter what, “Everything happens for a reason.”
“I’ve actually thought about that a lot going back to freshman year,” Blackson said. “It’s finally paying off. I didn’t cut myself short and I kept pushing through and here I am.”
Blackson will be in the first vault rotation when coverage starts at 1 p.m. MT on ESPN+, while Lopez will follow in the second bars rotation. Watch the action on ESPN+, or follow the live stats.
