In celebration of Auburn’s gymnastics senior night, HC Auburn jumped at the opportunity to interview the seniors themselves. These girls have worked for years to get to where they are today and it certainly has paid off. Toi Garcia and Petrina Yokay have helped lead Auburn’s team in setting records and continuing to make history. Their win against Maryland this season was the second highest total in program history, but they didn’t stop there. Just this past week, they had their eighth consecutive score of 196 or higher against LSU, which was the first time in program history. Toi and Patrina have trained and competed at Auburn together for the past four years. Although they will be leaving us soon, their accomplishments will not be forgotten. We asked them a few questions about their time spent competing and their plans for the future.
HC Auburn: How did you decide on Auburn?
Toi: I decided to come here a couple of years ago, mainly because it’s an SEC school. The SEC has the best gymnastics, so that’s really what I was looking for. I came here, visited, met the staff and gymnasts, and all of that. I fell in love with the campus and everything.
HC Auburn: How many years have you practiced gymnastics?
Patrina: Nineteen years.
HC Auburn: Which events are your favorites?
Toi: My favorite events are probably either vault or floor. Those are the events I compete in this year and competed in last year, so those are probably my favorite.
HC Auburn: What is the most challenging aspect of gymnastics?
Patrina: Probably the mental part, competing and keeping calm.
HC Auburn: Have you ever had a serious injury?
Toi: In 2007, I broke my right leg. It was pretty serious. It took six months to come back. It was a really slow process. I remember, and this is kind of ridiculous and really dramatic, but I remember thinking I was never going to be able to walk again, let alone do gymnastics. So I just remember it being so painful. It was really long in the sense that I had to come a really long way and overcome a lot of things, not only physically but mentally, just to get my mind right to do gymnastics again. It was one of those things that was so bad that you couldn’t remember the pain, but you just know you were in a lot of pain. I sometimes forget that it actually even happened.
HC Auburn: Do you enjoy traveling to away meets?
Patrina: Yes, they’re my favorite. I’d rather go travel than stay. I like the actual traveling part because it gives me time to catch up on school and study and stuff. And then it’s nice because they provide dinner and I like sleeping in hotels. Everything is just set for you. You have a schedule.
HC Auburn: Do you have a specific workout or diet plan?
Toi: I don’t do anything outside of what’s mandated in the gym, which is six days a week. Out of those six days, two are just conditioning and strength. So not really, I think I’m just more conscious about what I’m eating and careful to maintain my body.
HC Auburn: Is there anything you like to do to prep yourself or do you have a superstition of some sort before performing?
Patrina: Yea I wear lucky socks. I wear the same socks to every meet. I don’t wash them. I just wear them for the warm up and then I throw them in my bag.
HC Auburn: Do you have a warm up playlist you like to listen to before performing?
Toi: I like listening to music before we start warming up. There’s this thing, I guess you could call it a game that I play, where I drink as much water as I can to keep myself hydrated. Sometimes I won’t let myself leave the table until I drink three cups of water or something like that. Hydration is the main thing for me before meets.
HC Auburn: What advice or words of wisdom would you give a freshman joining the team?
Toi: Just to stick with it. You’re going to have a lot of bad days, that’s going to be inevitable. The main thing is to just stick with it, especially if you love it because it could bring you, if you’re doing it in club, to a collegiate level. These will be the best four years of your life really.
HC Auburn: I heard about your team recently setting new records and making history for Auburn. How do you feel to be apart of such a talented team?
Patrina: Well during it, it just felt like another meet. I didn’t think we were doing anything spectacular. It was just normal but I guess we are that good now. I didn’t see that till the end. I feel like I wasn’t shocked because this team is that good this year. But it was really exciting that I got to be a part of that.
HC Auburn: What moments have stood out to you most in your four years here?
Toi: Well this past year we beat LSU, just last weekend, and we scored the highest score in program history. So that was obviously a huge moment. Also my freshman year we beat Georgia, which was the first time we had ever beaten Georgia. That was also a pretty big moment.
HC Auburn: What are your plans after college?
Patrina: Take a year off and then hopefully go to medical school.
Toi: My major is journalism so I want to work at a radio/television station, specifically in the entertainment industry. I don’t know what I want to do yet but I know that’s the direction I’m headed in.
HC Auburn: Do you see yourself staying involved with gymnastics in the future?
Patrina: Yeah, one day I want to be a judge on the side for fun!
Toi: It’ll definitely be bitter sweet when I’m done. I don’t want to be coach or anything. Obviously I’m not going to go to the Olympics, so I’m not going to be participating. But yeah, I’m still going to try and come to as many meets as I can next year and support the team.
Photo courtesy of Auburn Gymnastics.
To see more photos of the team taken by HC Auburn photoblogger, Claire Sullivan view our Gymnastics Photo Blog!