On Tuesday morning, Ashley Shepard sat cross-legged on a bench outside of Reynolds Coliseum with several textbooks spread around her. Apparently, this is a common sight.
Shepard is a junior in microbiology with her sights set on becoming a physical therapist. She is also a member of N.C. State’s gymnastics team and is one of its top competitors in the floor and vault events.
“She was a really big surprise,” senior teammate Leigha Hancock said. “When you see her, she’s so skinny — you wouldn’t know the power that can come out of her.”
Shepard began taking lessons in gymnastics when she was 5. Her two older brothers, Rick and David, “tossed her around” occasionally, teaching her some valuable lessons in the process.
“I’d say they helped me out,” Shepard said. “I had to learn to be tough, and gymnastics is a very tough sport physically.”
Shepard attended Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, S.C., a hotbed for future N.C. State athletes. The school also produced cross country and track star Angelina Blackmon and Jana Angel, who plays on State’s volleyball team.
The gymnastics coach Mark Stevenson said Shepard almost didn’t make it onto the school’s list of athletes from Northwestern.
“She was basically a non-recruited athlete by anyone in the country. I went and saw her at a meet in Charleston because she’d been writing to me,” Stevenson said. “She had a lot of potential, but not a lot of skill — I didn’t know if she hadn’t been trained or if she hadn’t made the commitment to be trained to the level she is now. But we saw that she had ‘it,’ and we offered her a walk-on spot.”
Shepard continued to advance, earning a permanent spot on the roster and, eventually, a scholarship. This is her first year on academic scholarship, and Hancock said she’s cashing in on her opportunity.
“Her skills have just grown and grown,” Hancock said. “She earned a scholarship because she helped the team so much, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s in the final lineup next year.”
According to Stevenson, Shepard came into her own last year, becoming a “dominant presence” on the floor alongside former NCAA Southeast regional co-champion Hancock.
“It’s hard for anyone to beat Leigha, but Ashley was right there with her,” Stevenson said.
Although it is now her primary event, Shepard said she was not initially drawn to competing in floor.
“In the beginning it was definitely the worst for me,” Shepard said. “I wasn’t a natural gymnast, and it took a lot of coaching.”
In addition to being named to the All-East Atlantic Gymnastics League first team for floor in 2007, Shepard earned All-EAGL Academic honors each of her first two years.
“She is one of the most intelligent people you’ve ever met,” Stevenson said. “She’s No. 1 in her class — not just in her major, but in the University. When you’re working with that type of an athlete, you can tell them something, and they’ll understand you.”
Hancock echoed Stevenson’s statements, saying her road roommate puts her studies before everything else.
“Last year over spring break, she kept pulling out her books,” Hancock said. “I had to be like, ‘Ashley…we’re on vacation. We don’t have school for a week. Put the books away!’ She finally listened to me.”
However, somewhere in between class, practice and competition, Shepard may need to brush up on her trivia skills.
“Last weekend we were in our room together, and we played ‘Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?'” Hancock said. “I beat her twice, and she was not happy about it. It was really funny — she kept saying she thought there was something wrong with the game.”
