In 2008, Ashley Lee continued to practice gymnastics despite not having a college scholarship offer.
Lee was training at Elite Gymnastics in Baton Rouge when LSU coach D-D Breaux and her staff saw Lee vault and knew she could add to the program.
Now, three seasons later, Lee is embarking on her senior season as a Tiger. She will also be the only senior on the roster.
“Sam [Engle] was the only senior last year, and following in her footsteps, I’ve learned some things from her,” Lee said. “But I’m not saying that I’m the only leader. I don’t feel like I have to do everything on my own. My whole team has my back.”
Lee grew up in Vacaville, Calif., until she finished high school and moved in with her grandparents, who live in Baton Rouge. She spent fall 2008 enrolled at Baton Rouge Community College. Her father, Joe Lee, attended LSU.
When Breaux first approached Lee about joining the squad, she couldn’t offer her a scholarship but wanted Lee to walk on the team.
“We just found her training,” Breaux said. “We needed a vaulter, and we needed someone who could come in and contribute immediately, and she did. She came in at Christmas of that year, had very good grades and had a very outgoing, gregarious, self-confident kind of personality.”
She earned a scholarship in her sophomore season. In her career, Lee has produced two vault titles for the Tigers and in 2010 was named a First Team All-American on the vault.
Her career high on the vault is a 9.900, and her highest tally on the floor exercise is a 9.825.
But her personality is what sets her apart from the rest of the team.
“She gives you the comic relief,” Breaux said. “[She was] the person that when things are going great she’s very excited and when things are going bad she reminds you, as Skip Bertman would say, ‘It’s not world hunger.’ And she was kind of that person that would bring it all back in and find something funny to laugh about.”
Lee will likely need to step up and become more than comic relief as the lone senior.
Lee said she embraces and anticipates being a role model for the rest of the team to follow.
“I’m excited,” Lee said. “I’d like to think of myself as someone that people can follow by looking at my actions. I’d like to be inspirational, a ‘hip, hip, hooray,’ type person. I love when things are fun and laid-back.”
 
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Contact Rob Landry at [email protected]