Lyanda Dudley | Age 17 | Millard West
Lyanda Dudley was a child that had an unlimited supply of energy. Her parents took her to the park on a daily basis in an attempt to have her run off some of her energy. When the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics was televised, Lyanda, age three, had her first exposure to gymnastics and wanted to do it herself. Her parents had her try the Open Air Circus first, where Lyanda was walking in three-and-a-half foot stilts at age four. Finally, at age five, her parents enrolled her in gymnastics classes and Lyanda’s love of the sport has only grown from there.
During the past 11 years, Lyanda has trained at the Gymnastics Academy of Boston, Dreams Gymnastics in Glenview, Illinois, and locally at Nebraska Gold Gymnastics. Since 2005, she has qualified to compete at state competitions and has been a regional qualifier each year since 2008. In the spring of 2012, she competed at the Illinois state gymnastics meet and took 10th place all-around (36.500) including a third place finish (9.575) in the vault. She moved into regional competition where she finished 13th all-around (35.575) and once again placed third on the vault (9.425).
After taking a year off from competing in gymnastics, Lyanda returned and picked up right where she left off. This past spring, she had a second place finish in the all-around (36.325) at the Nebraska state gymnastics meet; including first place finishes on the beam (9.550) and floor (9.400) and third on the vault (9.000). She continued on to regional competition where she had a seventh place (36.725) all-around finish and proceeded to the Level 10 Junior National Olympics. At nationals, Lyanda tied for 29th place (36.775) all-around.
Outside of the gymnastics arena, Lyanda prides herself on her studies. She stays very active at Millard West High School as a participant in National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Spanish Club, Key Club, and as an officer on Student Council. This past summer, she had the opportunity to participate in a six week engineering program at Cornell University via the Joyce Ivy Summer Scholars program. This program supports the academic advancement and leadership development of young women in the Midwest; Lyanda was one of five scholars from Nebraska to receive a scholarship.
Lyanda has two younger siblings, Karina (13) and Creighton (7). Her parents are Linda Chee and Andrew Dudley of Omaha.
