Jonny Anderson Sophomore Sarah Sullivan performing her floor routine in the Bank of America Arena at the University of Washington. After her performances this season, Sullivan has hopes of competing at the national level.

Dedicated. Determined. Hard working. These are just some of the words that her coaches and teammates use to describe sophomore SPU gymnast Sarah Sullivan.

"Sarah has such a passion for gymnastics," said Assistant Coach Kathy Siwek.

That passion has had plenty of time to develop considering that Sullivan started tumbling around the age of five. It was non-stop from there. Sullivan was soon doing gymnastics competitively, then was a club gymnast and eventually wound up at SPU.

"College gymnastics was a different transition from club [gymnastics] ... club was a lot more individual but college is all about the team," Sullivan said.

But Sullivan managed to handle the transition well. She was chosen to be a team captain as a freshman. And although she sprained both her ankles early in her freshman season, Sullivan managed to make it to nationals placing fifth on the vault and was named All-American.

This season Sullivan is off to a stellar start and has her eye set on the prize: another trip to nationals. "It would be awesome to be All-American in the all-around ... but being in any event final would be fun -- it is a reward to be able to compete at nationals," she said.

This season Sullivan has placed in the all-around competition four times and in all four individual events in multiple meets.

So far Sullivan holds the No. 2 spot in the nation in all-around competition. She is also nationally-ranked second on the balance beam, third on the floor exercise, and third on the uneven bars.

But even with all her personal achievements so far this season, Sullivan says that her main goal is hitting all four of her routines at each meet so that she can help her team reach its highest potential.

"My aim is to be a leader in the gym and outside of the gym," Sullivan said. And her coaches feel that she is doing just that.

"Sarah is a leader through her work ethic ... she leads by example in the gym, and has such a love for her teammates," said Siwek.

As Sullivan looks back to her freshman year she can see how much she has grown and how she has developed into the gymnast she is today.

"Being a sophomore and having experience has made me more confident ... I feel stronger with every meet," she said.

Gymnastics has been much more to Sullivan than meets and honors. "Gymnastics has taught me so much more than physical talent, it has taught me how to be a good leader and a good team member; it has taught me a lot about hard work and dedication," Sullivan said.

"She is an athlete that shows that, through hard work, you can do whatever you want -- that you can reach your goals," said Siwek.