Apollo gymnast has her own move: 'The Walters'

At Apollo Gymnastics Center, the newest vault craze is already being referred to as "The Walters."

That's an abbreviated -- and much easier to say -- option for a front handspring on, front handspring front pike with a half twist.

Members of the club's Level 10 team are hoping the nickname will catch on.

Of course, that all depends on the vault's inventor, Ebony Walters, who is trying to stick the landing well enough to qualify for nationals, where she would be eligible to have her creation recognized by USA Gymnastics and the International Gymnastics Federation.

"It's really hard to think of skills that no one else has done," Walters said. "We can't find that vault anywhere in the [rule] book, so if I do that it could be named after me. I'm really working on that."

There are several variations of the vault Walters has been working on throughout her second season at Apollo. Former University of Georgia gymnast Samantha Lutz performed a front handspring front pike with a half twist and fellow Bulldog Kimberly Shatz competed with a front handspring-front handspring front pike.

Walters, who is already regarded at the club level as one of the country's premier performers on the vault, could compete with a more traditional aerial sequence, but she wanted something unique as the staple of her all-around routine.

"It kind of just happened," she said. "We'd known that somebody had tried the tuck half so I started to work on pikes and those are coming a little more consistently for me. It's actually pretty easy."

At least Walters makes it appear that way with a combination of power and elegance that defines virtually every skill she performs.

The Hindorff release move on the uneven bars, for example, is the most daring -- and difficult -- element that she performs. But it is also one of the most rewarding, which is why Walters spent an entire year rehearsing it.

Earlier this month at the Cancun Classic, she caught the Hindorff in competition for the first time and went on to win the senior division all-around championship.

"I finally made my bar routine with a Hindorff for the first time. That was really exciting," Walters said. "I worked on it a lot over the summer and I'm just becoming consistent catching it."

Consistency is pretty much her priority now. Having a vault named after her would be the pinnacle achievement of a 12-year career, but Walters knows that success at the club level and next year at the University of Maryland depends on her ability to hit routines from one week to the next.

"Ebony is another top notch all-arounder with explosive power on all four events," said Maryland coach Brett Nelligan, who offered Walters a scholarship last fall after watching her place sixth on vault at the Level 10 National Championships in May.

Joining a Terrapins' program that qualified for the NCAA Regional Tournament and was ranked No. 36 in the nation last season was a year-long goal for Walters, who earned high school All-American status at Bethesda-Chevy Chase.

"Maryland's not that far from home and their gymnastics program is really good so I felt it would be a good choice for me," said Walters, who commutes from Silver Spring to train with coach Ken Anderson at Apollo. "I really wanted to go there so I just kept sending videos."

And, with Anderson's help, Walters made a triumphant transition from high school state champion to Level 10 national qualifier.

"I usually get kind of nervous at meets," she said. "But I'm getting used to it. I just go up there and do my best and try to be consistent on hitting each event."