EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Onnie Willis
competes in a meet earlier this year. Her family played an
important role in her gymnastics career.
By Eli Karon
Daily Bruin Contributor
One unsung hero of UCLA gymnastics is a man most have never
heard of, though he has had a huge impact on the defending National
Champions and top gymnastics program in the nation.
Ronald Wilson, sophomore Onnie Willis’ maternal
grandfather, first suggested gymnastics when a young Willis
couldn’t stop using beds and couches as her personal gym.
“I was 3 or 4, jumping around all over the place, and my
grandpa said, “˜Put her in gymnastics,'” Willis
said.
Where many would have seen a hyper child ruining a freshly made
bed or teetering dangerously on the arm of a chair, Wilson saw the
potential his granddaughter possessed.
Luckily, he suggested gymnastics, the sport that has brought the
humble sophomore to Westwood. For Bruin Coach Valorie Kondos Field,
Willis’ road to Westwood started at the Level 10 National
Championships, when she was a junior in high school.
“The last rotation, this beautiful, strong, talented,
electrifying athlete comes out, and all my senses just perked
up,” Kondos Field said. “And I was thinking to myself,
“˜She’s got UCLA written all over her.'”
She recalled that another head coach watching the meet turned to
her and said, “I hate to say it, but she’s UCLA
material.”
Kondos Field’s immediate reaction: “My thoughts
exactly.”
All this came as no surprise to Willis’ parents, whose
other daughter, Tina, has achieved great levels of success herself,
inspiring her younger sister to succeed.
After placing second in her first beauty pageant, Tina took
voice lessons and followed a strict workout regimen. The next year
she went on to win Miss Washington and compete in the Miss America
pageant.
“It was encouraging for me to see her that
motivated,” Willis said. “Seeing her do that made me
realize why I worked so hard to get my scholarship.”
Willis and her older sister are two years apart and were able to
compete on the same track and field team in high school.
Tina was the one who convinced Onnie to try out for track. Over
Onnie’s insistence that she was a gymnast first, Tina talked
to Onnie’s P.E. teacher. Coincidentally, he was the
school’s track coach. Between the two of them, they convinced
Onnie to do track.
And what did the reluctant Willis do in her freshman year?
Only set the school record in the triple jump.
In her freshman year, Willis also dropped a level in gymnastics,
allowing her more time to practice track. The practice paid off in
1999 when she was crowned the State Triple Jump Champion and state
bronze medalist in the long jump. Willis’ multiple high
school records still stand.
One would think all of this must have been accomplished through
hours of hard work. But according to Willis, before this year that
notion couldn’t be more wrong.
“I’ve always had a bad attitude when I go in to
workout, because I don’t like it,” Willis said.
“I don’t think I have a great work ethic.”
Fortunately, Willis matured with age. When her teammates
selected her as team captain at UCLA, Willis was inspired to work
harder in the gym and set an example for her younger teammates.
“Maybe that is why I’m competing better this
year,” Willis said. “I work out better this year than I
ever have in my entire life.”
Though Willis downplays her work ethic, her teammates do not.
Carly Raab, Willis’ roommate last year, can’t say
enough about what Willis brings to the team.
“Onnie brings amazing leadership, honesty, cohesiveness
and unity to the team,” Raab said. “She brings out the
best in a lot of people. She’s a really loving
person.”
More than her work ethic has changed since she came to Westwood.
Although the Bruins won a national title her freshman year, that
season was still a transition for Willis. This year, she has shown
great improvement, posting several perfect 10s and a few all-around
titles.
Anyone who has seen a UCLA gymnastics meet knows it climaxes at
the beginning of Willis’ floor routine. With a silent crowd
waiting in anticipation, Willis breaks her signature smile, an
ear-to-ear grin that wins over judges as quickly as it does over
fans.
“It’s not like she flashes it; it just slowly
breaks,” Kondos Field said. “I have never witnessed
thousands of people break into exaltation over someone’s
smile. She hasn’t even tumbled yet and they’re going
crazy.”
Willis makes the kids who attend the meets happy when
she’s signing autographs for them, and nothing makes Willis
happier than kids. With her lifetime goal firmly set at being an
elementary school teacher, Willis is the kind of person parents
would want teaching their kids.
“I really like kids,” Willis said. “And
teaching is a great avenue where I cannot only work with kids, but
I can help kids.”
Willis has learned a lot her first few years at UCLA, all the
while succeeding in the gym and in the classroom. When Kondos Field
pointed out that Willis had achieved a 4.0 grade point average,
Willis was quick to point out, “Well, not really. I got an
A-minus.”
It is this attitude that makes her successful and will continue
to make her successful in her future endeavors. As Raab says,
“She’s motivating, energetic, personable, sweet ““
Onnie is just a phenomenal person.”