Trinidad best in the West

Trinidad, an eighth-grader from Emerald Hills who competes with San Mateo Nor Cal Gymnastics Club, recently captured the level 10 championship at the USA Gymnastics 8-10 Level regional event in Reno two weeks ago and finished second overall against all competitors.

“I had been preparing for it (doing well at regionals),” Trinidad said. “I was very confident I would do very well.”

It’s not bragging from Trinidad. She has been on a rapid rise since concentrating on gymnastics, while still dabbling in competitive basketball. She qualified for the regional meet by virtue of a top-four finish in the Northern California state championships in March. She was one of 12 gymnasts from Northern California to compete in the regionals against teams from Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Southern California.

Trinidad finished no lower than second place in the four apparatus — first place in the uneven bars and second-place finishes in the vault, balance beam and floor exercise. It added up an all-around title.

Unlike the recent focus on explosive gymnastic moves, Trinidad is decidedly old school in that she focuses on grace and having perfect lines. Not surprisingly, Trinidad enjoys the stage the floor exercise allows, while she continues to work on her power game for the vault.

“On the floor, I get to express my personality more,” Trinidad said. “I’m not a very powerful gymnast. I’m more graceful.”

All of which makes her ascension on the gymnastics scene even more improbable than accomplishing what she has at her age.

“A lot of times in a sport like gymnastics, you don’t it, it picks you. She loves the sport and has a passion for it,” said Phillip Trinidad, Porsche’s father who was a member of Stanford University’s 1994 NCAA swimming championship. “Her competitive season is over (for now), but the training doesn’t stop. Now’s the time to gain new skills.”

If Porsche wants to take the next step of reaching the elite level, she must continue to cram in as much training as possible because she is constantly playing catch-up with competitors who may be younger, but have more experience.

“What makes Porsche unique is that she started gymnastics really late. Most girls start when they are 4, 5 years old. What that forced [Porsche] to do was gain the skills and ability to get the same level as those other girls,” Phillip Trinidad said. “She’s had to do some crazy things to catch up. … What takes people 10 years to do, she did in five.”

To maintain a balance in her athletic life, Porsche Trinidad also plays competitive basketball and plans on playing at St. Francis High School in Mountain View next season. She has never been one to focus on just one sport, despite excelling in gymnastics.

“My parents put me into as many sports as I could — soccer, softball, swimming. I also did volleyball and track and also played basketball,” she said.” Playing basketball and soccer has given me a lot of endurance (for my gymnastics).”

Her father just hopes that she can keep up with her schedule, which will get that much tougher as she enters high school. But Phillip Trinidad believes the organizational lessons she’s already has learned will benefit her going forward.

“My concern when she originally started gymnastics (was the time commitments), when you start talking about (playing) two sports. She trains (for gymnastics) four hours a day, six days a week,” he said. “She has to be super organized every day.”

Porsche is hoping that passion and commitment to the sport translate into a spot on a college gymnastics roster, with the outside hope of making the Olympics one day.

“The Olympics are definitely a goal, but if it’s too late for me, hopefully I land in college,” she said. ‘The ultimate goal is to get to the elite level (in gymnastics) and get noticed.”

Phillip Trinidad said by winning the Level 10 competition in Reno, she will definitely be noticed by the powers-that-be who decide on national and Olympic squads. Now, she needs to build on the success she had this spring.

“[Winning regionals] puts her on the map. Instead of just showing up (at competitions), there will be more eyes on her (now that’s she a known entity),” Phillip Trinidad said. “She’s moving up the draft board.”