Vicky Phillips is surrounded by some of the 101 medals she’s won at gymnastics competitions in the last six years. The 13-year-old Vicksburg resident won the 12-13-year-olds’ Level 8 state championship earlier this month. She will compete in the regionals April 11-14 in Chattanooga, Tenn.(The Vicksburg Post/C. TODD SHERMAN)

[03/19/02]Vicky Phillips looks perfectly at home on a balance beam. Landing on the beam, which is barely as wide as her foot, as she comes out of a backflip or handspring is almost second nature by now.

It should be.

Considering how much she has to balance in the rest of her life, gymnastics is the easy part.

The 13-year-old eighth-grader at Warren Central Junior High practices her craft 20 hours a week four hours a day, five days a week, plus an hour each way between Vicksburg and her gym in Jackson and is also involved in a half-dozen after-school clubs and activities.

Still, she excels at just about everything she does. She maintains an “A” average and won the Mississippi Level 8 state gymnastics 12-13-year-olds’ all-around title earlier this month. Next, she’ll compete in a regional meet April 11-14 in Chattanooga, Tenn., against 71 other gymnasts from nine states.

“We were worried about her maintaining her grades with that hectic schedule, but she’s done it extremely well,” said Avis Phillips, Vicky’s mother. “Winning the state meet is like the icing on the cake, but her grades are the cake. I was more proud of her straight As than her gold medal. But she’s pretty determined. Anything she decides she’s going to do, she’s going to do it.”

Vicky Phillips started doing gymnastics when she was 2 years old, began competing when she was 7, and has seemingly been flipping from one activity to the next ever since.

She’s the president of the WCJH honor society, and is also involved in the Girls’ Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the art club and is also a cheerleader.

“I just want to be involved,” Vicky said.

Despite the fact gymnastics is a year-round sport, she said the only time there are a lot of schedule conflicts is in the fall when gymnastics and cheerleading bump heads.

“It wasn’t really that bad because I didn’t start going to Jackson until after football season,” Vicky said, adding that she’ll probably give up cheerleading next fall when she moves up a level in gymnastics.

If it seems like Phillips crams 28 or 29 hours into a day, she doesn’t. She’s just learned how to do things by domelight.

The family car is like a second home for Phillips. During the trip to the gym, she’ll do homework, eat, or catch up on her favorite hobby sleeping.

On most nights, Phillips doesn’t get home until after 9 p.m., then eats dinner before going to bed. She usually makes up for her late nights on the weekend, when there’s no practice and she can sleep late.

“We don’t even wake her up,” Avis Phillips said with a laugh. “We let her wake up on Saturday, and then she goes to bed early Saturday night.”

The family’s cars don’t get as much rest, however. The Phillips have four vehicles, but all of them rack up the mileage. Vicky’s father, Jerry, works in Jackson and also puts a lot of miles on the car. He often brings Vicky home at night, but can’t always get her to the gym during the day.

“My van, I’ve had a year and it’s over 50,000 miles already,” Avis Phillips said, adding that her husband’s car has nearly 200,000 miles on it.

To ease the burden, and the cost, the family has enlisted the help of friends who are going to Jackson for other reasons to take Vicky to the gym.

“They’re just people that are going to Jackson or coming back from Jackson for different reasons, and they help us out,” Avis Phillips said.

Vicky’s two younger brothers also play baseball, making things even more hectic and turning everything into a logistical nightmare. Avis Phillips tries to keep her schedule loose in case one of Vicky’s rides falls through, and getting places on time often requires military precision.

“I’ll tell you what’s hard, with the schedule like this, is if she has to go to the doctor or the dentist or something. I have to wait for a school day off and plan everything for that day,” Avis Phillips said. “It’s the only time we can squeeze stuff in, because she doesn’t want to miss school to go to the doctor, and she has no afternoons.”

Of course, as Vicky reminds her mother, even that precision can go horribly wrong sometimes.

One rainy night, miscommunication between the Phillips and one of Vicky’s rides left the young gymnast stranded. Fortunately, her instructors were teaching a late class, but it was nearly 11 p.m. before she got home.

“Some nights I don’t get home until 10:30,” Vicky said with a smile.

Despite all of the hassles, long days and sore bones Vicky has amassed over the last few years, she said it’s all worth it. She added that the friends she’s made through gymnastics are the best part of it all.

“You have a lot of friends that you’re with a lot, so you really get to know them pretty well,” she said.