Up until two years ago Allison Cucci didn’t think she would ever be an NCAA gymnast. She was training at Victors, a small gym in Rochester, New York, which taught her strong basics but wasn’t equipped for the highest levels of the sport. Cucci was the only level 10 gymnast there, trained on her own, and lacked a competitive bar routine.
When Victors underwent some changes in the summer of 2021, the Cucci family realized that if Allison wanted to become a DI student-athlete, it was time for a change. They considered their options and decided on their top choice: Twin City Twisters in Minnesota. The second week of August, Cucci was invited to a one-week trial at the gym. She passed and was subsequently invited back for a second week. If the second week went well, she would be accepted at the club. “After that second week I was terrified that I wasn’t going to make it,” Cucci said. “When [club owner] Steve [Hafeman] told me that I made it, I about screamed—I was so excited.”
The weeks that followed were chaotic and sad. With only two weeks to go before the new school year started, Cucci rushed back to Rochester, packed her belongings, and moved to Minnesota. “It was the hardest saying goodbye to the people who supported me with this decision, the…
