By Caroline Lanni
Owen Carney was a very athletic kid growing up and when he was starting high school, he had to make a
choice on which sport he wanted to play after being involved with so many sports over the years. After
months deciding, he chose to focus on just gymnastics.
He never imagined going this far with being a gymnast and ended up sticking with it and fell in love with
this sport, Carney said.
Carney is a senior in high school and is graduating this year. Carney started his gymnast’s career at
Sterling Academy of Gymnastics and Dance [Sterling Gym] when he was four years old.
Carney was born in 2004 and has been a Sterling resident for his whole life and started officially
competing in Sterling for gymnastics when he was 10 years old.
He said that his favorite events are high bar and floor, “I enjoy each of these events the most as they
continue to challenge me throughout any aspect, and I continue to improve in them.”
Carney has recently committed to Springfield College for gymnastics and will be there next year
competing with them. He is majoring in business administration.
This February, Carney got the privilege of competing at the USA Gymnastics Elite Team Cup in Frisco
Texas.
To make it onto the Region Six team this past year, Carney had to participate in workshops and meets
where he had to gain points and rankings, so the top eight gymnasts were selected for the Region Six
team. Then only six out of the eight competed at the cup and Carney was one of the six chosen.
Carney was then a part of the Region six team and competed at the Elite Team Cup against eight other
elite teams. Region 6 specifically was made up of the new England region. Region six was made up of
gymnasts from Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts.
“Going to the meet, I was quite nervous, and pressure was pretty high. Our region was not expected to do
amazing. I thought we did well, and we ended up placing fourth place out of nine regions. We went above
and beyond,” said Carney.
He added that the competition was strong, and the atmosphere was very “professional,” so it was
extremely exciting to be there.
Carney said that this was the first place where the apparatuses were raised, was the first time he
performed for a live streamed audience, and it was the first time he was not specifically representing
Sterling Gymnastics, but he was representing a Region Team.
He said that at the Elite Team Cup he ended up placing fifth on high bar and eighth on vault.
When asked about his future Carney said it is hard to say now if he will continue being a gymnast after
college, but he is excited about continuing gymnastics in college.
Carney said, “Coaches Bob Donahue and Liz Gonzalez have been outstanding and both of them coaching
me through this entire process, honestly, made me the gymnast I am today.”
He added that his previous teammates who went off to college before Carney inspired him and pushed
him to continue working hard and is the reason, he is going to college himself for gymnastics.
“It has been a great experience,” said Carney about being a part of the Sterling Gym.
“Gymnastics has always been a huge part of my life and it might be hard to leave it after college I am not
sure yet,” he said.
Owens’ mom, Chris Carney said, “As parents we are extremely proud of how he handled himself in that
competition and handled that pressure at the Elite Cup and all of his accomplishments.”
Owens’ dad, Ed Carney, said that thanks to gymnastics his son learned a lot of life lessons, such as how to
handle and manage pressure, and have immense focus in order to excel. He said that he sees Owen
applying these lessons he learned from gymnastics in his future life, and it has helped him become a well-
rounded individual which he will use in all the success he has coming forward.
Carney said that “The journey has been absolutely amazing. There are always ups and downs but
pushing through them and striving to be better every time I go into the gym, it’s just an experience I
wouldn’t want in any other way.”