EVO Athletics gymnast Hannah Joyner signs with Temple University

Competing at the elite gymnastics level meant Hannah Joyner didn’t just travel for competitions, but she lived in different cities.

Seeking a “grounded” life, Joyner chose to give up elite gymnastics a couple months ago. Instead, she opted to stick with the sport at Level 10 to allow her to attend college.

After taking unofficial visits, the rising Sarasota Booker High junior made her commitment this past weekend.

Joyner, who trains at Manatee County’s Evo Athletics, picked Temple University.

“They have really good academics and that’s a main thing for me,” Joyner said.

Temple offered a full scholarship, and Joyner said she’s excited for the chance to go to a big city like Philadelphia, where Temple is located.

“I like how busy it is,” Joyner said. “I like city life instead of slow, so it’s fun just seeing everybody walking around.”

Signing with a college following her sophomore year in high school isn’t abnormal in gymnastics. In other sports such as football, baseball, basketball and softball, student-athletes tend to commit to their respective colleges prior to their senior years.

In the meantime, Joyner is switching from home schooled to public high school to finish her academics before college. She’ll also continue performing in gymnastics competitions, but it won’t be on the Olympic path that looked likely earlier in her career.

“It was a little disappointing at first,” Joyner’s mother, Donna, said. “But then I had to look at the entire picture, see the bigger picture as long term not just, ‘You’re this great gymnast. Why do you want to drop down?’ ”

Donna Joyner said Hannah had to weigh the elite level grind that doesn’t come with an Olympic guarantee versus still doing gymnastics and gaining a typical high school lifestyle.

“I’m supporting her 100 percent on whatever decision she makes,” Donna said.

Joyner moved from Maryland to North Carolina and to Texas before settling in the Bradenton-Sarasota area following gymnastics coach Aimee Boorman’s appointment as the executive director of Evo Athletics last August.

Boorman previously coached 2016 Olympic gymnast superstar Simone Biles.

Biles won four gold medals at the Rio Games in 2016, and Joyner received the chance to compete alongside Biles during her time with Boorman in Texas.

“At first I was star-struck, but then I got used to her,” Joyner said. “She was normal after a while.”

This story was originally published July 24, 2017 at 6:53 PM with the headline "EVO Athletics gymnast Hannah Joyner signs with Temple University."