McGrew was a star for Center Grove gymnastics

<p><strong>K</strong>atelyn McGrew’s timing couldn’t have been better when it came to her gymnastics career.</p><p>A year after McGrew graduated from Center Grove in 2009, the school discontinued the sport, ending a 27-year run that included many team and individual successes at the state meet.</p><p>McGrew, then known as Katelyn Fernandes, stands at the forefront.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]<p>As a freshman, she led the Trojans to their lone runner-up team finish, a narrow 113.3 to 113.1 loss to Fort Wayne Dwenger at the 2006 state finals. That margin is tied for fourth-smallest in state history.</p><p>McGrew was the state all-around champion in 2007, and she is also one of only three Indiana gymnasts to win a single event three times (vault from 2006-08).</p><p>Dedicated to the sport from the time she was 4, McGrew took a break in middle school. The objective was to give her body and mind a rest and then possibly return to balance beams, vaults and the like as a freshman.</p><p>Some prodding from her parents, Leonard and Angie, helped.</p><p>“My parents really encouraged me to get back into it. I’m glad they motivated me to do it,” McGrew said. “It took me a little while (to regain my form), probably until midseason. Once I joined the team, the girls and coach (Eric) Howe helped motivate me.</p><p>“Then I started enjoying it again. All the hard work was paying off.”</p><p>Still smarting from the graduation of Natalie Hesler, a state champion in the floor exercise her senior season and recipient of the 2005 Mildred M. Ball Mental Attitude Award, the Trojans wasted no time showing off their talented newcomer.</p><p>“With a lot of the girls who had been on club teams with Katelyn, they were excited,” said Howe, the Trojans’ coach during their final 12 seasons. “We were hopefully optimistic that Katelyn would show up in our gym as a freshman. When she did, we were pretty happy.”</p><p>“As a coach, what was great about Katelyn is that she found her place as a teammate. That made things easier because there wasn’t drama. She was super coachable and really focused on what the team could accomplish.”</p><p>Center Grove gymnastics made it to state six consecutive seasons (2003-08). The 2006 squad came closest to a title, but there were also a trio of third-place placings, as well as a fourth and a fifth.</p><p>Now 29, McGrew credits gymnastics for teaching her the discipline and work ethic that helps her to this day.</p><p>She didn’t participate in gymnastics beyond high school, instead attending Indiana University, where she met her future husband Jeremy in a class when the two were freshmen.</p><p>Their wedding was in June 2017 and the couple has a son, Roman, who is four months old.</p><p>Katelyn McGrew works in downtown Indianapolis as a service coordinator for Peerless Pump, which manufactures vertical pumps.</p><p>Though Center Grove eliminated gymnastics just after she graduated, McGrew still has fond memories of her time with the team.</p><p>“I was sad about it at first and was thankful it didn’t happen when we were there,” she said. “It really is a beautiful sport to watch. It’s a team sport, but at the end of the day you’re looking to contribute. It’s crazy how life changes, but the past set me up for being the wife and mother that I am.</p><p>“You just roll with things and do your best.”</p>