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While many people have fond memories of jump roping in grade school, it’s more than a playground game for Addie Gilner ’28 – it’s an all-out sport.

“It honestly feels like a totally different world,” said Gilner, a competitive jump roper and now a first-year student at ���ϲ�����.

Gilner, who is from Chapel Hill, N.C.,  played five other sports in high school including field hockey, lacrosse, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field and basketball.

“My dad was very sports-oriented, and he started me in sports young and I fell in love as soon as I started doing them,” said Gilner. “I love that competitive energy, and our family is very competitive as well.”

Double dutch dreams

But it was when Gilner’s parents signed her up for a unique summer camp that she experienced competitive jump roping.

“I fell in love with it,” she said. “I made so many friends on the team, too. It was great exercise to do as well as school sports. There are group and individual events, so we’d be making up routines, preparing and training all year round for these competitions.”

It may have just been “great exercise” for Gilner, but she took competitive jump roping seriously and it paid off. She’s had the opportunity to travel the world, including to Japan and Norway. Gilner competes in double dutch, freestyle and speed events, where competitors have a certain time limit to see how many times they can get the rope under their feet. She even earned a spot on the U.S. national team, winning gold in the Double Dutch Pairs Freestyle event at the 2023 International Jump Rope Union Open Tournament.

“Winning gold at the world championships was a dream come true,” she said. “Seeing our group’s dedication, hard work and countless hours of practice finally pay off was incredible. It was an honor to represent not only my teammates, but also Team USA as a whole.”

The business of sports

While Gilner did bring her jump rope to ���ϲ����� to stay in shape, she’ll be staying busy as a member of the women’s lacrosse team hoping to help the Phoenix win a conference title this year.

“We had a better season last year, so we’d like to get even better this year,” said Gilner. “I’m really excited to work with the whole team and contribute.”

Gilner was one of four students recognized during New Student Convocation on Aug. 24, as Randy Williams, vice president and associate provost for inclusive excellence, highlighted the outstanding achievements of ���ϲ�����’s Class of 2028.

“I had no idea they were going to announce my name,” said Gilner. “I was so surprised and honored. I felt very proud of myself to be recognized like that. My family was also ecstatic to hear the news.”

Not only is Gilner a fierce competitor in sports, but that competitive streak extends to academics as well. She says her parents set a high standard and she made it a goal to balance sports with academics. Now a Business Fellow in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, she is deciding between majoring in entrepreneurship and finance.

“My dad started his own business, so that kind of just drew me to entrepreneurship,” she said. “I didn’t come into ���ϲ����� totally set on one major because I haven’t learned about all of the different types of business so I’m excited to learn this year.”

She hopes to combine her love of sports with business into a future career.

“I’m most excited to make connections, both in the Business Fellows program and on the lacrosse team,” said Gilner. “I loved getting to know different people through jump rope and I really like collaborating with different types of people.”