Grace Quinn will never forget the stillness. She'll never forget hobbling her way to the sidelines during her senior year of high school at the Brestyan's Invitational in Las Vegas. She'll never forget attempting to stick the landing during her vault and the awkward fall that followed. She'll never forget the intense pain that rushed through her foot and ankle as she sustained multiple breaks and tears. She'll never forget putting on a brave face for her teammates and those watching in the stands, masking her discomfort in every step off the mat.
 

"As soon as I landed, I knew it wasn't good," Quinn said. "The last thing I wanted was to be sitting out again. I did my best to hide it and play it off as if everything was ok, but in that moment, I was in excruciating pain."

 
Quinn had suffered a severe lisfranc injury, breaking the bones in the middle of her foot. She separated her first and second metatarsals, tore all the ligaments that were attached, and also broke her navicular bone.

It wasn't the first time Quinn had to face such adversity. The injury was the latest blow for the rising elite gymnast, which followed a number of elbow surgeries that forced the Dallas native to remain off the mat during her club career.
 
Quinn knew what she was up against. Following her procedure, in which doctors inserted a number of pins and screws to stabilize her newly repaired foot, Quinn knew there would be a long road to recovery. She would spend the next several months in and out of physical therapy with back-and-forth trips to the doctor. She would have to start from the bottom and slowly work her way back to the top.  
 
But with the encouragement and support from her future Cal coaches --  Justin Howell and Liz Crandall-Howell -- and teammates, Quinn, a 2019 commit, knew she'd manage to overcome and persevere, turning doubt into confidence, One Day Better and one step at a time.

"Justin and Liz believed in me from the beginning," Quinn said. "They were very supportive of me during the entire process, and reassured me they knew what I was capable of achieving. Before and after the surgery, they always made sure to text me or call me, letting me know that I was going to get past this and recover, and be able to contribute to this team and succeed."
 
Those words served as positive reinforcement for Quinn. Following an intense regime of summer training, she found herself in Berkeley, stepping foot on campus as the newest member of the California women's gymnastics team, looking to put the past behind her while hoping for a healthy new start. 

It didn't all go as planned. As Quinn and her teammates were preparing for the upcoming 2019 campaign, the severe pain and throbbing returned. The discomfort continued to intensify with every practice and workout leading up to the season. After a quick trip to the doctor during Thanksgiving break, she returned to Berkeley with some unfortunate news.

"I rushed the process," Quinn explained. "The rehab was working, I just needed more time. This was a really big surgery and I realized I tried to make too big of a jump. Coming off this major surgery and having multiple pins and screws inserted throughout my foot, I needed to not be in such a rush and allow myself to take my time with this process. It was on me."
 
While her teammates were off to a fast start to open 2019, Quinn was flying under the radar. Determined and deadset on making a late-season comeback, she worked closely with Cal's athletic training staff in putting together a plan for the next few months, setting the stage for her triumphant return to the floor that was strengthened by newfound awareness and fresh perspective. Over the next 12 weeks, Quinn followed an intense training regime with hours of treatment, rehab and recovery to rebuild her endurance and strength.

"I knew in order to get back to where I was, I needed to be diligent about my rehab and recovery," Quinn said. "During the week, I worked every morning with our athletic trainer and other physical therapists in regaining the strength and mobility needed to perform. During practice, I would do what I could gymnastics-wise, regardless of what it looked like. At the end of the day, I was willing to do whatever it took to get back to competing with my teammates."
 
To everyone's surprise, after passing a number of tests and checkmarks, Quinn made her collegiate debut, exhibiting on floor on Jan. 21, 2019 against Stanford.
 

"That was a huge moment for me," Quinn said. "Being able to go back out there on the floor and compete -- I won that moment. After I finished, both my teammates and coaches ran up to me. Everyone was super happy for me. It was overall just a great moment."

 
 Following the end of the spring semester, as most college students headed home to unwind and decompress, Quinn had other ideas. She knew the next three months were her most important yet.

"I remember having a conversation with Justin and Liz at the end of the season," Quinn said. "They asked me, 'What do you feel like you need to do? What are the steps you need to take in order to get back to doing what you do best?' And the one constant throughout our conversation was the fact that I needed to get in competitive shape. If I could get in shape, I'd be able to contribute wherever they need me and I'll be able to do whatever they ask me to do."
 
That "whatever it takes" mentality inspired Quinn to take an unorthodox approach. She traded in hand grips for boxing gloves and took up classes in mixed martial arts. Under the guidance of Damon Jackson, an accomplished, professional mixed martial arts athlete himself, Quinn dedicated the summer learning the ins and out of different styles of MMA training, including boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and Jiu Jitsu.
 
"From the beginning, I could tell Grace was a very talented athlete," Jackson said. "From watching the way she went about her warm-up and how hard she pushed herself throughout the entire workout, I got the sense of how important these sessions were to her." Right away, the two athletes -- determined and dedicated -- hit it off. The workouts, which focused on building full-body athleticism through a combination of strength and endurance, strayed away from the traditional gymnastics work on vaults and bars. At first, the daily sessions were simple, starting off with easy cardio on the treadmill and working through the aches and pains of her recovery with foam-rolling and active resistance band work. As she moved down her checklist, she then learned the basics of boxing and movements needed to execute the right punch and kick combinations.
 
"I could tell she was hesitant and nervous at first," Jackson said. "But after a few sessions she realized how beneficial it was going to be for her to let loose and trust herself within the movement. She was really self-aware about trusting her body to connect and land the right technique."
 
It was all starting to come together. After learning to trust her body and mastering the correct form and technique, Quinn became a regular and a standout in Jackson's classes.
 
"What I admired about her the most was her attitude and her willingness to be coached," Jackson said. "She understands the importance of learning and mastering technique, and she's extremely coachable. I knew she was working towards coming back and being an elite athlete in a top-notch program at a prestigious university. I took a lot of pride in knowing I could help get her there."
 
"I'm a big believer in the importance of working hard," Jackson added. "To me, if someone shows up every day, as is willing to be pushed to the limit, the work will speak for itself."


 After months of training and anticipation, Quinn returned to Berkeley in the fall determined to take to the mat and showcase the results of her hard work. With California continuing to battle through an injury-plagued season this year, Quinn has stepped up for the Bears in a big way.
 
In Cal's home opener, Quinn earned a 9.85 on floor, helping the Bears post their best team score this season. Two weeks ago, against then-No. 24 Arizona, Quinn made her collegiate all-around debut, competing on the uneven bars for the first time and setting a career-high 9.875 on floor while contributing to Cal's fourth consecutive win. It was her first competition as an all-arounder since 2015. She has proven to be a staple of the Golden Bear lineup, competing in every meet this season.
 
"Competing all-around honestly made this journey well worth it," Quinn said. "I was a little nervous, but I also knew I was fully capable of turning those nerves into confidence and excitement."
 
"I had something to prove," she added.  "I wanted do it for the ones who doubted me and thought I'd never come back. I knew I deserved this opportunity. Having Justin, Liz and my teammates standing behind me through this process made it that much easier. It's very bittersweet."