Lia Christiansen, a sophomore at Riverside Brookfield High School, began her career in gymnastics at the age of two. She believes that one of her greatest accomplishments so far in her high school career has been achieving the title Conference Champion at the Upstate 8 Conference Championship in January 2022.

At a young age, she started out attending gymnastics classes with her mom and gained a love and skill for the sport.

“Around the age of about two, I started at a gym club, ‘Tri-Star’, and it’s been that way ever since,” Christiansen said. “Then I moved gyms to RB till last year and then I switched to a gym called ‘Action’.”

As Christiansen got older, she began attending advanced classes and eventually began competing in the sport. Once she began attending RB, she trained in RB’s age group gymnastics program.

“I did it so long beforehand, and I did it out of this school. I knew the coach and all the girls, and I just knew it was gonna be so much fun,” Christiansen said.

RB’s Gymnastics Coach Karyn Domzalski has worked with Christiansen for quite a bit of time. Domzalski began working with her at the age of six.

“Last high school season was when she got all her big tricks and really came into her own as a higher level gymnast,” Domzalski said. “We move her skills around to make her routines more difficult.”

Domzalski believes that Christiansen is a capable and driven gymnast. She trusts that she has the potential to win state this year.

“She is very dedicated and focused during her line-up days, and she makes sure the work gets done,” Domzalski said.

While gymnastics is an individual sport, there is still much to appreciate about being on a team. Christiansen enjoys being a part of the RB gymnastics team because of the friendships and connections that are made during their time spent together.

“I enjoy the people I get to do it with, everyone is so supportive and we build such strong bonds, it basically builds lifelong friendships,” Christiansen said.

Christiansen has been productive during her current season, having accomplished much during her meets.
“Recently, I took second place in the bulldog invite, and our team took first with our highest score of the year,” Christiansen said.

This only adds on to her list of achievements within the sport.

“Lia is always there, she doesn’t miss any of the practices, she works on her routines,” Domzalski said.