EIU Media Relations

EIU’s Lacey Jenkins bringing home awards from Spain World Cup

Jenkins earns awards for gymnastics skills in several areas

[CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR: MORGAN AUSTIN]

(Charleston, IL) – Eastern Illinois University’s Lacey Jenkins, a graduate student in EIU’s Communication Studies program and a native of Mattoon, Illinois, recently received several awards when she represented the United States at the World Cup in Valladolid, Spain in early October.

Currently, Jenkins is on the Senior Elite National Team for USA Gymnastics Double Mini. She has been on three national teams and two world championship teams, she has received three international medals, and she has been a senior elite gymnast for five years.

Traveling to Spain to represent the U.S. at the World Cup, Jenkins was one of only two Americans to ever make a World Cup final on the double mini trampoline. The other American was her teammate, Tristan Van Natta. Jenkins went into the finals in 7^th place and finished the competition in 5^th place. One week after the Spain World Cup event, she participated in the 14^th International Loulé Cup competition in Portugal, where she placed 3^rd as an individual and 2^nd for her team.

Afterward, Jenkins traveled again to an Olympic training center in Lake Placid, New York. While there, she secured a spot on the world’s team this November. As a team member, she will travel to Tokyo to represent the United States at the 2019 World Championships from November 22 to November 30.

At EIU, Jenkins is currently working toward a master’s degree in communication studies, and she is also a graduate teaching assistant in two speech classes. She received her bachelor’s degree in communication studies with a focus in public relations and a minor in marketing at EIU. Her future goals consist of graduating from EIU with her master’s degree in 2021, competing at the World Championships, and growing her own gymnastics business in Charleston.

Jenkins has already started her business in the Charleston community. Jenkins opened the gymnastics facility Phoenix Elite, located on 1101 Loxa Road in Charleston, when she was 19. At this facility, classes are offered to children and to athletes to help them train in several areas of gymnastics, including competitive and recreational trampoline, double mini, cheer, and even ninja classes. Jenkins says that she especially loves helping kids have fun and jump on the trampolines in her facility. For more information about Phoenix Elite, visit https://www.phoenixelite217.com.

For more information about EIU, or to learn more about its growing assortment of programs and services, visit the university’s website at www.eiu.edu, or call EIU’s public information office at (217) 581-7400.