Brenner Reunites with Gymnast Who Inspired Her
10/12/2018 6:43:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics, Features
Ten years ago, Abby Brenner fell in love with University of Michigan gymnast Kelsey Knutson while watching her compete on TV and Brenner sent a fan letter to her. Brenner, now a freshman on the U-M women's gymnastics team, got to tell Knutson at Homecoming how much she was inspired by her.
In 2008, Brenner was at home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, watching a Michigan women's gymnastics meet on TV and Knutson's balance beam performance drew her in.
"I think it was just how confident she was on beam," said Brenner. "That was something I always aspired to, being that confident on beam. She did it with grace and ease."
Brenner had only been training in gymnastics for a few years after her mother, Laura, a former gymnast herself, got her started at the age of 5. She had climbed to level 6. Brenner already had an affinity for the University of Michigan. She was born in Ann Arbor while her father, Joe, attended graduate school at Eastern Michigan in 1999 and her mother coached with U-M assistant coach Scott Sherman at one point in Minnesota. Now Knutson's performance gave Abby a reason to like the Maize and Blue. She decided she wanted to write a fan letter to Knutson.
Much to her surprise, Knutson wrote a letter back to her and sent along a signed picture. In the letter she wrote, "Dream Big!, Work Hard!, and Anything is Possible!"
"It was jaw-dropping," said Brenner on receiving the letter. "I was so excited. That really sparked my interest in Michigan as my dream school. I just wanted to be like her."
The next year, the Wolverines competed at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and Brenner attended the meet. She had a chance to meet Knutson in person.
"My mom was like, 'Oh, there is Kelsey, you should go get a picture with her,' but I was so nervous," said Brenner. "We ended up taking the picture and that was the only time we ever met."
That was until Knutson returned for the Weekend of Champions at Homecoming (Oct. 6). The 2008 team was being honored for its Big Ten Championship and Knutson returned from Iowa where she is an attorney at the Davis Brown Law Firm in Des Moines. She ironically went to law school at the University of Minnesota where she first met Brenner.
"It was so fun to connect with Abby," said Knutson. "She is a very outgoing and ambitious individual. She was kind enough to show me her locker and talk about her motivational quotes. That struck further commonalities and reminded me of myself when I was in college."
Brenner's locker is the same locker that Knutson had when she was a Wolverine.
"It was super exciting to see her at Homecoming," said Brenner. "We took a picture by our locker. It was fun to think about her being the gymnast and now I am following in her footsteps. I let her know how much of an inspiration she was to me."
After meeting Knutson in 2009, Brenner started attending Michigan summer camps. As a freshman in high school in 2015, she made her recruiting trip to Ann Arbor in February. A few weeks later, she got the offer from the coaches and committed.
"It felt like home," said Brenner. "The academics interested me and I knew that after college, gymnastics wouldn't be there anymore. I wanted to have the best opportunity and the balance between academics and athletics was very important. Also, Michigan has a great history of being like a family."
She only lived in Ann Arbor for six months before moving to Minnesota after she was born, but she always felt like she was "born to go here."
Knutson can relate to the reasons Brenner chose Michigan. They are the same reasons she came to school here from Ames, Iowa, in 2007.Â
"It was a dream come true to put on the Michigan uniform and be a collegiate gymnast," said Knutson. "My time at U-M has had a tremendous influence on my life. Being a student-athlete there was a phenomenal experience. Having a connection with Abby and having influence on her wanting to become a Michigan student-athlete is extremely flattering. It is a reminder that our actions can have long-term impacts on others."
As a student-athlete at Michigan, Knutson embraced being a role model because of the impact collegiate gymnasts at Iowa State had on her growing up as her club shared the Iowa State practice facility with the team.
"I remember looking up to collegiate gymnasts when I was younger and having that dream to become a collegiate gymnast," said Knutson. "Any role I could play in making that a dream for someone else and encouraging them that they too could accomplish it is something I thought was important. That is why I wrote the letter and sent her a picture, to encourage that."
Brenner feels the same way. Knowing the impact Knutson had on her, she wants to inspire little girls to pursue their dreams as well.
"Being a role model and inspiring little girls is something I have always loved to do," said Brenner. "Mentoring little girls is so inspiring and something I want to do because I myself have looked up to so many people."
Maybe 10 years from now we will be sharing the story about Brenner returning to campus to reunite with a girl she inspired.
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