Autumn Lefever is always finding some way to keep herself active, whether it's doing a routine out on the gymnastics floor, high jumping in track, or barrel racing with her Quarter Horse.
She competed and did well at the state championship gymnastics meet last year as a sophomore, and this year she's team captain and ready to take another crack at winning a state championship.
After that, this St. Francis junior will be practicing with the track team. She's a talented high jumper and last year her 4x200 relay team took second at the sectional meet, so she's hopeful to do well again this year.
"(Track) is a little more laid back than a lot of other sports," Autumn said, "and it's just really enjoyable."
Then when the spring track season is done, she'll be spending her summer barrel racing and trail riding with her three horses.
"I've been riding since before I can remember. I have a Quarter Horse and two Paints," Autumn said. "My mom owns a boarding stable and gives horseback riding lessons."
She is a part of a saddle club and 4-H, and competes in gaming shows and trail rides in her free time.
"I do barrel racing and that kind of stuff," Autumn said. "It's not every weekend, but we show as much as we can. "
Her mom owns and manages Rainbow Stables, a boarding facility in Isanti. Autmn lives there with her parents and her younger sister, freshman Jade Lefever, who is also a gymnast. She says her dad isn't much of a horseback rider, but they get their father-daughter time in different ways. Her dad, Mike, was a gymnast in high school and now he coaches the St. Francis gymnastics team.
"It's nice because he knows to push me harder because I'm his daughter," Autumn said. "He doesn't baby me."
There are some downsides, too: "He brings it home sometimes, like he can't just leave things at the gym. Sometimes it's frustrating."
Autumn went to state last year for vault and said she "did OK for the level of competing that I was doing compared to other girls."
She's the captain of her gymnastics team and hoping to get another chance at a state championship as an all-around gymnast. Her favorite event is the floor exercise, and believes it's her best, too.
Her least favorite event, she says, is "probably bars, because it's the most frustrating."
Meanwhile, running is in her DNA. Her mom, Jennifer, was a track and cross country runner in high school. Autumn runs short distance in track, and hasn't gotten into cross country or long distance for a reason.
"I thought about (doing cross country)," Autumn said, "but I have really bad knees."
She says running track and doing the triple-jump benefit her as a gymnast because, she says, "it builds up my cardio more."
After high school, she hopes to go to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and become one of two things.
"I like my medical classes," Autumn said. "I want to be an orthopedic or a psychologist. I have no idea which one yet."
