Melissa Fernandez was born on November 2, 1988. She trained at KGDC during her club career. She graduated from high school in 2007.
In 2003, Melissa competed level nine. She competed at Regionals. In 2005, she won all five gold medals at the San Diego Classic. She finished second all-around, third on beam, fourth on vault and bars and tenth on floor at Westerns. Melissa moved up to level ten in 2006. She finished first on vault, beam and floor at the State Championships. She won beam at Regionals. At JO Nationals, Melissa placed second on beam and tenth all-around. In 2007, Melissa finished second all-around at Regionals. She placed sixth on floor, seventh on vault and eighth all-around at JO Nationals.
As a freshman at Illinois, Melissa competed on vault and beam in every meet. She competed on floor in 12 of the 13 meets. She was an NACGC Scholastic All-American. During her sophomore season, Melissa earned First-Team All-American honors on balance beam. She was the first Illinois Gymnast to earn this honor. She was also the first Illinois Gymnast to qualify to an event final at the NCAA Championships. Melissa finished second on beam at the Big Ten Championships. She won five beam titles throughout the season including setting a school record at Missouri. She was a member of the Academic All-Big Ten and was a NACGC Scholastic All-American.
During her junior season, Melissa was a First-Team All-Big Ten selection. She won vault once, bars five times, beam four times and the all-around once during the season. Melissa was second on the team with 29 top 3 finishes. She competed in the all-around in 11 of the 14 meets. Unfortunately her season was cut short due to a right lower leg injury on vault at the Big Ten Championships. Academically, she was a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, Academic All-Big Ten honoree and a NACGC Scholastic All-American.
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Fast Facts
 Name: Melissa Fernandez
Birthday: Nov. 2 1988
Club: KGDC
College: Illinois
Illinois
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MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS
Full Scholarship to Illinois
2009: First-Team All-American
2007: JO Nationals- 8th AA
2006: JO Nationals- 10th AA
2005: L9 Westerns- 2nd AA
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