Latasha Smith was born in San Diego, California on January 8, 1987. She was raised by her grandparents, Delores Parham and Herb. She has a younger sister named Kayla. She began gymnastics in 1995 when her cousin brought her to a gym. She trained at Metropolitan Gymnastics until midway through the 2001 season. Tasha then moved to Auburn Gymnastics. In 2005, she began competing at Gymnastics Express. She trained at Gymnastics Express until college.

In 2000, Tasha competed as a level ten. She dropped down to level nine in 2001. She won the all-around and uneven bars state titles. At Regionals, she swept the gold medals. Tasha won the Western Vault Title at Western Nationals. In 2002, she went back to level ten. She placed first on beam and floor at States. At Regionals, she won the same two events. At the JO National Championships, Tasha placed second all-around! In 2003, she won four gold medals at States. The only event she did not win was bars. At Regionals, she won the all-around, vault and beam titles. Tasha placed third all-around and first on floor at JO Nationals.

Tasha continued competing as a level ten in 2004 and 2005. She won all of the gold medals at States. At Regionals, she won floor. Tasha did not have her best meet at JO Nationals. She returned in 2005 to win the all-around and floor state titles. She then won beam and floor at Regionals. Tasha also won the Regional All-Around Title. At JO Nationals, she finished second all-around and second on floor! She won vault.

As a freshman at Oregon State, she missed three meets due to turf toe and one meet due to an ankle injury. She returned to win Pac-10 titles on vault and floor in her first meet back in the all-around. She earned Second-Team All-American status on bars. She was the Co-Female New Comer of the Year for OSU.

In 2007, she earned first-team All-American status on vault. She competed on vault event finals. She missed the start of the season because of a knee injury. She earned Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week honors. She won floor at the Regional Championships. She won seven individual titles in 2007, four on floor, two on beam and one in the all-around. As a junior, she earned a perfect ten on floor against BYU. She won floor at the NCAA Regional meet. She earned Pac-10 titles on both vault and floor. Tasha earned 12 event titles including six on floor and five on vault. She earned Pac-10 Specialist of the Week and Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week honors. She was an All-Pac-10 first team selection on vault and floor.

Tasha rejoined the team team in February after giving birth to her daughter in December. She earned All-American honors on floor.

Fast Facts Name: Tasha Smith Birthday: January 8, 1987 Club: Gymnastics Express College: Oregon State Oregon State Booster Club

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS Full Scholarship to Oregon State Four Time JO National Qualifier 2005: JO Nationals- 2nd AA 2002: JO Nationals- 2nd AA

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Photos © Steve Weixel & Keith Mukai