Elise Wheeler was born in San Diego, California on April 28, 1987. She is the daughter of Karen and Richard Wheeler and Karen and Dan McClue. She has five brothers and sisters, Laura, Ryan, Rachel and Duncan. She began gymnastics in 1992. She trained at SCEGA. Elise took four years off from the sport but returned for college.

In 1999, Elise competed as a level ten. She qualified for the JO National Championships. In 2000, Elise qualified to junior international elite. Her first elite competition was the US Classic. She finished tenth. This qualified her for the national championships. At the US National Championships, she finished in the top twenty. This gave her a spot on the US National Team.

At Southern Utah State University, Elise made a major splash. She was named WAC Freshman Gymnast of the Year. She hit the majority of her routines. She earned first-team all Wac honors on vault. Elise also qualified for the NCAA Regionals as an individual. She was named SUU Female Athlete of the Year. Elise continued to improve her sophomore season. She qualified for the NCAA National Championships as an individual. She was second-team all-WAC in the all-around and was also on the academic all-WAC team. She was an NACGC scholar athlete.

As a junior, she qualified to the NCAA Championships as an individual for the second time. She earned All-American First-Team honors on bars and beam and second-team honors on floor. She finished sixth in the individual event finals on beam. She won the all-around title at the WAC Championships. She was also named WAC Gymnast of the Year.

Fast Facts Name: Elise Wheeler Birthday: April 28, 1987 Club: SCEGA College: SUU SUU

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS Full scholarship to SUU 2007: WAC Gymnast of the Year 2000: US National Team Member 2000: US Classic- 10th AA 1999: JO National Qualifier

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Photos © Lloyd Smith