HRA's Forbes Signs With Acro-Tumbling Team at Converse College

Alexis Forbes of Hampton Roads Academy signed a scholarship offer to compete for the fledgling Converse College acrobatics and tumbling team on April 15. Converse, an all-women’s school, is located in Spartanburg, SC, and is officially a member of the Division II Conference Carolinas. However, with barely a dozen schools nationwide sporting Acro/Tumbling teams, the Converse squad will be competing out-of-conference, and usually against larger schools, such as Baylor and Oregon.

For Forbes, her introduction to gymnastics started at a very young age, when the two-year old was enrolled for classes at World Class Gymnastics in Newport News. She started competing for World Class at the age of six, and then took a brief respite from the sport at 10. Several months later, she re-emerged with Gymnastics Inc. in Hampton, and finally collaborated with Coach Tony Hampton at Hurricane Gymnastics, where she has been for the past six years.

All along, she knew that the acrobatics and tumbling routines were her favorite parts of gymnastics. Upon learning of the new variation of the sport, she filled out various recruiting questionnaires to schools offering Acro/Tumbling as a sport and caught the eye of newly hired Valkyrie coach Keegan Johnson. In fact, said Forbes, her interest in Converse preceded any formal visit, because there was no coach to meet at the school.

“I had shown my interest and sent videos to Converse before they even hired Coach Johnson. I’m going to be a founding member of the team.”

Forbes will be one of 23 recruits to the first-year team. Yet, with so few squads competing, the tiny (820 undergraduate enrollees) school will be thrust into national competition from Day 1. That was one of the selling points for Johnson, an All-American gymnast at Baylor, as she built her first team.

“Coach Johnson told me, I’m going to have very high expectations for you. I’m going to work you guys hard. I want to win, and I mean it,” said Forbes.

Hard work and high achievement is nothing new for the Navigator senior. At HRA, Forbes has maintained a near straight “A” average throughout her middle and high school career. As she admits, “I did get a “B” in fifth grade English, but that was it.”

Her drive in the gym will have to sustain through the spring and summer months. Last October, Johnson hit her head on the balance beam and suffered a concussion, her third. However, this one kept her out of competition for the entire gymnastics season, and she is only now gathering her acrobatic bearings while competing in diving and track with the HRA teams. “The track is helping with my endurance, and when the season is over, I’ll be back in the gym.”

Forbes aims to major in either biology or pre-med at Converse, where the Acrobatics and Tumbling season will begin this November.

Shinskie Wins D-Line Award at Ultimate Recruit's "Clash of the Titans" Camp

As seen on Recruit NoVA.com

It’s good to have choices, especially when it comes to the decision of where to attend college. It’s even better when one has seven Ivy League schools and a military academy on the list of potential college choices. Perhaps it is best when the eight schools are equally interested in having you attend their institution of higher learning, AND play football.

Mitchell Shinskie, a defensive lineman and tight end for Colonial Forge, has these choices.

Shinskie, who won the outstanding defensive lineman award at last weekend’s “Clash of the Titans” camp, has been compiling a “Who’s Who” list of academic powerhouse list of schools who are interested in his gridiron abilities. At 6’4” and 245 pounds, the junior is already large enough to be a force at defensive tackle or tight end on the FCS or BCS levels. His abilities on the field can benefit almost any program.

His academic prowess is equally impressive.

In a twist of fate, however, it was his absence from football last year that helped make him a red-hot prospect among the academically elite schools.

To hear Mitchell Shinskie retell the story, one fails to detect a sense of anger or regret.

“After my sophomore season, I was heavily recruited by Virginia Tech, U. VA, and Purdue,” said the honors student, who has six Advanced Placement courses on his academic record. “Then, a broken wrist bone last summer put it all on ice – just like my wrist!”

Undaunted, Shinskie pushed through his recovery, but some damage had been done. The interest from the first three courting schools subsided. “(The wrist) is 100 percent healed now, but battling back up recruiting boards is tougher than I thought. Since I did not attend camps last summer, no one really knows me.”

The anonymity carried through the first half of the 2016 season. “My stats were off last season, as playing in a cast will do that. I didn’t get the (numbers) they wanted to see.”

In spite of his reduced productivity, on the field, Shinskie learned a valuable lesson while recuperating.

“Everything your parents tell you about grades and their importance seemed to sink in.”

Shinskie was already an honor student, but he put forth an extra effort toward the books. The results were astounding. At present, he sports a 4.03 unweighted GPA that includes credit in a half-dozen AP classes. He plans to take seven more next year.

His standardized test numbers are also approaching the academic stratosphere. Shinskie has scored 1380 on the SAT, and aims to earn a 31 on the upcoming ACT.

Schools started noticing Shinskie again as 2017 rolled around. Along with the seven Ivy schools on board (to note, Brown is the only one who hasn’t extended a letter of interest), he is expecting to also hear from William and Mary, as well as Georgetown by week’s end. As Shinskie is learning, recruiting is a fluid process.

“It’s grueling. Ups and downs pretty much every week.”

Taking advantage of the offseason, the junior has been active in camps such as “Clash of the Titans.” Shinskie enjoyed many aspects of this year’s inaugural camp, held at Highland Springs High, near Richmond.

“I thought the entire experience was fantastic. The instruction provided was absolutely phenomenal. They had us running shuttles and drills that we would see in combines and camps thereafter, so it was a great practice.”

Self-aware as he is, Shinskie also noted the benefit in “allowing me to get my name out a bit more.”

Colonial Forge, under Coach Bill Brown, should be a favorite to make another deep run into the 6A state playoffs in 2017. The Eagles finished 11-3 last season, easily defeating Hylton (23-0), Thomas Dale (42-21) and Manchester (27-19) in the playoffs before falling victim to the juggernaut known as Oscar Smith 27-20 in the state semifinals, as Virginia’s all-time passing yard leading quarterback Shon Mitchell tossed four touchdowns, including the game winner to Khalil Perry in overtime.

Eager to put the sting of last year’s loss behind him, Shinskie has maintained the valuable lessons learned while sitting on the sidelines. His preparation for the upcoming season is moving along well.

“I can honestly say that I have never been as focused, in the classroom and the weight room. I’m on a mission. The team lost a lot of great players and leadership in its senior class, but we have some talented kids working to fill the void.”

Mitchell Shinskie remains optimistic about next year, even though there will be some changes.

“We have a new offensive line coach who has played at the highest level of the game, and a few returning starters on varsity. All in all, we’ll be just as good, if not better than last year.”

The order to improve will be a tall one. Last year’s Forge offensive unit lit up the scoreboard while averaging a shade over 35 points per game. Defensively, with Shinskie anchoring the defensive end spot, the Eagles allowed 15.6 points, with the shutout of Hylton, and All-State running back Ricky Slade, among the highlights.

Given his current list of interested schools, it will be intriguing to see what other schools will join the hunt for Shinskie’s collegiate services after an injury-free senior year.