Plum graduate Sarah Kvortek made a name for herself in gymnastics at both the club level with Ultimate Gymnastics in Delmont and representing Plum at championship meets, including WPIALs.
While the possibility of continuing her gymnastics career in college was there, she opted to attend Slippery Rock and concentrate on academics, studying exercise science and occupational therapy.
“I knew my major was going to be a little rough,” said Kvortek, who stayed involved in gymnastics through an informal campus club and as an instructor of youth gymnasts in and around Slippery Rock.
“I love gymnastics, don’t get me wrong, but after 12 years of doing it, I was starting to get tired of it,” she said. “It is such a mental game, and it is so physical, too. It takes up so much of your time. I just wanted to come to college and be free of all the time restrictions and have the time to do all my schoolwork, join clubs, get involved in campus life and not have to worry about practice times.”
But after attending a fitness expo on campus last March and taking in the Ms. SRU Bodybuilding Show, her desire to compete took a new turn.
“I thought it was so cool,” Kvortek said. “I was like, ‘You know what? I think I can do this.’”
After a year of training, dieting and mental preparation, Kvortek will go from spectator to competitor at this year’s bodybuilding competition on campus March 30.
“I’ve always had a passion for fitness and nutrition,” she said.
“As soon as I stopped gymnastics, I knew I needed to fill that void. I like a challenge to work towards. I also had my own goals physique-wise, a certain way I wanted to look. I had a good foundation of muscle from gymnastics. I started resistance training, and I really got into it when I arrived at Slippery Rock because they have a state-of-the-art gym. The gym opens at 6 a.m., and I wake up to get ready to go at 5:30. It works so well with my busy schedule.
“I went to the gym and talked to a nutritionist anyway, so why not try it out? I am not going to get a chance to do this again. I don’t want to do this as a pro. I just wanted to try it, say I did it, and see out what it’s all about.”
Through all of the goals she set, the sacrifices she has made over the past 10 months, Kvortek is pleased with where she is just four weeks away from the competition.
“After I watched last year’s competition, I did a trial cut for a month or two to see how my body would respond to it,” she said.
“My nutritionist was super helpful with all of that. I saw my body did respond, and everything looked good. After that, and into the fall semester, I really focused in on ‘the bulk’ where I was eating more and putting on more muscle. I was eating around 2,300 to 2,400 calories a day and hitting the gym five days a week. That part was a little uncomfortable for me because I don’t like to see the number on the scale go up. I had to kind of just ignore that and trust the process. I gained about six or seven pounds.”
Kvortek continued the process of balancing her cuts in calories with her bulking through the late fall and into winter. She said she’s experienced the ups and downs of gains and plateaus.
“I’ve been doing 1,400 calories a day for a little over a month, and the fatigue is real,” she said.
“I am very tired all the time. But I have been trying to make hydration a key. We’ve added in some sprints and walking in addition to my other training. I am hoping for a decrease in my body-fat percentage. Lately I have been hitting a couple of roadblocks with the way my metabolism is working. I have a day where I get to have some extra 400 or so calories. Hopefully, with all this combined, I am able to get down to the body-fat percentage that I need to be on stage.
“It’s been a long journey, a year’s worth of progress, and I can’t believe its only four weeks away. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Kvortek’s high school gymnastics career included capturing back-to-back WPIAL individual titles — on bars as a sophomore in 2021 and on vault as a junior in 2022 — and adding a PA Classic all-around state title to cap her junior high school season.
A broken foot suffered at a high school meet during her senior year brought a premature end to her quest for one more shot at WPIAL and state gold.
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“It was a tough thing to go through,” she said, “but at the same time, when I looked at everything I had accomplished including in my high school (gymnastics) career, I felt more fulfilled than I ever thought I would.”
Kvorek recovered from her foot injury and joined the Mustangs’ track team for that spring season, competing in the long and high jumps.
“I think everything happens for a reason, and it was really cool to be able to try track that year,” she said.
“Had I not broken my foot, I probably would’ve found an excuse not to do track. I’ve always wanted to try it. My foot healed just in time for track season. I had a lot of fun, and I did pretty well for it being my first year.”