She flips and lands sideways on the beam.

Both feet firmly grasp the 10 centimeter-wide apparatus, but her balance is slightly off and she arches backward. Her arms swing in small windmills, and a fall seems inevitable.

There are cries of “Come on, Michelle!” and “Let’s go, Michelle!” from her teammates, who stand watching nearby. Instead of ending up on the floor, somehow sophomore Michelle Browning finds her center of balance. She straightens up, flicks her wrists and continues practicing her routine.

One of her teammates whispers, “Sometimes I have no idea how Michelle manages to stay on the beam.”

Staying on the beam is just part of Browning’s reputation in the gym, and it fits with the perfectionist and hard-working attitude she uses in her approach to gymnastics.

“People have always told me that I have the craziest saves when I’m falling,” Browning said. “I really can’t stand to fall, especially when I’m competing. I know the expectation is not to fall. You can’t always save it, but you fight as hard as you can to stay on, and I just try to do that when I can.”

Originally from Houston, Browning started gymnastics when she was 6 years old. She was following in the footsteps of her two older sisters, both of whom were gymnasts. Her sisters stopped two years after she started, and moved on to other sports, but Browning continued on alone because of her love for the sport.

“When I was young I had so much fun learning new things,” Browning said. “I still really like the challenge of it, and, you know, you continually have the pursuit of perfection, but it’s never quite there, so that’s part of the challenge.”

As Browning grew up and continually improved her gymnastics skills, she watched other girls start to burn out through middle school and high school. She maintained her passion for the sport, however, and she attracted notice from ISU gymnastics coach Jay Ronayne, who realized she was special when she was just a freshman in high school.

“I saw her at the national championships when she was young,” Ronayne said. “I have been following her for a long time. Back before I even began working here I was following her and recruiting her. She was always on my list that I had to have her on my team.”

Ronayne’s perception of Browning’s special talent when she was young has proved to be accurate, although she is only in her second year of Division I gymnastics.

This season, Browning made her collegiate debut in the all-around competition and has since won Big 12 Gymnast of the Week twice, and has won the all-around competitions at No. 1 Oklahoma, as well as at three other competitions this season so far. This includes setting a career-best 39.350 in the all-around Friday at Hilton Coliseum against Minnesota.

These accomplishments reflect the high expectations Browning has of herself, as well as the expectations the coaching staff and her teammates have of her. Part of these expectations includes working toward becoming All-American, a goal that Browning and Ronayne share.

“I expected big things from her from the first time I met her,” Ronayne said. “She’s a very special gymnast, and I expect her to be All-American because she is awesome and her progress is very pleasing right now.”

As much success as Browning has had this season, this year has not been easy for her.

At the beginning of pre-season, Browning’s father passed away.

“He was the biggest supporter of me, ever,” Browning said. “It’s really hard, because he didn’t necessarily know a lot about gymnastics but he was just so supportive and such a proud dad. So sometimes I think ‘Oh I wish he could have seen me get Big 12 Gymnast of the Week’ because I know that it would make him so happy.”

Originally from Vietnam, Browning’s father left his country on the day Saigon fell during the Vietnam War in order to make a new life in the United States. He worked hard to pay for Browning’s gymnastic training and to give her the opportunity to excel.

“I just know he would be really proud of me,” Browning said. “Especially this year, since I’ve had a lot of accomplishments, like I’ve gotten my first all-around title and gymnast of the week for the first time. Eventually, hoping our team gets to nationals, I know that he would have liked to see that and he would have been there in Florida to watch.”

What has helped Browning through her loss is having her teammates, who are there to support her during the bad times as well as help her celebrate successes.

“I really want everyone to know how important my teammates are to me,” Browning says. “They really are the people that push me to do as well as I can, and even outside the gym they really support me and have helped me through so many emotional things. They are my best friends, and I love my team.”

The rest of the Cyclone gymnasts have only good things to say about Browning.

“She motivates us to work harder and be better,” senior Melanie Tham said. “Just training with her and watching her work out makes me want to be better. Being out on the floor [lineup] with her, I trust her completely. It gives me this calm feeling to know that she’s going to hit no matter what and make it happen.”

Although Browning has had many special experiences with her teammates and has excelled in her competitions so far in her career at Iowa State, she doesn’t think she has yet experienced the most memorable moment she will take away from her collegiate career.

“I recently filled out this survey that asked our favorite Iowa State Athletics moment,” Browning said. “I said ‘yet to come’ because I really think that we have so much potential on this team still to come. I really think that we’re going to go to nationals, and so I know that feeling will be amazing when it happens.”