Gymnastics has always been in senior Juliette Boyer's DNA. Boyer's gymnastics career began in her hometown of Daly City, California, where she was pushed early in life to pursue the sport by her parents.
"They noticed early how energetic I was as a kid," Boyer said. "They put me in gymnastics so I had a safe space to harness that energy, and have been supporting my journey ever since."
Boyer trained with San Mateo Gymnastics and attended Summit Shasta High School, refining her skills on the mat. When the time came to choose where she wanted to continue her career, Boyer knew she wanted to come to ASU. A few members of Boyer's club team came to Tempe and inspired her to make the move to Arizona.
Boyer made an immediate impact on the roster, scoring a team-high 9.825 on bars in the home opener for ASU her freshman year.
She continued to succeed during her freshman season, making her presence known on the bars and competing in the event every meet. She ended that season on a high note, placing second out of the entire Sun Devil roster with a score of 9.850 on the last day of the NCAA Salt Lake Regional Finals.
Boyer carried that success from regionals into her sophomore season where she again competed in every meet on bars and won two event titles, including a title against No. 3 Utah with a 9.925 on bars, a career-high. It was also the highest score by a Sun Devil on bars that season.
Boyer was aiming to have an even better junior year until she tore her ACL, ending her season.
"I wasn't competing at all last year because of my injury," Boyer said. "Making that comeback is one of my biggest goals this year because I want to be able to contribute on the mat with my team again."
During her ACL recovery process, Boyer joined the Black Student Athlete Association and was named vice president shortly after she joined. Boyer, who is studying environmental design, said she always wanted to be involved in spreading awareness surrounding social justice issues to her fellow student-athletes.
One of Boyer's teammates, senior Izzy Redmond, is the president of the BSAA and is roommates with Boyer.
"When our freshman season started, it was an instant click," Redmond said. "We've been roommates all four years that we've been at ASU, which says a lot."
Boyer's other roommate is senior Jordyn Jaslow, who has always been a supporter of Redmond and Boyer in their efforts to make a change in the Sun Devil community.
"Especially leading into this year they've taken on BSAA and that leadership role, I think they are really motivated to create change within the Sun Devil community and just all around us," Jaslow said. "I think that they've just done such a great job of taking that role."
This past summer, Boyer and Redmond went on a three-day Pac-12 educational trip to Alabama to learn more about the Civil Rights Movement. The trip was an experience the seniors will never forget.
"Getting the opportunity to go at the beginning of my start with BSAA was something really incredible for me," Boyer said. "Taking a deep dive into all this was interesting. I felt honored to be able to experience it."
A moment that stood out for Boyer on the trip was when she heard social justice activist and lawyer Bryan Stevenson speak.
"It was really inspirational hearing him because I want to go into law after college," Boyer said. "Just seeing how much of an impact he's had in that field. It was just really, really motivational because I want to pursue that type of career."
The 2022-23 season will be the last for Boyer and she has the clear intention of making up for lost time and getting ASU to the next level while continuing to inspire change and propel equality.
"Trying to get to nationals in my biggest goal this year," Boyer said. "I think we have a really good chance because we have such a strong team this year. And I know everyone is working really hard in on and off the mat."
Edited by Kathryn Field, Logan Stanley and Piper Hansen.
Reach the reporter at vdeange1@asu.edu and follow @vdeangelis2024 on Twitter.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.
Vincent Deangelis is a full-time reporter for the sports department at The State Press. He has previously worked for Arizona PBS and AZPreps365.com.
