With students now back on campus for the spring semester, the William and Mary winter sports season is officially in full swing — and it is no different for the men’s gymnastics team. The team has been practicing nonstop and preparing for competition Feb. 1 at Springfield. Many gymnasts have made significant contributions to the team, including sophmore all-around gymnast Luke Tully.
As a freshman, Tully led the Tribe to the USA Gymnastics Collegiate Nationals in 2024-25 and hopes to continue being a key asset for the team this year. At the personal level, Tully won All-American honors by placing fourth all-around at the USAG Collegiate Nationals and earned Rookie of the Week honors and top titles on high bar.
While his freshman season brought many wins and accolades, Tully had to learn to deal with setbacks, especially during competition season.
“At the first meet that I had last season, I fell on every single event — all six events in a row — and I didn’t know what to do from that point on, and then I had two rough weeks at practice,” Tully said.
It was during this difficult moment, however, that one of his teammates approached him and gave him advice that ended up altering his mindset for the rest of the season.
“He told me to think about when things are or when everything was going well for [me] and then before [I] salute [the] team, just think of the feeling that [I] used to have once [I] hit a good set, and that’s what helped me to leave the falling on every event in the past and move forward,” Tully said.
Tully explained how having a changed mindset allowed him to keep his love for the sport alive despite the tough transition from the junior to the collegiate level.
Coming from a family of gymnasts where all nine of his siblings competed at the Junior Olympics level, Tully felt nothing but support from his family and a passion for gymnastics at a young age.
“I have three older sisters who all did gymnastics growing up, and by the time I was four, I essentially thought it didn’t look that hard for them to do it, so I might as well do it as well,” Tully said.
He attributed the majority of his desire to compete at a collegiate level to his family, despite going into the process with what felt like limited options.
“There are only 14 colleges that have men’s gymnastics, so I didn’t really know what William and Mary was until I started looking at the colleges that I wanted to get into, and then once I visited on the official visit, I clicked with a lot of the guys on the team, and we just all got along so well, and so I could tell that I would fit in very well here,” he said.
For Tully, the men’s gymnastics team felt like the perfect fit since day one. His coaches have supported him since the beginning of his time on campus and constantly check in on his physical and mental health.
“If something is hurting during practice or if you are having an off day, the coaches will come and sit down with the athletes to ask what is wrong or if individuals are feeling okay,” Tully said.
Tully appreciates his coaches’ understanding nature, especially given his workload as a finance major at William and Mary.
“We essentially always have to have morning classes because our practice time is 1:30-5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 2-5 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday,” Tully said. “So for the most part, I have early classes, but even on Wednesdays, I have a 3:30 class, and the coaches work with me, and I can go train early. They’ll just always work around your schedule because they, of course, are going to put school first.”
It is not just athletics and school that Tully has been trying to balance, however. He still finds time to practice both mental and physical well-being.
“I definitely balance the mental aspect of it through devotion,” Tully said. “I’ve been doing it with my sisters on a weekly basis, where we’ll just call each other and we’ll just read one chapter out of the Bible, and that’s what kind of kept me grounded for a long time.”
To keep his body in top shape, Tully has found that his best way to recover is in the sauna and through scheduled breaks. For student-athletes, it is important for them to listen to their bodies to prevent strains or injuries. This season, Tribe men’s gymnastics has faced minor setbacks with injuries and illnesses, which have hindered its ability to break the 300-point level. Yet, the athletes hope to make the NCAA Tournament as a team like they did last year. Tully was out of Sunday’s competition due to the flu, marking the first college meet that he’s missed. Despite this, he cheered on his team from the sidelines since they have shown him nothing but support.
While Tully might be the first in his family to compete at the collegiate level, his younger brother is following close in his footsteps. Tully revealed that his younger brother will be attending William and Mary in the fall to compete on the men’s gymnastics team. He hopes to be a mentor for his younger brother as he navigates this new milestone and the new challenges that come with it.
“I definitely want to teach him everything that I have learned from competing, experience-wise, because it is such a different level competing in college compared to competing at the junior level.”
Tully said that collegiate competitions tend to be louder, and fans will chirp and show support in ways that are different from high school.
“I’ll definitely teach him or at least tell him what to expect, going into all of the meets so that it’s not as much of a surprise for him as it was for me,” Tully said.
Looking ahead this season, Tully is expected to be a top contender in the all-around and high bar. He hopes to build on his success and overall learning experiences from last season while keeping his fanbase and family as close as possible.
