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After being heavily recruited by nearly two dozen college gymnastics programs, Bowie resident Krystal Welsh has verbally committed to Penn State University following an unofficial visit to the campus last month.

Welsh, a junior at Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, has been a Level 10 gymnast since 2005 – the highest level an amateur gymnast can attain – and has won the Maryland state all-around championship. While she still has another year of high school, Welsh said she is eagerly anticipating her college gymnastics career.

"I really enjoyed the coaches and meeting the other players," said Welsh, who plans to major in pre-med at Penn State. "I even knew a couple of the girls from competitions. There were a lot of other colleges that sent me letters, but I really liked the school and the team."

Welsh recovered from major ankle surgery two years ago and returned to action last spring when she finished second in the floor program and tied for ninth in the all-around in the Level 10 Junior D division at the Junior Olympic Nationals in Puyallup, Wash.

"The ankle is not an issue at all anymore," Welsh said. "I can just focus on training and going to competitions."

Welsh has spent much of her youth training at the Docksiders Gymnastics in Millersville, and now she works in the office there part-time and also teaches gymnastics to youth groups. She trains 20 hours each week and is gearing up for the first competition of the season on Dec. 12 at the Baltimore Convention Center.

Her mother, Lisa Welsh, said Krystal received numerous recruiting letters and e-mails daily from college coaches.

"Every day I would open my mail box and find at least 15 letters in there, and when I checked my e-mails there were at least 15-20 from different college coaches," Lisa Welsh said. "But after that one unofficial visit to Penn State in October she was hooked. She met the team, the coaches and then it snowed at the football game and they won, so it was very exciting for her. She's made a full recovery from her ankle injury and now she's been training hard all summer to get ready for the season."

E-mail Ted Black at tblack@gazette.net.