Gymnastics is a prominent sport in the Olympics and is growing by leaps and bounds in college. It has not received major attention at the high school level, but one of the best is Morgan Hill native and Sobrato High graduate Keira Lebovitz.
Lebovitz, who graduated in June, has a raft of amazing accomplishments and will move on this fall to national power Penn State.
Lebovitz began gymnastics at an early age and quickly excelled with athleticism, strength, agility and precision. Through hard work over many years, she has accumulated superb results in national competitions. She is now moving onto the highly publicized NCAA level with a top 20 college program that regularly reaches the NCAA playoffs.
“I began competitively around age 6,” Lebovitz said. “I was a rambunctious kid. My parents wanted to put me in a place that was good for fundamental skills and balance.”
Lebovitz was naturally active, jumping around and being adventurous. Additionally, she was not scared of risks—a fierce and positive mental attitude valuable in gymnastics with uneven bars, beams and more.
Mother Dena and father Allan have been big supporters and are active athletes. Dena competed in figure skating and in a way, Keira competes now with similar agility in the air with gymnastics. Brother Jared became hooked on hockey. Keira loved gymnastics, choosing it over swimming, diving and tennis.
In 2021 at age 13, as a seventh-grader, she won the title at the Western Championships in Level 9, Junior 4. An all-around score of 37.675 was the winner, highlighted by strong performances in the vault and balance beam, with solid marks on the uneven bars and in the floor routine.
She had advanced through state and regional competitions to reach the Western meet, which featured competitors from west of the Mississippi River.
The resume improved year after year. As she heads east to State College, Pa., her background includes being a three-time national qualifier, a seventh-place finish in the all-around at the 2024 Nationals, 2024 Region 1 champion on the beam and in the all-around and a second-place result on the floor exercise at the 2022 Nationals.
She finished in the top 10 in the vault and uneven bars in the 2026 Nationals.
Lebovitz has trained at Airborne Gymnastics in Santa Clara, recently named the best gymnastics club in northern California. Airborne has trained more NCAA scholarship athletes than any gym in Northern California.
The gym was formed in 1994 and is owned by Melanie Ruggiero and Leah Tanquary—both graduates of San Jose State University. Ruggiero competed on the Spartans’ NCAA gymnastics team and has coached Lebovitz.
“Keira has been a major force on every team she joins,” Ruggiero said. “What truly defines her, however, isn’t just the medals or the scores; it is her consistency, positivity and ability to perform under pressure. When meet day arrives, Keira is a true competitor. She stays focused, delivers results and lifts up everyone around her.”
The mental approach is a key part of gymnastics success. Lebovitz is mature and experienced and that is crucial.
“One of the key things is your mental state,” Lebovitz said. “You have to clear your mind. Sometimes people overthink.”
Lebovitz competes in all of the four events: vault, bars, beam and floor.
“At our club, we do about six meets a year,” Lebovitz said. “Plus State, Region and Nationals. We travel all over. To Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Washington, Texas and more.”
Although she has preferences among the events, her success comes from being good at all the disciplines of gymnastics.
Lebovitz has also been coached by Dani Albright. Albright, while living in Morgan Hill, excelled in gymnastics for SJSU. She won a share of the all-around title at the Western Independent Championships, won the vault title, set school records and finished her career with five of the top six all-around scores in school history.
She previously coached at Airborne and is now at Royal Gymnastics.
“She (Keira) has great air awareness,” Albright said. “Combined with being fearless and a power gymnast, she can take on big skills.”
Lebovitz has had her eyes on college gymnastics for a while.
“The coaches go to Regionals and Nationals,” Lebovitz said. “I started mailing schools several years ago. Penn State felt like home. At Nationals, my sophomore year in Daytona, Fla., I was seventh in the all-around.
“At Nationals, there are a whole lot of coaches. After my sophomore year, recruiting happened fast. I committed that summer. They offered me. I fell in love with Penn State and had an official visit that October.”
Many major schools were also competitors to consider. North Carolina and Denver were among the strong possibilities, but Penn State won out.
In 2025-26, Penn State was ranked No. 20 in the country and qualified for the NCAA Regionals for the fourth consecutive year and 49th overall.
“I plan on studying business,” Lebovitz said. “I also have interest in kinesiology and psychology.”
When she won the Western Championships as a seventh-grader, Lebovitz talked with the Morgan Hill Times about the future.
“My long-term goal is to get a scholarship and compete in college,” Lebovitz said.
Pinnacle achieved. Time for some new goals.
