Creating a Legacy

By Marco Salas

Cairo Leonard-Baker, a senior on the Women’s gymnastics team, is entering her final season
competing for the Sun Devils and is ready to write the final chapter in her story.

Ever since she was little, Leonard-Baker was filled with energy. Her mom, Ruth Leonard, signed
her daughter up for gymnastics class hoping her daughter’s energy would be put to use but
little did Leonard know her daughter would fall in love with the sport.

“She climbed on everything; she did outrageous things like always wanting to climb the highest
[whatever it was]. So, I decided that maybe she needed to go get some of that energy released
so I put her in a [mommy and me] gymnastics class. By the time she was three, the gymnastics
center thought they saw something in her and put her in a development class,” Leonard said.

Leonard Baker stayed with the same club her entire career before heading to Tempe. She tried
other sports, but nothing compared to what she felt with gymnastics.

“I tried playing soccer at one point but I kept doing cartwheels on the field so the coach told my
mom I should stick with gymnastics,” Leonard-Baker said.

Gymnastics was always a constant factor in her life, and by the time she got to high school, she
realized she had the potential to continue at the next level.

“I knew this was something I wanted to do; it was something that I loved. It took me a while,
but I always knew I was never going to stop gymnastics; I was never going to quit but I didn’t
know where it would lead. When I got to high school and started hearing more about college
gymnastics that was like I definitely want to do that, that’s something I want to do with my
life.”

Leonard-Baker committed to ASU the summer after her freshman year of high school. She
committed to ASU because she felt she was coming to place that wanted to see her succeed.

“I really loved that when I was walking around the ICA [Intercollegiate Athletics building],
everyone wanted to get to know me and it made it feel like it was a family here [in Tempe] and
I would have people that always had my back, whether it was athletes, the coaches, the
administrators; anyone would just have my back and be there for me and I love that.”

Although there was a transition between the two staffs, Leonard-Baker was able to build a
relationship with now coach Jay Santos. From their first meeting, Santos saw greatness in
Leonard-Baker and knew she was going to be special.
“The first time I met was during her official visit. It was getting to know you, you were
committed to this program prior to us getting here. Now we’re the new people trying to share
with you our vision and get to know her and what she wanted to do. It was pretty easy to see
her competitiveness shine through right away through her answers.”

Regardless of the coaching change, Leonard-Baker stuck to her commitment that she made and
was ready to start her career in Tempe. As soon as she graduated, the coaching staff wanted
her in Tempe to start training.

Change came fast and Leonard knew she had to let her daughter leave the nest. While it was
hard for her, she was ready to see her daughter accomplish her dreams.

“I had a week with her after high school graduation and then I had to send her off. It was really
hard because it was like it’s just been us two for so long and now, you’re leaving and I think we
both had a really hard time, but it was still close enough to visit or bring her home,” Leonard
said.

When Leonard-Baker got to Tempe, she set a goal for herself to be an All-American. She said,
“When I came in the first thing I ever wrote on the goal sheet was to become an All-American.”

After accomplishing that goal and becoming the first individual Sun Devil to qualify for the
NCAA championships since Taylor Allex, her coach noticed her growth into a leader.

“She’s one of our leaders on our team and that’s one of the things she’s really shown great
growth in. She’s capable of doing great things on her own, from an individual aspect. She’s an
All-American but she’s also qualified for nationals individually and her team wasn’t there. She
had a good experience but continually talked about the fact she wished her team could’ve been
here with me for there for this. It’s a great accomplishment for me but it would be more
satisfying if the group was here. I think that realization especially from gymnastics at a club
level, it’s a very individual sport, there isn’t a lot of team aspect to gymnastic on those lower
levels. So, getting here and growing into that team and that leadership and just wanting them
to hit the same level she is at and be able to achieve great things as a group.”

Since arriving on campus, the program has seen improvement each year she’s competed. The
program was flashing its true potential when the pandemic hit.

They were on the way to Louisiana for a competition, when the news had hit that the season
had been cancelled.

“We had flown to Louisiana and our coach Jay was on the phone with the LSU coach and he was
like, ‘nope the meet is still happening just no fans like of course it’s happening everything is
fine. So, we’re on the plane and Apparently while we were in the air PAC-12 cancels season.”
For Leonard-Baker, the hardest thing about the pandemic has been the feeling of not having
answers to the problem.

“I think the hardest thing [about COVID} and still the hardest thing is that there are no answers.
Nobody knows when it’s going to end, nobody knows how it’s going to affect us, I feel like every
decision is very like spur of the moment because it’s hard to figure out what’s going on. It’s
hard to stay positive but at the same time it’s about like ok at least we’re in the gym right now,
a lot of teams aren’t in the gym right now, we’re getting better we have this time and we’re
lucky,” Leonard-Baker said.

The improvement the team displayed throughout the season was spoiled by the season being
cancelled, and according to Leonard-Baker, it left a sense of unease and “what ifs,” in the air.

“It’s also just hard because now we have so many unanswered questions I feel, because we
have a huge goal of making it to NCAA’s last year and I was just [wondering] if we were going to
get there, where were we going to place at PAC-12’s. It’s just crazy to think about because it
still feels like it hasn’t ended because we never got shut down. I hate when things feel
unfinished and that’s how last year feels to me. We had so much potential and were really
catching fire and having great meets and then everything stopped. Honestly all we know is our
season was stolen from us.”

The bitter ending that COVID had on Leonard-Baker has motivated her to set high goals for
herself for the upcoming year.

“I’m going to speak it into existence, I want a 10. I want to get a 10 on bars, that’s a huge goal
for me. I also want to be an all-American again, I want to place high at Pac-12s.”

However, the most important thing for Leonard-Baker is seeing the team succeed first.

“I have a lot of goals, but I would say our team goals are what’s the most important to me
because at the end of the day if our whole team is doing well enough to reach our goals, I’m
going to be doing well to reach mine. We want to place top three at Pac-12s, we want to make
it to NCAA’s, we want to be at the night session of PAC-12 because our conference does two
sessions. We want to be amazing and I know this year we’re going to work the hardest to get
there, especially after working hard to come back from not practicing four-to-five months, or
however long it was. I think this is going to teach us a lot and make us hard workers and make
us better if we have a season.”

Amongst the uncertainty, Leonard is hoping fans will be allowed for competitions this year so
she’s able to create more memories with her daughter, and remind her daughter one more
time that she’s out there on the stands rooting for her with Leonard’s special call that she does
for her daughter alone.

”I know I’m her biggest fan and we have this special little call I do for her that I’ve been doing
since she’s been competing and it’s always her call to let her know I see you.”