SPORTS
When Mariyah Aranbayev steps onto the competition floor for Rutgers this fall, it will mark the latest chapter in a journey that began with her mother’s love of the sport — and nearly a decade of early mornings, long commutes, and homework done after dark.
«My mom was a gymnast back when she was younger, so she said, ‘Let’s put my daughter in,'» Aranbayev told The Bukharian Times. «From then, I just stuck with it and learned to love it. It became a part of me. Now that I’m able to be a part of the Rutgers team, it’s honestly like a dream come true.»
The 17-year-old from Jamaica Estates, Queens, arrives in Piscataway on a full athletic scholarship as the headliner of the Scarlet Knights’ four-gymnast incoming class. A two-time Level 10 national qualifier, she capped her club career this spring at the 2026 USA Gymnastics Development Program National Championships in Oklahoma City, where she tied for ninth on vault with a 9.775, placed 14th on beam and finished 34th in the all-around. A year earlier, she took second on the uneven bars with a 9.700 at the New Jersey Level 10 State Championship before advancing to regionals.
Athletics run deep in the family. Her mother Mauriel trained as a gymnast in Colorado, while her father, Yosef — who was born in Uzbekistan before the family immigrated to the United States — competed in judo and trained at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado. «Both my parents were athletes,» she said.
Aranbayev trained across the Hudson at North Stars Gymnastics Academy in Boonton, N.J., in the gym’s homeschool program, under former two-time U.S. National Team member Ashley Umberger. Umberger has described her as an athlete who was «born to do gymnastics» and who has grown into a leader for the gym’s younger athletes.
That training came at a cost most teenagers would balk at. Homeschooled since 5th grade, Aranbayev spent her final club season practicing from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, and from 8 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays — fitting schoolwork into evenings and weekends.
Now, as a member of Rutgers’ Class of 2030, she faces a new kind of challenge: her first real classroom since 4th grade. «Yes and no,» she said when asked if she’s excited. «Yes, because it’s new, it’s a different environment. And I’m a little nervous because I haven’t been in an actual classroom with real teachers or professors since I was in fourth grade.»
In the gym, her goals are clear. Vault is her favorite event — «I like to flip,» she said — and it projects, along with bars, as her quickest route into the lineup. «Right now my main goal is to make lineup as a freshman, which not a lot are able to do,» she said. Academically, she’s weighing business against a medical path, confident the answer will come once classes begin.
She counts U.S. elite standout Shilese Jones among the gymnasts she looks up to. And for the younger girls coming up behind her, her advice is simple: «Trust the process. Don’t quit when times get hard. Keep pushing forward, keep your head up high, focus on the things you can control — and try your hardest to stay positive.»
By Erin Levi