Smyth, the daughter of Steve and Sherry Smyth of Sugar Grove, qualified to compete in the national competition earlier this year, and the whole experience was “pretty cool,” according to her mom, Sherry, who accompanied her daughter to Wisconsin.

It was the first competition that Smyth had to take a plane to get to, and drew competitors from all across the United States.

Smyth entered nationals having finished first or second overall in every meet she competed in during the 2025 season. She even completely missed one event due to an ankle injury, from which she has completely healed.

Smyth was in great physical shape heading into nationals, but that’s not to say she wasn’t nervous.

“The hardest part for me is getting past the mental blocks, especially in the floor exercise portion,” she said. “I just have to trust that my coaches have prepared me, and knowing that helps.”

For her mom, it wasn’t quite as easy.

“The hardest part for me was knowing that she was nervous and that there was nothing I could do for her,” Sherry said. “She was on her own. She had to be at the top of her game.”

It was clear to everyone that she was prepared and had saved her best performance for the competition in Wisconsin. Smyth finished second overall in both the vaulting and beam, and finished first and was the national champion in both bars and floor exercise. As a result of her finishes in all four events she was the all-around national champion in the Senior Level 6 Division.

The event drew competitors from all across the United States but for Smyth it came down to remembering what got her there.

“I just had to settle my nerves and remember the little things in my routines and rely on the fact that I was prepared and to trust my muscle memory,” Meredith said.

“I was not surprised by her performance at nationals,” said Meredith’s coach, Kristy Turner. “She puts in the work at practice.”

Smyth may be a hard worker but it’s her will to win and how much she hates the thought of losing that sets her apart according to Turner.

“She has the attitude about never ending a routine or practice on a bad note, she always asks for one more time to run through a routine,” the coach said. “While she seeks perfection, she has come to realize that sometimes it is just overcoming a fear, or finally mastering a skill she has been working on that is what’s really important.”

Smyth sets high goals for herself and according to her mom and her coach she is her own worst critic, but Meredith says that is what keeps her pushing to reach the goals she sets for herself.

For Smyth, her rest time after nationals lasted all of one day before she started a weeklong gymnastics camp in Erie.

Being busy seems to fit her well. She attends Eisenhower Middle/High School where she started and lettered on the varsity volleyball team as a freshman. Not only a hard worker out of the classroom, she is ranked first in her class and will be in the honors program at the high school. Meredith will be attending the Warren County Career Center’s pre-engineering classes. She also works as a coach for the young gymnasts at the YMCA.

What does she like to do in her spare time?

“Baking, I love to bake,” she said with a smile.

Baking successfully is just the sum of all of the parts of a recipe, much like Meredith, she is the sum of all the parts that make her up.