Sophomore flyer/tumbler
Savanna Mahaffey has been a key contributor to Ashland University's STUNT team's third consecutive Division II nationals appearance, as well as the most single-season wins in the program's brief history (23), this spring.
And while Mahaffey had the talent all along to help the Eagles to where they have gotten in 2025, some help from a certain book helped propel Mahaffey to where she is today.
"The atmosphere of nationals is crazy, and it gets your adrenaline going, and I'm very excited to just get out there and do what I love," said Mahaffey, who will be a key cog for No. 9-ranked Ashland when it begins D-II nationals on Thursday (April 24) at 11:30 a.m. East/10:30 a.m. Central vs. No. 8 Maryville.
Mahaffey was a member of the Eagles as a freshman last year, when they won their first nationals game, 16-14 in overtime vs. Trevecca Nazarene. That, and being a part of more routines this year than last, will make 2025 nationals different for her.
"I want to go down there and definitely win (at least) two games," she said. "I want to keep progressing in the program and making history in the program. This year, for me, we've worked a lot on my mental focus. I think it will be good to really test if I can stay mentally focused."
With the graduation of the AU STUNT program's first star player,
Lily Boldman, Mahaffey was one of the underclassmen who were groomed to move into a more prominent role this spring by head coach
Denise Farnsworth.
"We started talking about this last year. Savanna was hungry to get on the mat last year, and I kept pushing her back," Farnsworth said. "She really took hold of Lily last year, but also has found a good mentor in Lily this year. She's constantly sending stuff over to Lily, Lily called me, said, 'What's going on with Savanna? I haven't heard from her this week.' Lily's been a big part in Savanna's transition."
Farnsworth said she has been pushing Mahaffey, and one of the ways she got Mahaffey on track was a book called "The Power of Positive Leadership" by Jon Gordon.
"I'd read two or three chapters a week, and she just wanted me to come up with a couple things that I liked," said Mahaffey. "I think I took it beyond that. I really liked it, because I feel like it grew our connection deeper, as well."
"I expect a lot out of her, and if she does something wrong, I'm the first person to tell her. And she gets mad at me, and she walks away," Farnsworth noted. "But then, she comes back, and we're ready to go again. The bottom line is, we respect each other and we work well together."
The individual results for Mahaffey have been an average score per game going from 16.7 through seven games this season to 24.7 by the end of March.
"The mental side of it was a big piece of it," noted Farnsworth. "She was rattled on the mat. Not that she couldn't always do the skills, but she had a hard time focusing on getting past the noise of the crowd, then the people who were naysayers. Just all the stuff that was being thrown at her.
"Her position is a hard one, because it is constant criticism – fix your foot, fix your leg, you're not doing this right, hold your weight. It's constant. So we had to learn to look past that and figure out what was real and what wasn't."
Said Mahaffey, "I just feel a lot of gratitude for Denise. I don't know where I would be without her. I respect and love her very much. I know she will continue to have my back, just like I have hers, the next two years."
As for D-II nationals, the goals have been raised based on the recent progression of the program.
"We're actually hoping to win (at least) three this year," Farnsworth said, adding to Mahaffey's previous statement. "Everybody's bought in. They're peaking together."
Mahaffey plans to take what she has learned in the book and pay it forward.
"Ever since we started reading the book, I'm starting to see, 'OK, he said in the book what a great leader does,'" said Mahaffey. "I've started being more intentional with our freshmen, especially. And I know we have a lot of new flyers coming in next year. And I really just want to be that person who they can lean on."
