More Than a Moment

By Sydney Freeman

Payton Washington
Marketing
Round Rock, Texas

Payton Washington has spent much of her life in the air.

Long before she became a two-time National Player of the Year and helped Baylor win three national championships in Acrobatics and Tumbling, she was a young gymnast attending Baylor camps every summer, dreaming of one day competing in green and gold.

“It was already written in my destiny,” she said.

Her athletic journey began for an unexpected reason. After doctors removed part of her lung as an infant, they encouraged her to stay active to strengthen her lungs. A local cheer gym became the answer. What started as mommy-and-me classes grew into an 18-year passion that eventually brought her to Baylor.

Then, just before beginning college, everything changed.

In April 2023, Washington was an innocent bystander when a misunderstanding in a grocery store parking lot escalated into gunfire. She suffered multiple gunshot wounds and severe internal injuries, forcing her to confront a future she had never imagined.

“It made me grow up really fast,” she said. “I realized my sport could end a lot quicker than I thought it was going to.”

The months that followed tested Washington physically, mentally and emotionally. Even after doctors cleared her to compete again, she wasn’t sure how her body would respond.

“It wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be,” she said. “I knew I was going to be fine.”

Washington wasn’t alone through the journey. Her family, especially her mother and aunt, were there through surgeries and recovery. Baylor coaches and teammates stayed in constant contact, reminding her she was already part of the program she had dreamed about for years.

“She’s literally the strongest person I’ve ever met,” Washington said of her mother. “Watching her navigate challenge after challenge has given me a clear example of resilience, one I will carry into everything I do.”

Returning to competition gave Washington a new perspective. The championships and awards are meaningful, but they no longer define why she competes.

“It’s amazing, and it’s such a blessing,” she said. “I no longer take any moment for granted.”

That gratitude shapes her everyday approach to life.

“You get to do it, you don’t have to do it,” she said. “I get to go to practice. I get to compete. I get to be part of Baylor.”

That mindset has helped make Washington not only one of the nation’s most accomplished acrobatics athletes, but also an example for the teammates who compete alongside her. Her greatest accomplishment isn’t simply returning to competition – it’s refusing to let one tragic moment define the rest of her story.

Away from athletics, Washington is preparing for her future as a Marketing major in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business. She hopes to pursue a career in medical or pharmaceutical sales, combining her love for building relationships with an appreciation for the healthcare professionals who helped her recover.

She also hopes to one day establish a nonprofit that supports survivors of gun violence and their families.

“I just want to help people,” she said. “A lot of people go through what I did on a much worse scale.”

Washington knows many people first recognize her because of what happened in 2023.

“Sometimes they forget about the athlete, they forget about the business student,” she said. “All they see is a victim and a survivor.”

But Washington hopes people will see something different.

“I don’t want that to be the label that’s put on me forever,” she said. “Payton Washington is driven. She’s an athlete, a student and a hard worker.”

For Washington, that’s the story still being written.