Adrian de los Angeles is a name in the gymnastics world that you may soon become very familiar with. This budding star, born and raised in Long Beach, finished his sophomore year at the University of Michigan this spring with a slew of accolades.

This summer, de los Angeles is stepping up his training with his sights set on securing a place on Team U.S.A. and representing the country in Rio at the 2016 Olympics.

De los Angeles earned NCAA All-American honors this year with his impressive all-around performance throughout the season. He won eight individual event titles including five all-around, two vault titles, and one on the parallel bars. A score of 88.35 was good enough for a second place finish in the all-around event at NCAA Championships and helped propel the Michigan Wolverines to their fifth national title.

During the Winter Cup Challenge in February, de los Angeles finished in 2nd place, ahead of 2012 bronze-medal Olympian Danell Leyva. “I was pretty surprised,” de los Angeles said. “It definitely gave me a boost of confidence knowing I’m closer to being on that same level.”

De los Angeles is no stranger to top honors though–he won the Junior Championships in 2011. The consistency in his performances has made him a favorite to earn a spot on the U.S.A gymnastics team, which will compete in the World Championships this October.

De los Angeles said he is most excited for future performances on the parallel bars. “There are sometimes when I’m out there [on the bars] and I know I’m going to hit the routine and it just feels natural,” said de los Angeles. “I’m not fighting the gymnastics. It’s fluid.”

The gymnast’s entrance into the sport all started when his parents took him to mommy-and-me classes at SCATS gym in Huntington Beach at age three. His training at SCATS ended when de los Angeles graduated from Millikan High School and was accepted to University of Michigan.

“It’s never easy to lose a good athlete when they move on, but he’s in a great program at a great school and we’re happy he’s achieved these goals,” said his former head coach at SCATS, Grigor Chalikyan, who still attends de los Angeles’ competitions. “He is still in our hearts and we’re still very happy he’s still of our gymnasts.”

De los Angeles admitted that his competition schedule–including training 20 hours a week–going to school and planning towards a post-grad career as a physicians assistant is a balancing act. He even said that the snow in Michigan was throwing him off a bit as he is used to the warm weather of Long Beach.

In order to plan for his future endeavors in gymnastics and education, however, he is soliciting the advice of others.

“I can say that gymnastics is my life. This is one of the sports you really have to love and dedicate yourself to,” de los Angeles said. “I’m taking advice from as many people as I can because someone once told me everyone in the world knows something you don’t.”

De los Angeles will be competing this August in the U.S.A Championships.

Follow Adrian de los Angeles’ growing accolades at usagym.org.