Erica Samone Smith was born on May 24, 1992 to Maria Ubaldo and Anthony Smith. Erica started out her gymnastics career at Great American Gymnastics Express in Blue Springs, MO where she was coached by Al Fong and Armine Barutyan- Fong. Erica showed promise even at the beginning of her career by placing first AA at the Missouri Level 5 State Championships and has gone on to become Region 4 Level 10 Regional Champion and was a member of the 2005 Region 4 JO National Championship Team.

      Erica achieved International Elite Status in June of 2006 and easily qualified to the US Classic. The US Classic was held near Erica's hometown, in Kansas City, and Erica had a great competition. Erica placed high enough in the all-around competition to qualify to the 2006 US National Championships. Soon Erica was on her way to St. Paul, MN. Although Erica was competing with a slight injury, she continued to push through the competition and gained some valuable competition experience. Erica switched to Eagles Gymnastics in early 2008 where she decided to focus on her level 10 skills an obtaining a college scholarship.

      Erica started out the 2008 by placing 1st all-around at the Winter Invite at Eagles Gymnastics. She went on to place 1st at the Rising Stars Invite in Iowa and 1st as the Pikes Peak Cup in Colorado. She continued the season by traveling to Chicago, IL for the Chicago Style competition where she placed 1st on bars and 4th in the all-around. She finished off by placing 1st at the Magical Classic and sweeping all events at the Show-Me invite. At the 2008 Missiouri State Championships Erica won vault, bars, and all-around and placed 2nd on floor. She went on to compete at the Region IV Championships where she placed 1st on vault, 2nd on beam, 3rd on floor, and earned silver in the all-around. Erica traveled to Orlando, FL for the 2008 Junior Olympic National Championships where she earned 5th on bars, 4th on beam, and 5th in the all-around.

      Erica has one sibling, Toni Smith, as well as a Chihuahua named Chiquita. She is going to be a junior at Blue Springs South High in the fall of 2008. In her free time she enjoys going shopping as well as working on her scrapbooks. Erica hopes to obtain a college scholarship in the future.

Favorite Ice Cream: Cake batter & peanut butter Favorite Food: All Food! Favorite Movies: Saw & anything scary, All Disney movies Favorite Gymnast: Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin Favorite Theme Park: Walt Disney World in Orlando Favorite Event: Beam Favorite Skill: Any beam skills Favorite Gymnastics Moment: 5th @ JO Nationals Favorite TV Show: MTV, Nick, & Disney shows Favorite Color: Pink, Teal, Lime Green, & Orange Favorite Song: I Love Your Girl- The Dream, Any Chris Brown