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Clemson native Marissa Kerwin, who trains at Upstate Gymnastics in Pendleton, will compete on the national stage tonight just outside of Dayton, Ohio.

KETTERING, Ohio — Just a year removed from her big sister Emily signing on with West Virginia University, local gymnast Marissa Kerwin is out making a name for herself on the national stage.

The Clemson native will be making her first big national splash tonight, as she will be competing at the Level 9 Eastern Championships at Trent Arena in Kettering, Ohio, just outside of Dayton.

Kerwin, who does her training at Upstate Gymnastics in Pendleton, qualified for the national meet after winning the South Carolina state meet, which qualified her for an eight-state regional meet in Huntsville, Ala.

At that meet, the Liberty High School sophomore continued to shine, as she placed in the top six in her division to land a spot on the Eastern regional national team.

Kerwin, who also won a pair of events in the Tiger Paw Classic at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson in January, is being joined at the competition by members of her family, as well as Maureen Williamson, her coach at Upstate Gymnastics, who said it has been several years since any of her gymnasts had competed on such a stage.

“It’s really hard to make that national team, and she worked really hard to do it,” she said. “We’ve had girls in the Level 10 nationals, but it’s been quite a long time. This is the first one in a while, so it’s really inspirational for the young girls coming up.”

Also providing some support for Marissa is maybe her biggest inspiration, her sister Emily, who made the four-drive from Morgantown, W.Va. to attend the meet.

Williamson said Emily, who was also a standout at Upstate Gymnastics, serves as a big inspiration for both Marissa and the rest of the gymnasts back in Pendleton.

But just because the sisters share a name doesn’t mean they’re exact mirrors of each other, as Williamson said she doesn’t see a huge resemblance in the two when they’re on the floor, at least past their desire to win.

“They’re both very talented, but they have totally different styles,” she said. “But their similarities are that they’re both very good competitors.”

And while Williamson remembers Emily for her strength in particular, she said the thing that stands out about Marissa is her calm demeanor, which has shined through as she prepares for her competition tonight.

“The best thing about is her is that’s she calm,” she said. “She could almost be up here by herself, because she doesn’t really need anyone. She just goes and gets the job done, and it’s really a pleasure to be with her.”

And since she’s just a sophomore, Kerwin will have two years left at Upstate Gymnastics, where she will follow in her sister’s footsteps by competing at Level 10, the highest classification at the junior level, beginning at the start of the next competitive season in December.

With hundreds of participants on hand for the national meet, Kerwin will compete tonight from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m.

The tournament got under way Friday, and will continue through Sunday.