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Tuesday, 04 June 2024 12:58

2024-2026: Orgen Switches to Kentucky

Alyssa Orgen, who was previously committed to Florida, has signed with Kentucky, on a full athletic scholarship.  The L10 from Lakewood Ranch recently tied for 2nd on BB and for 25th AA at the 2024 Women's Development Program Level 10 Nationals.  She was also 22nd AA in 2023.  

Link:  Insta

Tuesday, 04 June 2024 12:55

2025-2026: Brian to UC Davis

Elena Brian, a L10 from SCEGA, has committed to a full scholarship at UC Davis, starting in 2025-2026.  She tied for 30th AA at the 2023 Women's Development Program Level 10 Nationals.  

Link:  Insta

Tuesday, 04 June 2024 12:52

2025-2026: Thurston to Ball State

Ava Thurston, a L10 at Head over Heels (MA), has committed to Ball State, starting in 2025-2025.  She recently tied for 22nd AA at the 2024 Women's Development Program Level 10 Nationals.  She also qualified as a wildcard competitor at the 2023 Nationals.  

Link:  Insta

Tuesday, 04 June 2024 12:51

Transfer: Walsh to Clemson

Tara Walsh will transfer to Clemson for next season.  She spent her first two seasons at Auburn, and the last two at MSU.

Link:  Insta

Tuesday, 04 June 2024 12:48

2024-2025: Reichow to UC Davis

Ava Reichow, a L10 at Accel, has committed to continue her gymnastics career at UC Davis, starting in 2024-2025.  In 2024, she placed 9th AA at the Region 1 L10 Regionals.  She tied for 15th AA at Regionals in 2023.  

Link:  Insta

Tuesday, 04 June 2024 12:45

2025-2026: Aoki to UNC

Hannah Aoki has committed to a scholarship offer at UNC, starting in 2025-2026.  A L10 at Georgia Elite, she recently won the All-Star East session of the 2024 Women's Development Program (WDP) Level 10 Nationals.  She placed 29th AA at the 2023 WDP Nationals.  

Link:  Insta

 

Simone Biles won the women's competition, despite a fall on her overrotated Yurchenko double pike.  She also won every event, including UB.   Her 119.75 combined total was 5.9 points ahead of Florida signee Skye Blakely, in second.  Blakely stayed strong and consistent on Day 2, improving on FX but coming in a bit short on her new Cheng vault.  Gator Kayla DiCello was 3.05 points back in 3rd (110.8), narrowly holding off Sunisa Lee (110.65), UCLA's Jordan Chiles (110.4) and new senior Hezly Rivera (110.35).  Lee had problems on VT but improved on UB and BB, her critical events.  Chiles was one of a few that improved on their Day 1 scores, despite a problem on BB. 

The picture has become very unclear on the women's side, with Shilese Jones sitting out the Championships and several gymnasts counting misses.  Blakely's new Cheng vault was literally what the selection committee ordered (to all the gymnasts), and her relatively consistent performance across two days bodes well for her.  Suni Lee also did what she had to, showing a potential to add scores in the mid to high 14s on UB and BB.  A lot will depend on the trials, and the ability of Jones to recover from her bicep injury in time.  

Link:  Results

Saturday, 01 June 2024 19:59

Xfinity US Championships: Men's Final

Brody Malone capped off his comeback from a devastating knee injury to win his third US title.  The former Stanford star and NCAA champ lead the rest of the field by over 2 points.  In 2nd was Michigan star and 2023 NCAA AA/PB/HB Champ and 2023 World AA Bronze medalist Fred Richard of Michigan.  In third, 0.7 behind, was 2024 NCAA Champ and Stanford star Khoi Young.  Young won a silver on PH and VT at the 2023 World's.  Rising to 4th with an excellent day was former OU star, NCAA Champ and Olympian Yul Modauer.  He won the PB with the highest mark of the day.  Malone was first on HB while Richard was 1st on FX.    Former World Champion Stephen Nedoroscik, ex-PSU, won the PH.  Another specialist, Alex Diab, a former Buckeye star, won R.   In fifth AA for the day, with the same mark as Moldauer, was former Gopher standout and Olympian Shane Wiskus.  However, his marks, when compared to the Top Four finishers, don't add to a potential team total. 

The US men finished with a Bronze medal at last year's World Championships.  With the addition of Malone and the improvements of the others, the US will look to put pressure on the Chinese and Japanese teams.  The Olympic Trials will be critical in selecting the team.  If the top 4 remain healthy and consistent, then just one spot remains.  Based on this week's results, the Top four leave lineup gaps on PH, Rings, and High Bar. These three events were also the events where the US lagged the leaders at the last World Championships.  Currently, the gymnast who adds the most to the top four is specialist Nedoroscik, but he competes only on PH.  Not far away from that max potential but adding depth on more events is Paul Juda of Michigan, who finished 5th AA.  If he can consistently hit FX, PH, VT and HB at the Trials, he will have a strong argument.  R is another weak event but the gymnasts with the highest scores there don't quite add as many points overall, due to improvements made by the Top 4.  Donnell Whittenburg, who as 7th AA is also in the mix, as is Asher Hong of Stanford, who finished 10th AA and has struggled this season.  Whittenburg could also disrupt the Top 4 with a strong performance at Trials, and Juda is said to be holding back upgrades.  

Link:  Results

Nebraska (W) has hired Sam Scherwinski as an assistant.  He has been an assistant at Lindenwood.

 

Ohio State (W) has hired Quest Hayden as an assistant.  He has spent the last three seasons at Iowa.  Previous to that he was at UNC and a volunteer assistant at PSU.  He competed for PSU and was a US National Team member.  

Link:  Release

PSU assistant coach Lynnzee Brown, a former standout and NCAA champ at Brown, has been awarded a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics.  Brown represents Haiti and received a universitality qualification from the Olympic Games Tripartie Commission.  She will become the first Haitian gymnast to compete at the Olympics.

Link:  PSU Release

Friday, 31 May 2024 17:08

Transfer: Baechle to Nebraska

Reese Baechle will transfer to NU for next season. She spent last season at Lindenwood, competing primarily on VT and FX, as well as UB.

Link:  Release

Illinois will welcome Ashlyn Doyle and Marly Esteves for 2024-2025, according to a release.  Both commits were covered previously.

Link: Illinois Release

Alabama has hired former Illinois assistant Ross Thompson as their new assistant.  He was at Illinois for two years.

Link:  Release

Thursday, 30 May 2024 22:00

XFinity US Championships: Men's Day 1

Former US and NCAA Champ and Olympian Brody Malone showed his progress in coming back from a knee injury suffered in March of 2023, by taking the lead on Day 1 of the US Championships.  In 2nd was Michigan's Fred Richard.  In 3rd was Donnell Whittenburg, who shared the same score with Stanford's Colt Walker.  The rest of the top 10 are 1.25 points behind Whittenburg, after some big mistakes from some of the favorites.  The Olympic team race is very much unsettled after Day 1 of the Championships.

Link:  USAG Release

Arkansas has rehired Catelyn (nee Orel) Branson as an assistant.  Branson has spent the last three seasons as Head Coach at Lindenwood.  

Link:  Release

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