The five autonomy conference have reached an agreement on a proposal intended to promote student-athlete welfare. It centers around a concept called "Flex 21". This proposal provides for new limits on team related items, like travel, that consume student-athlete time.
Anne Meade has been hired as an assistant coach at Pitt. As a long time coach at North Stars and a former NCAA competitior, she brings many years of experience.
Washington's new Head Coach Elise Ray has announced the hiring of Caleb Phillips and Chad Wiest as assistants. Phillips comes to the Huskies from Iowa, where he was an assistant for seven years. He also spent four years as assistant at SUU. Wiest joins UW from Illinois, where he has assisted the last three years. Prior to that, he was an assistant at Bowling Green for two years. He was also a standout for the Illini men.
Link: UW Release
Brittany Roger, the former UGA star, has been named to the 2016 Olympic squad for Canada. She is a 2012 Olympian. Also named to the team were Ellie Black, Shallon Olsen, Isabel Onyshko and Rose Woo. Two alternates were named and will train with the team: Meagan Roberts (2018, UGA) and Madison Copiak, (Washington frosh).
Link: Release
Macey Roberts has has transferred from Maryland to Utah and will join the team this season as a sophmore.
According to a press release from Cal, Jessa Hansen has been hired as an assistant coach at UC Davis. Official UC Davis announcement is pending.
Cal has announced the hiring of Holly Thomas as an Assistant Coach, replacing Jessa Hansen. Thomas brings experience as an NCAA athlete and club coach to the Bears' program.
Simon Biles won her fourth straight P&G US AA Championship, dominating the field by nearly four points over the two days. She had the highest two day totals on 3 of the 4 events, despite an "off" day. Aly Raisman was 2nd and UF commit Laurie Hernandez 3rd.
Winning automatic slots at the Olympic Trials were Gabby Douglas, Madison Kocian (UCLA signee), Amelia Hundley (UF signee), Alyssa Baumann (UF signee) and Ragan Smith (UF commit). Also added to the Trials were Rachel Gowey (UF signee), Mykalya Skinner (Utah signee), Brenna Dowell (OU), Christina Desidero (LSU commit), Emily Schild (UGA commit), Ashton Locklear, and Maggie Nichols (OU signee).
The final slots on the Olympic Squad are up for grabs, with intense competition for UB slot(s). Both Raisman and Hernandez have strengthened their bids in the last two meets, leaving the focus on UB (and perhaps, VT). Interestingly, although Gabby Douglas has likely secured a fourth spot, the highest scoring combination of scores based on max scores on the Championships does NOT include Douglas on the team (but would depend on Biles on UB in a team finals situation, which is not her forte and is an unlikely scenario, barring injury). Kocian and Locklear are believed to be locked in a battle for the UB slot, with Kocian providing more flexibility in the AA but with Locklear posting higher two day scores (tied for max score over the two days).
Link: USA Gymnastics
The US named the 2016 Men's Olympic Squad: Sam Mikulak (ex Michigan), Jake Dalton (ex OU), John Orozco, Alex Naddour (ex OU), and Chris Brooks (ex OU). The replacement will come from the larger pool.
Superstar Simone Biles posted a 62.9 to easily lead the US P&G Championships. She had the top score on VT, BB and FX, and was tied for 4th on FX. Aly Raisman and Florida commit (2018) Lauren Hernandez tied for 2nd.
UCLA signee Madison Kocian was 5th, but 2nd on UB. Florida signee Amelia Hundley was 6th, with Utah signee Mykayla Skinner in 7th. Florida signee Alyssa Buamann was 8th, while future teammate Ragan Smith was 9th and fellow signee Rachel Gowey was 10th.
OU's Breanna Dowell was 11th while LSU commmit Christina Desidero was 12th. Emily Schild (UGA), Margzhetta Frazier (UCLA), Lexy Ramler (Minn), Olivia Trautman (OU), Maggie Musselman, Abby Paulson (Utah), and Emily Gaskins (Bama) followed behind. OU commit Kaitlyn DeGuzman was 21st, while future teammate Maggie Nichols competed two events. UCLA commit Nia Dennis also showed one event, as she too is working back from injury.
Link: USA Gymnastics
Former NCAA champ Sam Mikulak of Michigan held the lead after winning Day 1 of the Olympic Trials. The order of finish dramatically changed on the first day, with Dannell Leyva surging back to take 3rd behind former OU Sooner Chris Brooks. Former Cal star Donothon Bailey had a great day, placing 4th.
Link: USA Gymnastics
Ball State head coach Joanna Saleem has announced the additional Scott Wilson as an assistant coach. He's spent the last 8 years as a coach at Team Attraction Gymnastics in NC. He was also team manager at UNC, where he did his undergrad.
Link: Ball State Release
ASU has hired Washington assistant Stephen Buckner. He joins the new staff led by Jay Santos and his wife Jessica. Before UW, Bucker was at Alabama as a strength and conditioning coach, and a graduate assistant. He did his club gymnastics at Arizona Sunrays in Phoenix.
Link: ASU Release
Canada has named 11 women to their final candidate list for their Olympic Squad. The final squad will be announced on June 30th after a combination Trials/Training Camp on June 27th and 29th.