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.
Former NCAA champion Sam Mikulak (ex Michigan) won his fourth straight US title at the P&G Championships.
Former OU Sooners Chris Brooks and Jake Dalton were 2nd and 3rd. The NCAA was well represented, with Stanford's Akash Modi in 4th and OU's Yul Moldauer and Ohio State's Sean Melton tied for fifth with Donnell Whittenburg.
Former Illini Paul Ruggerri was tied for 8th with Marvin Kimble (who spent his first year at Michigan). The US also named the US Natoinal Team, which is determined by a complex system of points based on individual finishes. Others with NCAA connections making the squad: Alex Naddour (ex OU), CJ Maestas (ex Illinois) and Eddie Penev (ex Stanford). All of those National Team members now advance to the Olympic Trials. After the initial team was named, USA Gymnastics announced that former Cal star Donothan Bailey, former OU star Steven Legendre, OU's Kenji Oyama and former Buckeye Brandon Wynn had been added to the team (along with Danell Leyva), and will compete at the Trials.
Selecting an Olympic squad will be especially difficult, with a complex combination of strengths and weaknesses from the leading contenders. The rise of the young NCAAers is also shaking up the existing hierarchy on the National Team.
Link: Release
The Canadian Championships concluded with event finals for the men and the women's L10 16+ age group.
Olympian Aly Raisman won the senior title at the US Classic, posting a solid 59.2. Florida incoming frosh Rachel Gowey was 2nd at 58.3 while future teammate Alyssa Baumann was 3rd at 58.0. Several top gymnasts opted to compete one or two events. UCLA (2018) commit Marzetta Frazier was fourth at 55.9 while Georgia commit Emily Schild (2017) was fifth with a 55.55. Bama commit Emily Gaskins (2018) was 7th, Minnesota commit (2017) Lexy Ramler 8th at 54.75 while Utah commit (2019) Abby Paulson was 9th at 54.65.
2018 OU commit Oliva Trautman was 11th at 53.9 while in 12th was 2019 OU commit Kaitlyn DeGuzman with a 52.55. 2018 PSU commit Leah Clapper posted a 51.25 for 13th.
In the junior division, Irina Alexeeva edged Emma Malabuyo for the win, 57.55 to 57.5. 2020 UCLA commit Jordan Chiles was 4th at 56.35, suffering a fall on BB and OOBs on FX.
Link: USA Gymnastics
Isabela Onyshko set a new Canadian record in the AA with a 58.55 to easily win the Canadian AA title. Ellie Black was 2nd. Onyshko won the UB and BB while Black won the FX, despite a sore ankle.
Donnell Whittenburg took a slim lead over former NCAA champion Sam Mikulak on the first day of the P&G (US) Championships. Former OU Sooners Chris Brooks and Jake Dalton are in 3rd and 4th, respectively.
Great Britain edged Russia to lead the qualifying round at the Women's European Championships.
LSU incoming frosh Ruby Harrold competed three events for Great Britain, but missed out on any finals. Cal commit (2017) Alma Kuc competed for Poland on UB while Bama commit Kylie Dickson competed for Belarus in the AA, posting a 50.865.
Link: Team Results
Link: AA Results
Isabela Onyshko bested Olympian Ellie Black, 57.4 to 57.15 in the preliminary round of the Canadian Championships. The Championships form part of the qualification process for the Canadian Olympic Team.
Kera Bolen Molinaro, who has coaching experience with various programs, has accepted the position of Assistant Coach at PSU. Kera previously served as a volunteer and interim coach with the program.
Jay and Jessica Santos have accepted the positions of Head Coach and Associate Head Coach at ASU. Jay and Jessica Santos have both held coaching positions with various collegiate programs.
Washington has announced the promotion of Elise Ray to the position of Head Coach to replace Joanne Bowers. Elise has been with the Huskies for five seasons.
Amid accusations,allegations and turmoil, Rachelle Thompson has resigned. Jeff Thompson plans to stay on as Head Coach. PSU will have to fill two assistant coach positions.
Read PennLive.com article