Do your part to help save Temple Men's Gymnastics, which is proposed to be cut after this season by their administration. They have less than 2,700 signatures left to their goal of 10,000.
Jordan Gillette, L10 at X-Cel in Pa., has announced her commitment to West Virginia. Jordan is a long time Level 10 with many post season appearances to her credit. Last season she earned a spot at the NIT and finished 10th AA.
Morgan Lane, L10 at Jody's Gymnastics in Indiana, has committed to join the UNC team next year. Jody has been competing at Level 10 since the 2011 season. She qualified to the NIT in 2012 and to JOs in 2013. Last season she placed 3rd AA at her state meet and 5th AA at regionals.
Emily Schild has announced her commitment to Georgia. Emily is a Jr. International Elite from Everest Gymnastics in N.C. She competed L10 last season before moving up to the elite. She competed at the Secret Classic and US Nationals.
Temple has announced its intent to drop Men's Gymnastics as one of seven programs to be eliminated at the end of the year. The loss of yet another Men's program will be felt throughout the NCAA. Temple also is setting the elimination of baseball, men's crew, Men's indoor and outdoor track, Women's crew and softball. The elimination of the two women's sports is somewhat unusual in that many schools use similar high roster count sports to achieve Title IX compliance. The women's gymnastics team was not cut.
In total, 150 athletes (208 roster positions) and 9 full time coaches were impacted by today's announcement. According to Philly.com, the school has said the savings will help improve funding of the other sports, including more scholarships for women's sports (in general). Lack of adequate facilities played a role in the elimination of baseball, softball, track and crew. The school also claims that the training facility for gymnastics is inadequate to hold both the men's and women's team.
Title IX is being cited as the motivation for the change, but reportedly has helped spare the Women's team. Temple claims that with these changes, they will correct a Title IX imbalance. Currently, the school is 51% female but only 42% of the scholarships go to the women's programs.
In 1994, the baseball and gymnastics teams were proposed for elimination but were saved.
We'll keep you updated on the efforts to save the Men's program, and how you can help.
Link: Temple Release
Link: Philly.com
Natalie Vaculik, Canadian International Elite and the younger sister of Stanford's Kristina Vaculik, has committed to Georgia according to a news article. As a senior this year, Natalie is eligible to join the team next fall. However she plans to postpone college for a season or two while she works toward the next Olympic Games.
Natalie finished 2nd AA at the 2013 Canadian Championships. In the event finals, she placed 4th on bars and 8th on beam.
Rachel Slocum, L10 at Shonshine Gymnastics in N.C., has committed to EMU. Last season she finished 4th AA at regionals and qualified to JOs. She was also crowned regional vault champ.
Nebraska's men's program has signed Josh Everitt, Daniel Leal, Alex Magsam and Andrew Zymball.
Everitt trains at Gymnastics World Central in Tuscon. He finished 3rd on Rings at the 2013 JO Nationals.
Leal is originally from Columbia and trains at Indigo in NJ. At the 2013 Regionals, he took first AA, PH, PB and HB.
Magsam competes for North Valley Gymnastics in Arizona. He placed 5th on VT at the 2012 Nationals.
Zymball is an in-state product from Cahoy's Gymnastics. He was 12th AA at the 2013 JO Nationals.
Link: NU Release
Carmen Jolliff, L10 at GymX-Treme in Ohio, has committed to Kent State. Last season she finished 8th AA at her state meet and qualified to regionals. In 2012, she qualified to L9 regionals.
*Updated* Every fall, a new set of Women's code modifications are published by the NCAA. These code modifications outline variances in the NCAA code from the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympics Level 10 code. This is the means by which all routines are evaluated during the upcoming season. The latest update contains a few changes from last season, primarily adding special considerations for those athletes that do certain elements of difficulty in their routines, while not raising the minimum standards needed to get a 10. Although the NCAA has different Special Requirements than the NCAA, it shares the same execution deductions as the Level 10 code. With the new quadrennium, certain changes were also made to the JO Level 10 program.
Editor's Note: The article has been revised to correct a misinterpretation of a compositional deduction on beam.
Gracen Standley, L10 from CGA in Ohio, has committed to LSU. Last season she placed 7th AA at her state and regional meets. She placed 16th AA at JOs.
Adra Parks, L10 at Triad in Iowa, has committed to Arizona. In her first year as a Level 10 last season, she finished 1st AA and 1st on bars at regionals and qualified to JOs.
Nicole Rogalski, L10 at 10.0 Gymnastics in Mass., has committed to Minnesota. Nicole has competed at Level 10 since the 2011 season. She qualified to the NIT in 2011 and to JOs in 2012 and 2013. Last season she was crowned state bars champ and regional bars and beam champ. In her first early season meet this season, she placed 5th AA at the Pilgram Harvest Invitational.
Ryan Stach, L10 from Galaxy Gymnastics in N.Y., has reportedly verballed to Minnesota. In 2013, she picked up the state floor champ title and went on to win floor and vault at regionals. She qualified for the NIT. She just competed her first meet of the 2014 season, the Balloon Classic, winning the beam and floor titles.
Courtney Cowles, L10 at New England Gym Express in Connecticut, has committed to Arizona. Last season she won her state bars title. At regionals, she placed 6th AA and earned a trip to JOs.