Amanda Kowalski, a L10 at Perfection Gymnastics, has committed to Iowa, according to her club. At the 2012 L10 Junior Olympic Nationals, she placed 5th on vault, 6th on beam, 7th on floor and 6th AA, in the Senior C group. She placed 17th AA at the Region 5 L10 Regionals in 2011.
Link: Video at YouTube.com
Alyssa Shermetaro, a former junior international elite and current L10 at Olympia, has committed to Washington for 2014-2015. At the 2012 Level 10 Junior Olympic Nationals, she tied for 1st on BB, 7th on UB and placed 5th AA. She was 23rd AA at the 2010 VISA Championships.
Jordyn Wieber defended her US AA title on Sunday at the VISA Championships. She took avantage of a fall by runnerup Gabby Douglas on beam to claim the title by just 0.15. Aly Raisman was third. A trio of first year seniors occupied the next three places: Kyla Ross, Elizabeth Price and Sarah Finnegan.
UF commit Kennedy Baker placed 8th AA to grab the last guranteed spot at the Olympic Trials (tied in score with Sabrina Vega). UF signee Bridget Sloan finished 10th AA, and was invited to the trial with six others: Brenna Dowell, Alicia Sacramone (ex Brown), Anna Li (ex UCLA), Rebecca Bross, Nastia Liukin and McKayla Maroney, who withdrew due to injury.
Individually, Sacramone won vault, Douglas won bars, and Raisman won beam and floor.
AU signee Abigail Milliet was 11th, Florida commit Grace McLaughlin 13th, Bama commit Amanda Jetter 14th, UGA signee Brandie Jay 16th, and OU commit McKenzie Wofford 17th.
Donnell Whittenburg won the Junior Men's 16-18 and Marvin Kimble won the Men's 14-15 division at the VISA Championships on Saturday evening.
Link: USA Gymnastics
Stanford has announced that Jenna Frowein and Maggie Teets will enroll at Stanford and compete next season. Frowein's commitment was covered in a prior news item.
Teets is a L10 and former junior elite from the Colorado Aerials. She placed 19th AA at the 2012 Region I L10 Regionals, after placing 2nd at the Colorado State meet. In 2011, she tied for 1st on UB and 15th AA at the Region I L10 Regionals. Link: Video
Link: Stanford Release
Of the 15 men advancing to the Olympic Trials, 13 have NCAA ties. The members of the men's Senior National Team are:
Chris Brooks (ex OU)
Alex Buscaglia (ex Stanford)
Jake Dalton (OU)
Josh Dixon (ex Stanford)
Jonathan Horton (ex OU)
Glen Ishino (Cal)
Steven Legendre (ex OU)
Danell Leyva
CJ Maestas (Illinois)
Sam Mikulak (Michigan)
Alex Naddour (ex OU)
John Orozco
Paul Ruggeri (ex Illinois)
David Sender (ex Stanford)
Brandon Wynn (ex Ohio State)
John Orozco used a big 15.5 on Floor in his final event to edge past Danell Leyva and claim the US Men's AA title. Michigan's Sam Mikulak was third. Former OU star Jonathan Horton was 4th, while another former Sooner, Chris Brooks, tied current Sooner Jake Dalton for fifth. Former Illini Paul Ruggeri was 7th, with Cal's Glen Ishino in 8th. Former Stanford star Alex Buscaglia was 9th, with former OU star Steven Legendre having a rough day for 10th.
On the events, Dalton won Floor and tied Stanford's Sean Senters for first on vault. Former teammate Alex Naddour won PH while Horton was the top guy on Rings. Leyva held the top marks on PB and HB.
Link: USAG Results, Videos
Jordyn Wieber and Gabby Douglas are tied for the AA lead after the first day of the VISA Championships. The senior women are chasing one of eight spots in the Olympic Trials, or are trying to impress the selection committee enough in order to gain an invitation. Aly Raisman is third. New seniors Kyla Ross, Elizabeth Price and Sarah Finnegan are not far behind the lead pack as well. Ross posted the top mark on bars while Finnegan had the top mark on beam. Raisman was the top floor worker while McKayla Maroney blasted the best single vault of the day.
UF commit Kennedy Baker was 8th, holding the last automatic spot to the Trials. Gator incoming frosh Bridget Sloan was 10th AA, including a 5th on bars. Future teammate Grace McLaughlin was 13th, while AU commit Abigail Milliet was 14th. Bama commit Amanda Jetter was 16th, while UGA signee Brandie Jay was 17th and OU commit McKenzie Wofford was 18th.
Former Brown star Alicia Sacramone 2nd(t) on beam while former UCLA star Anna Lee placed 4th on bars.
Molly McFarland, L10 at Team OC in California, will join the Boise State team this fall. This past season she finished 1st AA and 1st on vault at the California Classic and she finished in the top 5 in all of her regular season meets. She placed 4th AA and 1st on vault at the SoCal meet, 6th AA at regionals and 13th AA at JOs.
Kentucky has announced the signing of Jillian Chappel, Racquel Chavez, and Amy Roemmele. The commits of all three were covered in prior news items.
Link: UK Release
Past, current and future NCAAers will be in action this week at the VISA (US) Championships. The final steps in the road to London will travel through St Louis, as various contenders jockey for spots on the final Olympic squad.
On the first night, the Senior Men competed, with Danell Leyva leading the way, just ahead of John Orozco, 91.85 to 91.8. World PB champ Leyva was first on that event, and tied for first on HB (with Illini grad Paul Ruggeri). Michigan's Sam Mikulak was third with a 90.55, just ahead of former OU stars Chris Brooks (1st VT) and Jonathan Horton (1st R). OU's Jake Dalton was sixth, and Cal grad Glen Ishino was 7th (1st on PH). Former OU star Steve Legendre was 1st on FX.
Link: Men's Results and Release
In the junior men's division, Donnell Whittenburg leads the 16-18 group while Marvin Kimble leads the 14-15 group. Illinois signee Max Mayr was fifth.
Link: USA Gymnastics Release
Diana Mejia has committed to Boise State for the 2013-2014 season. She's a L10 at MAC in Oregon. A uneven bars standout, she won the Level 10 National Title on bars in 2010 (tied) and 2011. She placed 2nd on bars and 26th AA at the 2012 Level 10 Junior Olympic Nationals. She also tied for 10th on beam and placed 20th AA in 2011.
Link: YouTube.com Channel
John Tanner of Queen City Gymnastics has committed to Ohio State and clubmate Jeremy Siegel will attend Cal, according to Cincinnati.com.
Links: Siegel Videos and Tanner Videos
Kristina Heymann, a L10 at Airborne, will attend Cal, according to the Los Gatos Weekly Times. Most recently, she placed 1st on floor and 4th AA in the Senior D division of the NIT meet.
Link: YouTube.com Channel
Ashlin Chambliss, L10 at Ultimate Gymnastics in Georgia, will join EMU's team this fall. Ashlin, a third year L10, won the Pumpkin Patch meet (1st AA; 1st V/UB/BB) in the early season and the Mardi Gras meet (1st AA; 1st BB). She finished 3rd AA at her state meet, 12th AA at regionals and 19th AA at the NIT.
Leah MacMoyle, L10 at North Stars in New Jersey, has reportedly committed to Arkansas. She won the 2012 PKI, also placing 1st on vault and floor. She won vault at regionals and placed 25th AA at JOs.