Stefanie Merkle, a senior high performance gymnast from Revolution Gymnastics in Ontario, has committed to Ohio State for 2014-2015. At the 2012 Canadian Championships, she placed 8th AA and 4th on the FX. As a junior high performance athlete in 2011, she was 4th AA.
Link: YouTube.com FX in 2011
Kyra Trowbridge, L10 at Paragon Gymnastics in Virginia, will graduate from high school early and join Iowa's team next season according to Gym-style.com, her webmaster. This season Kyra placed 6th AA at her state meet and 7th AA at regionals, qualifying for her fourth annual trip to JOs where she finished 34th AA.
Ball State has hired Chris Bogantes as the first full time assistant in the program's history. Bogantes has been an assistant at TWU and a club coach at Legacy Elite.
Link: Ball State Release
Our annual survey of the college coaches and their school's available scholarship count is underway. You can view the early results of this year's survey in the commits summary for each year:
Coaches: Check you inbox for the latest survey.
Talia Chiarelli announced via twitter that she committed to Michigan. Talia trains at Brestyan's in Massachusetts, but competes as an elite in Canada. This season she competed 3 events at Elite Canada and she won floor in an international meet in Brazil. In 2011, she was named to the Canadian World team.
Mykayla Skinner, a Senior International Elite from Desert Lights in Arizona, has committed to Utah. Mykayla started her 2012 season at the Fiesta Bowl, picking up the all around title and wins on vault, beam and floor. She competed internationally at the City of Jesolo Trophy in Italy, placing 10th AA, 5th on vault and 4th on floor. At the Visa Championships, she finished 15th AA.
Samantha Partyka, L10 from Champions in Texas, committed to Utah. In the 2012 season, she finished 1st AA (1st V/BB/FX) at the Ricki Deci meet, and 1st AA (1st V/FX) at the HNI. She rounded out her season by winning the vault title at her state meet, then winning the all around and bars titles at regionals. She placed 2nd AA at JOs and won the national vault title.
Elena Lagoski, L10 at Northeast Gymnastics in Pennsylvania, has committed to Michigan State. During her 2012 season, she won floor titles at the Parkettes Invitational and the Katie Baldwin Invite. She placed 9th AA at regionals and earned a spot in the NIT where she finished 2nd on floor.
Rachel Sine has committed to WVU, according to her club. The L10 from the Girls Co-Op was a L10 National qualifier out of Region VII in 2011.
Link: Recruiting Video
Alexandra DeMoura, L10 at New Image Gymnastics in New York, has accepted a scholarship offer from George Washington. This past season she won her sessions of the Big Apple Holiday Classic, the Sand Dollar and the Chicago Style, picking up various event titles as well. She made her third appearance at JOs, placing 25th AA.
Ariel Martin is off to Nebraska this summer to compete for NU in 2012-2013, according to her club. The L10 from IGI originally committed to Ohio State, but then tore her Achilles. After a lengthy rehab period, she competed one event at the state meet this season. In 2011, she won the Region V L10 Regional AA title before her injury. In 2010, she finished 2nd on VT, 4th (t) on FX, 8th on BB and 3rd AA at the L10 Junior Olympic Nationals.
Link: YouTube.com Channel and Regional Videos
Utah State has hired David Tighe as an assistant. He recently graduated from Liberty University. A former pole vaulter and college and USAG club gymnast, he has also coached at the club level. He replaced Janet Anson.
Link: USU Release
Tracey Pearson, L10 at United Gymnastix in Maryland, has committed to Pitt. This season she swept all events at the United Winterfest Invitational and finished 1st AA (1st V/FX) at the Magical Classic. She finished her season at the NIT where she came away with the vault and bars titles.
Nichole Guerrero has reportedly committed to Alabama. Nichole is a two JO qualifier who competes for Zenith Gymnastics in Texas. This season she finished in the top three AA and won every vault title at all of her meets through the regular season. She went on to win her session at regionals (1st AA; 1st V/FX) and she placed 5th AA at JOs.
The US Women's squad for the 2012 Olympics: Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross, and Jordyn Wieber. The replacement athletes are Elizabeth Price, Sarah Finnegan and former UCLA star Anna Li.
In an exciting final day of the trials, Gabby Douglas hit her final floor routine to hold off Jordyn Wieber and earn the automatic spot on the squad. Raisman stayed consistent for third. Maroney showed strongly on vault once again, and Ross proved her worth on bars and beam.
Price made a strong push the final day and edged Ross for fourth AAer, less than a point behind Raisman. With strong scores on all four events (in particular VT and UB), she is the most versatile of the replacement athletes. Li earned her spot as a bars specialist, outperforming the other contenders for this slot. Up and coming star Finnegan excels with high start values on beam and floor.
Link: USA Gymnastics