Michigan posted a 197.35 to win the Morgantown Regional. Bama was 2nd at 196.625, holding on for the 2nd spot despite some problems on various events. Host WVU stayed consistent for 3rd at 196.325, passing SUU (195.675), who struggled on the BB in the final round. GWU was just behind at 195.625 and Kent State was 6th at 194.375.
Michigan was led by Paige Zaziski who won the UB and the AA with a 39.575. She also tied for the VT title with GWU's Chelsea Raineri and teammate Emma McLean. Wolverine Nicole Artz won BB while Bama's Aja Sims won FX.
WVU's Zaakira Muhammad and GWU's Cami Drouin-Allaire were the top AAers not on an advancing squad and should qualify to Nationals, in addition to VT co-winner Raineri.
Link: Results
Link: Michigan Release
Florida posted a 197.125 to win the Gainesville Regional and advance to the National meet. UGA posted a 196.775 to secure the 2nd spot. Missouri was 3rd at 196.1, PSU 4th at 195.325, UNC 5th at 194.425 and UNH 6th at 194.175.
Alex McMurtry of Florida won the AA with a 39.675. She also took the UB and tied for the BB title with UGA's Ashlyn Broussard and the FX title with teammates Alicia Boren and Kennedy Baker. Florida's Rachel Slocum and UGA's Sydney Snead tied for the VT title.
PSU's Briannah Tsang and Sabrina Garcia were the top 2 AAers not on qualifying teams and will unofficially earn the individual spots at Nationals.
Link: Results
Link: Mizzou Release
Link: UGA Release
Wisconsin-Whitewater won its fourth National Championship at the 2017 NCGA (Division 3) Nationals. They won with a 191.0, easily defeating UW La Crosse (188.3), Brockport State (186.8), Ursinus (186.75), host UW Stout (186.475) and Springfield (184.775).
UW-Whitewater sophomore Lisa O'Donnell won the AA title with a 38.225. Oshkosh's Jessica Bernado was 2nd and Marissa DeAngelo of Springfield was 3rd.
Link: Release
Link: Results
Maya Albertin, L10 at Stars in Texas, has committed to Minnesota. She has finished in the top 5 AA at her meets this season, including a 5th place finish at her recent state meet. She also placed 2nd on vault and beam at that meet.
Wildfire Gymnastics has announced that Madison McIntyre is headed to Utah State next season. She has finished all of her meets this season in the top ten AA and recently placed 3rd AA at the SoCal state meet.
Emma LaPinta, L10 at Kurt Thomas Gymnastics, has committed to SEMO. This season she competed to a first place finish on floor and 3rd place all around at the Texas Prime. She competed one event at the Kurt Thomas Invite, floor exercise, and won that event.
For 36 teams, the season has built up to one day, the Regionals and the 12 teams that will qualify to the National semi-finals. There are six Regions and the top two teams in each Region will qualify to Nationals. Through the proliferation of online video and Conference TV networks, we've been able to follow the progress of every member of each and every Regional. Here's how the field shakes down.
Event champions were crowned on Saturday at the USA Gymnastic Collegiate Men's Nationals.
Justin Karstadt won the AA with an 87.05 to lead the Gophers to 426.95 to 425.55 win over NU. He also won the R and PB. Teammate Joel Gangon won HB. For the Huskers, senior Austin Epperson won the FX while teammate Antonio Castro won the PH and teammate Anton Stephenson won VT. .
Link: Release
PSU broke the 420 mark with a 420.4 to defeat Iowa's 414. Dominic DiFulvio led PSU with wins on Rings and VT. Teammates Stephan Nedoroscik and Leroy Clarke, Jr tied for the PH title while Wyatt Tyndall won PB.
Link: Release
Michigan celebrated Senior Night with a big 414.95 in a win over UIC. Anthony McCallum won FX, VT and tied for the PB title (with teammate Jonathan Chin) to lead the Wolverines. Samuel Su won PH, Ryan Dunning the R and Marty Strech the HB to complete a sweet. Wolverine Emyre Cole won the AA.
Link: Release
Ohio State posted a 417.35 to defeat host Illinois' 415.25. The Buckeyes were paced with wins from Sean Melton on R and PB and Jake Martin's 80.9 AA tally.
Link: Release
Air Force captured its 8th straight team title at the USA Gymnastics Collegiate Nationals, held in Everett, Washington. They posted a 396.95 to claim first. W&M was 2nd at 388.4, Navy 3rd at 379.7 and Springfield 4th at 373.85.
ASU won the club division with a 383.65, with host Washington just behind at 381.25. Temple popsted a 364.75 and SC United a 341.5.
Air Force's Tim Wang defended his AA title with an 82.9. Washington's Nathan Tsuji was 2nd at 78.2 while Navy's Noah Beeman was 3rd.
Link: Release
EMU will welcome Megan Benzie, Cortney Bezold, Cali Harden, Brianna Price and Jada Rondeau for 2017-2018. The commits of all but Bezold and Rondeau were covered in prior news items.
Bezold is a L10 from Gym-Nation. At the 2017 Ohio State L10 State meet, she finished 5th AA. In 2015, she tied for 18th AA at the JO NIT meet.
Rondeau is a L10 from Legacy Gymnastics. At the 2016 L10 JO Nationals, she finished tied for 10th on VT and 38th AA. She also tied for 8th on VT and 37th AA in 2015.
Link: Release
How early is too early to recruit gymnasts to college?
I recently met with a family that has a daughter who is on the USA Gymnastics developmental team. Their daughter is in seventh grade and is feeling pressure to figure out which college is best for her future. College gymnastics coaches have come to watch her practice and she is seeing other girls from the developmental program verbally commit and posting this on social media.
If you ask any college gymnastics coach, they will tell you that they would prefer to wait till sophomore or junior year of high school to start recruiting However, they may also say they are guilty of making early offers. This trend of early recruiting began several years ago. When one college coach starts early recruiting, the other coaches tend to follow for fear that they will miss out on that blue chip recruit. My personal advice to this family is to take their time and not rush. A gymnast with this kind of talent will have many opportunities. Even though this specific gymnast was obviously very mature for her age, she was no where near ready to make a decision about college.
Below are some ideas on how to address this situation:
1. View early recruiting as inspiring to your daughter and not something to fear.
2. Set a goal as a family to not make any verbal commitments to a college team until high school or whatever date you feel is best for your daughter. This will take the pressure off of your
daughter and let her begin to feel comfortable with college recruiting process.
3. Look at your calendar and start taking your daughter on some casual visits to college campus’s. These schools do not have to be campus’s with gymnastics for her to learn about
college size, location and atmosphere.
4. Set up unofficial visits to the schools that appear to be interested in your daughter
5. Remember if a college coach has your daughters best interest in mind and she has the talent, they will wait for her to mature and be able to make a decision that she can feel confident
with in the long run.
6. Don’t be afraid to ask the college coach for a timeline in regards to when he or she would like a decision.
About Jill Hicks:
Jill Hicks is a former elite gymnast, Division I college athlete, club coach and Division I college gymnastics coach (Cal State Fullerton, Oregon State) and the owner of Jill Hicks Consulting, where she provides recruiting services and choreography for prospective student-athletes and their families. For further information visit: www.jhicksconsulting.com
Editor's Note: Publication of this article is not an endorsement of any recruiting service. Always check with the NCAA or your school's compliance officer for any questions regarding recruiting rules, the latest timelines, or other issues.
Bennet Huang has committed to Iowa for 2017-2018. He trains at West Coast Olympic Academy. At the 2016 P&G Championships, he placed 2nd AA, 1st on PH, 2nd(t) on FX and 5th on VT in the 15-16 year old division.