Braie Speed, L10 from Aerial Athletics in Texas, has committed to Arkansas according to a tweet by her webmaster. Braie wonThe Alamo Classic and the Chicago Style. She picked up five bars titles over the course of the season, along with several other event wins. She concluded her season with a 3rd place finish at her state meet.
Napualani (Pua) Hall, L10 at Kansas Gymnastics, has committed to Arkansas according to her recent Tweet. This season she won the Folger's Invite (1st AA; 1st V/UB/FX), the KGDC Pink Meet (1st AA; 1st V/BB), and her state meet (1st AA; 1st V/FX). She placed 1st on vault at regionals and she finished 5th AA at JOs.
Jessica Borton, L10 from Show Me Gymnastics in Missouri, will join Ball State's team this fall. This season she finished 5th AA at her state meet and 13th AA at regionals.
Sydney Kennedy, a Level 10 at Eagles Gymnastics in Missouri, has verbally committed to Illinois State. She is a three time J.O. National qualifier. She placed 1st on vault, bars, and floor at her state meet in 2012. She was a Region 4 bar champion in 2012.
Ronni Bear, a L9 from Jenk's, will attend and compete for Centenary next season. At the 2012 Level 9 Western Nationals, she tied for 2nd on floor and placed 17th AA.
Link: Video Channel
Rutgers will welcome seven frosh this fall: Aziza Day, Alexis Gabel, Claudia Salinas, Katie Stebick, Danielle Verdon, Jenna Williams and Nicolette Wilson. The commits of Salinas, Stebick and Williams were covered in prior news items, with Williams signing in the Fall period.
Day is a L10 from Gwinnett. The former state L10 AA champ also played basketball and ran track in high school. Link: Floor Video
Gabel is a L10 from Rebound. At the 2012 National High School championships, she won floor and placed 2nd AA. She was 2nd AA at the state meet to future teammate Verdon. Link: YouTube.com Channel
Verdon is a L10 from Rebound as well. At the 2012 Region VII L10 Regionals, she placed 18th AA. She was also the high school state champion on vault, bars, floor and in the AA. Link: YouTube.com Channel
Williams is a L10 from Preciscion in NJ. As a L9 in 2011, she placed 2nd AA, 1st on FX and 1st on BB at the Region VII L9 Regionals.
Link: Rutgers Release
Denver will welcome seven athletes for 2012-2013: Emily Barrett, Rachel Feeken, Madison Kilchrist, Maggie Laughlin, Katie Menhinick, Emily Novotny and Morgan Tolman. The commits of all but Feeken were covered in prior news items.
Feeken, a L10 at LaFleur's Tampa, placed 2nd on UB and 51st AA at the 2012 L10 Junior Olympic Nationals. She also finished 17th AA at the Region VIII Regionals in 2011. Link: Video Channel
Link: DU Release
New UGA Head Coach has named Jay Hogue and Philip Ogletree as Assistants.
Hogue has spent the last two years as an assistant at Denver, and coached at the club level at Orlando Metro and Broadway Gymnastics in Florida. Hogue was the 2012 co-assistant of the year in the North Central region.
Ogletree has been an assistant the last twelve years at LSU. Ogletree is an UGA grad who was on the men's squad from 1980 to 1982. He was the Central Region assistant of the year in 2004 and 2005.
Link: UGA Release
Hannah Rector has committed to Lindenwood for 2013-2014, according to a site submission. She's a L10 at Xtreme in Missouri. At the 2012 Junior Olympic Nationals, she placed 31st AA and 9th on BB in the Senior A division. She also placed 8th AA at the 2011 Region IV L10 Regionals.
Link: Video at Gymnastike
Taylor Allex has signed with Utah and will join the team this year. We previously announced her commitment for the 2013-14 season.
By placing 11th AA at the European Championships, PSU's Felix Aronovich has surpassed the criteria set by his country's (Israel) Olympic Committee. He now qualifies to the 2012 Olympics, after having earned a spot at the Olympics at the Test Event in January.
Link: PSU Release
Graduating Oregon State star Olivia Vivian was the surprise winner of the uneven bars at the 2012 Australian Championships this past weekend. She posted a 14.5 with a 5.6 start value in the finals.
The 2012 Women's Junior Olympic Nationals were held in May 2012 in Virginia, showcasing some of the nation's top future gymnasts. The vast plurality of college gymnasts competed at the Level 10 ranks. In our experience, a Top 5 finish at the JO National meet usually translates into a high level of success at the NCAA level, barring injury or other unforeseen issues. However, a single fall can cause an athlete to fall well down the standings at the JO Nationals.
Here's a summary of the results and links to th available online video of the meet.
Summer is right around the corner and for every prospect that is in the hunt to match his or her talent with the right college program, opportunity approaches. Summer opens up more time on the daily schedule and with that, the chance to close in on some key elements of the college search.
The Canadian Championships concluded with the event finals, made all the more important through the use of a point system to determine the Canadian Olympic squad. Stanford's Kristina Vaculik had an exceptional day, winning bars and beam, placing 2nd on floor and 4th on beam. UGA incoming frosh Brittany Rogers was 2nd on vault while former Oregon State star Laura Ann Chong was 3rd on bars.
Link: Results
At the finals of the National Open division of the Canadian Championships, Lory-Jing Robert won the AA title with ease, posting a 55.35, winning beam, while placing 2nd on floor, 4th on bars and 4th(t) on vault. MSU signee Nicola Deans was 2nd, including 1st on floor, 2nd on vault, and 2nd on beam.
Link: Results