Taylor Bolender, L10 at Gymnastics World in Ohio, has accepted a scholarship to Central Michigan University. During the 2011 season, she picked up several individual event wins on bars and beam. In the post season, she placed 9th AA at regionals and 3rd AA at the NIT. She is a two time NIT competitor and qualified to JOs in 2009.
Kirsten (Kiki) Petzold, L10 at Olympia Gymnastics Academy in Michigan, will be joining her sister, Brittany, on the CMU team next year. Kirsten finished 8th AA at her 2011 state meet, 7th AA at regionals, and 26th AA at JOs.
Natalie Trejo, L10 at Deltchev Gymnastics in Nevada, has committed to Southern Utah. Last season Trejo finished placed 14th AA at her regional meet and 15th AA (1st FX) at the NIT.
Nowadays, college coaches, in many cases are encouraging prospects to commit early to their institution in an effort to wrap up recruiting and outdistance the competition. This article attempts to shed light on a variety of “options” prospects and families can embrace moving forward in the ever changing college search for athletes. November is fast approaching and with that, early deadlines for college applications. Current seniors who have dedicated themselves to connecting early on with college coaches, providing them with the necessary evaluation tools coaches need to determine “potential matches”, have narrowed their list to a few or even one institution they feel is a perfect fit.
Chayse Capps has committed to OU, according to a site submission. She's a L10 at Inifinite Bounds and also trains as a dancer. At the 2011 L10 JO Nationals, she placed 8th(t) on BB and 30th in the AA. She was 14th AA at the Region III L10 Regionals in 2010.
Link: Official Web Site and Video at Gymnastike
Paris Ryder has committed to Arkansas for 2013-2014, according to a site submission and the NY USAG state web page. Ryder trains as a L10 at GMGC in New York. At the 2011 L10 JO Nationals, she placed 43rd AA. She also placed 11th AA at the 2010 Region VI L10 Regionals.
Link: NY USAG and
Marissa Unpingco, L10 at Edge Gymnastics, has committed to San Jose State. She finished 6th AA, 1st UB at her 2011 state meet and 9th AA at regionals.
Sydnie Dillard, L10 at Eagle's Wings in Texas, has committed to Arkansas according to her club's Facebook posting. Last season she placed 12th AA at her state meet and 15th AA at regionals.
Yale has hire Jason Vonk as an assistant, according to a school release. He's spent the last six years as program director and owner of Stars National Gymnastics Village in Colorado.
Link: Yale Release
Kristen DeCosta, L10 at Metroplex, has committed to Iowa State. Last season she finished 7th AA at her state meet and qualified to regionals. In 2010 she finished 10th AA at the NIT.
Kara Lovan, L10 at Trinity in Iowa, has committed to Oklahoma according to GymDivas.com. Last season she won her regional meet (1st AA, 1st BB/FX) and placed 40th AA at JOs.
Makenzie Johnson, L10 at Eagle's Wings in Texas, has announced her committment to BYU. Johnson placed 5th AA at her 2011 state meet, 11th AA at regionals and 2nd AA at the NIT.
Florida commit Aly Raisman won the bronze on the FX as the world championships concluded. She also placed 4th on the BB, while teammate Jordyn Wieber won the bronze on BB. For the US men, Danell Leyva won the gold medal on the PB.
The other men's event champions included Yang Hak Seon of Korea on the Men's vault and China's Zou Kai on the HB. For the women, China's Sui Lu won the BB and Russia's Ksenia Afanaseva won the FX.
McKayla Maroney of the US won the world title on the vault as the first day of event finals. Former OU Sooner Steven Legendre finished 5th on FX while current Sooner Jake Dalton was 8th. On Rings, former OU star Jonathan Horton was 7th.
The other event champions included Russia's Viktoria Komova on UB, Japan's Kohei Uchimura on FX, Hungary's Krisztian Berki on PH, and China's Chen Yibing on Rings. The finals conclude tomorrow.
Link: Men's Results and Women's Results and Universal TV Coverage
Hunter Price of Aerial Athletics has committed to OU, according to a site submission. The L9 is primarily a VT and FX specialist. She was the 2010 and 2011 Region III L9 Vault Champion, scoring a 9.975 to win the title this past season.
Link: YouTube.com