Isabela Onyshko bested Olympian Ellie Black, 57.4 to 57.15 in the preliminary round of the Canadian Championships. The Championships form part of the qualification process for the Canadian Olympic Team.
Kera Bolen Molinaro, who has coaching experience with various programs, has accepted the position of Assistant Coach at PSU. Kera previously served as a volunteer and interim coach with the program.
Jay and Jessica Santos have accepted the positions of Head Coach and Associate Head Coach at ASU. Jay and Jessica Santos have both held coaching positions with various collegiate programs.
Washington has announced the promotion of Elise Ray to the position of Head Coach to replace Joanne Bowers. Elise has been with the Huskies for five seasons.
Amid accusations,allegations and turmoil, Rachelle Thompson has resigned. Jeff Thompson plans to stay on as Head Coach. PSU will have to fill two assistant coach positions.
Read PennLive.com article
Washington Head Coach Joanne Bowers has stepped down after 10 seasons to spend more time with her family. She intends to move across the country to Virginia to her husband John, who is now an assistant football coach at JMU. Her son is battling for the starting QB spot at Cal. No word on replacement plans has been released. However, in an interview with the UW Daily, Bowers noted that she had recommended Associate Head Coach Elise Ray for the position. A final decision has not yet been made.
Link: Washington Release
Minnesota commmit Lexy Ramler tied with Lauren Navarro at 55.95 to take the senior title and qualify to the P&G Championships. Utah commit Abby Paulson was close behind in third (55.9) LSU commit Christina Desiderio, OU commit Kaitlin DeGuzman, Maggie Musselman and OU commit Olivia Trautman also qualified.
Morgan Hurd (Florida) won the jr. title, with Jaymes Marshall 2nd and Irina Alexeeva 3rd. Michigan commit Alyona Shchennikova was fourth while UCLA commit Kalyany Steele tied with Florida commit Riley McCusker for fifth.
Link: USA Gymnastics
Here's a showcase of some of the top finishers at this week
The emphasis here is on Senior age groups and 2016 and 2017 grads. More video will be added as it's uploaded or submitted, so stay tuned for updates. To submit a link, please use the Contact form or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Men's JO Nationals concluded their second day of competition, and future NCAA stars were in action, some battling to advance to the P&G Championships (Junior Elite) while others concluded their seasons.
The athletes competing in the senior divisions will be entering college over the next few years and most of them have made their college choices. The table below recognizes the top ten finishers in each division and individual event winners who finished outside the top 10 AA. For further information, consult the official results on the JO website. The JO age groups do not match school grade or class, but the Senior A group is generally comprised of athletes entering college for the 2018-19 season. Some may enter a year earlier or a year later, depending on their high school graduation year.
The Men's JO Nationals are underway in Battle Creek, Michigan, with the Level 10 and Junior Elite preliminaries completed. A number of commmits and signees competed.
ASU announced the termination of Head Coach Dr. Rene Lyst under the "termination without cause" provision of her contract. Ralph Russo will act as interim head coach while the school conducts a nationwide search for a replacement. Lyst had previously been suspended. It appears that Ass't Coach Jeff Hunt has also resigned.
Link: ASU Release
As expected, Washington has added Evanni Roberson for 2016-2017. Her commit was covered in a prior news item. She recently won UB, BB and FX at the Region 2 L10 Regionals.
Link: Release
Among her many honors throughout her career, Bridget Sloan has picked up her second Honda Award for gymnastics.