Britney Ranzy, who left Oregon State after her freshman season, has been added to the LSU 2012-13 roster.
Former Missouri standout Sarah Shire has been named Assistant Coach at SEMO.
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
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
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
Five team members and three replacements were named, with five of the eight having ties to OU:
Jake Dalton (OU)
Jonathan Horton (ex OU)
Danell Leyva
Sam Mikulak (Michigan)
John Orozco
Replacement athletes
Chris Brooks (ex OU)
Steven Legendre (ex OU)
Alexander Naddour (ex OU)
Link: USA Gymnastics
After 20 years at UGA, Jay Clark will join the LSU staff as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
Danell Leyva and John Orozco punched their tickets to London at the Olympic Trials on Saturday night. The rest of the team will be named tomorrow. Former OU Sooner Jonathan Horton was third, while OU's Jake Dalton tied with former Sooner Chris Brooks for fourth. Brooks rebounded from troubles in night one to post the third highest tally.
Former Illini Paul Ruggeri was 6th while current Illini CJ Maestas was 7th. Former Sooner Steve Legendre was 8th.
Michigan's Sam Mikulak, the highest scorer on night, could only compete on pommel horse after an ill-time sprained ankle. His injury shakes up the potential Olympic squad.
In the all important individual events, athletes sought to place in the top three as many times as possible in the final tally. Some gymnasts rebounded from problems during one of the four days of competition, while others had consistent efforts all four nights. Dalton won floor and vault to strengthen his bid. Former teammate Alex Naddour won PH, but had a few problems on the final night. Horton won rings, and was 2nd on PB. Leyva won PB and HB.
Link: USAG Release
World Champion Jordyn Wieber leads the field after the first day of the US Women's Olympic Trials. Gabby Douglas was 2nd and Aly Raisman 3rd. Rising star Elizabeth Price was 4th AA (2nd on VT, 5th on FX), ahead of Kyla Ross in 5th (touch down on her Amanar vault. 6th place Sarah Finnegan had the top mark on BB while McKayle Maroney had the top single mark on vault and the #4 mark on floor as she battles back from injury.
OU commit Brenna Dowell was 8th while Florida commit Kennedy Baker was 9th. Former Brown athlete Alicia Sacramone notched a top 3 mark on BB in her best effort, keeping alive her campaign for a specialist role. Former UCLA star Anna Li tied for the top score of the day on UB (with Ross), where she hopes to make an impression. Florida incoming frosh Bridget Sloan withdrew with an injury.
Danell Leyva powered to the lead after Day 1 at the Men's US Olympic Trials. John Orozco is 2nd, and Michigan's Sam Mikulak is third. Mikulak actually posted the day's highest AA tally, further bolstering his chances to be included on the squad. Former Sooner Jonathan Horton was fourth, just ahead of OU's Jake Dalton in 5th. Another former Sooner, Chris Brooks, is in 6th, with former Illini Paul Ruggeri in 7th. Former Cal gymnast Glen Ishino was 8th. Former OU star Steve Legendre had a strong day for 9th, as did Illini CJ Maestas.
But, with five strong AAers (including a solid top three), the contenders all sought to impress on their best events, in particular the pommel horse and Rings. On PH, former OU star Alex Naddour turned in the day's best score by 1.05 over the lowest score among the top three AAers. Dalton and Legendre each excelled on Floor and Vault, each posting big scores 16+ scores that would contribute to the team total. And vet Horton posted the 2nd highest score on rings, as did former Ohio State star Brandon Wynn.
Canada has named their Women's Olympic squad, and it includes several gymnasts with ties to the NCAA. Kristina Vaculik of Stanford led the qualification, and UGA incoming frosh Brittany Rogers had a strong Trials to earn an automatic spot. Victoria Moors, Dominique Pegg and Ellie Block complete the squad. LSU incoming frosh Jessica Savona is the first alternate.
Link: Gymn.ca
Cal has announced that Justin Howell has been promoted to Head Coach. He had been serving as an assistant under Danna Durante, who left to take the Head Coach position at Georgia.
Link: Cal Release
Jordyn Wieber defended her US AA title on Sunday at the VISA Championships. She took avantage of a fall by runnerup Gabby Douglas on beam to claim the title by just 0.15. Aly Raisman was third. A trio of first year seniors occupied the next three places: Kyla Ross, Elizabeth Price and Sarah Finnegan.
UF commit Kennedy Baker placed 8th AA to grab the last guranteed spot at the Olympic Trials (tied in score with Sabrina Vega). UF signee Bridget Sloan finished 10th AA, and was invited to the trial with six others: Brenna Dowell, Alicia Sacramone (ex Brown), Anna Li (ex UCLA), Rebecca Bross, Nastia Liukin and McKayla Maroney, who withdrew due to injury.
Individually, Sacramone won vault, Douglas won bars, and Raisman won beam and floor.
AU signee Abigail Milliet was 11th, Florida commit Grace McLaughlin 13th, Bama commit Amanda Jetter 14th, UGA signee Brandie Jay 16th, and OU commit McKenzie Wofford 17th.