(GYM) CLOSED - Gymnastics 2022 - 2023

College Gym News has LSU at 24. They had LSU at 23 before McClain decided not to defer. I have the College Gym News roster before McClain listed close to the bottom of the previous page.

I don't bet, but I'd put my money on LSU at minimum winning the SEC and giving Oklahoma a strong run for the national championship.

 

The two-pass floor routine is becoming the new norm in collegiate gymnastics:

Two-Pass Floor Routines Are Becoming the New Normal - College Gym News

It makes sense, but I still prefer 3 passes.

 

Good for Nya. She obviously wants another year of performing and it isn't happening with UF. I wish her the best wherever she lands.

 

Agree, nothing has changed since Skye signed her full ride scholarship papers in November 2022. She has always planned on being with UF after the Paris Olympics. She will get to perform the 2025 season with Sloane.

It leaves me to wonder if the announcement now came for the benefit of Shilese Jones instead of UF fans. Shilese is verbally committed to enroll in August 2024 after the Olympics, provided she makes the US Olympic Gymnastics. However, she has not signed scholarship papers with UF and I haven't seen anything said publicly about her coming to UF since her father passed away. Disregarding her lack of team leadership skills, she physically reminds me of Trinity Thomas. It would be great to squeeze the last of her gymnastics performance time with UF rather than her turning pro after the Olympics. The next opportunity for Shilese to sign with UF comes in early November 2023. If she again does not sign, I wouldn't be surprised to see UF move on in November to more of a sure thing if another highly rated gymnast wants to come to UF in the 2024/25 school year.

 

Dr. Sam, PhD on Twitter: "SHE’S BACK. After a great season, where she contributed on all four events, @paytonrichardss is back for one more year. https://t.co/G34DWyWAOA" / X

Payton may prove to be the difference between being preseason predicted #5 at College Gym News to strongly competing for the national championship. She is like Trinity Thomas in that she seems to be getting better with age. Make it so in the 24 season Payton.

I'm happy Payton decided to stay. It makes my original prediction in post #715 that she'd be back for her 5th year look good.

 

UF is up to 17 available gymnasts for the 2024 season.

Payton Richards added to the 2024 roster.

 

Most Anticipated Freshmen on Vault:

Most Anticipated Freshmen on Vault - College Gym News''

UF is getting help on the vault which is much needed. Three UF freshmen are mentioned in the article. These gymnasts need to be developed early in the 24 season.

 

We have a chance to watch Elite Gymnastics on Saturday night at 8 PM EDT.

Gators Returns to Elite Competition Saturday at U.S. Core Hydration Classic - Florida Gators

Gators Gymnastics on Twitter: "Good luck to @kayladicello @leannewong03 @skyeblakely_ and competing in today's U.S. Core Hydration Classic! Hoffman Estates, Chicago, IL CNBC Sr. Women Session I (2 p.m.) Session II (8 p.m. - includes ) https://t.co/M185N4Stxh #GoGators | ‍♀️ https://t.co/3WPXNifQ9a" / X

Skye Blakely, Kayla DiCello, and Leanne Wong will be competing in the US Core Hydration Classic. The meet will be televised on CNBC. Record and enjoy at your convenience!

I'm looking forward to seeing how Skye Blakely compares with DiCello and Wong.

 

Leanne Wong finished second at the US Core Hydration Classic:

Gator Leanne Wong Second in US Classic All-Around - Florida Gators

There were many top gymnasts not at the meet. I suspect they are qualified and are getting ready for the US National Championship on August 27.

Some observations:

Simone Biles in her first meet back is still the best gymnast in the world, physical and talented. She was in a class by herself. She is still getting therapy help to get her mind and body working together. If she is not the leader of the US Paris 24 team, it will be that she can't get her mind right and, using her words, will have to do what is best for her. I hope she can once again be the consistent total package.

Skye Blakely is the real deal and a threat to be on the US Paris 24 team. She only performed in 3 rotations, or she would have finished second to Biles. She is dealing with an Achilles heel issue. I hope it isn't serious.

Leanne Wong is honing her elite performances. She will have to be better if she is to make the Paris 24 team. She has all of the tools. I expect she'll be able to perform with UF and develop her elite skills. She's a competitor. Leanne was accompanied by Jenny Rowland and Adrian Burde. They need to gear Leanne's elite skills up over the next 3 weeks for US Nationals. I noticed her difficulty was far less than Biles who hadn't performed in 2 years. However, nobody in the world is as good as Biles when she is right in body and soul.

Kayla DiCello may as well return to UF and work on her elite skills with Trinity and Leanne. She has all of the tools too, but she didn't show them last night or her elite coaching staff isn't bringing the best out of her yet. No, she won't be with UF this year, but maybe she should be.

Suni Lee showed up and performed well considering her health issues. She said she was happy as at one point she thought she was going to have to give up gymnastics. She is far from back though and top elite status may no longer be in her cards. She'd be doing good to get well enough to finish her Auburn career. She has the mind, but is lacking with the body which is the opposite of Biles.

NBC coverage was awful. Unfortunately, they will be televising US Nationals on August 27. It was a Simone Biles lovefest while everyone else lacked for coverage. Skye Blakely only had 1 of 3 of her events shown. They didn't bother to show Leanne Wong's vault although she performed right after Biles. Jade Carey only performed on one event, but NBC didn't show it. NBC was too busy repeatedly showing how good Biles vault was. The vault was beyond other worldly, but it was too much of a Biles lovefest.

 

Kayla DiCello tumbling on floor at US Hydration Classic:

USA Gymnastics on Twitter: "this Gator is a STAR #CoreClassic | @GatorsGym | @kayladicello https://t.co/7TZjCr3wrq" / X

Kayla's elite coaches are fortunate to have her for the next year. They need to prepare Kayla as she has all of the tools necessary to be close to the top of women's gymnastics. I hope we see more consistency and difficulty out of Kayla at the US Nationals on August 27.

 

Most Anticipated Freshmen on Bars:

Most Anticipated Freshmen on Bars - College Gym News

Three Gators are mentioned in the article.

 

College Gym News is apparently doing a Most Anticipated Freshmen Series. I've posted vault and bars here. See posts 752 and 757.

Three Gators appear on the vault and bars lists:

Vault: Anya Pilgrim, Danielle Ferris, and Kaylee Bluffstone.
Bars: Alyssa-Carolina Arana, Danielle Ferris, and Skylar Draser.

So far, that is all 5 freshmen on the two Most Anticipated Freshmen lists.

The name that appears on both vault and bars is Danielle Ferris. This shouldn't be a surprise as Danielle was the 2nd rated gymnast in the 24 class before she reclassified to the 23 class where she is also the 2nd rated gymnast.

The release dates for beam and floor should be 8/15 and 8/22 based on the vault and bars release dates of 8/1 and 8/8.

 

Last year, I started this new thread after the US Nationals. This year, the US Nationals are on 8/27.

For those who participate regularly, do you want to start a new thread for the upcoming year, or do you want to keep this thread rolling?

My preference is to start a new thread for the upcoming year as it is easier to have and locate all of our gymnastics information in one thread and rename this thread for the previous year. With that said, I'm fine with whatever you folks want to do.