Three NCAA-Affiliated Gymnasts Advance to Finals

Ten past, present and future NCAA gymnasts competed in the qualification round of the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games Sunday with one advancing on.Jessica Lopez (Venezuela), a formed Denver standout, qualified for both the all around and uneven bars finals. The 30 year old placed 14th in the all around with a 56.932 total and seventh on bars for her 15.333. She’ll compete again Thursday in the

 

women’s all-around final and again on the first day of event finals. It is Lopez’s third Olympics. It was the first time a female gymnast from Venezuela made an event final at the Olympics.Recent Georgia graduate Brittany Rogers, competed vault, bars and beam for Canada, finishing as the first reserve for the vault final. She also had a chance at the bar final but an uncharacteristic fall for the 2016 NCAA bar champion left her out and Canada less than two tenths from the team final. However, being a two-time Olympian, especially after finishing four years of college gymnastics, is a feat to be celebrated in and of itself.

Incoming Boise State freshmen Isabella Amado (Panama) finished 44th in the all around with a high score of 13.9 on vault and Courtney McGregor (New Zealand) placed 41st for her four-event total and 16th on vault. LSU’s newest team member Ruby Harrold (Great Britain) competed bars and floor, helping the squad qualify for the finals in fourth. Harrold also finished 19th on bars and 35th on floor. To round out the incoming freshmen competing at the Games, UCLA’s Madison Kocian (USA) performed only on bars for the American women but qualified to the bar final in the top position with a 15.866. She also helped the U.S. to a first-place finish in the team qualification.

Former Iowa gymnast Houry Gebeshian (Armenia) totaled 53.848 in the all around to finish 38th. But that wasn’t her greatest feat. The physician’s assistant form Cleveland, Ohio, performed a new skill on bars, a full-twisting hecht mount, having it officially be named The Gebeshian. Former Denver gymnast Simona Castro (Chile) finished her competition with a 51.399 for a 52nd-place finish and California junior Toni-Ann Williams (Jamaica) tallied a 50.966 to place 54th and getting a shout out from track superstar Usain Bolt in the process.

Kocian and Harrold will be back in action Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET for the women’s team final. Lopez will compete again Thursday in the all around finals at 3 p.m. ET and again on bars on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.