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Last Week in College Gym: October 8

During the offseason, it can be difficult to keep up with all the news and training updates happening across the teams. So each week, we will provide a curation of the most exciting upgrades, as well as other important news happening in the college gym world. Note the majority of the training updates highlighted will feature new skills and not someone training their same routine from the past season, for example.

Finally, note we are only able to share links to updates posted on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and not Instagram Stories or Snapchat. However, we will try to note any clips of note that we see on those disappearing platforms.

Brittany Jones Adds Unique Beam Combination

Illinois’ Brittany Jones is working a double turn to sissone on beam. The junior has not yet competed in her collegiate career.

Illinois Men Train New Skills

Illinois men’s head coach Justin Spring posted an Instagram video montage of his team trying new skills. Featured in the video are tons of high-flying skills like triple back rings dismounts, laid-out Kovacs and double-twisting Kovacs.

California Showing Progress on Floor and Bars

The Bears treated us to a bunch of training updates this week. Sophomore Emi Watterson is working on a double Arabian on the Tumbl Trak. Watterson joined the team in January last season and only competed on bars a handful of times. Sophomore Alma Kuc is working on her eagle grip while classmates Nina Schank and Kyana George are training a full-twisting double layout dismount and straddle Tkatchev, respectively. Finally, we got a glimpse of freshman Grace Quinn on uneven bars, working on a straddle Tkatchev to Pak salto. Quinn was an elite until 2015 and briefly competed as a level 10 in 2018.

Bruins on Balance Beam

Freshman Norah Flatley looked at ease on what was her best event as an elite with a front aerial to layout stepout series. Sophomore Nia Dennis is working on the same series and is training a switch to tour jete half leap series. After seeing her on floor last week, redshirt junior Macy Toronjo is now working on her leap series as well with a switch leap to split jump.

Makayla Curtis Works Beam

Nebraska sophomore Makayla Curtis showed part of her beam set, including a wolf jump to immediate punch front and solid back handspring layout step-out.

Leighton Varnadore Upgrads Tumbling

Utah State sophomore Leighton Varnadore is training a full-in on floor. The Aggies will certainly appreciate having an E pass in the floor lineup should it be competition ready.

Samantha Sakti Prepares for Season

William & Mary posted a feature on freshman Samantha Sakti showing some of her beam and floor work. She is training a huge full-in on floor, which she competed in J.O. This E pass will be a welcome addition to the Tribe’s floor lineup.

N.C. State Getting Ready for Season

N.C. State posted a training montage showing some great work on bars, beam and floor. The Wolfpack looks to build on its successful 2018 campaign.

Natalie Wojcik Upgrades Bar Dismount

Michigan freshman Natalie Wojcik is working a huge full-twisting double layout bars dismount.

Abby Brenner Looking Strong

Michigan freshman Abby Brenner had a strong week. She is perfecting details on her Yurchenko one and a half and is working a back layout two and a half to punch front full.

Ona Loper Adds an E Pass

Minnesota sophomore Ona Loper is training a front double full. She is coming back from a midseason Achilles injury.

Kaylee Quinn Trains 10.0 Vault

Nebraska freshman Kaylee Quinn is training a Yurchenko one and a half, an upgrade from the full she competed last year in J.O.

Rachel Dickson Works New Vault

Rachel Dickson is training an Omelianchik, a change from the standard Yurchenko the Georgia junior has previously competed.

Mikayla Magee Trains Blind Full Tkatchev

Georgia freshman Mikayla Magee is surprising on bars this preseason. She is working a blind full to immediate Tkatchev.

Danica Abanto Coming Back

Ohio State’s Danica Abanto is back on beam. The sophomore was out last season with injury.

Utah Holds First Intrasquad of the Year

The Utes held an intrasquad last week and gave us a glimpse at vault, bars and beam. The team went with a lineup of Alexia Burch, Macey Roberts, Kari Lee, Cammy Hall, Missy Reinstadtler and Mykayla Skinner on vault. Notably, Reinstadler showed a Yurchenko one and a half. On bars we saw full routines except for dismounts, with Hunter Dula, Cristal Isa, MaKenna Merrell-Giles and Lee shown in the video. Freshmen Dula and Isa are poised to break into that lineup in 2019. Beam showcased Burch, Adrienne Randall, Skinner, Merrell-Giles, Kim Tessen, Isa, Lee and Reinstadtler. We only saw a clean acro series from Randall, but we’ve seen her training her Rulfova at Utah as well, which is sure to be a crowd favorite.

Kendal Poston Works Upgrades

UCLA’s Kendal Poston showed not just actual gymnastics but upgrades at the most recent intrasquad. She vaulted a front handspring Front Pike half vault, which has a 10.0 start and is an upgrade from the front handspring front pike she competed in J.O. She also showed a triple series on beam. The sophomore did not see action last season.

Difficult DII Dance Elements

Texas Woman’s junior Bria Northrop was mostly restricted to bars in 2018, and her return to the all around will be essential this season after around half of the Pioneers’ lineups graduated. Luckily, she’s looking strong on beam, showing a fantastic tour jete half this week. Not to be outdone, rival Lindenwood posted some equally-beautiful leaps from beam stalwart Andy Alexander.

Hyderally on the Comeback Trail

The Alaska junior was only able to contribute a few bar routines in 2018 due to injury, but she looks ready to come back strong in 2019. She has showed a beautiful Jaeger in training, as well as a gorgeous front aerial + front aerial acro series on beam, where she holds the school record.

Difficulty in Davis

UC Davis has been working some ambitious upgrades in the offseason. Sophomore Kyla Kessler is landing a Yurchenko one and a half, freshman Devon Kiehne is throwing full-ins on floor and senior Yasmine Yektaparast’s front double full continues to look strong.

Instagram Story and Snapchat Roundup

Mary Jacobsen Trains Exciting Upgrades

Oregon State senior Mary Jacobsen has three upgrades in the works. The Beaver is training a front handspring pike half on vault and a double front on floor. She vaulted a Tsuk full in 2018. She is also training an upgraded bars dismount, a double front half-out.

Paige Bachner Trains Unique Beam Series

Bowling Green freshman Paige Bachner is training a side aerial + back tuck beam series, a unique twist on the usual back handspring/layout step-out.

Mykayla Curtis Works Double Layout

Nebraska sophomore Mykayla Curtis, who only vaulted in her first year, is working a double layout on floor. She has show a number of upgrades on beam and floor and may appear in more lineups this year.

Illinois Freshmen Working Upgrades

Illinois’ Erin Weisel is training a straight-body double layout bar dismount, an upgrade from a double pike, and Mallory Mizuki is training a wolf jump to side aerial combination into her beam dismount.

Gabriella Douglas Coming Back

Michigan State’s Gabriella Douglas is vaulting Yurchenkos again. The junior was out all of 2018 with an ACL injury.

READ THIS NEXT: Last Week in College Gym: October 1


Article by the editors of College Gym News

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3 comments

  1. Never see any Bama gym info…unless it’s negative. Abby Armbrecht traing bars. Team spent recent free time working on habitat for humanity house. They doing igtc videos. There is info there to share but they get completely ignored.

    1. Hi Tanya, Thanks for reading! For LWICG, we only include training updates that feature upgrades, new skills or particularly interesting things from individuals returning from major injuries. We also of course can’t see everything that’s published, so we’d love for you to share anything you think might fit this criteria with us in the comments or on social media! If you’re looking for Alabama content, we just published a great interview with Kayla Williams that you can check out, or take a look at the “Alabama” tag on our site to stay up to date with anything published about the team.

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