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.
Georgia Showcases Floor Passes
Georgia gave us some additional floor footage with an array of solid tumbling passes. Junior Sabrina Vega is working a full-in and a one and a half + punch front + sissone combo, and sophomore Emily Schild (who didn’t compete the event last season due to injury) is training the event as well with a one and a half + layout half + straddle jump.
Emma McLean Adds E Pass
Michigan senior Emma McLean is working a new full-in, a skill that would elevate her already competitive floor set. She trained the pass last year, but we never saw it in competition likely due to the heel injury she was working through.
Emyre Cole Trains Bhavsar
Michigan senior Emyre Cole is working on adding a Bhavsar to his parallel bars routine for the 2019 season.
Oklahoma Holds Bars and Beam Intrasquads
The latest intrasquad action comes from the Sooners, who held both bars and beam intrasquads in the past week. On bars, we saw Alex Marks, Brehanna Showers, Anastasia Webb, Brenna Dowell, Nicole Lehrmann, Maggie Nichols and Maryland transfer Karrie Thomas show routines. On beam, Olivia Trautman, Lehrmann, Showers, Webb, Nichols and Dowell performed. We’re hopeful to see Dowell compete beam in 2019, which would mark the first time competing the event collegiately.
Emily Gilot Gets Her Yurchenko Full
UW-Oshkosh featured freshman Emily Gilot’s Yurchenko full on its Instagram this week. Gilot is one of four freshmen that looked capable of adding a twist to their big Yurchenko layouts, so stay tuned for further vault updates from the Titans.
Leah Messelt Adds New First Pass
Leah Messelt showed off a whip to double pike during Winona’s show day this week. The junior is a regular member of the Warrior floor lineup.
Instagram Story and Snapchat Roundup
Melissa Astarita Adds Ray
Penn State’s Melissa Astarita is training a Ray. The freshman competed a Deltchev in J.O.
Matisen O’Brien Trains Floor
Matisen O’Brien showed off a nice whip to double full this week. The Ursinus senior has never competed floor throughout her college career but looks to be training hard for a potential lineup spot.
Gym Dogs Hold Intrasquad for Donors
The Gymdogs also held an open practice for donors on Friday, showing off routines on all four events and giving fans a look at potential lineups for the 2019 season. On vault, Rachel Baumann (FTY), Mikaela Magee (Y1.5), Abby Ward (Tsuk full), Rachael Lukacs (DTY) and Megan Roberts (Y1.5), as well as sophomore Marissa Oakley (FTY), senior Sydney Snead (Y1.5) and juniors Sabrina Vega (FTY) and Rachel Dickson (Omelianchik), all showed vaults on varying surfaces.
On bars, Roberts led off with a toe-on Shaposh + bail and DLO routine. She was followed by sophomore Emily Schild (Ray, Pak, DLO), Snead (clearhip + Tkatchev, bail, DLO), freshman Alexa Al-Hameed (giant full + Tkatchev, bail, FTDT), Oakley (blind + eagle grip piked Jaeger, Pak, FTDT), Dickson (Ray, bail, FTDLO) and Lukacs (Tkatchev, clearhip + bail, DLO). Volunteer assistant head coach also noted that Lukacs has been coming back from a sprained ankle suffered three weeks ago.
The Gym Dogs followed Olympic order by going to beam next. Snead remained in the lead-off spot she held for all of last season, hitting her routine with a BHS + LOSO + BHS series that Yoculan mentioned she’d only been training since October due to ongoing back pain. Schild followed, also hitting her routine (press mount, BHS + LOSO, switch leap + beat jump + sheep jump, side aerial + full). Dickson and Baumann hit their routines in the third and fourth spots, respectively, but Oakley fell on her front aerial despite nailing her BHS + LOSO + LOSO to start the set. However, Yoculan noted it’s a rarity for the sophomore to fall at all. Vega nailed her routine as the anchor, and Al-Hameed wrapped up the rotation with a hit as the alternate, performing a nice wolf turn, BHS + LOSO, straddle half + straddle quarter, RO + 1.5).
On floor, fans got their first look at the team’s new routines choreographed by Stella and Stacey Umeh. Alyssa Perez-Lugones lead-off, performing a standard double salto routine. Schild (double pike), Magee (piked full-in), Dickson (double Arabian), Lukacs (DLO) and Vega (piked full-in). Freshman Sami Davis (2.5 twist) also performed her routine, and Roberts, Snead and Baumann showed dance throughs.
Gustavus and UW-La Crosse Share Fall Training Updates
Both Gustavus and UW-La Crosse shared clips from training this week. Some highlights came from two Gustie seniors, Sam Ardy and Victoria Aycock. Ardy is working on a new back two and a half on floor. Aycock has two new skill connections—a front tuck step out through a double tuck on floor and a Jaeger to bail on bars. Freshman Sophie Redding showed off a Yurchenko full. As for La Crosse, sophomores Sam Weyker and Faith Sersland showed new vaults with Weyker upgrading from her Yurchenko layout to a Yurchenko full and Sersland upgrading from a Yurchenko pike to a Yurchenko full-on tuck off.
See clips from most of bars, as well as all of beam and floor in an Instagram Story highlight.
Article by the editors of College Gym News
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