Last Season in Elite in the NCAA: Winter 2019/2020

The 2020 elite season is officially underway, and past, present and future collegiate gymnasts are making headlines! Here’s a rundown of this winter’s major elite news.

Competitions

  • Oregon State commit Jade Carey (‘21) won gold on vault and floor at the 2020 World Cup in Melbourne, Australia. Carey currently occupies the top spot on both of those events in the FIG individual apparatus standings, and has all but secured a nominative roster spot for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. In addition to Carey, Penn State senior Stephen Nedoroscik won the pommel horse, Illinois senior Tyson Bull placed seventh on high bar, and recent Stanford signee Isabela Onyshko (‘21) placed fifth on floor. Full results are available here
  • Qualifier season is in full swing, and several NCAA signees have qualified or re-qualified elite at the Metroplex and Brestyan’s National Qualifiers:  
    • Karis German (Alabama ‘23)
    • Makenna Smith (Ohio State ‘23)
    • Olivia Hollingsworth (Auburn ‘21)
    • Lyden Saltness (Auburn ‘24)
    • Kaylen Morgan (Michigan ‘23)
    • Alonna Kratzer (Missouri ‘22)
    • Lauren Little (Alabama ‘23)
  • The 2020 American Cup will feature several past, present and future college gymnasts. Michigan graduate Sam Mikulak and Minnesota junior Shane Wiskus along with Florida commits Morgan Hurd (‘22) and Kayla DiCello (‘23) will represent the United States. Oklahoma alumnus Yul Moldauer was originally named as the wildcard athlete, but was replaced by Wiskus after February’s Winter Cup. Brooklyn Moors (UCLA ‘21) was also on the original roster, but Canadian teammate Ellie Black will compete instead. 
  • Elite Canada took place in early February and featured numerous current and presumptive NCAA gymnasts including Ana Padurariu (UCLA ‘21), Brooklyn Moors (UCLA ‘21), Shallon Olsen (Alabama ‘19), Isabela Onyshko (Stanford ‘21), Chloe Lorange (Nebraska ‘21), and Amanda Pedicelli (Towson ‘21). Padurariu, Moors and Onyshko earned the lion’s share of the medals, and placed first, second and third respectively in the all around. Full results are available here.
  • Grace McCallum (Utah ‘22) and 2019 Oklahoma graduate Yul Moldauer will represent the United States at the upcoming Birmingham Cup. Padarariu will also compete.

Signings

  • Jamaican national team member Kiara Richmon will join the Southern Connecticut State team in the fall of 2020. 
  • Canadian elites Amanda Pedicelli (Towson ‘21) and Isabela Onyshko (Stanford ‘21) signed their NLIs in January while Brooklyn Moors (UCLA ‘21) signed in  February. 

Other

  • Erstwhile Utah gymnast Mykayla Skinner has a new YouTube channel documenting her bid for the 2020 Olympics team 
  • NCAA gymnastics was well-represented at the United States Women’s National Team training camps that took place in January and February
  • Former elite Olivia Dunne (LSU ‘21) and 2018-2019 National Team member Gabby Perea (California ‘21) qualified to the Nastia Liukin Cup. 

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Sunisa Lee and Yul Moldauer were replaced by Simone Biles and Akash Modi at the Stuttgart World Cup. Lee and Moldauer are still listed as USA’s competitors at the event. We apologize for any confusion.


Article by Claire Billman

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