Recruiting Roundup

Recruiting Roundup: September 20

Georgia’s new co-head coach, Cécile Canqueteau-Landi, is generating excitement and intense interest in the program from top recruits. It hosted seven rated recruits the weekend before last, which resulted in a commitment switch from ’25 four-star recruit Kelise Woolford who was previously heading to Clemson.

News

  • Charlotte Booth, an Auburn recruit in the class of ’25, is slated to represent Great Britain at the Szombathely FIG World Challenge Cup in Hungary October 4-6. 
  • Oklahoma has picked up three four-star recruits in the class of 26 with the commitments of Izzy Stassi, Nicole Desmond, and Kendal Torrens. Torrens also visited Utah, Desmond took an official at Arkansas and Stassi had been to Auburn before all deciding to commit to the Sooners.

Official Visits

This summer, we launched our Recruiting Visit Tracker to track recruits and which teams they’re considering for college as they go on official visits. To submit missing official visits, leave a comment below or send us an email.

Here’s a snapshot of where some of the top recruits have been visiting over the past couple of weeks.

  • Five-star Hezly Rivera has visited Florida and Oklahoma. She was joined by fellow ’26 five-star Madray Johnson and a pair of ‘26 four-stars in Nicole Desmond and Evey Lowe for her visit at Florida a fortnight ago.
  • This past weekend Florida hosted ‘26 four-stars Sofia Estrada, Zoey Molomo and Simone Rose.
  • Three ’26 five-star recruits were among the seven visitors to Georgia two weekends ago: Dulcy Caylor, CaMarah Williams, and Alicia Zhou. The Gymdogs also hosted ’26 four-stars Sutton Strasser, Cameron Tassone and ’25 Kelise Woolford alongside ’26 three-star Avery Moll. 
  • CaMarah Williams was in action again last weekend with a visit to Michigan State alongside three four-stars Raeya Linton, Railey Bennett, and Finley Scott, all in the class of ’26 
  • Presley Duke, the No. 1 recruit in the class of ’26, was in the Bayou to see if LSU might be her future home.
  • Five-star Michelle Pineda (’26) took an official visit to Alabama alongside four-star Sofia Estrada.
  • Maryland hosted five potential future Terps when they welcomed four-stars Madison Snyder and Oaklie Deputy alongside three-stars Gabrielle Black and Kylee McQueen to campus. Sophia Henry rounded out the athletes in this class of ’26 visit.

Commitment Changes

  • Kelise Woolford ’25 changed her commitment from Clemson to Georgia.
  • Sophia Rivera ‘25 is no longer committed to Towson. She visited Air Force this past weekend.
  • Jillian Fisher, previously committed to Arizona State, flipped to Iowa State.

New Commitments

For a full list of recruits and where they are committed for each of the active classes, check out our complete database. To learn more about the gymnasts, click their name to visit their CGN profile where you’ll find high scores, links to their score page(s), their social media accounts, and more.

Class of 2025

  • Alianna Valdez, a California native with an all-around high of 38.000, has committed to Utah State on an athletic scholarship.
  • Aubrey Gilliland has committed to Nebraska. A national qualifier in 2024, Gilland brings an all-around high of 37.800 to Lincoln.
  • Gabrielle Gauger became a future Wolverine when she committed to Michigan following her official visit this past weekend. Gauger is a solid all-around gymnast with a bars high score of 9.700.
  • Bryce Kupbens will become a Tiger following the announcement of her commitment to Missouri. As well as a bar routine which is now up to the level, look out for her vault this season. With a previous high of 9.725, she has upgraded her Yurchenko full to the one and a half, and it’s already looking college ready.
  • Katelynn Sherman, a current level nine at Aerials Fit N Fun in Pennsylvania, has committed to Temple on an athletic scholarship. She was the level nine Easterns vault and all-around champion in 2024.
  • Jillian Fisher, a three-star recruit out of Brandy Johnson’s in Florida, has committed to Iowa State. Vault and floor are Fisher’s stronger events, but an all-around high score of 38.300 will make her a valuable addition to the Cyclones.
  • Tonya Paulsson, who has committed to Cal, is a two-time Europeans all-around qualifier and was on the Swedish team for two world championships. Her form on bars is well worth a watch, and her floor choreography will be a fan-favorite in college.
  • Kate Peebles has committed to William & Mary. She is a two time nationals qualifier and has a floor high score of 9.650.
  • Taylor Beers, a three-star recruit who began her training at Phoenix Gymnastics in New York before moving to New Image for level nine and 10, has committed to New Hampshire. Beers has an all-around high of 38.175 with her highest scores coming on vault where she toppped out at a 9.750.

Class of 2026

  • New York native and 2024 national qualifier Brooke Striga has announced her verbal commitment to Nebraska. Her beam high of 9.800 is a score on America’s top 100 in 2024.
  • Izzy Stassi, an elite gymnast and four-star recruit, has committed to Oklahoma on an athletic scholarship. Stassi finished first on vault and third all-around in the junior competition at 2023 elite nationals.
  • Kendall Torrens, a four-star recruit from Texas, has committed to Oklahoma on a full-ride. She finished first in the all-around at both state and regionals in 2024, as well as second on bars at nationals. She scored a perfect 10 on floor last season.
  • Nicole Desmond, a four-star elite from World Champions Centre in Texas, becomes the third gymnast this week to commit to Oklahoma. She has competed at U.S. elite nationals each year since 2022, with her best placing being fourth on vault in the junior competition in 2023. Desmond has level 10 career highs of 9.950 and 9.925 on vault and beam, respectively, from competitions in 2023.

Training Updates

It’s upgrade time for level 10s preparing for the 2025 competition season. Here’s a selection of what the current recruiting classes are working on.

  • Nina Ballou (’25 LSU) is training a gainer layout full as her dismount on beam. It looks like it could be a viable dismount next year when she competes for the Tigers.
  • Arkansas recruit Avalon Campbell (’25) is training a full-twisting double layout dismount from bars. Her recent videos show good progress with great height and form in the air into the pit.
  • Katelynn Sherman (25 Temple) is training a front toss to scale on beam and a handspring tuck half on vault to upgrade her Tsuk layout from last season.
  • Ahnna Kalmes (25 Nebraska) has made good progress on her double layout dismount on bars over the summer. Will we see it this season as an upgrade from her double back?
  • Kris Phillips (’25 UW-Oshkosh) is training a triple series on beam. Her one-armed back handspring, handspring, layout stepout is looking good on the floor.

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Article by Katie Couldrey