By Emily Howell-Forbes
There were twelve age group categories, each spanning about four months. This made for 12 individual event winners for each event and 12 AA winners, which fits right into the NCAA theme of “you get a medal, and you get a medal, and you get a medal!”
Place
|
Gymnast
|
School
|
Score
|
1
|
Nia Dennis
|
UCLA
|
38.8
|
2
|
Lynnzee Brown
|
Denver
|
38.7
|
3
|
Kyana George
|
California
|
38.65
|
T-4
|
Rachael Flam
|
Stanford
|
38.625
|
T-4
|
Lexi Graber
|
Alabama
|
38.625
|
T-6
|
Lauren Navarro
|
Stanford
|
38.6
|
T-6
|
Evy Schoepfer
|
Oklahoma
|
38.6
|
T-6
|
Kaitlyn Yanish
|
Oregon State
|
38.6
|
9
|
Lea Mitchell
|
Michigan State
|
38.55
|
10
|
Alonza Klopfer
|
Alabama
|
38.375
|
Brown posted huge scores (and was gorgeous) on vault, bars and floor. Beam was fine, just a little “knees” on all the acro skills. Denver getting one of the best recruits of this class is big for them. Also in this class is Sundstrom who, based on scores, apparently took a crash on bars and didn’t finish her meet. Her standout event is usually floor, with high, clean skills and pretty lines. We will be watching closely this year to see how Denver will do with these freshmen combined with Karr.
An incoming Cal freshman, George’s highlight event is her floor, where she had huge amplitude on everything and gorgeous leaps. Her weakest event was bars where little things like knees and handstands ate away at tenths here and there.
Stanford has two gymnasts in the top ten. Navarro tied with Yanish (OSU) and Schoepfer (OU), but she would have placed higher if not for an uncharacteristically lower (9.45) bar score from her. Flam contributes huge scoring routines on at least three of the four events, as bars tends to be her lowest scoring but still has the potential to score well. These two with the addition of Taylor Lawson’s floor and Kyla Bryant’s everything ever will mean heads rolling if Stanford is not a team in the conversation about top teams next year.
Oregon State is desperately in need of routines after losing key scores on all events at the end of last season, and Yanish will help fill those gaps. Her skills on all events are clean and polished and the error that caused the deductions in her beam routine was just an iffy switch side. Everything else was lovely.
Schoepfer was a Nastia Liukin Cup competitor a few years back and has performed consistently well at J.O. Nationals over the past several years, always finishing within the top seven in her age group. Her standout event is floor, where her opening floor pass is a double layout. She also has a giant Yurchenko full on vault.
Mitchell is a MSU recruit that has had consistent all around scores all year and had lovely vault and floor at nationals.
Vault
Place
|
Gymnast
|
School
|
Score
|
1
|
Lexi Graber
|
Alabama
|
10.0
|
T-2
|
Rachael Flam
|
Stanford
|
9.9
|
T-2
|
Anastasia Webb
|
Oklahoma
|
9.9
|
4
|
Lauren Bridgens
|
Penn State
|
9.875
|
T-5
|
Payton Bellows
|
Arizona
|
9.85
|
T-5
|
Lynnzee Brown
|
Denver
|
9.85
|
T-5
|
Drew Watson
|
Auburn
|
9.85
|
T-8
|
Kylie Dickson
|
Alabama
|
9.8
|
T-8
|
Mikaela Meyer
|
Utah State
|
9.8
|
T-8
|
Lea Mitchell
|
Michigan State
|
9.8
|
T-8
|
Geneva Thompson
|
Washington
|
9.8
|
Mitchell and Thompson both vault Yurchenko fulls that are nice and clean, most of them flared out with the potential to upgrade with a year or so of NCAA. Thompson’s in particular is huge, and Washington will take that in its lineup any day of the week. It looks like she even has the potential to upgrade. Her other standout event is generally floor, where she has a huge full in as her opening tumbling pass. Meyer of Utah State vaults a Yurchenko layout half and has scored well on it all year.
Dickson’s double twisting Yurchenko looked about 300 times better than the last time I saw her do it in elite, while she might not immediately compete it while she transitions into NCAA, it would be a viable option in the near future . The addition of the two 10.0 starts from Dickson and Graberto Desch’s and Guerrero’s Yurchenko 1.5s will make for four potential 10.0 start value vaults in Alabama’s lineup. In addition, Brannan also vaulted a Yurchenko 1.5 before she was injured last year, and there is the potential that Bailie Key could bring some form of 10.0 start value vault if she is healthy next season.
Bars
Place
|
Gymnast
|
School
|
Score
|
1
|
Nina Schank
|
California
|
9.75
|
T-2
|
Lynnzee Brown
|
Denver
|
9.725
|
T-2
|
Kylie Dickson
|
Alabama
|
9.725
|
T-2
|
Emma Hartzler
|
Iowa
|
9.725
|
T-2
|
Kennedy Johnson
|
Central Michigan
|
9.725
|
T-6
|
Lauren Diggan
|
New Hampshire
|
9.7
|
T-6
|
Tra’Vanni Jacobs
|
Kentucky
|
9.7
|
T-6
|
Anne Maxim
|
Michigan State
|
9.7
|
T-6
|
Haley Pitou
|
BYU
|
9.7
|
T-10
|
Nia Dennis
|
UCLA
|
9.675
|
T-10
|
Karrie Thomas
|
Maryland
|
9.675
|
T-10
|
Drew Watson
|
Auburn
|
9.675
|
T-10
|
Kaitlyn Yanish
|
Oregon State
|
9.675
|
Then there are a few smaller teams sitting in the middle of this ranking with CMU, New Hampshire, and BYU. CMU’s recruit is Kennedy Johnson, whose 9.725 was her highest score on bars of the year. Her handstands seemed a little short upon closer inspection, but in general her lines were pretty and her Gienger was gorgeous with legs glued together.
Diggan (New Hampshire) has a hop full to double tuck dismount in her routine, which is cool and unique. Maxim (MSU) has a bar set with clean lines and looks very NCAA ready. Pitou is committed to BYU next year and has a nice Jaeger on bars with a full in dismount. She also has a Yurchenko 1.5 as her vault
Jacobs is Kentucky’s ninja recruit of the year, in that hardly anyone knew she was committed there until she came in and placed seventh in her nationals group (tying with Ramler). She didn’t compete vault or floor part of last year and most of the 2016-17 season. Then she suddenly appeared at the Texas state meet this year, made regionals, qualified to nationals, and then placed seventh in her age group, tied for 14th in the all around of the 2018 class, and tied for sixth on bars of the 2018 class.
Beam
Place
|
Gymnast
|
School
|
Score
|
1
|
Lexy Ramler
|
Minnesota
|
9.8
|
T-2
|
Nia Dennis
|
UCLA
|
9.675
|
T-2
|
Lauren Navarro
|
Stanford
|
9.675
|
T-4
|
Charlotte Cooperman
|
Maryland
|
9.6
|
T-4
|
Kyana George
|
California
|
9.6
|
T-4
|
Belle Huang
|
Rutgers
|
9.6
|
T-7
|
Lex Burch
|
Utah
|
9.575
|
T-7
|
Lauren Farley
|
Michigan
|
9.575
|
T-7
|
Kelley Hebert
|
UC Davis
|
9.575
|
T-10
|
Sophia Carter
|
Arkansas
|
9.55
|
T-10
|
Autumn DeHarde
|
Utah State
|
9.55
|
T-10
|
Lexi Graber
|
Alabama
|
9.55
|
T-10
|
Ashley Smith
|
Auburn
|
9.55
|
Farley boasts the rare credential of being a consistent beamer in JO. She regularly posts high scores and only had one low score, a 9.1, during the entire year. Michigan could certainly use a good beamer right about now and her floor routine is also super engaging and fun.
The U.C. Davis commit in this list, Hebert, also posted an all-around score of 38.15. That’s unusual for an incoming freshman to a school that was ranked 42nd in the NCAA last year. It’s very likely she’ll do AA for the Aggies regularly. An interesting fact: Hebert was originally committed to UW but switched her commitment to UC Davis in 2016.
Burch is a consistent Level 10 who has qualified to four J.O. national championships, as well as the Nastia Liukin Cup in 2015. While Utah isn’t desperately hurting for routines, with only one senior leaving and two athletes returning this year from injuries, it can use the depth that it was lacking this year when the two went down. Burch’s best scores are typically on vault, beam, and floor.
Carter is a solid all around gymnast whose best events are likely beam and floor, but is arguably evenly spread across all four.
Floor
Place
|
Gymnast
|
||
1
|
Kyana George
|
California
|
9.825
|
T-2
|
Rachael Flam
|
Stanford
|
9.725
|
T-2
|
Taylor Lawson
|
Stanford
|
9.725
|
T-2
|
Ona Loper
|
Minnesota
|
9.725
|
T-2
|
Lauren Navarro
|
Stanford
|
9.725
|
T-2
|
Evy Schoepfer
|
Oklahoma
|
9.725
|
T-7
|
Lynnzee Brown
|
Denver
|
9.7
|
T-7
|
Lea Mitchell
|
Michigan State
|
9.7
|
T-7
|
Anastasia Webb
|
Oklahoma
|
9.7
|
T-7
|
Kaitlyn Yanish
|
Oregon State
|
9.7
|
In contrast to Ramler, the other Minnesota commit at nationals this year, who just had an off meet on bars, Loper typically posts her highest scores on vault, beam, and floor. She vaults just a Yurchenko full but typically scores well on it and posts high scores on floor on a regular basis.
One athlete currently committed to Georgia qualified to J.O. nationals: Samantha Durante. Durante (whose status as a Georgia commit may be up in the air) had somewhat of a rough meet which finished with an 8.5 on floor. Bars is typically her strongest event, and she did manage to post a 9.65 which ranks her 14th among those coming to college this fall.
LSU’s commits (Reagan Campbell, Bridget Dean, and Gracen Standley) either didn’t compete this season or stopped partway through. All three did well at J.O. nationals in 2016.
Florida lost very few routines last year and they do have incoming freshmen, but they are almost all former elites. The main recruit who would have competed at nationals is Megan Skaggs, who had an ACL scare before the Nastia Liukin Cup and didn’t compete floor the rest of the season, and so couldn’t qualify to nationals.
In addition, a few gymnasts qualified or would have qualified to nationals but didn’t end up competing. Arkansas’s top beam worker of this incoming class Sydney Laird, former Canadian elite, and current level 10 in the the U.S. actually did not compete at U.S. JO Nationals. She was one of the top beam workers this year of the 2018 class. A Washington freshmen, Rachel Kaplan, qualified to nationals but is presumably injured as she scratched all her events. Another of Washington’s freshmen, Jennifer Oh, who has qualified to nationals in the past, is currently rehabbing from a rotator cuff and labrum surgery.
Also noteworthy is a gymnast from the Senior B division, Sekai Wright (a 2018 grad). She is currently uncommitted, but as she vaulted a DTY and scored a 38.075 in all-around, she probably won’t be uncommitted much longer.
Other top finishes by future commits include: