Fantasy gym—like everything since the COVID pandemic began—is a little different this season. The official game isn’t running because Kristen and the College Fantasy Gymnastics crew welcomed a little one to their family (congrats!). However, we know many of you are playing in private leagues, or are using the brand new site Gymlytics from Twitter user GymChem, so Fantasy Central lives on!
We’re switching up the weekly cadence to match Gymlytics’: The fantasy “week” begins with Friday meets, ends with any Thursday ones and trading happens every Monday via waiver wire. However, you’ll still find us here every Tuesday talking about “next week.”
This is your one-stop-shop for all things fantasy each week. We’ll be tracking injuries, byes and double headers, and giving you tips and tricks to put forward your best possible team.
Between COVID absences, canceled meets and major injuries (RIP Florida Achilles), it has been a real whirlwind of a week. At this point, only Alaska and Boise State haven’t competed. Here’s hoping this is their week. I’m sure all of our bars lineups are crying for some Emily Muhlenhaupt.
COVID and Injury Updates
We had no officially confirmed COVID absences this week, though Meredith Paulicivic did hint that the virus threw the Buckeyes some curveballs.
Mysterious absences: Rosie Casali (Denver), Amari Celestine (Missouri), Hailey Davis (Kentucky), Bri Edwards (Florida), Elexis Edwards (Ohio State), Sanya Glauber (Maryland), Savannah Gonzalez (Ohio State), Alana Fisher (Eastern Michigan), Maya Green (Cal), Adeline Kenlin (Iowa), Kristen Kuhn (Penn), Gracy Mowers (New Hampshire), Hannah Oliveros (Ohio State), Bella Romagnano (Penn State), Donnakathryn Roy (Western Michigan) Isabelle Schaefer (North Carolina), Callie Schlottman (Denver), Aubri Schwartze (Southern Utah), Sydney Shaffer (Missouri)
Injuries:
- Cami Weaver – Arkansas – torn ACL (1/17/22)
- Tiarre Sales – Minnesota – neck injury (1/17/22)
- Abbey Scanlon – California – boot (1/17/22)
- Reese McClure – Maryland – ankle sprain (1/17/22)
- Addy De Jesus – Iowa State – season ending injury (1/18/22)
- Zaza Brovedani – Arizona – achilles surgery (1/18/22)
- Victoria Nguyen – removed from injury list – Georgia – (1/19/22)
- Ellie Lazzari – Florida – torn Achilles (1/21/22)
- Halley Taylor – Florida – torn achilles (1/21/22)
- Gianna Ortiz – Rutgers – ankle injury (1/22/22)
- Jordan Halcom – Rutgers – in a boot (1/22/22)
- Margzetta Frazier – UCLA – broken foot (1/22/22)
- Malia Hargrove – Arizona – unknown (1/22/22)
- Alex Greenwald – Iowa – ankle injury (1/22/22)
Week 4 Byes and Doubles
Byes: Cortland (marked on schedule but no opponent yet)
Doubles: Air Force, Alaska, Ball State, George Washington, Rutgers, Towson, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Whitewater, William & Mary
Deep Cuts for Deep Leagues in Week 4
Tips for players in leagues with 10-plus players, where you need to be a little more creative to fill out lineups; especially during big bye weeks.
Vault: Ball State’s Suki Pfister tallied a 9.900 this week; her previous two scores are both 9.850s. Emmalise Nock put up the same number for Northern Illinois and nabbed a 9.875 on floor as well.
Bars: Bella Miller was pulled from North Carolina’s lineup after a scary one touch fall; no word on whether she is injured, but put her in lineups only with cation for now. Belle Huang has been absent from the Rutgers’ bar lineup for several meets now; she seems to be settling into a three-event role, so we’d keep her out of your bar lineups.
Beam: Davis’ Emma Otsu has been on a roll; the vault, beam and floor three-eventer nailed her beam set for a 9.900 at Oregon State. Yale’s Raegan Walker scored a 9.900 on beam after a shaky meet last week. She seems to be settling in.
Floor: We’ve got our eyes peeled for news on Hannah Demers, who was slated for the all around last week but skipped beam after a 8.975 on floor; we’d hold her out of lineups for now. Penn is off to a record-setting start, thanks in part to Sara Kenefick; the bars, beam and floor gymnast hit floor for a 9.850 on Sunday. She’s not the most consistent, but that’s to be expected form an Ivy this early in the year.
Starts, Sits and Pickups for Week 4
Are you playing in a smaller league and still looking for advice about big names? Are you in a deep league but not sure what to do with that OU beam specialist? These tips are for you!
Vault: Hannah Loyim took a pretty scary fall on her competition vault at Auburn; she still competed beam after, but we won’t be surprised if she’s not in Iowa State’s vault lineup next week.
Bars: Danae Fletcher seems here to stay in the Oklahoma bars lineup after her 9.900 last week. She seems locked into the vault lineup, too, though KJ Kindler seems to be playing with her floor six, so be cautious there. Fletcher had Karrie Thomas’ bars spot; we’ll have to wait and see if Thomas pops back in and knocks someone else out, or if she’ll loose her spot to Fletcher. That lineup is competitive. Shania Adams has had a rough go of things so far for Alabama; we’d keep her out of lineups for now.
Let’s address the elephant in the room and then move on: I won’t talk about this in this column again. If Alexis Jeffrey is added to the LSU roster in the next few weeks, she’s a likely bars and beam number. Whether you’re comfortable with her on your team from a moral standpoint is up to you.
Beam: Lexi Graber is back on beam for the Crimson Tide; Dana Duckworth has been playing with that lineup, and veteran Graber pulling a 9.900 is a pretty convincing reason for Duckworth to keep her in it. Freshman Sarah Cohen made her Georgia debut on beam for an unfortunate 9.150. Georgia has had big time struggles with that lineup, so we can see Courtney Kupets-Carter giving the newbie another chance this week, but keep her in lineups at your own risk.
Floor: Chae Campbell tweaked her ankle on her competition vault at Oregon State; the Bruin skipped beam and floor after. Her score potential is so high that we’d suggest keeping her in your lineups unless we get clear news of an injury. Leah Clapper jumped into short-handed Florida’s floor lineup for a 9.800; she may be in and out as Trinity Thomas and Leanne Wong pop around lineups—presumably for rest—but she appears to be the Gators’ seventh routine at this point. Given the 10-up format, she’s worth keeping in your floor lineup if you can take the potential zero.
Waiver Wire Wrap-up
Finally, we have a waiver wire in gymnastics! Who should you prioritize this week? Since Fantasy Central comes out on Tuesdays, keep in mind that these tips are catered toward next week.
Vault: Have you been following Gabrielle Stephen‘s excellent freshman start at MSU? She scored a perfect 9.950 on her Yurchenko full this week. Lexi Griffith is also back in the vault lineup for BYU. She notched a 9.875.
Bars: Buckeye Nicole Riccardi made her debut for a 9.900 on bars last week; that’s the best Ohio State bars number yet, so expect her to stay. Anyssa Alvarado missed BYU’s first meet, then came back for a 9.850 and 9.925 the past two weeks. If she’s hanging around your league as the wire opens, snatch her up!
Beam: Tory Vetter made a triumphant debut for the Buckeyes, nailing a 9.900 on beam; she tallied a 9.800 on bas, too. Marissa Rojas stepped into this lineup for Iowa at the last minute for a 9.925; she’d be worth picking up.
Floor: Maryland freshman Lindsay Bacheler had a solid exhibition on floor this week; she seems to be making her way back from something, but she’s worth a trade and stash until he debut if you have the roster space. Have you kept your eye on Maddie Diab? The Cyclone floor specialist has scored three back-to-back 9.900s. Talk about consistency!
READ THIS NEXT: The USAG Dismount: Week 3
Article by Emily Minehart; additional reporting from Kalley Leer, Tavia Smith and Tara Graeve
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Maya Green (Cal) was not absent, she was the exhibition on 2 events. Maybe she was under the weather, as her bar scores was NOT her usual…