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 through Tuesday 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.
Trades are here! Trades are here! The CGN team has spent a little time poking around, and we think we have a few things sorted out. See the waiver wire section below, where this week instead of bringing you just names, we have some tips as well. Trades are due in Tuesdays at noon PST, which is 1 p.m. MST, 2 p.m. CST and 3 p.m. EST for those of you who are, like me, time zone conversion fretters.
There have been too many Achilles for my taste, lately. Light the candles, start willing a Brown sixth year and then sadly add those gymnasts to your trade lists. There are some big byes this week, too, so be sure to double check those.
COVID and Injury Updates
Missing from lineups: Reagan Campbell (LSU), Adeline Kenlin (Iowa), Katherine Klugman (Illinois), Cassidy Rushlow (PSU), Brenna Neault (Stanford), Tory Vetter (Ohio State),
- Sami Durante – removed from injury list – LSU (1/24/22)
- Kate Goldstrom – Bowling Green – torn ACL (1/25/22)
- Rachael Lukacs – Georgia – torn Achilles (1/28/22)
- Janelle Lopez – SEMO – knee brace (1/29/22)
- Mallory Desch – SEMO – in a boot (1/29/22)
- Kynsee Roby – removed from injury list – (1/29/22)
- Ashley Lane – Michigan – in a sling (1/30/22)
- Abigail Vides – Michigan – in a boot (1/30/22)
- Frida Esparza – UCLA – in a boot (1/30/22)
- Natalie Yang – Penn – in a boot (1/30/22)
- Lynnzee Brown – Denver – unknown (1/30/22)
Week 5 Byes and Doubles
Byes: Centenary, Iowa State, UW-La Crosse, William & Mary
Doubles: Eastern Michigan, LIU, West Virginia, Winona State
Deep Cuts for Deep Leagues in Week 5
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 has a huge 10.0 start value that she consistently hits. Hailey Merchant added vault for N.C. State on Saturday for a 9.800. She seems likely to keep that lineup spot.
Bars: SEMO’s Lindsay Ockler has yet to go below 9.800 on bars; she also has strong vault and floor numbers. After a chaotic start to the year, LIU’s Jah’Liya Bedminster competed only bars on Sunday and nailed a 9.875; without the leg events to worry about, she seems like she could be a stellar specialist.
Beam: Caitlin Satler is back to form for Eastern Michigan, nailing a 9.900 last week. Her teammate Ella Chemotti continues to be excellent, to the tune of a 9.950. Sac State’s Amber Koeth is also on a roll.
Floor: Alaska’s Jessica Johnson added floor on Sunday for a 9.825 and seems likely to keep that spot. Jaye Mack is excellent on floor for Illinois State; if you picked her up for her vault, be sure you’re putting her on floor, too.
Starts, Sits and Pickups for Week 5
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: After Lynnzee Brown’s injury, Denver will need to fill her lineup spots; Momoko Iwai vaulted for a 9.750 week one and could step back in. Similarly, Georgia needs to replace Rachael Lukacs’ vault and floor numbers. On the former, Haley de Jong could get the call; she hit for a 9.825 week one. Soroya Hawthorne is also an option. We have to imagine Auburn will continue to be cautious with Sunisa Lee, but given her performance on Friday, she’s likely to stay in the all-around with the exception of a few rest weeks sprinkled in on the leg events. We’d keep her in on all four because her scores are too good to miss.
Bars: Denver’s Mia Hebinck has been in this lineup two weeks running and hit on Sunday for a 9.900. We heard on the BTN broadcast that Jenna Hlavach was just being rested on bars on Sunday; she could be back in the lineup this week. As far as we know, Karrie Thomas is healthy, and Danae Fletcher simply beat her out for a spot on bars.
Beam: Boise State finally competed! We only saw Adriana Popp on beam; given the COVID issues Boise faced, it’s possible she is simply getting her endurance back. Emi Watterson popped into the beam lineup for Cal and hit a 9.925, so we imagine she’s there to stay; the spot had previously been passed around for moderate scores. Keep in mind that Jay Clark has said Haleigh Bryant and Kiya Johnson may both be back in the all-around this week. That’s subject to change (his weekly press conference is on Wednesday, and we’ll tweet an update) but could mean a big shakeup to the beam and floor lineups.
Floor: It’s possible we’ll see Rylie Mundell return to floor, as she could slot in for Brown. The Georgia floor spot is tricky; it could go to de Jong, but she struggled in week one. Amanda Cashman is another option. We finally saw Taylor Lawson for Stanford; she put up a 9.825 on floor and had solid bars and beam outings as well.
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.
Well alright, good news for us is that the waiver wire is due in on Tuesdays, so you should have time to read FC before your trades need to be in (what do you mean you have jobs and school and a life outside of gymnastics?!).
The system works like this: Choose your league, team and the gymnast you want to drop (“Roster Gymnast”) from the drop downs. The gymnast you’re picking up comes form the “Available Gymnasts” drop down. It’s a little tricky because that list is huge and not necessarily in any order, so you’ll realistically have to start typing a name to see if the person you’re looking for is available. We strongly recommend choosing more than one gymnast to pick up for each gymnast you’re dropping in case you don’t get your first pick (i.e. someone ahead of you in the waiver wire order chooses the same available gymnast). Order your trades by most to least important.
The way the drop down is structured will make it a little tricky to research available gymnasts. We’d recommend choosing gymnasts you’re interested in before heading to the trades page, then seeing whether they’re available, a slightly different strategy than with College Fantasy Gymnastics of yore.
Vault: Illinois had a chaotic start to the year, but put up a good showing at Penn State; Mia Townes was back on vault for a 9.875. She only competed a full but is capable of a Yurchenko 1.5. Sarah Moravansky continues to crush it for Western Michigan; she’s a steal if available.
Bars: Ohio State’s Nicole Riccardi has back-to-back 9.900s on bars the past two weeks. She also vaults. If your conference wasn’t up on Boise State sophomore Emily Lopez, now would be the time to pick her up; she scored a 9.925 on bars last week.
Beam: Did you catch Rutgers’ Stephanie Zannella on beam? After a rocky start to the year, she hit for a 9.875 with a gorgeous set. She’s a staple in the lineup and one to keep an eye on. Jenna Domingo isn’t the most famous name at Oregon State; if she’s in your trade pool, pick her up and enjoy an almost-certain 9.900 on beam. Penn’s McCaleigh Marr has two 9.850s and a 9.800 under her belt if your conference’s beamers are quite picked over.
Floor: Nebraska’s Kaitlyn Higgins had a tough start week two but hit floor and beam on Saturday. She was a little inconsistent in 2021 but has high potential on both. Also for Illinois, Kaitlyn Ewald made her season debut; she hit 9.850s on beam and floor.
READ THIS NEXT: Fantasy Central: Week 4
Article by Emily Minehart; additional reporting from Kalley Leer and Elizabeth Grimsley
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