Last Week in College Gym: October 24

There’s a lot that happens on the gymternet each week. So much so that it can be hard to keep track of it all. From training updates and COVID year announcements to recruiting rumors and coaching news, we don’t blame you for missing some important points here and there.

That’s where we come in. Last Week in College Gym is your one-stop shop for all the important headlines from the previous week in college gymnastics. No matter if you’re taking a social media break, went on vacation or just don’t have the capacity to follow every single gymnast, team and fan, we have you covered.

Top Storylines

Big Ten Championships Set for Xtreme Arena

Iowa will play host to the Big Ten conference meet in March, which will take place in the new Xtreme Arena in Coralville, Iowa, just down the road from Iowa City. The 5,100-seat arena is home to Iowa women’s volleyball and the ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders. It was completed in 2020. The Hawkeyes will also host Michigan State in Xtreme in February.  

Big Fives Head to Long Island 

In a since-edited press release, Michigan State announced that Big Fives would be heading to the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. Penn State still lists Uniondale as the site for the competition despite the Spartan’s edited release. The Coliseum is the former home of the NHL’s New York Islanders and is the current home of the NBA G League’s Long Island Nets. It was renovated and expanded in 2017. Big Fives had previously been held in conjunction with Elevate the Stage Toledo since 2019. The meet acts as the regular season in-conference finale for the Big Ten.

Big 12 Championships Back in West Virginia

West Virginia announced that it would host the 2023 Big 12 championship at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown. The original host was previously slated to be Iowa State. Last held in Morgantown in 2021, the Mountaineers will host for just the third time in program history after the COVID pandemic canceled the 2020 championship, which was scheduled to be hosted by WVU. 

Other Newsworthy Items

• Nebraska gymnasts Emma Spence and Csenge Bácskay were selected to represent Canada and Hungary, respectively, at the world championships in November. 
• Iowa State gymnast Marina Gonzalez was selected to represent Spain at the world championships in November. Unfortunately, she will no longer be competing due to an injury that will take her out of training for eight weeks. 
• UC Davis terminated head coach John Lavallee. Assistant coach Tanya Ho will serve as interim head coach this season. Following assistant coach Katyianna Kell’s departure to Oregon State to serve as Director of Player Development, Ho is currently the team’s only coach.  

Training Updates

• California’s Andi Li is working a new 10.0 start value vault: a Yurchenko full-on tucked full. The Golden Bears junior previously vaulted a Yurchenko full in her first two NCAA seasons.
• N.C. State junior Krista Zultevicz is training a back two and a half to front layout on floor. Zultevicz did not compete on floor in 2022 for Kentucky.
• Whitewater senior Faith Mylin is training a clear hip to Gienger combination on bars. Will an overshoot be added after the release? That would mean big things for her start value and solidifying a consistent place toward the back of the bar lineup. Speaking of start values, be on the watch out for freshman Dani Dudziak’s back handspring layout step-out layout step-out on beam. 
• Illinois State’s Mackenzie Flutman has transitioned her piked Jaeger to competition bars. 
• Springfield’s Naya Robinson is upgrading her combination pass to a back one and a half to front full, a pass uncommonly seen in DIII gymnastics. 
• Winona State posted a string of training updates to its Instagram Story this week including a front double full from Jaci Fothergill, a Tkatchev from Kayla Miller, a Maloney from Jessi Miley, swing half to Tkatchev from Bryce Stoltz and a straddle Jaeger from Ashley Roth. Needless to say, with some consistency, the Warriors score potential should be going up this year. 
• Oklahoma junior Audrey Davis is training a Yurchenko one and a half. She last competed this vault in 2021. Her classmate Audrey Lynn is training a tucked gainer full off the end of the beam. Freshman Ava Siegfeldt is making a push for the bar lineup, showing a routine complete with a Pak salto, Maloney and a Giegner in between the bars. Sophomore Jordan Bowers looks to be upgrading her tumbling passes, training a full-twisting double tuck.
• Iowa State junior Kaia Parker is working a full-twisting double tuck on the Tumbl Trak. 
• Denver junior Jessica Hutchinson looks to be training a Yurchenko one and a half on vault, bringing a much needed 10.0 start value to the Pioneers’ lineup. Hutchinson also showcased her new floor choreography at Denver’s homecoming open house and revealed that it is a tribute to her mom’s Olympic floor routine.

READ THIS NEXT: Last Week in College Gym: October 17

Article by the editors of College Gym News

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