It’s year two with Gymlytics fantasy college gymnastics in 2023! We all learned lessons last year when GymChem took up the helm and created her revamped game, and we’re ready for a fun 2023.
Our weekly cadence will continue to match Gymlytics: The fantasy “week” begins with Friday meets, ends with any Thursday ones and trading happens every Monday via waiver wire. You’ll find us here every Tuesday talking about “next week,” meaning the fantasy week starting that Friday.
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.
NQS has arrived! And Week 8, somehow! We’re entering the part of season full of senior nights, critical road scores and building toward conference championships in three short weeks.
This week we have Big Fives on tap, plus the two Big Ten makeup duals, so Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State and Nebraska are all on doubles. Illinois and Nebraska are the home teams for those respective meets. Historically, Big Fives have had a championship atmosphere and scoring is a little more generous than your average Big Ten dual.
Temple has three (!) meets this week (Friday, Sunday and Thursday).
Florida is at home, and it’s senior night for the Gators, so expect the judging to be loose and the vibes to be wild. Arkansas, Auburn, Oklahoma and Utah are all also at home. UCLA heads to Arizona. This is the time of year we usually see a depth meet from the Bruins, although things might be different under Janelle McDonald.
Injury Updates Since Last Week
- Abigail Scanlon (California): Knee surgery
- Libby Orman (Arizona): Bruise
- Simone Evans (Lindenwood): Unknown injury while tumbling
- Porsche Trinidad (Stanford): Crutches and brace
- Elena Deets (Arizona): Unknown, out for a “few” weeks
- Ellie Rogers (Iowa): Back surgery
- Jordan Jones (SEMO): Lower leg injury
- Emma Esteb (Gustavus): Crutches and boot
- Brenna Woodruff (Western Michigan): Walking boot
- Jazmine Neely (Illinois State): UCL surgery
- Cory Shinohara (North Carolina): ACL injury
- Victoria Fitts (Denver): Boot
Gymnasts Removed from the Injury List
- Brooklyn Rowray (Minnesota)
- Abby Singh (Western Michigan)
- Gabrielle Galentine (Penn State)
- Sandra Jessen (Stanford)
- Steelie King (Texas Woman’s)
Week 8 Byes & Doubles
Byes: Alaska, Boise State, UW-Stout
Doubles: Fisk, George Washington, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Penn, Temple (triple!), Towson, UW-Eau Claire, West Chester, West Virginia
Data Corner
This year we have data editor Dara joining us for Fantasy Central each week. She’ll be breaking down the numbers for you with notes on routine hit rate, lineup appearance frequency and breakout performances to keep an eye on.
Hit Rate and Lineup Frequency: Gymnasts from less prominent programs can sometimes fly under the radar, even when they are averaging over a 9.850 midway through the season. Check out the following gymnasts with perfect hit rate and lineup frequency numbers—while offering 9.9-plus potential—who could be great adds to your roster or lineup.
- Vault: Chloe Negrete, N.C. State (Average: 9.859, High: 9.900); Emily Shepard, N.C. State (9.859, 9.900)
- Bars: Isabella Minervini, Towson (9.886, 9.950); Grace Vaillancourt, Towson (9.882, 9.950)
- Beam: Emma Milne, San Jose State (9.883, 9.950); Lauren MacPherson, San Jose State (9.863, 9.925)
- Floor: Payton Murphy, Western Michigan (9.893, 9.975); Megan Teter, Ball State (9.850, 9.900)
Breakout Performances: Leah Smith of Arkansas seems to have found her groove on vault recently, matching her previous career high of 9.875 at the Metroplex Challenge and tallying a perfect 9.950 at Kentucky to set a new high. Her teammate Reese Drotar has been settling in on bars, where her scores have been building since her season-opening 9.800. She posted a 9.925 and a 9.950 in her last two meets. After having her scores top out at the 9.825 mark for the first half of the season, Penn’s McCaleigh Marr notched a 9.950 on beam this weekend to match her career high. On floor, Emmalise Nock of Northern Illinois has gone 9.9-plus in two of her last three outings, including a career high 9.950 earlier this month.
Starts, Sits & Pickups for Week 8
This is the spot to find your sleeper picks, your two- or three-eventers and your solutions for those big bye weeks. We’ll also comment on the big names when relevant: Injuries, lineup absences, or inconsistency.
Vault: Fisk’s Morgan Price was back in the all-around last week with a lovely 9.925 on vault. She seems back to full health. Iowa’s JerQuavia Henderson upped her score ceiling with a new Yurchenko one and a half; she scored a 9.925, so expect the upgrade to stay.
Bars: Oklahoma’s Olivia Trautman exhibitioned bars for a 9.775. It might be one more week before we see her in the counting lineup; this week the Sooners host West Virginia, but things get very interesting when they go up against Florida and Michigan to close out the regular season; Trautman is likely part of the top six on bars, so if she’s ready, KJ Kindler will most likely want her in the lineup versus the Gators and Wolverines. Sirena Linton is just having a tough year. If you’ve been struggling with how to handle the situation, consider this your sign that it’s alright to leave her out of lineups or make a trade. Penn State’s Gabrielle Gallentine exhibitioned bars with one of the best routines of the night after missing several weeks; expect her back for Big Fives.
Beam: To the relief of fantasy players everywhere, Aggie Sofi Sullivan is back at it! Whatever issue she had going on seems to be resolved. Don’t be too worried about Kentucky’s Jillian Procasky. She didn’t finish her beam routine after she missed a foot, but she seemed shaken more than anything. It’s possible she’ll skip beam this week, but not extremely likely. The Sooner beam lineup continues to be too stacked to count anyone out. Katherine LeVassuer and Ava Siegfeldt were the exhibitions at Texas Woman’s and seem as though they could break back in at any time, which is frustrating from a fantasy perspective.
Floor: Georgia’s Eryn Williams sat out of the floor lineup after a possible injury during warmups. We’d be conservative with her this week. Maeve Hahn took her place in her collegiate debut for a 9.825. Audrey Davis was slated for a floor exhibition for Oklahoma (but did not end up going due to no reason other than the coaches deciding not to have an exhibition on the event), while Bell Johnson was back in the top six. Again, the competition for that spot seems fierce and unpredictable. Auburn gave Derrian Gobourne and Sunisa Lee some rest this week on floor, and Lee also sat out of vault. With Georgia on the schedule at home this week, it’s likely they’ll be back.
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: LIU put up its first-ever 10.0 start value when Katy Koopman debuted her new tucked Yurchenko one and a half for a 9.850. She’s worth considering if you’re short a vaulter. BYU’s Sydney Benson has settled into a strong rhythm as well.
Bars: Isabella Rivelli continues her strong bars campaign for Bowling Green; she has two 9.900s on the year and hasn’t gone below 9.775.
Beam: If you’re in a smaller league and somehow Lauren MacPherson is still available, grab her immediately. She’s been solid all year but put up a huge 39.500 in the all-around last week for San Jose State, capped by a 9.925 on beam. Temple’s Brooke Donabedian, a floor standout with back-to-back 9.925s, is quietly solid on beam, with two 9.900s on the year so far.
Floor: Brockport’s Kyra Figurelli had a slow start to the year but now has three solid floor scores back to back and a 9.900 high. Don’t write her off simply because she’s at a DIII. UC Davis’ Amelia Moneymaker can be hit or miss, but she has a 9.900 and 9.925 on the year.
Notes From the Fantasy Roundtable
We only saw two routines from Air Force’s Genevieve Sabado, back in January. One editor spotted her on the sidelines of the Falcons’ meet this week, and she wasn’t dressed out.
READ THIS NEXT: Oregon State’s “Dagen Duo” Take on the 2023 Competition Season Together
Article by Emily Minehart and Dara Tan; additional reporting from Elizabeth Grimsley, Rebecca Scally, Ian LeWarn, Savanna Warren and Tara Greave
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