Fantasy Central: Week 1

It’s year three with Gymlytics fantasy college gymnastics in 2024! We all learned lessons last year when GymChem took up the helm and created her revamped game, and we’re ready for a fun 2024.

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.

If you survived four sessions of Super 16 commentary, get yourself a cookie. Let’s get one thing straight: We’re not going to say anyone has an “exotic look,” OK?

We got maybe the most dramatic weekend until regionals out of the way. Phew! Good thing it was a fantasy practice week. This weekend isn’t quite yet just the meat of the season, though. There are a number of quads, and we have the inaugural Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad, another three sessions of invitational quad pandemonium.

Peek at the double meet weekends list, too; there are a lot for week two!

Injury Updates Since Last Week

• Added: Kesley Lee (Georgia), arm injury, out for season
• Added: Alyona Shchennikova (LSU), boot and scooter, out for season
• Added: Bella Trejo (UC Davis), boot 
• Added: Carlee Nelson (West Virginia), lower leg injury
• Added: Isabella DeCroo (Illinois State), right foot boot and crutches
• Added: Haley De Jong (Georgia), left knee brace and crutches
• Removed: Kenadi Brown (New Hampshire) 
• Added: Ana Irene Palacios (Iowa State), left foot boot
• Removed: Emilie Hong (Iowa State)
• Removed: Danielle Sievers (Oklahoma)
• Added: Makayla Green (Illinois), left foot boot
• Added: Reyna Garvey (Pittsburgh), right foot boot, expected later in season
• Added: Katrina Mendez Abolnik (Bowling Green), hip surgery
• Updated: Kristen Kuhn (Penn), torn ACL, medical retirement

Week 2 Byes & Doubles

Byes: Air Force, Alaska, UC Davis, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Whitewater, Winona State

Doubles: BYU, Fisk, George Washington, Greenville, Iowa State, Rutgers, Talladega, Utah, William & Mary

Experts Say

Each week, CGN editors will weigh in on big fantasy topics. We’ll feature them here, so you know how we’re addressing tough issues on our own teams.

We got to see a lot of exhibitions this weekend—to Jess Graba’s great chagrin—so we asked CGN editors which exhibition routines they think will make lineups in week two. Fourteen editors participated this week and were able to vote for more than one routine.

• Katelyn Rosen, UCLA vault: 10 votes
• Danielle Sievers, Oklahoma, bars: four votes
• Cadence Gormley, Kentucky, bars: four votes
• Jayden Silvers, California, vault: three votes
• Chloe LaCoursiere, Alabama, beam: two votes
• Chloe LaCoursiere, Alabama, floor: two votes

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: After posting scores of 9.900 or better in 13 of 16 meets last season, Haleigh Bryant notched a 9.950 on vault to pick up right where she left off. Jade Carey‘s near-perfect 9.975 on bars was her 13th straight 9.9+ score on the event. Jessica Hutchinson continued her two-season-long hit streak on beam with a 9.850—her 23rd score of 9.825 or better in a row on the event. Fifth-year Raena Worley has performed on floor in every meet since her freshman year and has scored a 9.875 or better in all but two appearances (the last being in 2021).

Breakout Performances: Sophomore Karis German earned a 9.900 on her first collegiate vault. Cassi Barbanente matched her career high of 9.875 on bars in her first routine since 2021. Freshman Chelsea Hallinan led the Huskies on beam with a 9.875, good for third in the first session of the Super 16 meet. Transfer Nya Reed made a triumphant return on floor, notching a 9.900 on her first competitive routine since 2022.

Starts & Sits for Week 2

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: It is becoming increasingly clear that Jade Carey competing for Oregon State in this Olympic year likely means we won’t see her much on vault and floor. Cammy Hall didn’t vault in her LSU debut; that lineup is extremely competitive, and she may simply not have made the top six. Jay Clark has the depth to play with that lineup this season.

Bars: Bars was a little bit of a hot mess this weekend. Scoring at Super 16 was not so super. The routines just didn’t seem to rank the way they should have! So it’s a little dicey to guess how scores will play out moving forward. That said, Cameron Machado stood out. Her Van Leeuwen has improved greatly, and she looks in a strong position to be excellent here all season. We also saw Gopher Ella Sirjord in this lineup; she’s been on the bars radar for years but battled injury, so finally having her here is a win for Minnesota.

Beam: Missouri’s Amari Celestine performed her first collegiate beam routine for a 9.875 last weekend. She skipped bars, and seems likely to remain in this lineup. Ohio State’s Jojo Warga took a nasty fall when her contact flipped mid-routine; she was escorted to the locker room and returned in a sling. No updates yet on her status, but for now we’d keep her out of lineups. Either Samara Buchanan or Courtney McCann seems most likely to fill that spot. Nirel Bart-Williams, known for her floor prowess for the Redbirds, nabbed a huge 9.900 here. Illinois State really seems to have figured out beam so far.

Floor: As far as we know, Mati Waligora is healthy just not making lineups at the moment. Proof that Alabama’s depth is real this year. Ragan Smith was subbed in on floor late for Soroya Hawthorne, who exhibitioned. Once again, Oklahoma floor lineups are going to be down to who is best on the day. Proceed with caution. 

Notes From the Fantasy Roundtable

We are tracking a lot of missing gymnasts. They either didn’t appear with their team or weren’t dressed out on the sidelines. Some may have have simply not made lineups when we expected them to. We don’t know statuses yet, but the CGN staff is working on it. 

Some of the biggest fantasy names we’re tracking are: Madison Raesly-Patton (BYU), Annalise Newman Achee (California), Lyden Saltness (Illinois), Chase Brock (LSU), Jillian Hoffman (LSU), Tori Tatum (LSU),  Farah Lipetz (Michigan), McCaleigh Marr (Michigan), Jori Jackard (Michigan State), Sophia McClelland (Nebraska), Ava Siegfeldt (Oklahoma), Lauren Letzsch (Oregon State), Gabbie Gallentine (Penn State), Kyra Cato (San Jose State), Phoebe Jakubczyk (Oregon State), and Jalene Jachna (Missouri). 

READ THIS NEXT: Fantasy Central: Tips and Tricks for Fantasy Gym Beginners, Experts, and Every Level in Between

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Article by Emily Minehart and Dara Tan; additional reporting from Rebecca Scally

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