Intrasquads are wrapping up, and season is upon us! Before Georgia kicks things off next Sunday at the Denver quad meet, the GymDogs will give us a glimpse of their 2025 team today.
Under first-year co-head coach Cécile Canqueteau-Landi and Ryan Roberts, Georgia hopes it can rebuild to the greatness it once was. The GymDogs return 13 gymnasts from last year’s squad while adding three transfers (Csenge Bácskay, Kara Eaker, and Anaya Smith), as well as six freshman (five-star recruit Harley Tomlin, four-star recruits Sadie Jane Berry, Nyla Aquino, and Emma Mason, three-star recruits Aberdeen O’Driscoll and Brooke Gleichowski, and Alexis Czarrunchick). This will be their long-awaited GymDog debut. Jaydah Battle is out with a torn Achilles.
It sounds like legendary coach Suzanne Yoculan is in the house to judge today’s festivities.
Rotation 1: Black VT, Red UB
King (VT): yfull, pretty clean, landed off to the side with a larger hop back. 9.75
Howard (UB): nice opening handstand. church to bail, good. blind full double tuck stuck. 9.6
Scott (VT): stuck yfull! 9.9
Czarrunchick (UB): straddled tkatchev to bail, slightly loose. ftdt with a step back. 9.6
A. Smith (VT): y1.5, off to the side and over the line with tiny foot movement. We’ve seen her absolutely nail that vault for ASU in the past, this could be Georgia’s secret vault weapon. 9.85
O’Driscoll (UB): good opening hs; straddled jaeger tiny bit of feet. bail hs, slight leg sep. fighting the final handstands a bit. step on the dismount. 9.5
Wahl (VT): little bit of form preflight, but lands her 1.5 with a step. 9.75
Williams (UB): she’s moving SO FAST. I can hardly type. overcooked her bail hs and has to bend her knees to keep the swing going, but doesn’t fall. blind full double tuck with a step.
Bácskay (UB): archy hs. pak solid. van leeuwen, tiny bit of leg sep. Thought she messed up her giants but she just hopped off before dismounting.
Shoutout to our EIC Elizabeth who is there and relaying scores to me!
Berry (UB): toe on to Maloney to pak, very nice. Arches over on the pirouette with bent knees. Double tuck, small step. What a lovely routine!
Apparently they never posted the rest of the scores for this rotation, so that happened.
Rotation 2: Red VT, Black UB
Sounds like no Lily Smith on bars today, but she warmed up floor.
Howard (VT): yfull, some leg sep in the air, hop back on the landing. 9.75
Tomlin (UB): huge ray, some feet in the air and she missed the bar. Picks up the rest of the routine well with a solid pak and a step on her double front dismount. 8.8
Bácskay (VT): y1.5, probably the best we’ve seen today. Tiny bit of form in the air and a controlled step forward. 9.8
Fitzgerald (UB): hit first hs. Ray to bail, slightly loose back in the bail. dlo, the tiniest step. 9.8
Aquino (VT): tsuk full with leg sep on the entry and a pretty good landing. 9.9
Wahl (UB): great first hs; toe on Maloney to pak, nice! hits her final hs and goes into a stuck dlo. Very nice. 9.85
Mason (UB): hitting her handstands so far. Nice ray and pak. Blind full double tuck, stuck. You can see the potential and depth in this GymDog bar squad. 9.75
Snyder (UB): hit first hs; church to bail, solid. finishing double tuck, stuck. 9.85
Scott (UB): straddled tkatchev to bail nice. van leeuwen, slight leg sep. arches final hs, but hits her dlo with a tiny hop forward. 9.8
Georgia showed a lot more depth on bars than vault, but the potential is there. Hopefully the absences are more related to pacing than serious injuries!
Rotation 3: Black BB, Red FX
Lily Smith is also warming up beam, which is a good sign!
Fitzgerald (BB): bhs loso, some bent knees. hits her full turn. straddle jump to straddle 3/4, nice extension. Solid front toss. ro 1.5, tiny bit of knees and a very tiny step forward. 9.8
Williams (FX): nice opening double pike, tiniest bit of back leg movement. Hits her leaps. front lay front full good. Steps forward instead of back out of her double tuck. 9.8
Tomlin (BB): switch to straddle quarter, good positions. bhs loso loso, clean but tentative on the landing and comes off. check on her full turn. large step forward on her back 1.5 dismount. Could sense the freshman jitters. 9.0
Howard (FX): double tuck, leg sep but a sold landing. Triple jump combo, would like higher front leg on the wolfs. front tuck through to double pike, with a spotter and lands short. 8.8
Wahl (BB): bhs bhs loso, some knees. Side somi, solid. beat to split 3/4, couldn’t tell if she quite hit 180. RO 1.5 to dismount. 9.75
Bácskay (FX): back 2.5 to punch front, step to the side. Solid rudi. Switch side popa, good positions and rotation. controlled double pike to close. 9.75
Mason (BB): fhs step out to side somi, wobble. beat jump to front toss, another wobble. Good extension on her leap series and secure landing. Back 1.5 dismount, tiniest foot shuffle. 9.5
Aquino (FX): great double pike to open. switch half wolf full, the height she got on that wolf! She’s got the swagger in her dance too. Front tuck into a layout timer for her last pass. 9.3 (9.6 SV)
Gleichowski (BB): bhs bhs loso, rock solid. Lots of triple series for Georgia! switch to switch half, super lovely positions. RO 1.5, step forward. 9.85
Scott (BB): full turn. She has such calming presence. fhs to bhs loso. front aerial split swingdown. Super secure on all her elements. Switch to split, good splits. I was typing and missed her dismount.
L. Smith (BB): front aerial to back tuck, tiny foot movement on each landing. switch to split to beat, lovely. front toss, lovely. gainer full, tiny step back.
Rotation 4: Red BB, Black FX
Lily Smith also warming up floor, with 2 fingers taped.
Howard (BB): secure full turn. Bhs loso, small check. switch half to beat, hit. side aerial, secure. bhs gainer full, knees on the bhs and a step back. 9.65
Fitzgerald (FX): Rudi loso, secure. switch side wolf full, good rotation. Front tuck through to double tuck, with a spot and a secure landing. 9.7
Aquino (BB): Switch switch, good; bhs loso, check. Secure turn. front toss, small check. bhs 1.5 stuck. 9.7
King (FX): Secure first pass, some leg form on the twist. switch side popa, lovely. Back 1.5 to lay, tiny leg sep on the twist. 9.75
Morgan (BB): Hits her full turn. Bhs loso, clean. sissone to switch half, potentially a little slow connection. Side aerial, tiny torso movement. RO back 1.5, step forward. 9.7
Mason (FX): front through to double tuck with a solid landing. front lay front full front tuck, solid. Hits her leaps. 9.75
Turner (BB): There’s a special place in my heart for my Colorado girlies. Secure full turn. bhs loso loso, lovely. Switch leap to split jump, great positions. RO 1.5 stuck. 9.85
Wahl (FX): ftdt, secure landing. Cool little roundoff to her knees for choreo. Triple leap connection, good. front tuck through to double tuck, short with a step forward. 9.75
O’Driscoll (BB): bhs loso loso, she has nice lines. switch half to beat, looked a tad short of 180. Wobble on her full turn. RO 1.5 stuck. 9.85
L. Smith (FX): fhs double full slightly underrotated and steps back. Second pass I missed because autocorrect is dumb, but looks like she either twisted short or just did a timer. Hits her leaps. Another timer for her third pass. 8.4, likely a lower SV
Bácskay (BB): bhs bhs loso, tiniest bit of knees and a small lean. switch to split jump, lovely. back double full, kind of piked down and a step. 9.75
Eaker (BB): The long-awaited debut! Switch leap mount. Hit full turn. Side aerial loso, and she’s off, she struggled with that in warmups. Switch to split lovely. Stuck gainer full to close. That’s gonna be a nice routine for Georgia one day. 8.95
Top 5 on each event equates to a 196.3 for Georgia.
It wasn’t a perfect showing, but the depth Georgia showed was impressive despite missing key routines in areas. There were a few first meet jitters and typical early season gymnastics. Overall, the newcomers looked strong and only add to the depth of this team!
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Live blog by Tara Graeve
