With college gymnastics gaining popularity, there’s been a number of schools adding programs to their athletic offering in recent years. This trend is great for the growth of the sport and for gymnastics fans alike, but it can be hard to find time to get to know the new teams. With three new gymnastics programs set to join the Division III level, this article will help readers get to know each new team joining the NCGA as they compete this season.
Greenville Looks to “Make a Statement” in 2025
After a successful first two seasons, and a major head coach change, Greenville aims to build a name for itself in 2025 under head coach Anique Grenier.
Grenier was hired in July 2024, following two seasons as an assistant coach at Air Force and a collegiate career at Utah State. She applied for the job after reading a College Gym News article and noticing an opening in the program. Due to the late staffing changes, Greenville will not be joining WIAC this season and will instead be acting as a floater team looking for an “at-large” bid to NCGA nationals. For readers who are new to the NCGA format, programs not aligned with either the NCGA-East or the WIAC gymnastics conferences can still qualify to NCGA nationals by achieving a high enough National Qualifying Score, or NQS.
Grenier sees their floater status as neither an advantage nor a disadvantage but took careful measures when scheduling to make sure Greenville attends enough competitions against other Division III programs to count towards an NQS. Since competitive seasons are often scheduled a year in advance, Grenier’s late addition to the staff made this difficult. Though Grenier does eventually want Greenville to make its way into the WIAC conference, she is focused on completing the 2025 season with her new team first.
Along with building a name for itself, Greenville’s goal for the 2025 season is to hit the 192.00 mark as a team. As a longer-term goal, the team eventually hopes to qualify to NCGA Nationals.
Grenier credits Greenville’s athletic department with her smooth transition into the head coaching role. “They’re just super involved,” she said. “I’ve never felt as much involvement from an athletic department as a coach or even as an athlete. They’ve been awesome.”
She also credits the athletic department with her program’s ability to have an on-campus gym with everything the program needs, which is unique for a new program to have in its inaugural years.
She looks forward to watching Greenville make a name for itself and become recognizable in Division III gymnastics. “I am really excited to see how that is going to play out this season,” she concluded.
Utica Gymnastics Aims To Build a Legacy That Goes Beyond Gymnastics
After graduating from Utica College and opening her own club gym at 27, Utica head coach Danielle Cerminaro kept gymnastics as a significant portion of her life. After building up a successful club program, Cerminaro was approached by the university about starting a gymnastics program in 2021.
“At first, I wasn’t sure if it was going to come to fruition,” Cerminaro admited, “But it just kind of came out of somebody saying in a meeting, ‘What if we looked into gymnastics since there is a gymnastics program in the area?’” After watching her DP program grow and seeing the number of gymnasts set a goal of competing in college, she thought that the addition of a new program would only add opportunities for gymnasts everywhere.
After announcing the addition of the gymnastics program, the coaching staff had no issue building an inaugural team. “A lot of athletes started reaching out, way more than I anticipated, which was awesome,” said Cerminaro. The staff did do a bit of recruiting but had a group of athletes already interested in the program to create a strong foundation.
The team is currently training at Cerminaro’s club gym, Valley Gymnastics, which is right down the road from the university. This allowed for an easy transition because the school did not have to do any construction or buy new equipment.
When asked about the program’s goals going forward, Cerminaro placed less of an emphasis on the gymnastics and more of an emphasis on the type of person that graduates from Utica. “I’m really looking for somebody that wants to make a difference in all aspects of their own life and help others,” said Cerminaro. Cerminaro places an emphasis on things like “being kind-hearted and helping others in the world of 2025 and putting good out there, and that’s what this program is built off of.” She also aims to help grow the sport of Division III gymnastics. “One thing I would like to get out there is that with DIII and DI, pretty much everyone is doing the same skills. It’s no different. I don’t want my athletes to ever think that DIII and DI are different categories,” she added.
Simpson Gymnastics Finds Its Place in College Athletics
Simpson shocked the gymternet with the introduction of both a women’s and men’s gymnastics program. After two years of competition as floaters in the NCGA, Simpson will be competing as a member of the WIAC this season.
After a college gymnastics career at the University of Denver, head coach Emily Barrett Payne credits her husband with introducing her to the head coaching position. While coaching the men’s gymnastics program at Navy, Colin Payne heard that a men’s and women’s gymnastics program was being added at Simpson. “We went to our interview, and the rest was history!” said Barrett Payne.
Similar to the experience of the other programs, there was lots of interest in the program right off the bat. Barrett Payne credits the idea of gymnasts wanting to be the “first-ever” to compete for a university as a main drawing point for many commits. After campus visits, the inaugural team consisted of 15 freshmen without any transfers. Due to the lack of seniority and leadership, the team had many conversations about what the team hoped to build as a program. Questions like “What do we want to be known for?”, “What legacy do we want to leave?”, and “What defines Simpson Women’s Gymnastics?” were at the forefront of these conversations, Barrett Payne explained. These questions are ones the team hopes to continue answering this season and into the next. “It was a great learning experience for all of us!” Barrett Payne said reflecting on her first year at Simpson.
Along with finding its place in college gymnastics, Simpson gymnastics has also had to work to find its place within Simpson’s athletic department. Barrett Payne credits the warm welcome she felt on campus to the other coaches on campus and the help of Marty Bell, Simpson’s athletic director. “They have done everything they can do to ensure that this program is successful and has what they need,” said Barett Payne.
This season, Simpson looks forward to their first year in the WIAC with the goals of beating every single one of their event records, qualifying individuals to nationals, and maintaining a 3.5 GPA or above. In the longer term, the team aims to be in the top half of the WIAC and eventually qualify as a team to the NCGA championships.
Just because a program is new, does not necessarily mean the program is weak. As many of the head coaches have mentioned, new programs have the ability to recruit gymnasts who want to contribute to a new program and leave behind a legacy. As the season goes on, keep an eye out for these new programs as they join their respective conferences as well as strong individuals who could make a case for nationals and All-America titles.
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Article by Mary Collier
