It’s year three with Gymlytics fantasy college gymnastics in 2024! We all learned lessons 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.
How did your first waiver wire week go, fantasy fanatics!? It’s always exciting to add some talent to your team. Note that this week the waiver wire closes at 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 31. As usual, the Wednesday meet counts toward week four, and next week’s Monday (Feb. 5) and Thursday (Feb. 8) meets count toward week five.
We have another neutral site podium meet coming at you this week, with no evidence that it’ll be streamed as of now. The SportWorx invite with George Washington, Penn, Towson, and William & Mary is on Friday at 5 p.m. ET. This is happening in conjunction with a big Developmental Program invite; SportWorx has experience hosting a lot of the big DP meets like Hill’s Classic and Christmas on the Chesapeake, so hopefully it’ll run smoothly. If you have gymnasts on any of those teams, let’s go ahead and assume it’ll follow suit for neutral site invites and be scored generously.
Big home teams this week include Alabama, Auburn, UCLA, and Utah.
Injury Updates Since Last Week
- Added: Ashley Blum (Washington): Unknown leg injury during floor exhibition
- Added: Ellie Weaver (Oregon State): Left knee injury during floor routine
- Added: Bella Mabanta (Denver): Left foot boot
- Added: Cadence Gormley (Kentucky): Crutches
- Added: Adeline Kenlin (Iowa): Apparent ankle injury during vault landing
- Added: Nishayla Riley (Talladega): Left foot boot and crutches
- Added: Chaniya Miller (SEMO): Left foot walking boot
- Added: Courtney Henry (SEMO): Left knee brace and crutches
- Added: Avril Crespin (Simpson): Left arm surgery
- Added: Kennedy O’Connor (Winona State): Back surgery
- Added: Bryn Bartman (Auburn): Unknown season ending injury
- Added: Emma Shah (Southern Connecticut): Roster removal
- Added: Alana Kim (UC Davis): Torn ACL
- Added: Kate Greene (North Carolina): Crutches
- Added: Athlyn Drage (Maryland): Roster removal
- Added: Jordyn Paradise (Alabama): Unknown season ending injury
- Added: Caroline Leonard (Auburn): Torn Achilles
- Added: Josephine Thomas (Western Michigan): Torn Achilles
- Removed: Roxanne Myers (Centenary)
Week 5 Byes & Doubles
Byes: Alaska, Illinois State, Northern Illinois, SEMO
Doubles: George Washington, Hamline, Penn, Towson, UW-Stout, UW-Whitewater, William & Mary, Winona State
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.
This week, we looked at Florida’s vault lineup. It has been in flux, and there are a lot of good-not-(yet)-great options for Jenny Rowland. We asked editors to rank gymnasts in the order of the likelihood they think they will appear this week. Nineteen editors responded.
Bri Edwards was ranked as the most likely to get the call. Sloane Blakely was the next-most voted for Gator, followed by Danie Ferris, and finally Ellie Lazzari.
Data Corner
Once again 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: Mya Lauzon, who vaulted in every meet last year for at least a 9.750 and went 9.9-plus just over half the time, has extended her streak to 19 straight appearances and has yet to score below a 9.925 on the event this year. With no score below a 9.850, Selena Harris holds a perfect hit rate and lineup frequency record on bars through 19 meets. Jordan Bowers has competed on beam in 20-straight meets since settling into the event last year, scoring at least a 9.775 in all appearances with 15 scores of 9.900 or better. With her first career 10.0 on Friday, Raena Worley notched her 28th straight score of 9.875 or better on floor, averaging 9.939 across the 28 routines.
Breakout Performances: Sophomore Mallory Gregory made her collegiate debut on Monday, posting a 9.875 for the Buckeyes on her Yurchenko one and a half. Penn freshman Sophia Paris has been making strides each week on bars, with scores trending up from a 9.525 in her collegiate debut to an event-winning 9.875 this weekend. Yale senior Sarah Wilson set a new career high of 9.875 on beam, breaking the 9.800 mark for the first time. California’s Jordan Kane only competed one floor routine for a 9.775 in her first two seasons. She has made the lineup every week this year so far, posting three scores of 9.850 or better, including a 9.900 on Saturday.
Starts & Sits for Week 5
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: The Georgia broadcast mentioned that Amanda Cashman‘s absence was due to illness, so we can expect her back soon. Since downgrading from a Yurchenko one and a half back to her sometimes-perfect full, Gabi Stephen has scored a 9.850 and a 9.925. She’s back in business.
Bars: Holly Snyder is back for the Gymdogs! We hope you were patient and held onto her; she was only on bars last week, but we do expect to see her piked full-in on floor at some point as well. Frida Esparza exhibitioned for UCLA; she removed the Bhardwaj from her set, which had been causing issues. Perhaps we’ll see her back here this week with a cleaner routine, downgrading to hopefully set the Bruins up for six hits on the event for the first time this year.
Beam: Minnesota’s Sarah Moraw stepped back into the beam lineup for the Gophers on Saturday after Emily Koch had an off-kilter performance Monday. That lineup has been in flux, with Moraw, Koch, and Jordyn Lyden seemingly competing for the last two spots. Koch is the veteran, so assuming she mentally recovers from her tough week, we can assume we’ll see her back. However, both Moraw and Lyden have been strong, so it feels like a toss-up at this point. We finally saw more of Ellie Lazzari last week for the Gators.
Floor: Don’t fret about Mya Hooten sitting out floor on Saturday. She was likely just being rested on the back side of a double. It was confirmed that Sage Thompson was just sick last week; she competed vault and bars but rested floor. We can assume the Beavers will need her back there next week, especially after Ellie Weaver‘s injury.
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: Texas Woman’s Kaitlyn Hoiland started her season with a bang, not going below 9.800 on vault with a high of 9.875. She’s strong on bars, too. Jaudai Lopes is quietly cruising on vault for San Jose State. A 9.900 high and 9.850 average will do just fine.
Bars: Bowling Green’s Isabella Rivelli notched a huge 9.925 last week; she has one miss, but her other scores are also solid. West Chester’s Jordan Coleman has been good with a flash of greatness for a 9.925 week one. If you need one more hit in your lineup, she could be it.
Beam: Jessica Lin made her beam debut for Brown for a 9.900 last week. Snap her up if you need to shore up this lineup. Lilly McFarland has also been consistently strong here, averaging a 9.833 for West Chester.
Floor: If Gayla Griswold is somehow available in your league, add her to your team, stat. She competes vault, beam, and floor, excelling on the latter with a 9.894 average (yes, that includes the Tennessee meet, but she has been undeniably strong). Don’t disregard Karlie Franz on floor just because her average got caught up in the Tennessee meet; her two other scores are both 9.900s for the Golden Flashes, and she’s a solid bar worker, too.
Notes From the Fantasy Roundtable
Whatever happened to Adeline Kenlin on her tough vault landing at home on Monday resulted in her not traveling with Iowa to Michigan State on Sunday.
READ THIS NEXT: Judge’s Inquiry: Rejudging the 2024 Tennessee Collegiate Classic
Article by Emily Minehart and Dara Tan; additional reporting from Tara Graeve, Emma Hammerstrom, Elizabeth Grimsley, and Rebecca Scally
