By Caroline Medley For our next bonus lineup team, we’ll tackle the Southern Utah Thunderbirds! Finishing the regular 2016 season at No. 23, they’ll hope to take their upward momentum even further in 2017. Losing seniors Arlyn Amor and Natalie Trejo shouldn’t hurt them too much, as Amor was injured last season and Trejo mostly contributed to beam and floor, where the team will have plenty of options in the coming year. Would-be sophomore Caitlyn Kessel will also not be returning this season, so routines will be lost on vault and bars as well. However, SUU will have a large class of freshmen, at a whopping eight gymnasts, so replenishing routines shouldn’t be a problem. Vault will only see the loss of Kessel, but most of the Thunderbirds will return to the lineup. Mady Blake, Tyly Bozzuto, Danielle Ramirez and Stacie Webb should all bring back their Yurchenko fulls, while Virginia Brownsell and Karen Gonzalez will return some different vaults. Brownsell returns her 10.0 SV handspring pike half, while Gonzalez should return a Tsuk entry as well. Freshman Maddy McBride should have another 10.0 vault to add to the mix, a Yurchenko 1.5, though she may start out with just a full to focus in on her landing. Autumn Jorgensen, Megan McBride and Gabby Spencer should also be in contention for lineup spots with their own fulls.
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We finally know the teams, all arounders and individuals that will make their way to Fort Worth, Texas next week for the 2016 national championships. After six exciting regional competitions and a couple of upsets, the field is set. Take a look at all the qualifiers, which session they’ll be competing in for prelims and what event they’ll be starting on. You can also check your ranking in the NCAA gymnastics bracket challenge after round one. Only one player remains perfect, having picked all 12 qualifying teams. Nationals Qualifiers
Our fourth regional analysis takes a look at the Salt Lake City competition. Like the others, we delve into the matchups, who has the best chances of advancing and give you insight into whether or not your picks in the 2016 NCAA gymnastics bracket challenge were smart.
This will probably be the easiest regional to predict. Utah and UCLA are the clear leaders and should advance with no problems even if they have a mistake here or there. However, if there's a couple of biggies and Washington's having one of its mid-196 meets, there could be an upset brewing. The main competition will be between UCLA and Utah for the top spot. The bruins have now defeated the Utes twice this season, something the Red Rocks can't be too happy with. So expect the Utes so come out of the gates ready to finally beat their rivals and clear up those nasty beam troubles from Pac-12s. Oh, and don't forget the fact that the competition is in Salt Lake City.
Washington has quietly done well this season, impressing with not bottom of the conference results like we typically see from the conference. Southern Utah is also capable of a mid to low 196. Illinois is the question mark. It's still Illinois, but we can't expect much with the success or lack there of its been having this season. Add onto that the fact that both Mary Jane Horth and Giana O'Connor are our, and Illinois will be happy if it doesn't finish sixth. As for individuals, it'll be hard for event specialists to qualify with Utah home scoring a thing that happens. However, Sunny Kato has a chance of putting up big number on bars and beam. Washington's Allison Northey and Joslyn Goings are the clear all around favorites, but SUU's Danielle Ramirez could challenge as well. |
Days until the 2017 National ChampionshipsArchives
July 2017
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