It’s dead week before nationals, study up! — Other gym news
By Lela Moore
The IX: Gymnastics Saturday with Lela Moore, April 13, 2024
Happy gymnastics Saturday! So … how’s your bracket? If anyone is still standing after regionals last weekend, please go buy a lottery ticket, enter a raffle or hit the casino — maybe all three.
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Of course, no one was particularly surprised to see Oklahoma advance to the finals. If there is such a thing as a given in gymnastics, this was it. The rest of it really came down to who had the best meet on the right day.
Utah has made nationals every year for more than 40 years, but it didn’t have its strongest meet in Gainesville last week, and you could make a convincing case that Missouri should have taken it. The Utes have much to prove.
LSU and Florida are two teams with all the potential and a history of nervy regionals. That both survived was not a given.
Speaking of nerves, Cal was taken out last year by them. The Golden Bears have had an epic season; can they hang on through the national semifinals?
Alabama and Arkansas both had very strong seasons but really proved themselves at regionals, outlasting higher-seeded teams. This would seem to be a case of both peaking at the right time, particularly Arkansas, but they’ll need to prove that ending up in Fort Worth wasn’t a fluke.
And that brings us to Stanford. Unseeded, small but fierce, Cinderella story, etc. Of all these teams besides Oklahoma, luck had the least to do with the Cardinal’s nationals run. It was pure muscle. But they aren’t just honored to be nominated; they’re here to win more.
Enjoy your week off! If you wish to spend it constructing scenarios about who might take the whole thing, College Gym News can help you with that.
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Other gym news
See Balance Beam Situation for the two regionals liveblogs of the meets that took place after my column came out last week.
College Gym News is covering USAG Nationals this week: It has the preview and liveblogs for both the first semifinal and the second semifinal, as well as a story about Lindenwood heading into its final championships ever (the team will cease to exist this year).
CGN also has a Data Deep Dive simulation for predicting nationals results, a Judge’s Inquiry column on every single 10 given at regionals, questions and concerns about regionals, and, of course, the regionals leotards rankings.
Illinois State’s Nirel Bart-Williams pled guilty to fourth-degree assault this week.
Elisabeth Seitz is back in competition following her Achilles tear.
Charlotte Booth, who competed elite in the U.S. as recently as last season, made the British national team. Booth has dual citizenship and began training in the U.K. in the last year.
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Now that the NCAA season is over for most teams, transfer portal announcements have begun.
BYU’s Madison Raesly-Patton, who just finished her sophomore year, will transfer.
As will NC State’s Madison Benson for her fifth year.
Five at the IX is on a break this week, just like college gymnastics. We’ll be back next week for NCAA finals.
| Mondays: Soccer |
| By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer |
| Tuesdays: Tennis |
| By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer |
| Wednesdays: Basketball |
| By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The Next |
| Thursdays: Golf |
| By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX |
| Fridays: Hockey |
| By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden |
| Saturdays: Gymnastics |
| By: Lela Moore, @runlelarun, Freelance Writer |
