It’s difficult to escape the feeling that 2016 was the year for Denver: entering regionals ranked an unexpected 11th, facing a kind draw, and ultimately needing just a 49.0 on beam to get to nationals. Those opportunities don’t come around constantly, and it’s a shame that Denver’s final 15th place finish is just sort of normal for them and doesn’t reflect the accomplishments of the season.
Denver lost 11 routines from last year’s regionals slate, including best-on-each-piece sets from Nina McGee, which is tragic. Although, there’s still reason to be optimistic that Denver can replace the majority of these routines and return to a similar level, floating in and out of the better half of the teens. Top JO recruit Maddie Karr, former elite Sam Ogden, and the return of some previously injured seniors should combine to provide enough routines to fill the gaps on the majority of events. Continue reading Denver 2017→
Now that Nina McGee is gone, there is no joy in the world and all the flowers have wilted and died, but if you were worried about who’s going to be Denver’s star and get all the 9.9s to fill out the paltry routine-scape you see above, it’s Maddie Karr. No pressure or anything.
Karr won JO Nationals this year with the highest score of any gymnast in any session (the only one to break 39), and then also this vault.
Get in the anchor spot.
Vault is Karr’s jam, but she will be an all-arounder who’s expected to record among the top scores on the team on each piece. At JOs this year, Karr didn’t show huge floor tumbling, but she does have a piked full-in resting in her pocket as well, which should help restock that lineup’s supply of power. Her amplitude on dance elements is also a plus, helping her reach 180 on that split full and actually get it all the way around too. Continue reading 2017 Freshman Preview: Denver and Boise State→
Oklahoma won the national title six whole days ago, which is like a thousand years ago. Sorry, Oklahoma. We’re moving on. What have you done for us lately? Basically nothing? That’s what I thought.
The 2017 season is just around the corner, as long as that corner is really, really far away. We don’t know anything real about 2017 yet, but we do know which valuable gems and enthusiastic leaders in the training gym we won’t see next year, along with which bright new lights full of possibilities and undiagnosed shin problems will be joining the teams in their place.
Detailed looks at each team and roster will come much later, when the season approaches and I actually vaguely know who these JO gymnasts are, but let’s call this a preliminary glance at who’s coming and who’s going on each team now that the 2016 season is closed and locked away forever and the traditional eight-month moratorium has been placed on the terms “parity,” “yurchenko arabian,” “confident leadoff,” and “life lessons.” I’ve placed the top teams into various categories based on the current outlook and added the RQSs for the routines they will lose after 2016.
This is, of course, assuming that people do what they’re supposed to and don’t suddenly turn pro or run off to join a traveling circus or whatever.
The Tigers certainly lose a few critical routines, the most important being Savona’s floor, though they already gained some experience with life after Savona’s vault and floor when she was out early this season (and life after Wyrick’s bars when she didn’t compete in the postseason). They survived, for the most part. Several of these openings should be filled by people already on the roster, and while I don’t think we can have any expectations for Priessman at this point because any week she’s healthy enough to compete is just a bonus, Kelley should do more next year. Add to that this freshman class, and I think there’s every reason to expect LSU 2017 to be stronger than LSU 2016.
Beers – VT – 9.905; UB – 9.690; FX – 9.915
Sims – FX – 9.868
Alabama is in a similar position to LSU in terms of not losing that many routines, though Alabama’s losses carry a bit more significance, especially on floor with the team’s two strongest floories departing. They’ll need some of the upperclassmen like Brannan to step up and be a little more Beersy on those events and a little less middle-of-the-lineupy, but with increased contribution from a potential star like Ari Guerra who didn’t figure at all by the end of the season and the introduction of Maddie Desch and Wynter Childers, Alabama’s first-ever recruit who’s also a citizen of District 1, I’m not too worried about the look of Alabama’s future roster. Continue reading Comings and Goings→
