(GYM) Gymnastics 2023 - 2024

Since the 6 freshmen gymnasts have been confirmed to be on campus and we know the returning gymnasts, this will be the start of the new thread for the 2023 - 2024 gymnastics year. When asked earlier this month about creating a new thread, it was unanimous from those responding to start a new thread. Enjoy!

 

Freshman Danielle Ferris high scores in the last year:

- College Gym News

Strongest events are vault, bars, and floor.

 

Freshman Anya Pilgrim high scores in the last year:

- College Gym News

Strongest events are bars and vault.

 

Freshman Alyssa-Carolina Arana highest scores in last year:

- College Gym News

Strongest events are bars and beam.

 

Freshman Skylar Draser highest scores in the last year:

- College Gym News

Strongest events are vault and bars.

 

Freshman Kaylee Bluffstone highest scores in the last year:

- College Gym News

Strongest events are vault and floor.

 

Freshman Gabby Disidore highest scores in the last year:

- College Gym News

Strongest events are vault and bars.

 

The US Gymnastics Championships are from August 24 - August 26. The women perform live on Friday and Sunday while the men perform live on Thursday and Saturday:

Gators at Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships - Florida Gators

Skye Blakely, Kayla DiCello, and Leanne Wong will be competing.

If you have a $5.99 monthly subscription to Peacock, you can watch the women's session 1 live on August 25 at 8 PM ET.

For those of us who don't pay for Peacock, you can watch the recorded women's session 1 on August 26 at 4:30 PM ET on CNBC.

Women's session 2 will be shown live on August 27 at 7 PM ET on NBC.

It's advisable to check your local listings. I have both sessions set to record on YouTube TV so I can fast forward through the commercials and anything that is too much of a Simone Biles lovefest.

Enjoy watching our Gators competing in the US Gymnastics Championships.

 

College Gymnastics News Roundtable on Elites in the NCAAs:

CGN Roundtable: Elites in the NCAA - College Gym News

Gators are well thought of throughout the article.

It's interesting to me that the panel saw what I saw in the last elite meet. Leanne Wong looked and performed better staying with UF while Kayla DiCello at this point isn't doing as well deferring for a year to train with her elite coaches. Time will tell starting with today at the US Nationals who made the right choice.

Trinity Thomas is a wild card they all want to see perform again at the elite level.

They can keep their thoughts off of Riley McCusker. She is finally rounding back into health mentally and physically. She is staying with UF like Leanne and Trinity. Good for Riley, it's the right decision. She has better elite talent to work with than anywhere else by staying with UF.

Morgan Hurd is mentioned as a beam specialist while they do realize she has been hampered by injuries.

Skye Blakely is on the rise and getting better. It wouldn't be a surprise to see her earn a spot on the Olympics team.

 

Let the Simone Biles lovefest begin:

Rejuvenated Biles chases more history at US gymnastics championships (msn.com)

Biles return to competition gets serious today. It'll be interesting to see how she responds to the mental and physical pressures that affected her in Tokyo.

 

Spoiler Alert - For those without Peacock, the women's day 1 will be shown on Saturday afternoon on CNBC.

Articles and results of day 1:

Biles leads seniors, Rose is top junior after Day 1 of women's competition at Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships • USA Gymnastics

Two with Gator Ties Among Top 4 All-Arounders at U.S. Gymnastics Championships - Florida Gators

w_23champs_sr1.pdf (usagym.org)

Top 5:

1. Simone Biles
2. Shilese "Shi" Jones
3. Skye Blakely
4. Leanne Wong
5. Jordan Chiles

Two gymnasts who disappointed are Jade Carey (Oregon) and Kayla DiCello. Both tied for 19th and are far out of the running for gold, silver, or bronze. After this fiasco, I definitely think Kayla is making a mistake not returning to UF to work with UF coaches like Leanne Wong is doing. Each to their own way to try to earn an Olympic team slot, but this isn't working out for Kayla.

Presuming Shilese Jones signs her LOI and comes to UF in the fall of 24, that's UF in positions 2-4 for the 25 season.

Jordan Chiles (UCLA) makes 4 NCAA gymnasts in positions 2-5 going into the women's day 2 finals on Sunday night which will be televised live on NBC.

Kaliya Lincoln who will be a true freshman at LSU this year is in 6th place. She is dynamic on floor, currently second on floor to Simone Biles. I'm confident LSU fan thinks they will win a national championship this year. Konnor McClain, a top elite gymnast, isn't competing in the US National Championships, but she will be performing for LSU this year.

Where would Trinity Thomas fit in with these all-around results since she will be trying to make the US Paris Olympic Team? She'd be very close with Simone Biles.

 

Dr. Sam still feels comfortable calling Shilese Jones to UF next year. UF cannot claim her as she has not yet signed a LOI:

Dr. Sam, PhD
@DrSam_PhD
·
13h

Hi Gator Fans! I'll be live tweeting Night 1 of USAG Senior Women's Champs tonight following:

@GatorsGym
@kayladicello
and
@leannewong03
as well as future Gators Skye Blakely and
@ShileseJ

College Gym News shows Shilese on UF's 25 roster too. However, I won't count this chicken until it hatches as evidenced by a signed and returned LOI. Shilese will have her next chance to sign with UF in early November.

 

Leanne Wong Won Bronze at US National Championships:

Trio of Gators Named to U.S. Senior National Team - Florida Gators

Leanne Wong (3), Skye Blakely (4), and Kayla DiCello (8T) finish in the top 10 which earned them spots on the US Senior National Team. Add Shilese Jones (2) as our unofficial Gator and that gives 40% of the US Senior National team with official/unofficial ties to UF.

Leanne Wong on floor on night two:

USA Gymnastics on X: "It’s a 14.000 for @leannewong03 on Floor! You want to see this one! ⤵️ #XfinityChamps | @GatorsGym | @TeamUSA https://t.co/H0BpH601Sd" / X (twitter.com)

Complete US Championship Results:

MyUSAGym

1. Simone Biles
2. Shilese Jones
3. Leanne Wong
4. Skye Blakely
5. Jordan Chiles
6. Katelyn Jong
7. Joscelyn Roberson
8T. Tiana Sumanasekera
8T. Kayla DiCello
10. Amelia Disidore

 

Shilese's best event by far is bars. She finished with the best bars routine on both nights of the competition. I hope she makes official ties with UF sooner rather than later.

 

Leanne Wong was shown several times by NBC giving the Gator Chomp:

Dr. Sam, PhD on X: "Congratulations to @GatorsGym star Leanne Wong for winning the bronze medal in the all-around at the @USAGym #XfinityChamps @leannewong03 https://t.co/DDlHEec9Tv" / X (twitter.com)

The NBC announcers said it is amazing how well Leanne looks and is doing working both elite and NCAA with UF, like she never left elite. I disagree. Leanne looks healthier, stronger, and is performing better than she ever did in elite only as evidenced by this being the first time she medaled in her US National Championship appearances.

 

Update on Utah after having 3 gymnasts transfer out last spring. Found this on Tiger Droppings Gymnastics:

Utah gymnastics team under outside review after abuse allegations - Deseret News

These types of complaints hardly ever end well for the coach.

Since Avery Neff, ranked #1 in the 2024 recruiting class plus lives in Utah, is committed to Utah, I hope this doesn't reopen her recruiting. Her final 3 was 1 Utah, 2 Oklahoma, and 3 Florida. I don't want to see her end up at Oklahoma with the Sooners coming to the SEC next year.