Gymnasts Leaving, Staying, Transferring, & Recruits

Funny, so, this is the type of teammate Morgan Hurd is going to be. (chuckle)

victoria nguyen’s Instagram profile post: “good luck @jenny_a_rowland & @gatorsgym we love you ”

 

2022/23 Current Gymnastics Roster
16 Current Team Members
As of July 11, 2022

Unknowns: Savannah Schoenherr & Shilese Jones

Leah Clapper
Nya Reed
Payton Richards
Halley Taylor
Trinity Thomas
Chloi Clark
Ellie Lazzari
Alex Magee
Victoria Nguyen
Sloane Blakely
Brianna Edwards
Morgan Hurd
Riley McCusker
Leanne Wong
Lori Brubach
Kayla DiCello

 

What, miss football, volleyball, and the start of basketball season? Not a chance. Besides, we need to make sure our injured are 100% ready to go for 23:

Riley McCusker's ankle (seen in practice without ankle wrap)
Halley Taylor's knee
Ellie Lazzari's knee
Morgan Hurd's knee (less serious, should be fine)

Ellie Lazzari back and healthy would be huge for the team.

It would be great to see Savannah Schoenherr come back focused and ready to give the team a high level of performance in her two events. Again, Shilese Jones would be the cherry on top of the cake.

Even without Savannah Schoenherr and Shilese Jones, we could be +1 depth over what we had to compete with in the 22 season when Halley, Ellie, Morgan, and Sydney Johnson-Scharpf missed most or all of 22. It could be +2 if Alex Magee can make a performance contribution as I don't recall her dressing out in either of her first two seasons. I'd like to think Alex can focus on and be a high contributor on one event, like Leah Clapper's focus on the beam.

 

Trinity Thomas, Great Florida Ambassador!

Trinity Thomas Represents Florida Nationwide in Her Summer Travels - Florida Gators

Glad Trinity is back for year 5.

 

I defer to you at this stage. I would add Payton Richards definitely and Brianna Edwards possibly to the list as well.

 

The Pan Am games are upon us:

Dr. Sam, PhD (@DrSam_PhD) / Twitter

That's Kayla DiCello on the left end and Skye Blakely, Sloane Blakely's sister on the right end. Skye is deferring until fall 2024 and Kayla will be with the 2022/23 UF team.

 

Morgan Hurd Working Out:

morgan hurd on Twitter: "hi https://t.co/VvYK9cA1n3" / Twitter

 

Kayla DiCello won the Pan Am gold medal on floor. Congratulations!

Gators Gymnastics (@GatorsGym) / Twitter

Kayla will be an 18-year-old UF true freshman. She has outstanding physical tools. It'll be interesting to see how she does in the team performances on Sunday night. The US finished in second place behind home team Brazil.

From what I could see in her performances, Kayla's highest need to improve will be the balance beam if she wants to do all-around with UF.

 

I haven't seen anything on Savannah Schoenherr. Her online presence has practically stopped since nationals.

I read somewhere that she graduated in 2021 and was working on her masters during the last year. If she has completed her masters, why would she be motivated to come back for a 5th season? What would she be studying as a student athlete?

This is purely speculation, but the rumors I heard after nationals about her moving on may have been right. Leah, Trinity, and Nya have all announced their return. At this stage, Savannah's silence is deafening.

 

Hopefully, Shilese Jones joins the 2022/23 Gators team in August. We have two Gators there who will be working on her coming. There really is no good reason not to come presuming she is academically qualified. Paris is too far off to give up a year of college. I'm selfish. I want to see Shilese Jones performing in the Orange & Blue.

Leanne Wong finished on UF's academic honor roll which explains how she was able to train for World's while studying remotely last year.

Kayla DiCello has that look about her, she's a star! The only weakness I've seen is balance beam, but she should do really well taking down a notch just some of her highest elite level technical difficulty. Leanne Wong had to do this too before she hit her high and consistent collegiate level performance. College prizes the stick, penalizes for stepping forward and penalizes heavier for stepping backwards, while elite prizes the hardest technical elements over getting a stick. It's an adjustment going from elite to college to be sure.

JMHO, the best of the best can do both. I have no doubt that Trinity Thomas still hasn't hit her peak yet. If she exists her 23 season uninjured unlike her 21 season, she will be tough to beat out for Paris. Leanne Wong fits this category as well. Skye Blakely and Shilese Jones could learn a thing or two from Trinity Thomas and Leanne Wong.