USA Gymnastics has announced the men's team: Leyva, Orozco, Mikulak, Dalton, Horton. This is not surprising, especially given how much everyone has been playing up the Horton angle to make sure he made the team. There was a legitimate argument to be made for Legendre on this team instead of Horton, but given consistency considerations, this is probably the smartest choice. Legendre, Brooks, and Naddour are the alternates.
The women's Olympic Trials finish tonight. There's no reason to think anything has changed at this point. NBC was really trying to make Elizabeth Price happen on Night 1, but it's not going to happen. We saw some sloppiness in some key routines on Night 1, so let's watch for that to be eliminated on Night 2. Wieber got some favors that she won't at the Olympics. Mostly, I'm rooting for some veteran miracles tonight, like Nastia hitting a bar routine and Alicia sticking a vault in their last meets. After that, we'll have a good four weeks to debate lineups and worry about who got injured.
LSU has officially hired Jay Clark. This was originally discussed almost immediately after he was fired from Georgia, but these things take time to become official. At first, I thought it would be a good idea for Jay to get out of the SEC, but this seems like it could be a good fit. We know his skills as an assistant, but it will be interesting to watch whether he has much mark on LSU next season.
Speaking of next season, LSU is among the schools that have already announced their 2013 schedules. They face NC State, Alabama, and Georgia all twice. I don't much care for repeat meets unless it's a big rivalry. I always like to see a few more out-of-conference meets, but I know how difficult that can be to work with the SEC schedule. Metroplex should be fun next year with Oklahoma, Georgia, Oregon State, and LSU.
Brenna Dowell (who was among the few second-tier girls to hit her routines on Night 1 of Trials, so she is in a surprising 8th) will be joining Mackenzie Wofford at Oklahoma in 2014-2015. K.J. got on these elites early, and she is building quite the future team.
I must admit that I did not see this coming, and I think it's a real shame. While there have been rumblings ever since the 2010 Regionals disaster about Jay not living up to Suzanne, no coach coming into this program would have been able to replicate that success.
While there were areas he needed to work on as a coach, the team was improving each year under his leadership. Even though this year's group had a disappointing finish at Nationals, they were the most cohesive team with the most potential for success of the three during his tenure, even if the raw talent level was higher in 2010. It was clear that he was starting to find his footing in this position. The expectation that championships would immediately follow after Suzanne left was unrealistic. This is a rash move by Georgia and one that will backfire when a new coach comes in who is similarly unable to deliver championships right away.
Success in NCAA gymnastics is so dependent on trust and emotion and everyone buying in to the process. It is probably unique among sports in that way. In other sports we hear a lot about how the concept of team chemistry is overrated, but it is essential in NCAA women's gymnastics. Not understanding that is an error. It takes time to build that kind of trust and chemistry and attitude for a program. Georgia was starting to get on its way toward rebuilding the program, and short of coaxing Suzanne out of retirement, they will be right back at 2010 again with a new coach.
There will be all kinds of speculation about who will replace Jay, but the pool of qualified candidates with the experience necessary who also want the job is extremely small.
Teams have finished up their December intrasquads and are breaking for the holidays. Coaches have given their teams specific "we can't officially make you train but here's what you better do over break" instructions and will hope that their gymnasts return in recognizable condition to prepare for the first meet. In the meantime, let's take a look at what some of the teams have been up to in the past week or so.
Georgia has posted a new episode of We Need to Talk about Kevin (Copp) containing highlights from the recent intrasquad. Of note:
Chelsea Davis has been fully gymdogged out (it's a real word...now) with the glitter and the ribbon and the temp tattoo. We'll just have to deal with it. We didn't see too much from her except the vault, which is her weakest event. She lacks competitive amplitude. I'm interested to see bars most of all.
Kat Ding is a gem. She rates them at an 8.5. I love the use of .5, like it's a real scale, and her ability to resist the "I'd give us a TEN!" snap reaction. She knows her teammates aren't up to her level. Still, it's Georgia, so adjust for inflation. How dare they show us that stuck beam dismount and make us want her to compete beam even though we know she'll get like a 4 in competition.
Jay is worried about the team's fitness coming back from the break. Apparently, he got his hand stuck in the cookie jar at 1:30.
Our updates from UCLA have been sporadic. They had the "Meet the Bruins" event, which wasn't a real intrasquad (it was weirder and better), and now we have videos of only some of the gymnasts on only two events. I'm not really surprised.
They actually look well prepared on vault. Hopfner-Hibbs and Peszek don't have the same distance as the others, but they are both capable of sticking landings sometimes (as we see in this video), which should even out the scoring. A presumed lineup of Hopfner-Hibbs, Peszek, Larson, Courtney, Frattone, and Zamarripa (with occasional routines from alternates Wong, De La Torre, McDonald, and Gerber) will be very difficult for any team to beat. They have enough depth that they won't miss Sydney Sawa's competent vault.
Florida held an intrasquad on December 9th. Kytra Hunter looks strong and Alaina Johnson looks on point. Ashanee looks about as enthusiastic as usual. Marissa King's double layout is a dream. Given that these are highlights, it's difficult to draw real conclusions from the performance, but the Gators seem on track. Although, those dangly little half-hearted streamers are a little too reminiscent of when Mary trashed the gym on Seventh Heaven. Don't pretend like you don't get the reference.
Oklahoma has a highlight reel with a few full routines on each event. The article is a breath of fresh air when K.J. doesn't pretend like her other freshmen are going to make lineups. This is unusual among NCAA coaches.
