Tis' the season for college gymnastics!

College gymnastics season is right around the corner folks! With a little over a month before the start of competition, I've been relying on intrasquad videos to keep me entertained and up to date with some of my favorite teams. (Thanks to all the coaches who take the time to upload these videos!)

Intrasquads are a great opportunity for teams to get adjusted to competing on a competition surface, in front of local fans and judges. While it may not be as nerve racking as competing in a big arena, the added eyes certainly put on a little more pressure than an average practice would! Here's a look at the highlights from some of the most recent intrasquads 

University of Michigan (November 25, 2013)
Michigan is looking very strong on beam and floor this year. National floor champion Joanna Sampson is training a full twisting double layout (so exciting!) and sophomore Briley Casanova has added her fabulous double layout back in! (which I'm also super excited about because she did it so well as a level 10/elite)

Austin Sheppard: Bars
Austin only competed on vault last season, but she's really stepping it up as an all around gymnast this year. (Seriously, watch her on every event- she's amazing!) The piked tkatchev is a fairly new skill for her.

Shelby Gies: Beam 
Shelby brings in big scores on bars and beam for the Wolverines. She has beautiful lines (and impeccable toe point!) and has been really consistent on these two events both in practice and in previous competitions.



Michigan is holding a free intrasquad at Crisler Arena on December 8th (vs. Central Michigan) 

University of Alabama (October 31, 2013) 
This is a highlight video from the Ghosts and Goblins intrasquad last month. The Alabama Gymnastics YouTube account also uploads weekly training videos! (I think the Alabama squad wins the award for loudest cheers!)



University of Florida (November 15, 2013)

Vault & Bars Highlights
As always, the University of Florida looks better than any other team on these 2 events. It should be another phenomenal season for the Gators! (The video is restricted on certain sites so you will have to click "watch on YouTube" to view the video. This channel has also uploaded beam and floor highlights!)




LSU (November 4, 2013) 
This is a recap (with interviews) from LSU's first intrasquad of the season! I think this is going to be a very strong season for this team and I'm really excited to see what they do. This is the type of team that improves every single year and I don't think we should underestimate them. You can expect big things from junior Rheagan Courville and senior Sarie Morrison! (Also, I can't wait to see Mincy's new floor routine!)




University of Georgia (November 15, 2013) 
Here we have another recap video from Georgia's latest intrasquad. They're looking particularly strong on bars and beam. Can't wait to see what they bring this season!

 

Auburn University (November 24, 2013)
Although Auburn isn't as strong as some of the top NCAA teams, they are certainly on the rise! Watch for sophomore Caitlin Atkinson (who was tremendous last year in the all around, scoring almost 9.9's and above every week) and Megan Walker (who is a fabulous bar and beam worker!) It's also important to note that Auburn only has 1 senior gymnast (who didn't compete last year) and 7 freshmen for this season. Should be interesting to see how the leadership role works out.




University of Oklahoma (November 14, 2013)
Another team that I'm SO excited to see this year! Oklahoma does such beautiful gymnastics and I think they're definitely fired up and ready to dominate this season. They're looking great on bars and beam!

Kara Lovan: Bars


Taylor Spears: Beam


University of Utah (November 22, 2013)
Utah did some really cool "Head 2 Head" challenges at their most recent intrasquad where they pit 2 gymnasts against each other. Props to them for coming up with such an interesting idea (so much more fun than doing a regular intrasquad, don't you think?!)

Kailah Delaney vs.Tori Wilson: Vault 

   

Tori Wilson vs. Georgia Dabritz: Floor



What teams are you most excited to see this year? I'm cheering for Michigan (obviously), LSU, and UCLA! I feel like this is going to be one of the strongest years in NCAA gymnastics.

Meet the Hopefuls: 2020 Olympics

There is a lot of talented gymnasts in the United States. As we watch a new quadrennium unfold before our eyes, new stars slowly begin to emerge as hopefuls for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Although those games are seven years away, the next big names for USA Gymnastics are just beginning their journey down the elite path. For many little girls across the country- the road to Tokyo begins now. You may not recognize many of these names right now, but keep your eye on these kids because they all have potential to be something great!  

Delanie Harkness

Gym: Gedderts Twistars
Age: 11 (Will be 17 in 2020) 
Major Accomplishments:  
2013 Level 10 States- 8th AA
2013 Twistars Invite- 1st AA & 1st UB
2012 USA Open Championships- 3rd VT & UB
2012 Regionals- 1st UB & 2nd AA
2012 Level 8 States- 1st AA & VT
2010 Level 6 States- 1st AA
2009 Level 4 States- 1st AA

 

The style of Delanie's gymnastics resembles her former club-mate, Jordyn Wieber. When I watch her, I am instantly reminded of Jordyn when she was just 11 years old. Despite having an injury earlier in the year, Delanie competed both level 9 and 10 this past season and did pretty well. Her main focus is eventually going elite though. Delanie doesn't have any extremely difficult skills yet, but that's no surprise considering she's still young and has many years to go. This year Delanie has attended several of the Developmental Camps down at the ranch and placed 3rd in physical abilities at only her second camp in July.



Watch more videos of Delanie here

Autumn Blaney

Gym: Gedderts Twistars
Age: 12 (Will be 18 in 2020)
Major Accomplishments:  
2013 Level 9 Easterns- 6th AA & 2nd UB
2013 Region 5 Championship- 1st UB & 4th AA
2013 Level 9 States- 1st UB & BB, 2nd FX & AA
2012 Level 8 States- 3rd UB, 2nd BB, & 4th AA





Autumn is right on the same page as her teammate Delanie. Coach John Geddert refers to the duo as "Salt and Pepper" and mentioned in Gymnastike's BTR that the two are the new Jordyn Wieber and Kamerin Moore of the gym. Autumn competed level 9 last season and is slowly making the transition to the elite level. Like Delanie, Autumn has also attended several of the developmental camps with intentions of competing elite in the near future.



Watch more videos of Autumn here

Sage Thompson

Gym: All American
Age: 10 (Will be 16 in 2020)
Major Accomplishments:  
2013 Level 9 States- 1st FX, 2nd AA, VT, UB,& BB
2013 Fiesta Bowl- 3rd AA & VT, 2nd FX
2012 Level 8 Xcel State Meet- 1st AA, VT, UB, & FX
2012 Gliders Invite- 1st AA & 1st on all events





You may recognize Sage from YouTube, as she has uploaded videos of her progress since she was seven years old. Sage is a natural talent and has made tremendous progress in the last few years. She went from level 5 to training elite in just four short years. Along the way she was a member of the TOPS team for several years. Sage has showed some impressive new skills in training like a yurchenko full on vault and a triple twist on floor. Currently Sage is training with hopes of being accepted into a developmental camp next year as well as qualifying for pre elite or elite. (Depending on her scores.) 



Watch more videos of Sage here.

Jordan Chiles 

Gym: Naydenov
Age: 12 (Will be 19 in 2020)
Major Accomplishments:  
2013 P&G Championships- 11th AA, 6th VT
2013 American Classic- 1st AA & VT
2012 Region 2 Championships- 4th AA & BB, 3rd VT, UB, & FX





Jordan caught everyone's attention last year when videos of her in training were discovered on YouTube. Everyone was in awe when they saw how powerful she was and some of the crazy skills she could do at such a young age. Jordan competed at the elite level this past year and did very well, she won the American Classic and placed 11th all around at her first P&G Championships. Since then, Jordan has been seen training some big skills like an amanar on vault (which she does very well) and could eventually be a big factor in the standings with a few more years of experience under her belt. This year Jordan has attended some training camps at the ranch and is working to make the national team next year.

 

Watch more videos of Jordan here.

Adeline Kenlin
 

Gym: Iowa Gym-Nest
Age: 11 (Will be 17 in 2020)
Major Accomplishments:  
2013 US Challenge- 1st AA, UB, BB, & FX
2013 Level 9 Westerns- 7th BB & 5th FX
2013 Region 4 Championships- 5th BB & 9th AA









Adeline is a very young, but talented gymnast who was born in China and now resides in Iowa. For Adeline, the many trips down to the ranch for developmental camps has paid off. As a pre elite this year, she won every title (except for vault) on the biggest stage that a HOPES gymnast can compete at- the US Challenge. With a little bit more time and some added difficulty, Adeline has the qualities to be a star. You will likely be seeing a lot of her in the future, after the US Challenge she told her local news that she wants to go to the Olympics, and if she doesn't make it there she would like to do college gymnastics.

 

Watch more videos of Adeline here

Irina Alexeeva

Gym: WOGA
Age: 11 (Will be 18 in 2020)
Major Accomplishments:  
2013 Masillia- 1st AA, UB, & BB
2013 JO Nationals- Beam Champion & 8th AA
2013 Region 3 Championships- Bars Champion & 4th AA, BB, FX






Irina has been pretty popular amongst the gymternet for quite some time. She is fantastic on beam, but beautiful to watch on every event. Irina told us last year that she wants to go to the Olympics someday and would like to compete for Russia. Last year Irina competed level 10 as well as qualifying to pre elite. Most recently she competed at the Elite Massilia in the childrens 'open' division. She won the all around with a whopping 59.850 after scoring a 16.0 on beam and a 15.850 on bars. Irina will likely compete junior elite next year and will be one to watch for years to come. 

Watch more videos of Irina here

Cienna Samiley

Gym: Gold Medal Gymnastics
Age: 11 (Will be 18 in 2020)
Major Accomplishments:  
2012 Region 1 Championships- 5th AA, 2nd FX, 3rd UB & BB
2012 Level 8 States- 5th AA, 4th UB, 2nd BB, & 3rd FX




Cienna is another one of those girls who has uploaded her progress on YouTube since she was 5 years old. Since then she has come a long way! Cienna has those beautiful long lines that international judges love, but until she gets to the international level she will have to settle for the high praise she has received from the national team staff. Cienna has attended all the developmental camps this year and plans to attend more next year, as well as qualify for pre elite or elite. (Depending on the score she receives.)




Watch more videos of Cienna here

Ariana Agrapides

Gym: MG Elite
Age: 12 (Will be 19 in 2020)
Major Accomplishments:  
2013 P&G Championships- 1st VT
2013 Secret Classic- 2nd VT
2013 American Classic- 1st AA & UB, 2nd VT, BB, & FX





In her first year as an elite gymnast, Ari had a phenomenal year and exceeded her own goals. Now with a trip to the P&G Championships and a National vault title under her belt, she is more then ready for what the future holds. Ari only began gymnastics when she was 8 years old and went from level 5 to elite in just three years! She is now known for her amazing yurchenko double that is sky high and done with near perfect form. She has a lot of potential and is capable of doing great things if she can contain her nerves. Ari's main goal for next year is to get on the national team and if she can stay consistent- she could easily make the all around podium at Nationals. 

 

Watch more videos of Ariana here

Simone Biles- In a league of her own

2013 was a breakout year for sixteen year old Simone Biles. After dominating both the US Nationals and World Championships last month, the 4' 8 bundle of joy got right back into the gym to continue working on some outrageous upgrades! In recent training videos, Simone can be seen working a Bhardwaj transition on bars (pak salto with a full twist), a double double dismount off beam (video below) and a piked arabian double front on floor! Simone does these skills with such ease, it's hard to believe that she is still recovering from the ankle surgery she had following the World Championships. (She will be attending her first camp since Worlds this week!)

                        

Surprisingly enough, the insanity doesn't stop there. Simone has also been training a triple twisting yurchenko on vault (I've only seen one video of her actually landing it), as well as a "Mustafina" vault (half on, full twist off).  In a recent interview with International Gymnast Magazine, Simone's coach Aimee Boorman says that Simone would like to introduce another new floor skill to the code of points next season. If Simone actually competes everything she does in the gym, she could have several skills in the code of points; all skills that have an extremely high difficulty value! The possibilities are endless for future upgrades and it's exciting to think about what she might do next! Since Simone is literally dynamite- nothing would really surprise me.

Photo Credit: GymShark

At this point, Simone really is in a league of her own. I don't think there is a gymnast in the world (on the womens side) that is currently doing gymnastics up to the level that Simone is. She is definitely pushing her competitors to step up their game if they want to even think about beating her. The thing about Simone that is refreshing is that she's not just chucking crazy skills into a pit, she is actually doing them very well. I could actually see her competing that double double dismount off beam and landing it! It's not just some crazy impossible skill that she's chucking in the gym. She is so powerful and gets such great height- she could realistically add another full twist onto almost every skill she does! I would not be surprised if we see a triple twisting double in the near future.

                         

Simone Biles, who was almost unknown just last year, is now the new face of gymnastics. She's the girl everyone is chasing. What do you think of Simone's crazy gymnastics? Does she have what it takes to become one of the greatest gymnasts of all time?

Wow, have we really been doing this for 2 years already?

It's crazy to look back at how our blog first started out. When we made this blog at the age of 16, we didn't know anything. I didn't realize the importance behind giving photo credit or using correct grammar. Heck, I didn't even know what the "Gymternet" was.  I just remember following people like Spanny and Bekah on my personal Twitter account and loving their blogs. They made blogging look fun and I wanted to be as good as them someday. So I definitely credit them for giving us the idea to start this. Bekah has always been really helpful from the very beginning with getting our blog on it's feet. She has taught us a lot of what we know today and I'm glad that she's been around to nudge us in the right direction. (Even though we use to butt heads a lot, I realize now that she was right about a lot of things. So again, thank you Bekah!)  One of our goals from day 1 was to create a blog that people would actually enjoy. I'm really surprised with how many followers we've gained since our 1 year anniversary (a little over 3,000) because I didn't even think we'd reach 100! To me, 4,000 people is a LOT of people and I'm thankful for each and everyone of you.

This past year has been all about growing for our blog. Not only have we got to meet so many amazing people, but we've also had so many amazing opportunities that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. Never in a million years did I think I would have the opportunity to interview my idol face to face and watch her train right in front of my very eyes. Never in a million years did I think NBC Sports would be talking about my blog on their site. Never in a million years did I think I would have followers that actually cared enough to help me win VIP tickets to the Am Cup but voting for a video that I made. It's crazy. This blog has even provided Ashlee with the writing experience and references to be able to score an internship at one of the top gymnastics magazines in the world (As kids we always wanted a piece of mail to come in our names and Inside Gymnastics was the first!) Anyways, without "Triple Twist," I wouldn't have had some of the best experiences of my life and I certainly wouldn't have met so many amazing gymnasts, coaches, and friends!

You can click to enlarge!

So the point of this post is to thank you all. If you've been a follower from day 1 we really appreciate it. Even if you are a new follower, we hope you enjoy everything we put out for you guys. Every nice and encouraging comment has meant so much to us and it makes us want to work even harder. Here's to two years and hopefully many more!

2014 Big 12 Incoming Freshmen Preview

Until the start of the NCAA season in January, our freshmen previews will provide some background info on the incoming freshmen for some of the top gymnastics schools in the nation.

In this preview, we look at the biggest school in the Big 12- Oklahoma! 

Chayse Capps

Event(s): All Around

Gym: Infinite Bounds

Accomplishments: 

2011 Level 10 State Floor and Vault Champion
2011 Level 10 Regional Floor Champion
2012 Level 10 Regionals- 3rd All Around
2012 JO National Vault Silver Medalist
2013 JO Nationals Vault- 4th place



How She Can Help The Team: 

The University of Oklahoma is known for recruiting some of the most artistic gymnasts in the country and Chayse is no exception! While balancing 30+ hours a week of gymnastics training, Chayse also squeezes in another 15+ hours of competitive dance! She does everything from tap, to jazz, and even pointe! Capps artistry will be an asset to the team, as well as her powerful tumbling! I could see her making the lineup on floor and vault this season! 

Reagan Hemry

Event(s): All Around
Gym: Bart Conner Gymnastics
Accomplishments:
2010 Level 10 State Champion
2012 JO NIT- 3rd All Around
2012 Nadia Invitational Bar Champion
2013 Level 10 State Champion
2013 JO Nationals- 8th UB

How She Can Help The Team: 

Reagan is phenominal on bars and beam! She has beautiful lines and tends to score pretty high on these events. Although she lacks experience (and difficulty on floor and vault), she will still be an asset to this team on bars and especially beam!

Charity Jones

Event(s): All Around
Gym: Dynamo Gymnastics
Accomplishments:
2011 Level 10 JO National All Around Champion
2012 Nastia Liukin Cup All Around Champion
2012 Level 10 JO National All Around Champion
2013 Nastia Liukin Cup- 8th All Around


How She Can Help The Team: 
Charity Jones will be a huge asset for the Sooner's because she is a strong all around gymnast! She's competed in many pressure situations before, such as the Nastia Cup where she came out on top in 2012 and even on the JO National stage. Charity excels on every event, however she's amazing on vault and floor! I can't wait to see what she can bring to the Sooner's team this year.

 

Kara Lovan

Events: All Around
Gym: Triad Gymnastics
Accomplishments: 
2009 Junior International Elite
2010 JO Nationals-5th All Around
2011 Level 10 Regional Champion
2013 Level 10 Regional Champion
2013 JO National All Around Champion

How She Can Help The Team: 
While Kara is an exceptional beam and bar worker, she's still great on the other two events! I could see her making the Sooner lineup on beam this year because she's a very solid competitor. She could maybe even be an all around threat in the upcoming years if she adds more difficulty. 


 
McKenzie Wofford

Events: All Around
Gym: Zenith Elite 
Accomplishments: 
Elite gymnast from 2007-2012
2010-2011 US National Team Member
2013 JO National Bar Champion, 4th All Around



How She Can Help The Team:
Most of McKenzie's gymnastics career was spent at the elite level where she was an exceptional bar worker for the US. McKenzie has plenty of experience on the big stage, even getting the chance to compete outside of the US at the 2010 Bumbo Cup where she placed 2nd All Around and took home the bars and beam title! I'm sure McKenzie will be a star for the Oklahoma Sooner's, and I wouldn't be surprised to see her competing as an all around gymnast this season! 





Click (here) to check out the incoming freshmen from the Big 10.

All photos came from the University of Oklahoma Gymnastics site.

University of Florida training facility (Video Tour)

In this 4 part series- we get an inside look into the University of Florida's newly renovated training facility! The gym is incredible and definitely one of the best in the NCAA; mainly because of how spacious it is. I'm sure it's appealing to the eyes of many future recruits! I've embedded all parts of the tour down below. Tell us what you think about the new facility!