A new era of Washington gymnastics: Young squad shows grit and promise early in season

When Chelsea Hallinan stuck her roundoff 1.5 twist off beam, her Washington teammates erupted in cheers.

For a team that head coach Jen Llewellyn noted is overall quieter than last year’s bunch, they sure captured the attention of the Mean Girls Super 16 livestream as they raised their arms in the air in celebration. Hallinan held her stick (to ensure she avoided deductions from the new college stick rule) before hugging Llewellyn and making the rounds to high-five her teammates for the first time in her young collegiate career.

Hallinan’s routine was confident. She started off by executing her front toss to back tuck combination, finishing the series with a huge smile. She then hit her leap series, front aerial, and topped it all off by sticking her dismount.

On a day when two of Washington’s most consistent seniors fell on bars, just before the Huskies’ trip to beam, it was the the freshman, Hallinan, who got the team back on track on the event most known for letting things get out of hand.

Llewellyn shared, “One of her teammates actually said, ‘Kudos to you for coming off of a tough bar rotation. You were the reason we flipped [the] switch. You set the tone.'”

Hallinan’s routine earned a 9.875 – Washington’s best beam score of the day. After putting up just a 48.150 on bars, the Huskies rebounded with a 48.900 on beam before closing with a 48.925 on floor.

This kind of poise and clutch performance is exactly why the Huskies brought Hallinan in. Yes, she has all the necessary skills to suceed, but her composure allows Washington to trust a freshman to start its beam rotation on a positive note.

“We recruited her for that spot,” Llewellyn told Gymnastics Now. “We obviously had Brenna Brooks (Brooks now works as a Washington assistant coach) in the leadoff spot for her entire existence at Washington — even before we got there — that leadoff spot is really crucial and important. We’ve been training Chelsea for that all year.”

Still, Hallinan’s technical execution during her first routine cannot be overlooked. She didn’t just avoid the balance checks, but flourished from her arm movements down to her toe point.

“She’s a cat on beam. She’s amazing,” Llewellyn added. “She has such a great body awareness. We practiced obviously good presentation, but she thrived in that moment. She became a little bit taller in her demeanor and a little bit more sharp in her finishes.”

“I told her, too, I think she’s capable of, in her career, getting a 10.0 for Washington. This is just the beginning.”

Hallinan is far from the only underclassmen stepping up for the Huskies. Though Washington still has key veterans like Skylar Killough-Wilhelm, Taylor Russon, and Lana Navarro, the majority of the Huskies’ roster is younger gymnasts with less competitive experience at the collegiate level.

“Last year, we graduated 12 routines, so we have a lot of new faces, a lot of new people in lineups,” Llewellyn said. “It’s great to see our freshmen, newcomers, and returners in new lineups do really well … Our team this year is very young. We only have six upperclassmen, and the rest (12 athletes) are underclassmen.”

Freshman Kristin Lin also made her debut at the Mean Girls Super 16. Lin competed on vault, beam, and floor, hitting all three of her routines. The highlight of her first meet came on bars, when she put in a crucial hit routine as two seniors fell. Lin successfully performed her Gienger-overshoot combination and nearly stuck her full-twisting double back dismount. Like Hallinan on beam, Llewellyn noted to Lin the importance of how she remained dialed-in with the added pressure of teammates falling.

“We were able to reiterate to her how amazing she did in that moment because it could have been easy to let the nerves get to her or overthink, but she just did her job on bars,” Llewellyn said.

Llewellyn is also excited to see Lin shine on floor, where her artistry takes over. Lin has even more difficulty than she showed in her opening meet – including a triple twist – but Washington is in no rush to add more difficulty, especially since Lin’s routine already meets the requirements for a 10.0 start value.

“Coming to floor she’s such a performer. We tapered back on some of her passes because her Achilles was sore … We’re trying to conserve her body. She’s stunning on floor. She goes above and beyond for her dance, her artistry, staring the judges into the eyes.”

Beyond her skill and artistry, Lin’s competitiveness was a key trait that set her apart during the recruiting process.

“She loves the competition. She is probably one of the most competitive people I’ve met just hearing how her and her family play games at home, and I’m like ‘that’s what we need on this team.’”

Washington will have even more freshmen contributing in lineups with McKenna Carnesi and Mary McDonough, who are getting eased into collegiate competition through primarily exhibition routines. Carnesi got the chance to compete vault for the first time competitively against Iowa last weekend, scoring a 9.675, and she is training on all four events.

McDonough competed an exhibition routine on bars at the Mean Girls Super 16. Her freshman year has gotten off to a slower start than initially anticipated because she sustained a foot injury that required surgery before arriving in Washington. She’s working her way back, and bars has been the easiest event for her to train since the injury. She’s most likely next going to compete vault, but Washington is not rushing her back.

The Huskies will get another boost on vault next year with freshman Kira Bolden. Bolden tore her ACL and will be unable to compete this season, but is a three-time level 10 vault state champion. While she cannot contribute with her gymnastics this season, Bolden is still making an impact on the team.

“Such a great teammate, really mature and insightful for giving feedback as a freshman,” Llewellyn said of Bolden. “It’s gonna be a unique year for her, so she can really learn a different role and a different perspective and that’s gonna make her a better competitor next year.”

The sophomores have also stepped up, starting with Emily Innes.

Innes began Washington’s season by sticking her Yurchenko full and setting a career-high 9.875 at the Super 16 meet in Las Vegas. The moment was extra triumphant for Innes, who’s had to battle back from injuries to now become Washington’s trusted leadoff on vault and floor.

Innes missed the chance to compete during her senior year of high school while recovering from shoulder surgery. When she finally got to Washington to return to competition at last year’s Super 16, Innes became sick before the meet. To begin the 2024 campaign healthy and with a stick was one of the best case scenarios for Innes.

“Going into this meet, she was fully prepared,” Llewellyn said. “She’s been our leadoff and been our person on vault and floor. She does that every day in practice, but has never stuck like that in practice because we don’t have a hard landing. We only have one vault with a pit, so we just try to make it as firm as possible.”

“I think it shocked everyone because we knew she was capable of it, but a whole new competitor came out in that moment. That set the tone for the entire vault lineup.”

After Innes, Washington also got a near-stick from Lana Navarro as the Huskies finished vault with a 49.025 – their best event score of the day.

Sophomores Olivia Oppegard, Lilly Tubbs, and Caitlin McWilliams also made significant impacts at the first meet of the year. Oppegard led the Huskies on bars at the Super 16 with a 9.850, while earning a nomination for Pac-12 Specialist of the Week. Tubbs broke into the vault lineup and anchored on bars, as McWilliams put in a 9.750 during her floor debut. She followed it up with a 9.850 against Iowa.

This sophomore class is extra special for Llewellyn since they are the third-year coach’s first recruiting class.

“It’s been really nice to see a lot of our sophomores step up. That was our first recruiting class. Not that we didn’t have high expectations of them, but they are outworking and outperforming their talent on a piece of paper. They’re just an incredible group, such hard workers, amazing kids, and they just continue to get better. I think they’re only going to get better each year.”

This group played a crucial role in helping Washington make their first NCAA Regional Final since 2018 a season ago. With several of that team’s leaders graduating, these sophomores will have to take on an even bigger role as the team tries return to NCAA Regionals this season.

Now three years in as head coach, Llewellyn and the program have gotten closer to narrowing what they’re looking for when it comes to recruiting. Aside from talent, Washington looks for hardworking gymnasts that want to be in Seattle and can help their goal of becoming a top-16 school annually.

Recruiting could see a boost this year thanks to Washington’s football team. While the Huskies fell short of defeating Michigan for the College Football Playoff National Championship, they still attracted more attention toward Washington athletics, which could, in turn, help other teams like the GymDawgs.

“When football does well it does change the game, because Washington’s all over everyone’s TVs across the country,” Llewellyn said.

Ultimately, the seeds have just been planted for Washington’s freshmen and sophomores this season. There will be plenty of changes in the near future – like Washington’s upcoming move to the Big Ten next year – but for now, the focus is on improving each meet. For Llewellyn, this includes trusting her team’s preparation and ability to learn from early mistakes.

“Our potential is really high, and I’m excited to see how they perform throughout the year.”