College gymnastics Week 2 preview: Women’s meets in full swing, men’s competition begins
Last week was the appetizer, but this week is a full course of college gymnastics!
The women’s side will see a full slate of competition for the first time this season, including all of the 36 teams ranked in the preseason poll. Men’s competition also begins, with the weekend highlighted by the West Point Open, a Winter Cup qualifier. We’ll get glimpses at top teams Michigan, Oklahoma, and Stanford (Monday).
Note: The latest rankings are not necessarily accurate/reflective of the women’s landscape right now, as only a fraction of teams competed last weekend.
Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad headlines weekend
The Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad is back for a second year with three quad meets over two days. The one to watch – if you watch any meet this weekend – is Cal, LSU, Oklahoma, and Utah on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. Yep, it’s a showdown between four of the top five teams in the country. Oklahoma will look for a redeeming (and statement) win after failing to qualify for the Four on the Floor final in a shocking turn of events last April. Reigning national champion LSU is expected to have star Haleigh Bryant (strained UCL) back for this meet, and the Tigers will surely want to pick up where they left off, proving their title win wasn’t a fluke just because the Sooners weren’t in the running. Then you have Cal and Utah, who had good outings last weekend. The Bears went 196.275 to start the season, and the Red Rocks posted a 196.775. The sky is the limit for all four teams, especially with fresh recruits like Lily Pederson (Oklahoma), Kailin Chio (LSU), Avery Neff (Utah), and Ondine Achampong (Cal).
(Note: Achampong is still recovering from an ACL tear last spring, and it’s unclear when the British world and European medalist will compete.)
Gymnastics Now is in Oklahoma for the collegiate quad, so stay tuned here and to our social channels for photos, video, and more.
Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad schedule
| Friday, January 10 |
| 9:00 pm | Arizona, Clemson, Michigan, North Carolina State (Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad) – Video (ACCN/ESPN+) |
| Saturday, January 11 |
Best of the Rest
What other meets should you watch this weekend? Well, while there is no shortage of options (see the full schedule and how to watch here), here are our recommendations.
| Friday, January 10 |
We’ll get a first look at preseason No. 3 Florida when the Gators welcome Michigan State, Nebraska, and Northern Illinois to town. Once again, the Gators have a star-studded squad with a few particularly excellent additions, namely UCLA transfer Selena Harris, last-minute freshman addition Ly Bui, and world medalist Skye Blakely. Typical all-arounder Blakely is expected to compete uneven bars in her college debut as she continues to recover from an Achilles injury sustained at Olympic Trials last summer. Kayla DiCello is also continuing to recover from an Achilles injury sustained at the Trials (yes, it was a rough time for many). Other returning talent to watch: Leanne Wong, Riley McCusker, Victoria Nguyen, Sloane Blakely (yes, Skye and Sloane are sisters), Anya Pilgrim, and more.
| Saturday, January 11 |
| 2:00 pm | Arizona State, Auburn, Maryland, Penn State, Temple (Lone Star Challenge) – Live Stats | Video (Virtius) |
We were afraid we’d have another streaming conundrum on our hands this weekend, but it seems the Lone Star Challenge in San Antonio will be streamed on Virtius. Even better: Penn State alum/Ms. Pommel Horse Tess McCracken will be one of the commentators!
| Sunday, January 12 |
| 4:00 pm | Georgia, LIU, Missouri @ Denver – Live Stats | Video |
To close the weekend, we get a first look at a new-look Georgia team. If you’ve been living under a rock, Cecile Canqueteau-Landi – coach of Simone Biles for the past two Olympic Games (along with husband Laurent Landi) – and Ryan Roberts were hired as co-head coaches in the offseason to revitalize the once powerhouse program. Ones to watch on the mat include Hungarian Olympian Csenge Bacskay, two-time world gold medalist and beam queen Kara Eaker, Harley Tomlin (daughter of Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin), and the Dawgs’ incomparable bars queen, Lily Smith.
NCAA Men’s Preview: Stanford seeks class of its own, Michigan looks to topple Cardinal
This week, we previewed the men’s season in a comprehensive story covering all 15 teams. You can read that here.
Here are some other key notes ahead of the three men’s meets this weekend:
- This season, there is a new code, which already makes things interesting (hello, 8 skills per routine! and scales!). The NCAA men are also moving to a 4 up, 4 count format in order to increase parity among programs and make for a better viewing product.
- The West Point Open is the first Winter Cup qualifier of the season. The other three qualifiers are next weekend’s Windy City Open and Rocky Mountain Open, as well as the Stanford Open the weekend after that. The top two (2) non-qualified all-around athletes from each of the four (4) designated qualifier events will qualify to the USA Gymnastics meet. After all qualifying meets, the next three (3) all-around athletes from the combined rank order all-around results from all four Winter Cup qualifier events who are not already qualified will earn spots. In addition, there are other ways athletes can qualify for the meet. See below for the pre-qualified athletes.
- Lastly, Oklahoma is dealing with injuries to key athletes Fuzzy Benas and Emre Dodanli. Inside Gymnastics touched on it in their season preview, and head coach Mark Williams elaborated on X Friday.
- “Emre Dodanli broke his hand in preseason, but is back to full training now, we’re just being a little cautious,” Williams said. “Expect to see Emre on at least a few events at Rocky Mountain Open. Fuzzy Benas’ surgery relatively minor and went well. Hope to have him back shortly after Winter Cup. Fuzzy jammed his thumb at the Arthur Gander competition in Switzerland and an MRI once home showed a tear. Tried to work through, and was fine on all but p-bars, but affected his grip enough wanted to get it repaired. Recovery going very well so far.”
