UCLA
Ranked first coming into the 2012 season, UCLA is best known for fierce choreography from their superstar coach, Valorie Kondos Field, aka Miss Val. The Bruins won the National Championship title in 2010, and though 2011 started out rough, the team came together in the end, taking second place (less than three tenths behind Alabama). UCLA is currently home to 2011 National Beam Champion and 2008 Olympian Samantha Peszek, who won the all-around in her first time competing for the title at the meet against Utah this past Sunday; they also have NCAA stars Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs and Vanessa Zamarripa on the roster, in addition to fantastic new freshmen like former US National Team members Mattie Larson and Cassie Whitcomb.
Alabama
Alabama won their first Nationals title since 2002 last year after a relatively strong season. In the SEC they usually fall in the shadow behind the star-studded Florida Gators and the fan favorite Georgia Dogs, but with their recent success, the Crimson Tide are prime for another memorable year. Seniors Ashley Priess and Geralen Stack-Eaton will likely lead the team, though the bulk of their talent lies in the freshman and sophomore classes. Last year we saw outstanding debuts from Sarah DeMeo, Kim Jacob, and Diandra Milliner; this year’s anticipated debuts will come from former elites Kaitlyn Clark, Brooke Parker, and 2009 World Vault Champion Kayla Williams.
Florida
The Gators are back and ready to kick butt after an insane 2011 season, where they spent weeks at the top of the charts but unfortunately hit their peak just a few weeks before Nationals, where they failed to make the Super Six. This year they’re looking to take it slow, according to coach Rhonda Faehn; with this guidance combined with their immense pool of talent, the Gators – known for their solid vaults, fun floor routines (look out for the Gator Chomp!), and general consistency – easily have a shot at the title in 2012. Mackenzie Caquatto, Ashanee Dickerson, Alaina Johnson and Marissa King (2011 Vault Champion) are the top athletes to carry over from last year, and new freshmen expected to make waves include Kytra Hunter, Rachel Spicer and Kiersten Wang.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma always flies a little under the radar, though a look at past scores would show high numbers week after week. They placed third in team finals at 2011 National Championships and already had a successful debut this weekend as the winners of a quad meet held in Kentucky. Known for their consistency, the veterans will be the ones to rock this team – expect especially strong performances from Megan Ferguson, Natasha Kelley, Kayla Nowak, Brie Olson and Sara Stone; former US National Team member Rebecca Clark is also expected to make waves in her freshman year.
Utah
Utah generally draws gigantic crowds to their home meets in Salt Lake City, though the performances are sometimes seen by many gym fans as “uninspired,”but I think in 2011, however, the team improved leaps and bounds from earlier performances, and with a hugely talented freshman class this year, they should continue to impress. Each of their newbie athletes – Georgia Dabritz, Kailah Delaney, Kassandra Lopez, Becky Tutka and Tory Wilson – were incredible J.O. competitors and haven already proven their worth to the Utes at their debut meet against UCLA last week; Dabritz was especially strong on floor and should soon be one of the team’s top AA competitors. Veterans Nansy Damianova, Mary Beth Lofgren and Corrie Lothrop will continue to stand out, but pay special attention to Stephanie McAllister and Kyndal Robarts.
Nebraska
Like Oklahoma, Nebraska is sometimes forgotten in the shadow of UCLA and the SECs, but they always manage to creep out at the top of the pack in the end. Ranked at number six coming into the season, the team finished 2011 with a fourth place spot at Nationals after a rough beam set. Many of their top athletes from recent years actually graduated last season, leaving the team in mostly rookie hands. Their biggest freshman catch is Jessie DeZiel, who oddly spent the final year of her J.O. career becoming an elite! After a lucky break during World Team Trials, DeZiel was given a spot on the US National Team, earned a place competing at PanAms, and came in sixth place in floor finals with no other elite experience under her belt; it’s clear she performs incredibly well under pressure and should be a major asset to Nebraska, especially on vault and floor. Lora Evenstad, Janelle Gibbin, and Jamie Schleppenbach are the upperclassmen to watch, each having turned in excellent performances in the past.
Oregon State
Though the Beavers might not pull elite after elite from the recruiting pool like some of the highest-ranked schools, the athletes who make up this team still manage to make it pretty close to the top. Oregon State is always the one to watch on bars, with each individual routine exquisite to watch; as a whole they usually pull off the highest score on this event that’s known for throwing other teams off the mark. Senior Olivia Vivian is perhaps their best bar worker, senior Leslie Mak is typically the top All Arounder (and as a bonus, she hit 51 out of 53 routines in 2011!), and junior Makayla Stambaugh is known for superior consistency on every event but beam, which is OSU’s Achilles heel in general. Also watch for Stephanie McGregor on bars, Brittany Harris on vault and Melanie Jones on floor. This year’s freshman class is largely made up of local unknowns, so it should be interesting to see what strengths they’ll bring to the team.
Stanford
Last year Stanford kept up a high weekly ranking, but then an infamous uncharacteristic blunder at Regionals cost them their spot at Nationals. It was unfortunate but it was also a bizarre end-of-season fluke partly due to the loss of star senior Allyse Ishino due to an ankle injury and the fact that while the Cardinals are known for their consistent high scores across all four events, one athlete’s mistake has the tendency to lead to a breakdown in the whole machine. This year they’ve pulled in an incredible freshman class, including former US National Team members Ivana Hong and Samantha Shapiro, 2008 Olympian Becky Wing of Great Britain, and popular Belgian elite and J.O. athlete Pauline Hanset. Seniors Alyssa Brown and Nicole Pechanec and junior Ashley Morgan should continue dominating in competition, and though sophomore Shona Morgan was limited by injury in her freshman season, she should be expected to take NCAA by storm this year. Notably missing is Kristina Vaculik, who debuted as a freshman in 2011 but is taking this year off in her quest for a spot on Team Canada in the Olympics.
Georgia
With athletes like 2004 Olympians Courtney Kupets and Courtney McCool and coach Suzanne Yoculan leading the team in recent years, the Dogs were always at the top of their game, winning NCAA Nationals every year from 2005 through 2009. The shift to Jay Clark as head coach in the 2010 season seemed to derail the team’s confidence, however, as the Dogs failed to qualify for Nationals only a year after a Championship win. 2011 was another rough year, with generally low scores due to the falls and lazy routines which became characteristic of this once outstanding team. This year, however, the team seems to be back on track, having snagged the top team score in their first week back thanks to clean, consistent performances from nearly every competitor. 2011 Bars Champ Kat Ding in her senior year should rock the house, with veterans Noel Couch, Cat Hires, Gina Nuccio and Shayla Worley contributing strong performances as well. Kaylan Earls, who was injured prior to her first year, debuts strongly this year alongside freshmen standouts Chelsea Davis (this week’s SEC Freshman of the Week) and Sarah Persinger.
Michigan
Though 2011 saw the end of collegiate careers for team stars like Kylee Botterman and Trish Wilson, it’s time to get excited about freshmen Annette Miele and Sachi Sugiyama, both of whom will likely add big scores after awesome elite and JO careers (respectively). Joanna Sampson should continue to dominate on vault, Natalie Beilstein will pull in big numbers on vault and floor, and team captain Katie Zurales is likely to impress in the All-Around. Though Michigan doesn’t generally break the top ten in terms of rankings, they seem to improve a little bit year by year, which I think they’ll continue to do again in 2012 and beyond (for reference, current 2013 and 2014 commits include former junior elite Megan Jimenez, Hungarian National Team member and JO athlete Austin Sheppard, and former US National Team members Morgan Smith and Briley Casanova).
Find out more about each time by visiting team websites. One of the best things about NCAA is that the teams usually have fabulous, inforamtive and well-maintained websites- something we only dream of with many artistic gymnastics federations and teams!
Team breakdowns: Lauren Hopkins
This is a syndicated post, which originally appeared at The Couch Gymnast.
