re: Remove

Don't know if Ballard was just in the alternate spot on floor for 101, but she NEEDS to be in the floor lineup if she keeps it up. Great difficult tumbling, good leaps, confidence, and easily the best and most engaging performance quality of the lineup (which as a whole I found a bit lacking but hopefully that's just a sign of early nerves). Her landings look rock solid already too which is great. She looked great on beam, but needs better composition (which most of them need). Alyona was another highlight for me on floor too, excited to see what she brings to the team now that she's healthy because her potential is just tremendous. The horrible dismount on bars NEEDS to go though. I can't believe Jay is keeping it around again.

And I was also impressed with Chase Brock! She seems like she'll be a Cannamela type athlete - perhaps not the flashiest or getting the most attention, but super clean gymnastics that will reliably go 9.8+ every time.

Elena could be huge for the team, just needs a bit more time to polish things up and get more confidence I think. But her potential is really high and she could get close in the AA to Johnson and Bryant if she keeps improving.

Bryant is going to be a star no matter what. She's ridiculously good.

Florida’s looking pretty polished on their intrasquad clips today. Trinity is so damn good especially on floor.

I think Jay put the overall health of the team first this fall. LSU has been behind the clock health wise the last couple years. We are probably a couple weeks behind where we should be but I think focusing on our health now will be big down the road. When was the last time Desiderio was healthy enough to open the season on floor? This year she is as healthy as ever.

LSU may have a “slow start” to open the season but I anticipate much higher scores than the start of the last two years. The scores will take off once the freshmen get experience and confidence. Elena can go 9.9+ on bars and floor. Dunne can go 9.9+ on bars, beam and floor, Bryant can go 9.9+ on every event. Alyona also being healthy will bring in good scores.

Keep in mind Finnegan, Priessman, Kelly and Cannamela class didn’t start finding those big scores until they got experience as freshmen. Good things are on the way for this team!

By no means am I an expert, but I thought the team looked to be in really good shape considering the short training time due to COVID. Also, Shchennikova looked really good too. You can tell she is a competitive person and a perfectionist. Anxious to see what the more seasoned people here think about Gym 101. One more thing, the freshmen are extremely talented!

Yeah they changed the rules where you can’t contact athletes until their junior year in high school. I think Konnor is only technically in the 9th grade (but I could be wrong because she’s homeschooled).

With the season right around the corner, it be fun to preview some possible lineups.
Obviously starting out on vault. At 101, the vaults definitely were a bit shaky on landings but at the same time, we had mostly watered down vaults from what they are doing in the gym.

I think its safe to say Alyona is one of the biggest improvements from last year and adding her to the vault lineup will be big. I was also very impressed with Kamryn Ryan on vault this fall but the vault at 101 was terrifying. Olivia Dunne did not vault as she was recovering from COVID but has a solid full with straight body line. There are obviously other vaulters not listed below. that are training by focusing on the main group right now.

Potential Vaulters:
Olivia Dunne
Elena Arenas
Haleigh Bryant (10.0)
Chase Brock (training 1.5)
Alyona Shchennikova (10.0)
Kiya Johnson (10.0)
Maddie Rau (10.0)
Kamryn Ryan (training 1.5)
Sarah Edwards (10.0)

Sierra Ballard is also training a 1.5.


There is no question the last 3 vaulters will be Bryant, Edwards and Johnson. That is as good as it gets in college gymnastics. Alyona IMO has secured a vault spot based on her body of work so far this fall. Adding her 1.5 will give us four 10.0. vaults to start the year. Chase Brock has a nice vault to work with with potential to upgrade. She has a very straight body line on vault with overall good form, although did not get the best block off the table at 101. Elena was top notch vaulter as an elite gymnast although my main concern with her right now is she is piking down her vault a lot which I hope Bob can clean up. She does get a lot of pop off the table and her legs are squeezed together. Rau's 1.5 is better this year although consistency is a question.

I still think K. Ryan can break into this lineup. She is a strong vaulter. She finished top 4 at JO's on vault for a reason. She has a nice 1.5 in the gym. I think she let nerves get to her at 101 which resulted in that scary vault. I think if they let her vault opening night its gonna be a full before they bring out her upgraded vault. I think the ultimate goal is to have five 10.0 vaults by post season. With a truncated season, some of the vaults will need to get up to speed quicker than a normal year.

I feel secure about 4/5 spots in the lineup on vault but there will be some competition for those last couple spots. The lineup we first see may not be the one we see to end the year. Its unfortunate we do not have Kai this year as her vault would have been very nice with this group.

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I would say the locks I have right now are Erenas, Johnson, Edwards, Bryant, and Alyona. I think the last spot is between Ryan and Brock. I feel Erenas is a lock because of her consistency and form (minus a little pit of piking), which is why I don’t have Rau in the lineup (at least not to begin the season). You can’t count 9.7s and expect to win a championship. I think if LSU can field at least five 10.0 vaults, then they’ll have a good chance to contend for a title. That final 2017 lineup of Gnat, Edney, Ewing, Hambrick, Harrold, and Finnegan (scoring wise) is where I feel they’ll need/want to be.

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I agree with this. Honestly if everyone is hitting (at their best), I think the best lineup would end up being Arenas, Ryan, Alyona, Bryant, Edwards and Johnson. If Ryan can take the vaults she is doing in the gym, I think she finds a spot eventually. If not I think Brock will be in the lineup unless Rau, Ballard or Dunne step up and find their way in.

Arenas could also do a 10.0 vault although I am not sure they want to rush too many vaults. A. full with the rest being 10.0's are more than competitive for post season.

Will be watching to see how Ballard develops under Bob, she had been training a 1.5 intermittently the last couple years. I really really like what the freshmen walk on's add to the team this year.

I love Haleighs, that music and her power go so well together! Excellent music choice for her.

Ballard is a dark horse for me to make floor lineup. She looks very confident, great dance, leaps were good! If she cleans up that double layout a little, I definitely can see her in the floor lineup! She has already cleaned up a lot since coming to LSU, her making a lineup eventually honestly wouldn’t shock me despite there being bigger names.

I think floor lineup is up in the air right now, I think there are legit a lot of options to choose from. There are a couple routines that I do question if they will be consistent. Can Gunter be consistent with her double Arabian? Can Edwards be consistent with her 2nd pass? It’s one thing to do them at 101 or in practice but consistency is key. Just one bad event can take a team out of a 197 into 196 range which happened many times last year.

I really like Alyonas routine right now too. That I have to say was smartly constructed. It fits her very well and she is tumbling with a lot of confidence. Very night and day from her time as an elite.

I think Campbell will be a good lead off. Not the most difficulty but clean, artistic, and steady, which is exactly what you want! It will set the other routines up well.

We can discuss bars tomorrow