Big Ten Conference Rankings
Big Ten Conference Rankings
The Big Ten Conference will include ten teams this season with two new teams in Rutgers and Maryland. The Big Ten Conference has shown they can provide top 10 and top 25 teams within the NCAA. Who do you think will be the top team out of the Big Ten this year?
Image Via Michigan Gymnastics Facebook
1. Michigan
Image Via Michigan Gymnastics Facebook
1. Michigan
The Michigan Wolverines will look to maintain their dominance in the Big Ten this season. They will have to do it without Joanna Sampson, Shelby Gies, Natalie Beilstein, Reema Zakharia, and Teresa Arthur. The Wolverines will look for some underclassmen to fill big shoes with the absence of Sampson and Beilstein. Sampson’s absence will provide a big void in the all-around along with her leadership within the team. Michigan welcomes in Brianna Brown, Ilana Gordon, Cailee Hills, Lauren Marinez and India McPeak. Brown and Martinez were both international elite gymnasts who will look to make the lineup and help the Wolverines to more success. McPeak was a member of Ireland and Northern Ireland National Teams. McPeak also resented Northern Ireland at 2014 Commonwealth Games. Look for the Wolverines to show consistency and dominance as they fight for another Big 10 Championship.
Strengths: Experience, been on big stage, leadership
Weaknesses: Depth
Image Via Nebraska Gymnastics Facebook
2. Nebraska
Image Via Illinois Gymnastics Facebook
Image Via Nebraska Gymnastics Facebook
2. Nebraska
The Nebraska Cornhuskers will be another tough team out of the Big Ten. The Huskers will look to replace key routines from Emily Wong and Jamie Schleppenbach. Wong was a top all-arounder who will be missed by Nebraska. The Huskers will be led this season by senior all-arounder Jessie DeZiel. The freshman this year are Kamerin Moore, Grace Williams and Danielle Breen. Moore is a former Junior National Team member who has competed internationally. Moore is a solid all-around performer and has the chance to make a big impact for the Huskers. Williams is another strong all-arounder and with the two Twistars freshmen Nebraska is sure to add some depth to their lineup.
Strengths: Experience, consistency
Weaknesses: Floor depth
Image Via Minnesota Gymnastics Facebook
3. Minnesota
3. Minnesota
The Minnesota Gophers are under new interim head coach, Jenny Hansen for the 2014-2015 season. The Gophers have been a top team in the Big Ten for the past few seasons and will look to show they are again a contender this year. Junior Lindsay Mable will look to provide leadership to this team and is a strong all-arounder. This season Minnesota will be without Dusti Russell, Kayla Slechta, and Justine Cherwink. Russell will be missed in the beam and floor lineups. Slechta will be missed on vault, bars and floor as she provided consistent scores for the Gophers. Cherwink will be missed within the floor and beam lineups. The Gophers welcome in five freshmen in Abby DeMuse, Bailey Gardner, Ciara Gardner, Hannah Hitchcock and Rachel Rowland. These freshmen will look to make immediate impact into the lineup to fill the void of the graduating seniors. Bailey Gardner is from Twistars and comes in as a strong all-arounder for the Gophers. Ciara Gardner comes from WOGA and will bring strength, power and grace in her gymnastics.
Strengths: Experience, consistency
Weaknesses: New head coach
Image Via Illinois Gymnastics Facebook
4. Illinois
The Illini will miss senior Amber See and Sarah Fiedler who were both strong all-arounders. Elizabeth McNabb was a strong on bars and beam and will be missed. Head coach Kim Landrus welcomes in Jordyn Givens and Bridget Hodan who will join the Fighting Illini this season as freshmen. Given and Hodan will both vie for lineup spot to help the Illini compete within the Big Ten this season. The Illini have shown they can keep up within the Big Ten along with showing they can contend within the NCAA.
Strength: Experience, consistency
Weaknesses: Depth, standout event
Image Via Penn State Gymnastics Facebook
5. Penn State
5. Penn State
The Penn State Nittany Lions have shown great promise within the Big Ten. This year they will look to show they can keep up with the top teams. Look for head coach, Jeff Thompson, to prepare his team to be competitive. The Nittany Lions finished fifth last season in the Big Ten (RQS). The Penn State Nittany Lions have four freshmen this year that will look for a lineup spot. The Lions welcome Lauren Li, Chanen Raygoza, Briannah Tsang, and Oni Timothy. Li trained at WOGA and comes with beautiful lines and grace within her gymnastics. Raygza comes with experience being a Junior National Team Member. These freshmen will be important routines for the Nittany Lions with the absence of last year's seniors Lindsay Musgrove and Kassidy Stauder. Musgrove will be missed on vault and floor while Stauder was a key all-arounder for Penn State. Also missing from this year's roster is would-be senior Randi Lau who competed all-around for Penn State last year.
Strengths: Experience, consistency across all four events
Weaknesses: Depth
6. Ohio State
The Ohio State Buckeyes welcome in a large freshmen class with Megan Feltham, Heather Hannon, Taylor Harrison, Kaitlyn Hofland, Alexis Mattern, and Stefanie Merkle. Merkle will look to be an all-around contributor early as she comes with lots of experience being a member of the Canadian National Team and has competed all over the world representing Team Canada. This large freshman class will be looking to fill routines from graduating seniors of Victoria Aepli, Alex DeLuca, Sarah Miller, and Melanie Shaffer. Shaffer was a strong all-around performer; Miller was team captain and was impressive on beam and floor for the Buckeyes. DeLuca was also a team captain who made the lineup on vault, bars and floor. Aepli was also a strong senior that helped this team succeed.
Strengths: Leadership, experience
Weaknesses: Young team
Image Via Maryland's Instagram
7. Maryland
7. Maryland
The Maryland Terrapins will make their debut in Big Ten Conference this season. The Terps were in the EAGL conference last season where they finished second at the EAGL Championships last season. Maryland will be up for a big test in the Big Ten where they will look for leadership from sixth year head coach, Brett Nelligan. The Terps have four freshmen joining the team this season in Abbie Epperson, Rachel Gurnett, Evelyn Nee, and Dominiquea Trotter. The Terps will only lose Jessie Black and Elizabethe Manzi as Katy Dodds, Ebony Walters, and Karen Tang will return for fifth years. The Terps will look to replace routines from Manzi on bars and beam and Black on bars. With their large freshman class and more than half of their seniors returning, they will have a lot of routines to work with and much needed depth this season.
Strengths: Underdog, depth
Weaknesses: Lacks experience
Image Via Michigan State Gymnastics Facebook
8. Michigan State
8. Michigan State
The Michigan State Spartans finished last season ranked eighth in the Big Ten (RQS). The Spartans are led by head coach Kathie Klages who is in her 25th year with MSU. The Spartans have three freshmen this season that will look to help them move up in the rankings. The Spartans will be without Gillian Carr, Dani Levy and Alex Pace. Levy was a strong gymnast that provided leadership for the Spartans. The three freshmen are Anna Gamelo, Victoria Huehn and Hailee Westney.
Strengths: Team spirit, consistent coaches
Weaknesses: Consistency, attention to detail (handstands, stuck landings, start values)
Image Via Iowa Gymnastics Facebook
9. Iowa
9. Iowa
The Iowa Hawkeyes head coach, Larissa Libby, enters her 11th year as head coach. The Hawkeyes will look to improve on their seventh place finish in the Big Ten last year (RQS). The Hawkeyes added Jennifer Green to the gymnastics staff as an assistant coach this season. The Hawkeyes welcome in a large freshmen class of seven gymnasts. These freshmen will need to step up the help this team as they have a very young team. The freshmen are Ashley Fischer, Kadi Knuth, Jori Robertson, Megan Ruzicka, Lanie Snyder, Nikki Youd and Melissa Zurawski. The GymHawks did not graduate any seniors last season.
Strengths: Team spirit, consistent coaches
Weaknesses: Young team, experience
Image Via Rutgers' Facebook
Strengths: Underdog, fresh start in Big Ten
Image Via Rutgers' Facebook
10. Rutgers
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights gymnastics team will join the Big Ten Conference this season. The Scarlet Knights were in the EAGL conference last season where they finished third at the EAGL Championships.The Scarlet Knights welcome in a large freshmen class of six gymnasts. The freshmen include Jenna Crisalli, Sahara Gipson, Elizabeth Groden, Ayana Lee, Elizabeth Nand, and Makenzey Shank. These freshmen will look to make an impact in the lineup to help this team make a statement within the Big Ten. Rutgers graduated Alexis Gunzelman, Alexandria Ivol, Alyssa Straub, and Jenna Zito.
Strengths: Underdog, fresh start in Big Ten