With each new season, it’s always exciting to see the newcomers - the freshmen who have just started their collegiate careers. Some come from the very different elite world and were National Team members at one point, while many others come straight from the J.O. level. This year, we’ve already seen a slew of impressive freshmen who are sure to go far in the next four years. It’s especially exciting to see those gymnasts who have come from J.O. and are thriving in the collegiate environment. There are so many talented freshmen this year that it’s hard to choose a few to highlight, but we have summarized our top five below.

Alicia Boren - Florida

Prior to joining the Florida Gators, Alicia Boren was on fire in the J.O. world. She won the J.O. all-around championship four times, in addition to winning the vault title in 2015, the beam, floor and vault titles in 2014, and the floor title in 2013. Boren was also successful at the Nastia Liukin Cup last year, placing fifth in the all-around and winning vault, beam and floor. Boren trained at North Stars Gymnastics Academy under Coach Tony Gehman.

Everyone had high hopes for Boren for her freshmen season, and she has certainly delivered. She’s currently ranked #18 in the all-around and #19 on floor exercise. She’s competed in five meets in the all-around for the Gators, and her career highs are already huge: 9.95 on vault (where she competes a 1 ½ twisting Yurchenko), 9.9 on bars and beam, and 9.925 on floor. Her season high in the all-around is a 39.575, which she achieved in a meet against UCLA. Our favorite event to watch her on is floor, where she is best able to demonstrate her huge power - check out the routine below.

Olivia Karas - Michigan

At the J.O. level, Olivia Karas qualified to championships three times, in 2011, 2014 and 2015. Most recently, she won vault at the 2015 J.O. Championships and placed fourth in the all-around in the Senior C Division. In 2014, she won the all-around and also took vault and bars titles in the Senior A Division. Karas also competed at the 2015 Nastia Liukin Cup, where she placed third in the all-around, and second on both vault and floor. Most recently, Karas trained at IK Gymnastics from 2011-2015. Prior to that, she trained at Lakeshore Academy of Artistic Gymnastics.

Karas has made a huge splash this year as a freshman at Michigan. She has competed in every meet in the all-around for the team and is currently ranked #34 nationally. Her best events are the power events - vault and floor. She’s ranked #2 on vault, where she performs a beautiful Yurchenko 1 ½, and she’s ranked #11 on floor. Her career highs so far are all at or above 9.85 - she has a high of 9.95 on vault (achieved twice), 9.85 on bars (three times), 9.9 on beam, and 9.95 on floor (achieved twice). Her season high all-around score this year is a huge 39.550. Karas is the first individual to win both Big Ten Gymnast and Freshman of the Week in the same week. Check out Karas’ beautiful vault below:

Sydney Snead - Georgia

Sydney Snead trained at Sonshine Gymnastics under Heidi and Milan Stanovich prior to joining Georgia. Snead placed second in the all-around and vault at J.O. Championships in 2014. That same year, she placed first on vault and beam at the state meet and claimed the titles for all-around, vault, beam and floor at the regional meet. In 2013, Snead scored the highest level 10 all-around score with a 39.3 - including a perfect 10 on her Yurchenko 1 ½.

Snead has proved to be a very consistent competitor for the Gym Dogs this year, competing on vault, bars and floor in every meet. She’s currently ranked #23 in the nation on vault, where she performs a very clean full twisting Yurchenko. Her highs this year include a 9.9 on vault and bars, and a 9.875 on floor. Her bar routine shows off great form with legs glued together and hit handstands - check it out below:

Morgan Porter - Missouri

Morgan Porter, a native of Missouri, joins the team this year from Team Central Gymnastics Academy, where she trained under Tom Stevens and Amy Roberts. She won the all-around titles at both the 2013 Region IV and Missouri State Championships, and she claimed titles on all four events and the all-around at the 2014 State Championships. At Regionals that same year, she won vault and bars, and she placed second on floor and in the all-around. She also qualified to the 2014 J.O. Nationals.

Porter has been a solid all-around competitor for Mizzou, a team largely made up of newcomers this year. Her best event is bars, where she’s currently ranked #22 nationally, but she has scored highly on all four events. She has a 9.85 high on vault, 9.9 high on bars, 9.825 high on beam, and a 9.95 high on floor. Check out Porter’s amazing bar routine below, where she performs a Jaeger connected to an overshoot, and a tough double front dismount:

Sidney Dukes - Kentucky

Sidney Dukes hails from Tyler, Texas and trained at East Gymnastics under Martin & Stacy Parsley. In 2014, she placed third in the all-around at the Texas State Championships and also won beam. She finished fifth in the all-around at Regionals and qualified for J.O. Nationals that same year. She also qualified for nationals in 2013, having won floor at Regionals and placing fifth in the all-around.

Dukes has competed in the all-around in every meet this year for Kentucky has proved to be a very reliable competitor. Her career highs include a 9.875 on vault, a 9.825 on bars, a 9.9 on beam (achieved twice), and a 9.875 on floor. Check out her solid beam routine below:





Related:
Early Freshmen Standouts of the 2016 NCAA Season