Recruiting Breakdown: Gym Dogs Bring In Four New Faces
Recruiting Breakdown: Gym Dogs Bring In Four New Faces
Get to know the newest Georgia Gym Dogs, including former U.S. elites Marissa Oakley, Emily Schild and Ashley Foss.
The 2018 NCAA gymnastics season is still months away, but it's never too early to get to know the incoming freshman class for each team. Here's a breakdown of the new additions Georgia has made for next year.
The Bulldogs had a rollercoaster ride of a season -- especially on balance beam -- and struggled to break the 9.800 mark on vault and beam at the NCAA championships. After a rough performance at NCAAs, Georgia made some changes to its coaching staff. Danna Durante was fired in late April and assistant coaches Jay Hogue and Phil Ogletree were not retained. Georgia announced that former Gym Dog Courtney Kupets-Carter would be the new head coach on May 11. Suzanne Yoculan, who guided Georgia to 10 titles, was immediately pegged as a volunteer assistant. Interview with Kupets here.
Outgoing: Ashlyn Broussard, Morgan Reynolds, Beth Roberts, Rachel Schick
The four seniors accounted for 10 routines this season -- two on both bars and floor and three on vault and beam. Broussard was in both the vault and balance beam lineups. She had some difficulty with consistency on beam, but when she hit she was capable of bringing in a big score. Reynolds competed vault, bars, and floor consistently all season and brought in solid scores on all three events. She was also in the beam lineup in half of the meets. Schick had great lines on bars and beam and often brought in a big score for the Gym Dogs. Roberts contributed on both vault and floor. There are vacancies in all four lineups, and with a talented group that included three former elites there will be plenty of competition for the six competitive routines.
Incoming: Ashley Foss, Marissa Oakley, Emily Schild, Madison McPherson
Trains at North Stars Gymnastics
Coached by Tony Gehman and Ashley Umberger
Foss advanced to the 2016 J.O. National Championships where she earned the national title on balance beam. She finished 10th in the all-around, fourth on uneven bars, and ninth on vault. She earned third in the all-around, second on uneven bars, and sixth on vault at the Region 7 championships. She was also the regional floor champion. Foss competed as a junior elite in 2012 and 2013. She competed at the Secret U.S. classic and at nationals in both 2012 and 2013. She tied for eighth on floor exercise in 2013 at the U.S. Classic. She competed at the P&G championships in 2013 for the first day of competition before suffering an injury. Foss missed the entire 2014 season and much of 2015 due to injury.
Video courtesy of USA Gymnastics
Impact events: Balance beam and floor exercise
Trains at Everest Gymnastics
Coached by Qi Han and Yiwen Chen
Oakley was slated to make her senior elite debut at the Secret U.S. Classic in 2015 but suffered a severe knee injury during competition warmups. She did not compete in 2016, but made a return to the competition floor at the U.S. Classic and P&G Championships this summer. She had outstanding performances on bars, including a double double tuck dismount, and tied for third on the event with a 28.400. As a junior elite, Oakley finished 11th in the all-around at both the P&G Championships and the Secret U.S. Classic and eighth on balance beam at the Secret Classic. Oakley was third on balance beam at the 2014 J.O. National Championships. She earned fifth in the all-around, second on bars, and third on beam at the 2013 J.O. National Championships and 11th on beam in 2012. Oakley finished her J.O. career as a two-time Region 5 all-around champion (2013, 2014) and earned regional titles on uneven bars (2013, 2014) and balance beam (2012). She was a two-time Illinois state champion in the all-around (2012, 2014) and on bars (2012, 2014) and floor (2014).
Video courtesy of USA Gymnastics
Impact events: Uneven bars and balance beam
Trains at Everest Gymnastics
Coached by Qi Han and Yiwen Chen
Schild competed at the 2016 Olympic Trials where she finished ninth on vault. She earned 13th in the all-around at the 2016 P&G championships and ninth on uneven bars. She was fifth in the all-around at the Secret U.S. Classic where she earned ninth on both uneven bars and floor exercise. She opened up the 2016 season at Jesolo where she helped the team to a gold medal and earned third on vault and fifth on bars. Schild made her senior international debut in 2015 at Jesolo. She was a member of the gold-medal winning U.S. team at the 2015 Pan American Games. She earned 12th in the all-around and eighth on bars at nationals. She competed at the 2013 Nastia Liukin Cup where she tied for fifth on floor and finished seventh on vault. She took third on vault at the Secret U.S. Classic and eighth at the P&G national championships that year. Schild competed at the 2012 J.O. National Championships where she earned ninth in the all-around and on vault. She finished third on beam, seventh on bars, and eighth in the all-around at the Region 8 championships in 2012.
Video courtesy of USA Gymnastics
Impact events: Vault and uneven bars
Trains at Georgia Elite
McPherson was eighth in the all-around at the 2017 Region 8 championships where she also took third on vault, fourth on floor, and ninth on balance beam. She earned fourth in the all-around and on both bars and floor at the Georgia state championships. She qualified to the 2017 J.O. National Championships but did not compete. McPherson was the Georgia state champion on bars in 2015 where she tied for second on vault, took third in the all-around, fourth on floor, and fifth on balance beam. She was a four-time Region 8 qualifier.
Impact events: Uneven bars and balance beam
Note: This article was modified from its original version
The Bulldogs had a rollercoaster ride of a season -- especially on balance beam -- and struggled to break the 9.800 mark on vault and beam at the NCAA championships. After a rough performance at NCAAs, Georgia made some changes to its coaching staff. Danna Durante was fired in late April and assistant coaches Jay Hogue and Phil Ogletree were not retained. Georgia announced that former Gym Dog Courtney Kupets-Carter would be the new head coach on May 11. Suzanne Yoculan, who guided Georgia to 10 titles, was immediately pegged as a volunteer assistant. Interview with Kupets here.
Outgoing: Ashlyn Broussard, Morgan Reynolds, Beth Roberts, Rachel Schick
The four seniors accounted for 10 routines this season -- two on both bars and floor and three on vault and beam. Broussard was in both the vault and balance beam lineups. She had some difficulty with consistency on beam, but when she hit she was capable of bringing in a big score. Reynolds competed vault, bars, and floor consistently all season and brought in solid scores on all three events. She was also in the beam lineup in half of the meets. Schick had great lines on bars and beam and often brought in a big score for the Gym Dogs. Roberts contributed on both vault and floor. There are vacancies in all four lineups, and with a talented group that included three former elites there will be plenty of competition for the six competitive routines.
Incoming: Ashley Foss, Marissa Oakley, Emily Schild, Madison McPherson
Ashley Foss
Towaco, New JerseyTrains at North Stars Gymnastics
Coached by Tony Gehman and Ashley Umberger
Foss advanced to the 2016 J.O. National Championships where she earned the national title on balance beam. She finished 10th in the all-around, fourth on uneven bars, and ninth on vault. She earned third in the all-around, second on uneven bars, and sixth on vault at the Region 7 championships. She was also the regional floor champion. Foss competed as a junior elite in 2012 and 2013. She competed at the Secret U.S. classic and at nationals in both 2012 and 2013. She tied for eighth on floor exercise in 2013 at the U.S. Classic. She competed at the P&G championships in 2013 for the first day of competition before suffering an injury. Foss missed the entire 2014 season and much of 2015 due to injury.
Video courtesy of USA Gymnastics
Impact events: Balance beam and floor exercise
Marissa Oakley
Huntersville, North CarolinaTrains at Everest Gymnastics
Coached by Qi Han and Yiwen Chen
Oakley was slated to make her senior elite debut at the Secret U.S. Classic in 2015 but suffered a severe knee injury during competition warmups. She did not compete in 2016, but made a return to the competition floor at the U.S. Classic and P&G Championships this summer. She had outstanding performances on bars, including a double double tuck dismount, and tied for third on the event with a 28.400. As a junior elite, Oakley finished 11th in the all-around at both the P&G Championships and the Secret U.S. Classic and eighth on balance beam at the Secret Classic. Oakley was third on balance beam at the 2014 J.O. National Championships. She earned fifth in the all-around, second on bars, and third on beam at the 2013 J.O. National Championships and 11th on beam in 2012. Oakley finished her J.O. career as a two-time Region 5 all-around champion (2013, 2014) and earned regional titles on uneven bars (2013, 2014) and balance beam (2012). She was a two-time Illinois state champion in the all-around (2012, 2014) and on bars (2012, 2014) and floor (2014).
Video courtesy of USA Gymnastics
Impact events: Uneven bars and balance beam
Emily Schild
Huntersville, North CarolinaTrains at Everest Gymnastics
Coached by Qi Han and Yiwen Chen
Schild competed at the 2016 Olympic Trials where she finished ninth on vault. She earned 13th in the all-around at the 2016 P&G championships and ninth on uneven bars. She was fifth in the all-around at the Secret U.S. Classic where she earned ninth on both uneven bars and floor exercise. She opened up the 2016 season at Jesolo where she helped the team to a gold medal and earned third on vault and fifth on bars. Schild made her senior international debut in 2015 at Jesolo. She was a member of the gold-medal winning U.S. team at the 2015 Pan American Games. She earned 12th in the all-around and eighth on bars at nationals. She competed at the 2013 Nastia Liukin Cup where she tied for fifth on floor and finished seventh on vault. She took third on vault at the Secret U.S. Classic and eighth at the P&G national championships that year. Schild competed at the 2012 J.O. National Championships where she earned ninth in the all-around and on vault. She finished third on beam, seventh on bars, and eighth in the all-around at the Region 8 championships in 2012.
Video courtesy of USA Gymnastics
Impact events: Vault and uneven bars
Madison McPherson
Bishop, GeorgiaTrains at Georgia Elite
McPherson was eighth in the all-around at the 2017 Region 8 championships where she also took third on vault, fourth on floor, and ninth on balance beam. She earned fourth in the all-around and on both bars and floor at the Georgia state championships. She qualified to the 2017 J.O. National Championships but did not compete. McPherson was the Georgia state champion on bars in 2015 where she tied for second on vault, took third in the all-around, fourth on floor, and fifth on balance beam. She was a four-time Region 8 qualifier.
Impact events: Uneven bars and balance beam
Note: This article was modified from its original version