Internationally Inexperienced doesn't equal Untalented.

Heather Maynez

"It's not a good idea to put a very inexperienced gymnast on the team. That's begging for trouble. Her upgrades won't even help her get an alternate spot."

I read this in a forum after Day 1 of Nationals about Corrie Lothrop in 2008. Corrie was later placed on the 9 person Olympic Squad. And I was like... "Wow, we sure should respect these girls' chances more. You never know who can make the team."

And here we are in 2012... and I read this:
"I can't picture Marta taking a chance on an athlete with such little experience. Also compared to the rest of the field she's pretty weak."  


This was in reference to Kennedy Baker.


I was a little bit taken back. Kennedy's talented. Like, really talented. If you missed the fact that she medaled at the US Classics, she was also the 2009 Bars champion and has been a National Team Member since 2010.

Oh, and then there's this.

(Video by USAG)

She opens with a 1.5 to Double Arabian and then completes a DOS SANTOS for her second pass. 

She also has a host of other big skills that she completes cleanly such as a Patterson which she almost stuck on Day 1 of competition.

Kennedy's AA Start Value is only 3 tenths lower than McKayla Maroney. Kennedy hit 58.05 yesterday. That's a really big score. Bridget Sloan's only hit that once in this scoring system; Sabrina Vega never has. Kennedy could fill in due to injury on literally any event. 

Am I saying that Kennedy's spot is a done deal? To be honest, after last night, I'm starting to wonder if Jordyn's spot is a done deal! (Not really, but you get my point.) Of course it's not a done deal. 

But I will say, a gymnast not having international experience doesn't mean she's untalented. Just because you didn't pay attention to her before this year doesn't mean she hasn't been around. And don't hate on Kennedy (or Elizabeth or Brenna or whoever else), until you've seen them perform.  

For what it's worth, it was less than a year ago when I read this quote about Gabrielle Douglas: 

"A career ended last night."

Anything can happen kids; This is gymnastics. 

Merry Christmas!

MERRY 

CHRISTMAS!!! 

Fresh Face Friday - Texas Dreams Gymnast Macy Toronjo

(Property of the Hults)

Quick Facts :
Name - Macy Toronjo
D.O.B - July 1, 1997 (Senior in 2013)
Gym - Texas Dreams
Coaches - Kim Zmeskal, Chris Burdette and Tiffany Tolnay
High School Class - 2015





Macy Toronjo is one of the 7 juniors at Texas Dreams who qualified to Championships. With a seemingly relentless smile and a unique style on beam and floor, Macy is one to watch.

After spending most of her JO Career at WGA Texans (where LeDuc, Key and Guerra all came from), Macy moved to Texas Dreams in June 2010.

I first took notice of Macy at the 2010 US Challenge where she placed 2nd in the all around. While her difficulty wasn't the highest, there was just something about her that you couldn't help but like. When she qualified to Championships this year, I knew that fans would adore her magnificent technique and glowing attitude.

This girl is going to be one hell of a college gymnast! (Miss Val, Jay, Greg, Are you listening?!) She's hoping to compete in college and her parents are planning to take her to tour campuses in the near future. 

Here's a Q & A with Macy!

What do you see as your biggest strengths and weaknesses? 

"I feel my biggest strength is that I'm powerful but still flexible. Having confidence in myself is often my biggest weakness."

How would your coaches describe you?

"Nice, Hard Worker. Kim has said I am a fighter."

What's your favorite competition you've competed in? 

"Legendz Classic as a Level 9 with WGA Texans. I got to be on the Nastia Liukin Team (2009). It was so fun!" 

Is there a gymnast who you look up to?

"Chelsea Davis."

Can you tell us about a funny or embarrassing gymnastics moment?

"There are a lot of funny moments in the gym with Chris Burdette as a coach!"

Your Questions Answered - 11/28-12/4

(Property of  Inside Gymnastics)

Kim asked: "Does Dare Maxwell still train at Texas Dreams? I noticed her sister competes for Dynamo in Oklahoma, so I'm kinda lost on this one!"

In late 2009 Dare moved to Texas Dreams to train with Kim Zmeskal and Chris Burdette. At this time, she began boarding with Chelsea Davis (and her mother) during the week to train while coming home often to spend time with her family. After Chelsea left for college, Dare began living with the Hults family. Dare’s younger sister Teagan still lives in Oklahoma and competes for Dynamo. She's planning to compete as a Level 9 and qualified to the 2011 Level 8 Regional Championships.

Zoe asked: "What do you think of Nastia and her comeback? Do you think she has a shot? What about Johnson?"

(Property of Quinn Rooney)

I am pleased to see that 5 out of the 6 Olympians from 2008 are attempting to make the team. What do I think their shots are? I think that Nastia, if in top, or almost top form, has a better shot than Shawn does. This is for no other reason than we NEED a bar worker. We have plenty of strong beamers, but if Nastia could get into top shape she could fill the hole that the US has right now. If I had to purely guess what I think will happen? I don't think Nastia will be ready in time. She'll probably compete at Classics and then have an "injury" or maybe just announce that she's not ready. I truly hope that this ISN'T the case, I just really can't see her being in a good position the first weekend of June, when Championships begin. Johnson, if she stays healthy, could potentially make the team, but I see her more likely as an alternate, just because she doesn't really "fill in the blanks" with Jordyn and several other likely candidates on the team. 

(Property of the Reeve Family)

Vikki asked: "Do you know if Olivia Reeve who moved from Great Britain to train at Chow's will be going into level 10 or elite?"

I've been told that the plan is to try to qualify Elite. She and her dad traveled to Chow's in 2010 for what a Chow's insider tells me was essentially a "try out". She has officially moved for the long term at this point and has started school in Iowa. Her website says that she'd like to represent GB in the 2016 Olympics, so I'm not sure how far into the USAG program Olivia will go. She's also not currently training in Chow's group but with Neptali Narvaez & Amy Longwill.

If you're not familiar with Olivia Reeve, she's a 13 year old gymnast and diver from Great Britain.  

Kiyal asked: "When did Jana officially retire and what is she doing now? Same 'where is she now' question about Carly."

(Property of Jeff Sipsey)

While I don't officially remember Jana having a statement about retiring, she competed most recently at the 2009 Visa Championships. She did receive an international assignment to travel to a World Cup Competition in Croatia in November of 2009 but she did not attend. Most recently we saw her as fit as ever performing along with many former elite and college gymnasts in Evolution. 

Although Carly briefly talked about a comeback early this quad, she hasn't competed since the 2004 Olympics. She's currently in school and has made several appearances in gyms across the country. No word as to if she's given up the singing dream. 

Do you have questions of your own? Ask Me! 

10 Things your Favorite Gymnasts (may) be doing this Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

 

If you're not from The USA, this is the day when we celebrate killing hundreds of indigenous people... Okay, not really, but that's how it originated. We typically just eat a ton of turkey, get together with family and give thanks for the things that we have.

Here are 10 things that I think some of our favorite gymnasts may be doing this Thanksgiving: 

10. Miss Val & Rhonda Faehn give thanks for the fact that they won't even have to recruit soon; gymnasts will just come running to their teams.

9. Nastia Liukin makes a "handprint turkey" with no paint; she uses the blood from her newly formed rips.

8. Chris Burdette and Kim Zmeskal Burdette spend their day feeding an entire school of 150 displaced children. How nice! Oh wait, that's just their elite group.

(Property of Karolyi Camp Website) 

7. National Team Doctor Larry Nassar gives thanks that he won't have to set any broken bones until the next Training Camp in Early 2012.

6. Chellsie Memmel cheats her meal plan (as she stated on HBO) and eats Turkey and Fruit. 

5. Jordyn Wieber gives thanks for her spot on the 2012 Olympic Team. 

4. When Anna Liukin asks Valeri to pass the Mashed Potatoes, he becomes oddly overly protective of them and exclaims, "THESE ARE MY POTATOES, I MAKE WORLD CHAMPION POTATOES, DO NOT TAKE MY POTATOES LIKE BITCH TATIANA SCHEGOLKOVA!" 

3. Bela Karolyi attempts to "fit in with the American Traditions" and serves a thanksgiving dinner to Marta & Andrea. Bela says he never knew that stuffing paired so well with roasted camel. 

2. Jen Sey gives a press conference on how Elite Gymnastics caused Indian Turmoil, and how if the Parkettes Coaches weren't so mean, the pilgrims wouldn't have had to move to North America. 

1. Mustafina, Yao,  Komova, Iordache, Qiushang, Afanasyeva, Mitchell, Whelan, Ferrari & Grishina train, while the Americans eat turkey and stuffing!  

Of course these are jokes, thus the "(may)" disclaimer in the title. Don't take anything to heart. It's all good Thanksgiving fun. 

Camp News

After Polina Shchennikova posted a picture of everyone, including Rebecca at Camp, it appears that Marta has asked for things to be kept quiet regarding "big names".

(Was on Polina Shchennikova's FB)

This was a working camp. Girls verified individual skills and combinations and continued to work out. There were not winners of these verifications.

I will tell you, of all of the people who I've talked to, I've asked, "How are Becca & Nastia?" The consistent answer has been "working hard". I'm sorry guys, that's all I know. I've been trying I promise.

Here are updates on girls, as I receive them, in alphabetical order:

Simone Biles is training an Amanar into a pit. It doesn't seem too far off.

Rebecca Bross has a knee brace on, but is working bars and doing a ton of conditioning.

Brianna Brown of CGA won the Physical Abilities Testing.

Nia Dennis is training a Double Twisting Yurchenko.

Ericha Fassbender was invited to camp but did not attend due to an injury just before camp.

Amanda Jetter has been added to the National Team.

Bailie Key has added a standing arabian on beam, and is training a Double Twisting Yurchenko. She's also training a BHS-BHS-LO, Shawn Johnson Style. (To 2 feet).

Lizzy LeDuc is still recovering from elbow injuries that she sustained before moving to Zenith.

Nastia Liukin is "working out like crazy", verified skills on bars and is working beam and floor. She's been added to the National Team.

Katelyn Ohashi has the same bar set plus some new 1 hand pirouette work, like Onos.

Kyla Ross has no major upgrades on beam or floor yet. She's still got the Amanar, which looks good, and I'm not sure how her bars look.

Polina Shchennikova is training a BHS-BHS-5/2 beam dismount. She's also working a BEAUTIFUL L-Grip Endo to Jaeger! She has a minor knee issue, but nothing too serious.

McKenzie Wofford is reportedly training a tkatchev half into jaeger & a double double into pit on bars. HOLY UPGRADES!

All of the Texas Dreams girls look lovely on Bars and Beam.

Currently, I haven't heard about any girls going to Top Gym (begins 11/25).

Please don't ask "How is so-and-so?" You know everything that I know currently, and I will let you know more as soon as I find things out. More info will be coming later today.

Fresh Face Friday - Nica Hults

(Property of the Hults Family)

Quick Facts: 
Name- Veronica "Nica" Hults 
D.O.B. - June 16, 1998 (Senior in 2014) 
Gym - Texas Dreams Gymnastics 
Former Gym- AOGC 
High School Class of - 2016


Nica Hults started grabbing the attention of gymnastics fans way back in 2007, when mom Emer began posting videos of her compulsory routines. In a TOPS Testing Video, we witnessed Nica receive perfect scores on 6/7 events that perfection is attainable and nearly reach the national best on the 20 meter sprint. Thus, I highly doubt anyone was surprised when she made the Tops A Team. After Nica won the Level 9 Regionals and the Westerns Floor title in 2010, a job opportunity moved the family to Allen, TX where she joined the Texas Dreams "Dream Team". 


In 2011, Nica's elite career began to take off. After winning beam at the WOGA & Orlando qualifiers, Nica prepared for the US Classics and hoped to make it to the Visa Championships. Nica went out and surprised the world by winning beamwith a score of 15.05, only a tenth and a half behind reigning World Champion Jordyn Wieber at that same competition! 

(Property of Jessica Frankl)

Unfortunately, a minor injury prohibited Hults from competing All Around at Championships. While she didn't have a "big break" at championships this year, she did finish 5th on beam with a significantly watered down routine. 

This girl is one to watch. Not only does she have fantastic style and grace, but she's also an incredibly sweet and well spoken individual. Marta's taken notice too, as Nica was at last week's Developmental Training Camp. Keep your eyes open for Nica next season and for many seasons to come. 

Here's a fun little Q&A with Nica: 

What is your favorite competition you've competed in? 
"2011 US Covergirl Classic. It was my first podium meet and I won 1st place on beam!"

What do you think your biggest weakness as a gymnast is? 
"My biggest weakness is vault, it always has been. But I'm working on it so that all my events will be strong. "

What are your ultimate goals in gymnastics? 

"To take it as far as I can, hopefully that means making it to the Olympics."

Do you think you'll compete in college?

"Education is very important to our family. Yes, I hope to compete in college." 

(Property of USA Gymnastics)

Who is a gymnast who you really look up to? 

"Nastia Liukin. But I [also] have to say Kim Zmeskal-Burdette, she's the one making a big difference in my gymnastics career by coaching me and helping me to be mentally strong. She's awesome!"

Can you tell us about a funny/ embarrassing moment you’ve had? 

"During my very first competition ever, as a level 5, I jumped off the beam in the middle of my routine when the timer yelled out warning because I thought I wasn't allowed to finish my beam. My coach told me to go back up on the beam and I went through the rest of my routine crying. After that disaster, I competed floor and won first place!"

Top Gym 2011 - Why I think Ohashi will be left off the roster

Honestly, Top Gym is one of my favorite meets of the year. Anyone who knows me around the boards knows that I'm a huge fan of Junior Gymnastics.

Top Gym consists of 2 gymnasts per country with a team final that I don't really understand, an all around competition and event finals. This year, it will take place from Nov. 25th-27th.

In addition to the US, they're expecting gymnasts from Russia, Romania, Canada, Great Britain and a variety of other countries.

The question on everyone's mind is: "Who will Marta send?"
I might be in the minority as I'm thinking that Ohashi will not go to Belgium. Don't get me wrong, Ohashi's fabulous but, if I were Marta, I'd be more worried about 2012 than 2016, or even 2013.

Also, Marta's made a habit of sending national team members with the same coach on international assignments together. Fassbender & Guerra of Stars and Wieber & Moore of Twistars were both sent to Top Gym together, and Marta sent CGA and WOGA pairs out internationally to other competitions in the past year.

That's why, depending on health, I think that Marta has 2 solid choices for Top Gym:

(Property of Examiner.net)

(Property of Emer Hults) 

All four gymnasts: Brenna Dowell & Sarah Finnegan (Left Pic) Kiana Winston & Kennedy Baker (Right Pic) were born in 1996 and are age eligible for 2012. Brenna Dowell and Sarah Finnegan are coached by Al & Armine Fong at GAGE. They both competed in last year's Pan Am Championships where Sarah won the Bronze on Beam. Kiana Winston & Kennedy Baker are newer to the scene, and are coached by Kim Zmeskal & Chris Burdette at Texas Dreams. Although they haven't competed internationally, They've both been impressive for years and in my opinion, this would be the perfect experience for the two of them to prove how great they can be. 

Who knows? I could be wrong. Marta could send Katelyn Ohashi & Kyla Ross. Who do you think she'll send? 

If you're a member of IGF, you can talk about Top Gym here.

Here is the list of competitors from "The All Around" as Teo posted on IGF:

Russia:Yulia Chemareva & Evguenia Shelgunova

Hungary: Dorina Jelencsics & Borbala Nardai

South-Africa: Tylah Lotter & Ryan Bloy

Italy : Carlotta Necchi & Giulia Gemme

Netherlands: Maartje Ruikes & Elise Bats

GBR: Georgina Hockenull & Sarah Strawbridge

Canada:Tara Mauchell & Briannah Tsang & Sydney Soloski & Maddie Copiack & Shallon Olsen & Maegan Chant.

Belgium: Ellen Rabout & Berangere Fransolet & Laura Waem & Jitske De Herdt & Amalia Heine & Lia Baudet.

Romania: Bianca Ciobanu, Paula Tudorache and Andreea Munteanu

Dark Horses for London - Kennedy Baker

(Property of USA Gymnastics)

In an interview earlier this year, Kennedy Baker said that she'd love to go through the Olympic Selection process. Not only do I anticipate her doing this, but I think she'll make to the other side.

It may be because of her lack of presence in online media, or maybe it's because she's one of twelve elites at Texas Dreams, but people seem to forget just how good Kennedy is. She WON bars in 2009. Did you forget about that? Yeah, unfortunately, so did just everybody else. Which is awful, because she's just so good!

This year she competed a 6.2 SV on Bars. That's two tenths higher than Mackenzie Caquatto. With a little blip on high bar, she scored a 14.75 on the routine below, which would have earned her 4th place in the world in the World Championship Event Finals. I know, you're not supposed to compare scores across competitions, but I just thought it was worth pointing out.

She's got a clean double on Vault. I've never seen her miss it. To say that she could get an Amanar in the next 6 months might be a stretch, but it wouldn't be impossible. She's has added a half twist to her Yurchenko every year since 2009.

I really liked Kennedy's floor routine this year. Her music had pieces of "Ramalama" with Kelli Hill-esque choreography. I thought it worked well for her. However, her mediocre start value (5.6) and messy tumbling may keep her out of really factoring in on this event.

(Property of USA Gymnastics)

And then we come to beam. It's upsetting, because when she hits, she's fantastic. If she would have hit Day 2 as well as she hit Day 1, She would have placed 4th on Beam, rather than tying for 13th. She has a 6.1 Start Value, a fantastic Patterson dismount, and a Straddle Jump that even Dominique Dawes would envy. The trouble comes with consistency. Luckily her double turn in tuck position (A Humphrey minus 1/2) is becoming more consistent, but she's fallen several times in the past year.

What scares many people about Baker is that she literally has ZERO international experience even though this is her 2nd year on the National Team. But in my opinion, if Marta sends Baker to Jesolo, Pac Rims or another international competition early next year and she performs well, Kennedy has a fabulous shot at being an alternate or possibly even making the team.

Is there a "dark horse" who you think that I should cover? Let me know in the comments!