Category: NCAA

Minnesota, Iowa @ Utah

I watched the 1st NCAA College Gymnastics meet of 2026 on ESPN+.

TV coverage was quite good.

FINAL:
Utah 196.625
Minnesota 195.475
Iowa 194.825

Spencer posted a LIVE blog:

I feel like the lesson of this meet about having competitions on January 2nd was…don’t?

A lot of shaky routines, but on the plus side, the scoring wasn’t all that stupid.

I’m thinking all three teams will want to drop that score. BUT with the new rule in 2026, there are fewer team scores to drop.

Zoe Johnson’s Vault was one highlight for me. 9.925 — would have been higher later in the season.

No. 5 Red Rocks Packed Jon M. Huntsman Center to Open 2026 Season

NCAA Gymnastics is not for everyone

Heather Parker, entering her second season as a gymnast at Central Michigan after transferring from Georgia, posted an important article on College Gym News:

College gymnastics can project an image of perfection–skills look effortless, and the athletes finish successful routines with glowing smiles. Teams broadcast the wins, celebrations, recruits, and rankings on social media.

Less often discussed is what goes into making a team successful and what happens behind the scenes to make those exciting competitions happen.

Jason Vonk, a former assistant coach at George Washington, Yale, and Georgia, had 12 years of experience across the three universities when he moved on from college coaching.

According to Vonk, a lot of what defined his time in college gymnastics wasn’t reflected in the polished version of the sport that fans and recruits see. For him, it was a system marked by fear, silence, and a culture where, as he puts it, “head coaches get complete leeway, and the assistants can’t report them, or they will lose their job.” …

Read more:

College Gymnastics Looks Perfect—

Until You’re Inside It


Greg Marsden responds:

2026 NCAA Preseason Coaches Poll

Defending national champion Oklahoma will start its 2026 campaign at the top of the rankings, securing the No. 1 spot in the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) preseason coaches poll released Tuesday.

The Sooners’ top spot marks the fourth consecutive year the program has earned the No. 1 preseason ranking from the WCGA. Oklahoma received 39 of the 55 first-place votes and 1,960 total points in the annual poll.

The announcement follows College Gym News’ preseason poll, released on Nov. 28, which also projected Oklahoma as the nation’s top team. …

College Gym News

Oklahoma (1960 points, 39 first-place votes)

LSU (1859 points, 5 first-place votes)

Florida (1804 points, 4 first-place votes)

UCLA (1784 points, 4 first-place votes)

Utah (1751 points, 1 first-place vote)

Michigan State (1638 points)

Missouri (1589 points, 2 first-place votes)

Alabama (1518 points)

Kentucky (1434 points)

Arkansas (1433 points)