By Andrew Hartley (@andrewhart1ey) – Spear Reporter
SJSU women’s gymnastics team celebrating their first home victory in the 2023 season. l Photo by Irene Adeline Milanez – The Spear
Thirty-six universities are granted spots to the NCAA women’s gymnastics championships every year based on the team’s National Qualifying Scores (NQS).
Where did SJSU finish in 2023? Thirty-seventh.
While four Spartans were selected to compete in the Los Angeles Regional, it wasn’t the entire team.
But 2024 offers a new start.
A new season. A new apparel provider in Under Armour. New positioning rules implemented by the NCAA. Even a new conference to compete in with the addition of women’s gymnastics in the Mountain West.
The Spartans finished second in the MW preseason poll finishing only behind Boise State. Ironically, the Broncos were team 36 in last year’s national qualifying scores, keeping the Spartans out. Now the two will share the same mat multiple times this year.
“We will make the conference proud and be instantly competitive across the country, as all of us within the league are gymnastics teams on the rise,” said SJSU head coach Joanne Bowers.
So much is changing around the team yet so much is staying the same. Now in her sixth year at the helm, Bowers returns some of the most important names in the program’s history.
At least two Spartans return in every event that achieved All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation(MPSF) First Team in 2023.
They return MPSF Gymnast of the Year Lauren Macpherson, MPSF co-vault champion Jaudai Lopes and have two-time captain Jada Mazury back for a fifth-year. Macpherson tied the best all-around score in school history with a 39.550 and Lopes set the vault school record with a 9.950.
Seeming to have bars, beams and floor covered, it’s the vault that’ll be the most interesting event this year.
Michaela Gentry transferred to Illinois this past year and Ariana Castrence has run out of eligibility. Already their worst-placing event, they lose two key contributors from a year ago.
And as mentioned earlier, the rules this year become stricter. “Gymnasts must hold their finishing position on vault, uneven bars, and balance beam for at least one second or incur a half-tenth deduction,” reads CollegeGymNews. All in an effort to eliminate the ‘college stick’ and see cleaner landings.
So it will be the underclassmen that can step up in a meaningful way this year.
Kyra Cato and Mikaela Pitts will be in their second year which should prove to see progression for SJSU.
However, there’s the incoming class to mention. One of the best since Bowers took over.
“This class will give us our first real depth on each event since I started here in the summer of 2018,” said Bowers.
The class is headlined by USA Today’s 2023 National High School Gymnast of the Year Marissa Ashton and four star recruit Mia Nelson. Along with three other promising recruits, the SJSU youth could be more impactful than they’ve been in years prior.
So will they make the top-36 this year?
They missed out on a top-36 ranking in the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association preseason poll yet still received 13 votes. The Spartans were also in spot 36 exactly in last season’s WCGA preseason poll. Essentially, let’s allow things to play out.
It all starts January 5 at 1 p.m. when the team flies to Las Vegas to compete in the Mean Girls Super 16 Championships. What’s that some of you may ask? Only the largest regular-season women’s collegiate gymnastics event of all time.
With seven of the preseason top-10 teams nationally and current Olympians competing, this should give SJSU a great pulse on where they stand this year.