2005-06 Ohio State Women’s Gymnastics Outlook – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Nov. 4, 2005
At a Glance
The foundation continues to be built, but Ohio State still expects to challenge for a top spot among the Big Ten’s best in 2005-06. Four talented seniors and a total of 12 returning letter winners will make sure of that.
Second-year head coach Carey Fagan continues to move the pieces into place to meet expectations of a program with high goals. Ohio State’s 2004-05 record of 6-10 and average team score of 194.160 were a start, but not where Fagan wants the Buckeyes to be.
“Last year was definitely a transition year for our team and coaching staff,” Fagan said. “We had a few successes along the way, but overall we need to improve considerably in every event. A lot of that will come from recruiting.”
Recruiting brought four new gymnasts to the program to not just compliment the returners, but possibly be major scorers for the Buckeyes this season.
“We are definitely still rebuilding and recruiting is still our No. 1 focus, but we have a lot of talent on our current team,” Fagan said. “It’s an ongoing process and we will improve our scores this season and continue to build the program. We will get good leadership from (captain) Emily Sineway and she will help communicate with the freshmen, especially, what our team goals are. Our competitive schedule this year is set up to prepare us for postseason play.”
Two returning Buckeyes know all about postseason competition, as sophomore Karley Walek and senior Kaylin Schlecht advanced to the NCAA Central Region Championships to close out the 2004-05 season. Gone, however, is Elizabeth Meaney, the Buckeyes’ captain from a year ago and a three-time All-Big Ten selection. She joined Walek and Schlecht at the regional championships last year and will be missed, along with fellow senior Jenni Lymanstall. “Liz (Meaney) will be difficult to replace,” Fagan said. “Not just her scoring potential, but her character and leadership. We will continue throughout the season to try to replace that. We’re still transitioning. The team is doing well in the preseason and we anticipate a more successful season. This year the name of the game is keeping our key players healthy, because we don’t yet have the depth we would like to have.”
Veteran Leadership
In addition to Sineway and Schlecht, Ohio State’s senior class includes Leah Boccaccio and Brittany Brown, who is in her second year as a Buckeye after transferring from LSU. Sineway will contribute on beam after an impressive junior season in the Buckeyes’ beam line-up and is also likely to see action on the uneven bars. Schlecht and Brown could once again factor into the all-around. Boccaccio, who missed 2004-05 because of an elbow injury, could be a part of OSU’s rotation on bars. Senior Shelby Warner will medical redshirt her remaining years of eligibility and will remain a part of the team’s efforts in a new capacity by assisting the coaching staff and helping in the management of the team.
Juniors Elizabeth Ahlberg, a vault and floor specialist, and Brittany Livingston, an uneven bars specialist, are also back. Elizabeth Ahlberg is coming off a consistent sophomore season and will likely start off the Buckeyes on the vault rotation and will be right in the mix on floor exercise.
A talented sophomore class, led by Walek, returns after contributing as freshmen. Kaylan Clevinger returns to add depth in the vault and floor line-up and will also compete for a spot in the Buckeyes’ beam line-up. Helina Manesis was a strong performer during her freshman campaign and the Buckeyes are hoping she will use her first year experience to help lead the team on every event this season. Megan Flood will be a factor on the uneven bars, as well as increase the team’s depth on vault. Jessica Rosette has taken some time off to recover from a chronic back injury, but is hopeful to return to action season. Maalika Moore-Thomas was remarkably consistent during last season and has improved her difficultly on every event.
“Maalika is a natural leader and works very hard in the gym,” Fagan said. “Her hard work is paying off and we will likely see Maalika in the all-around competition this season”.
Four freshmen arrived at Ohio State in the fall with impressive credentials; however an injury has already claimed Kiki Holman for the season.
“We are really going to miss Kiki this season in more ways than one,” Fagan said. “She has a great attitude and work ethic and was emerging as one of our top performers this preseason. Her injury was unfortunate, but we are confident that she will return stronger than ever for the 2007 season”.
Alyssa Meyer and Amanda Surine step in as the two top freshmen and will contribute on every event this season. Both come from top programs in the country and are seasoned competitors at the Junior Olympic level.
“Alyssa and Amanda are doing very well in the gym,” Fagan said. “They have adjusted well to college gymnastics and we expect both to compete in the all-around throughout the season.”
Julie Ahlberg, sister of OSU junior Elizabeth Ahlberg, comes to Ohio State as a beam specialist and will provide depth on that event this season.
Uneven Bars
A year ago, Ohio State averaged 48.344 on bars and hopes to bolster that score in 2005-06 thanks in part to increased depth.
“Bars is actually where we have the most team members training,” Fagan said as preseason practice got underway. “We have a lot of potential there, but we have some missing pieces in some routines that we need to fix.”
Schlecht’s 9.900 Jan. 29 in Columbus was OSU’s best performance of the season in 2004-05 and she took her routine all the way to the NCAA regional championships.
“Kaylin had a great performance at the Regionals,” Fagan said. “In fact, it was the second-best score on bars that night. Kaylin missed qualifying to the NCAA National Championships by .25 of a point. We are hoping Kaylin will build on that performance this season, and compete at regionals with her team this year and qualify on to Nationals”.
Fagan singled out Brown, Livingston and Schlecht as the Buckeyes’ top three bar performers. Looking to join the OSU bars rotation are Surine, Meyer, Sineway, Moore-Thomas, Boccaccio, Flood and Manesis.
Balance Beam
The loss of Meaney will affect the Buckeyes on the balance beam perhaps the most. Moore-Thomas will be looked to as OSU’s go-to performer in that event, while a host of Buckeyes aim to have consistent seasons in that event, as well. Ohio State averaged a 48.469 on beam a year ago, its second-best event behind floor.
“Liz (Meaney) was as consistent as you can get and was one of the most consistent beam competitors in the country,” Fagan said. “Maalika could follow in her footsteps and step into that role. That will be key if she can anchor our beam lineup.”
Schlecht and Sineway also have proven to be consistent scorers on the beam for the Buckeyes.
“Our goal on beam is to go up and hit six routines,” Fagan said. “There is no room for error and typically beam is the event that determines the outcome of the meet. Finding the right mix is very important. My goal is to find those six competitors early and stick with them for the season.”
No doubt Ohio State’s freshmen will factor into the beam equation in 2005-06.
Floor Exercise
The offseason saw several OSU gymnasts working with a professional choreographer at a local club to help with them with new music and dance for their floor routines. With new routines and new music, their work over the summer is already paying off and expect the Buckeyes to improve on their 48.555 average on floor last year, which marked their best event.
“Brittany Brown is our top returner on floor and Maalika is also solid and has upgraded her tumbling passes,” Fagan said. “We will see good things from those two specifically. We need to replace Jenni (Lymanstall) and Liz (Meaney), but we hope between Alyssa and Amanda we can fill those two spots. Kiki would have been a top performer on this event, but we have some depth to work with on floor and we will expect team members to step it up and fill these vacancies. Floor is also the top event for Elizabeth Ahlberg and we may see action from her as the season progresses.”
Vault
Like bars, the Buckeyes averaged a 48.344 on vault in 2004-05 and hope to improve on that scoring average this season. Holman was expected to come in as Ohio State’s top vaulter, but the Buckeyes will wait until 2006-07 for her assistance. However, another freshman, Surine, could be just as talented and will help OSU right away.
“Our goal is to have six vaulters who we can send out there all with 10.0 start values,” Fagan said. “Our freshmen will help with that effort. Amanda finished strong on vault at Junior Olympic nationals last year and will be able to help us improve our vault score.”
Walek anchored Ohio State’s vault rotation last year and posted a team season-best score of 9.900 Feb. 12 in Columbus. “Karley is working through some ankle problems, and we have limited her training to vault a few times a week. We are hoping that modifying her workouts will allow her to compete this season”. In addition, Brittany Brown, Manesis, Moore-Thomas and Elizabeth Ahlberg will all contribute on vault.
The Program
Again this season, Fagan will be assisted by Bill Lorenz and Jay Santos.
“We are anxious to get the season underway,” Fagan said. “We are happy with the progress the team is showing in the gym and ready to start a new year. The team chose a motto this year of `Make it Happen’ and we have been working hard to achieve the goals that we set for the program.”
Ohio State begins its season Dec. 4 with the OSU Mixed Pairs Championships, a co-ed intrasquad exhibition meet. The regular season begins Jan. 7 at Ball State and concludes March 25 with the Big Ten Championships, hosted by Michigan State.
### Go Bucks! ###
