Sami Durante with LSU's associate head coach Jay Clark. Photograph: Danna Durante/Twitter
The 2018 NCAA season is still
months away, but it is never too early to start knowing the incoming freshman class for each team.
This is both a way to begin thinking of potential
lineups, and a way to get to know
less well-known gymnasts and their routines.
After #1 Oklahoma, we now analyse the freshman class of #2 LSU. The Tigers were the runner-ups at both the 2016 and the
2017 Nationals. They are the current SEC
champions, and this year they had their best ever season. Their motto was ‘all heart’ and their commitment and passion have drawn fans
from all over the U.S. and beyond (me included!).
LSU said goodbye to three of the
best seniors in the country: Sydney Ewing, who was third on vault at
Nationals this year and competed every meet on vault, beam and floor. Ewing was
also LSU’s lead-off on floor; Shae
Zamardi, who was the lead-off on bars and the second up on floor all season
long; and Ashleigh Gnat, one of the
best gymnasts LSU has ever had. Gnat was the anchor on vault, where she performed
a DTY, beam and floor, and scored nine perfect 10.0s throughout her career. She
will be the hardest Tiger to replace.
LSU will welcome four new freshmen: Reagan
Campbell, from Lewisville, Texas; Gracen
Standley, from Mobile, Alabama; Bridget
Dean, from Fort Myers, Florida; and, last week’s news, Samantha (Sami) Durante, from Athens, Georgia.
REAGAN CAMPBELL
Reagan Campbell trains at Texas
Dreams with Kim Zmeskal, a gym
that has produced such great gymnasts as U.S. junior champion Bailie Key, Olympic alternate Ragan Smith and NCAA stars Kiana Winston (Alabama) and Kennedy Baker (Florida).
Campbell qualified for the JO
National Championships for four straight years (2013–16) and finished in
sixth place or better in all four editions (fifth in 2016, sixth in 2015,
fourth in 2014 and third in 2013). She also won silver on balance beam for
three consecutive years (2013–15). Campbell also competed at the Nastia Liukin Cup in 2013 and 2014,
where she finished fifth in 2013 and eighth in 2014.
Campbell is an excellent all
around gymnast. She has pretty lines on all apparatuses, pointed toes, good
amplitude and she is very consistent – she basically has the profile Texas Dreams gymnasts are renowned for. She will be a
great asset in the all around, but she is particularly consistent on balance
beam. She could be in the line-up already in the very first meet.
GRACEN STANDLEY
Gracen Standley trains at Cincinnati
Gymnastics Academy with Mary Lee
Tracey, who also coached U.S. junior champion and current LSU Tiger Lexie Priessman.
Standley competed at the JO
National Championships in 2013, 2014 and 2016. Her best year was 2016, when
she finished seventh in the all around and third on bars. In 2016 she also
competed at the Nastia Liukin Cup,
where she finished thirteenth.
Standley is incredibly strong on
the uneven bars and on floor exercise. On bars, her NCAA routine is
potentially ready. She performs a Jaeger linked to a shoot-over to the low bar
and a high full-in dismount. On floor, she has high tumbling passes and
consistent landings. She is a bit shaky on beam, but who knows? Ashleigh Gnat was the same as a
freshman, and she ended up anchoring beam for the Tigers in her junior and
senior years!
BRIDGET DEAN
Bridget Dean trains at Orlando
Metro Gymnastics, a gym that has produced a lot of successful NCAA
gymnasts, especially for the local Florida
Gators.
Dean competed at the JO National
Championships in 2015, where she finished eighth in the all around and
seventh on balance beam. In 2015 she was also Florida state champion as a Level 10 in the all around, on bars and
beam. Back in 2013 she competed at the Nastia
Liukin Cup and finished tenth.
Dean is very strong on the uneven
bars, which is very good news for LSU, whose weakest apparatus is indeed bars.
She competes a Maloney and a very
high double layout. She is also
excellent on floor. Back in 2013, she used to perform a whip to double pike, a
Rudi and a double tuck.
SAMI DURANTE
Sami Durante trains at Georgia
Elite Gymnastics. She has had a tough summer. Until a few months ago, she
was planning to join Georgia as a walk-on, where her mother, Danna Durante, was head coach. After a
disastrous finish at the NCAA Nationals in April, however, Danna Durante was sacked, and Sami Durante was released from the
Gymdogs. After months of uncertainty, Durante announced her decision to join
LSU, a university she picked over Oklahoma, Florida, Utah and Pittsburgh.
Durante competed at the JO
National Championships in 2017, where she finished sixth on the uneven
bars. In 2017 she was also Region 8
champion on the uneven bars and balance beam and was second in the all
around. She was also the balance beam
champion at the 2017 Georgia State Championships. Durante competed at the
JO Nationals also in 2014 and 2015. Her best result came in 2014, when she
finished thirteen in the all around.
Durante’s best apparatus is also
bars. Her routine is full of difficult skills, including a Jaeger, a Pak
salto, a full pirouette and a full-in dismount. She has big potential on the
other apparatuses as well. Even though she has been a bit inconsistent in the
past, the LSU coaches are miraculous in this regard!
By Talitha Ilacqua
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