The Weekly All-Around

Week 8, 2025

Nittany Lions capture a HUGE Win

Week 8 gave us a new ‘upset of the season’ candidate! Behind three stuck vaults, continual hits, and impressive difficulty scores, #6 Penn State defeated #2 Stanford with a score of 321.350-314.450. Heading into the weekend, Stanford felt fairly confident with a week off prior as well as the planned addition of Asher Hong for a lineup spot on five events. Though after the pre-meet favorites kept making mistakes, and the home team kept nailing routines with stuck landings, it quickly became evident they could actually pull off the upset. This weekend, Penn State lived up to all of their recent recruiting success, specifically on the international level. Randy Jepson and his staff have done an excellent job in that department, securing athletes like Akseli Karsikas and Kacper Garnczarek, two staples in the Nittany Lions’ lineups. 

This win is also a testament to the new NCAA scoring format and rules. In years past, Stanford has been able to simply coast to victories based on their difficulty alone  - with 10 elements in routines and five lineup spots. Now? It’s becoming evident that Stanford’s execution scores need a lot of work if they want to earn a coveted sixth-consecutive national title. At the minimum, they’re looking for a high bar tally above 49.850. 

S.C. Pride Regains Confidence

Springfield College has a very historical men’s gymnastics program. A division 3 school, though they’ve held a men’s gymnastics program since the school’s opening in 1885. It’s their division 3 declaration that keeps these guys so hungry, and gives them a sense of “Pride” in their culture. They are the underdogs, they are not supposed to be competing at the biggest stage. Yet, they’ve qualified to the last three consecutive NCAA championships, a number they hope to make 4 this season. 

Last weekend, Springfield undoubtedly pieced together their best meet of the year. CGA Rookie of the Week Kaleb Palacio had a fantastic day, highlighted by a massive handspring double front on vault to earn a 14.300. The rest of the Springfield lineup backed him up on their way to over a 56 team score on vault alone. With a 309.350, they enter the top-12 team conversation. As we know, only the 12 best teams will qualify to the NCAA Championships in April. 

Rest of Season Outlook

The season is shaping up to have yet another thrilling ending, with teams entering their “tiers” before the postseason. There will be a massive battle for the top 12 teams, then another battle for the top 6 teams to qualify for the NCAA Finals, and the final battle for who can become the National Champions. All of this happens after this grueling regular season and the upcoming Conference Championships. Here are the standings today: 

Looking down at the battle for top-12, the averages between William & Mary, Army, and Greenville are separated by just 0.800. That’s not to mention Springfield who has momentum. Next, you look at the battle for the top 6. There may be a drop off from Nebraska to Air Force, but all rankings 3-7 are only separated by around 1.200. That means Ohio State, Michigan, Illinois, Penn State, and Nebraska are all at risk. One of these teams’ seasons will end on day 1 at the NCAA Championships. The question arises - who wants it most?

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Written by Aiden Whitehead

Principal Staff Writer for TURN

About Aiden

Hello gymnastics fans! I’m Aiden and I’m super excited to join the team at TURN as the 'Principal Staff Writer'. I began competing gymnastics at the age of six and immediately fell in love with the sport. I am currently in the midst of my senior season as a competitor, serving my third year as a team captain for the Georgia United GymACT team. Last December, I graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management, with Sports Media Certification as well. I've already acquired a few years of media experience, working a variety of roles with GymACT, Virtius, and Neutral Deductions. In addition to competing, I am an active women’s team coach at Oconee Gymnastics Center, as well as the Technical Director of the Georgia Men’s Gymnastics Judging Association. Evidently — even though I am competing, coaching, and judging — I can never get enough of this sport, so I’m excited to take this new role as well!