8 Freshman debut routines in week 1 and one debuted in the AA. Helen Hu made front aerials look as easy as forward rolls, Missouri is going to be what we thought they would be, THEY DID THAT yes WMU Alum with a beam routine and an Towson athlete with a bar combo that needs attention. Our R5 University Line-up started a bit slow, Alien and Chain things with CMU and Kim it’s week 1 and of course we have camera angle issues.
2025 NCAA Gymnastics season kicked off this past weekend and we have already seen some awesome routines from the Region 5 alums. The scores from many of the competitions around the country were tight with many in the current top 10 scoring at 195+ opening weekend. We saw quite a few freshman alums make their debuts and make sure you check out this weeks podcast as we break down most of those routines.
ALUMonday gets its season debut with Week 1 being a bars and beam week for our Region 5 Alums. Check out these 10 routines that were clutch for their teams in the opening weekend.
Make sure you check out our R5 College Salute Youtube Channel and subscribe for more videos and podcast segments all season long. We talk everything R5 Alums on the R5 College Salute Podcast every Wednesday during the NCAA season. Check it out and subscribe to never miss an episode. Now…. Press Play on these 10 routines.
Emily Krzciok, WMU Beam 9.9 vs MSU
Competing in the line-up and exhibition only a couple times in 2024, Emily took full advantage of her opportunity in her first meet of her sophomore year with this awesome routine featuring a very solid aerial layout step out.
Check out our College Salute Live on our Youtube Channel where we watched the meet with our special guest WMU alum Amanda Gruber and discussed the meet in real time along with other stories and bits of information.
Lia Kmieciak, CMU Bars 9.825 vs Minnesota
Lia has returned this season from a knee injury in 2024 and rocked her first landing on beautiful double layout.
Halle Faulker, WMU Vault 9.825 vs MSU
The MAC Vault Co-Champion her freshman year, Halle continues to put out big vaults for the Broncos. She performs a very well executed Yurchenko Full.
Cady Duplissis, MSU Beam 9.85 vs WMU (Freshman Debut)
Cady debuted on vault and beam this past weekend. Cady is a strong all around gymnast with big skills on each event. Her triple flight is very well performed and her teammate wanted her to own it …. I think she did that!
Cassi Barbanente, PSU Bars 9.825 vs Penn and New Hampshire (5th year transfer from ASU)
Cassi was a regular in the bar line-up at ASU with her strong swing and huge double layout dismount. She is continuing where she left off as she rocks her dismount in her first routine as a Nittany Lion.
Katie Harper, NCState Bars 9.9 vs Towson
Katie has always been strong on bars and she has continued that in her college career. As the anchor for the Wolfpack, Katie gets the job done.
Reese Samuelson, WMU Bars 9.8 vs MSU
Reese competed in one meet last season as a freshman but has returned this season stronger and with a new bar routine that features a very nice piked Jaeger.
Grace Sumner, Ball State Bars 9.85 vs Missouri Quad
Grace has been a mainstay in the Cardinal line-up on bars and beam the last few seasons and has kicked off her senior year in fine fashion
Ava Jordan, Michigan Bars 9.825 vs Denver
AJ had to pick the Wolverines back up competing after two missed routines before her. She nailed her handstands and popped a very nice straddle Jaeger into the air for the second highest score for Michigan.
Sage Kellerman, MSU Vault 9.925 vs WMU
Sage knows how to kick off the 2025 season by rocking her handspring front pike 1/2 which by the way is one of the best in the NCAA and it continues to get better every year.
Our collection of highlights from the 2024 gymnastics season in Region 5. The Cheers our region is known for, the Celebrations, the stuck landings, awesome skills and more! We salute our Region 5 athletes with our Best of 2024 Region 5 Highlights.
Here we go again, College Gymnastics is back and we have many Region 5 Alums more like hundreds and thats no joke to talk about over the course of this season! We have a lot of new freshman looking to make their debuts and we will highlight 10 of them on the show, we breakdown some of the big routines we are expecting to see on each event, whats up for Week 1 of our 3rd year of the Region 5 University, news on some of the preview meets we have seen so far including a flashback to the 1980’s (or 70’s) piano played floor music, 2 big name alums have made returns to the sport for a 5th year, and we have a new fun addition to our College Salute coverage to fill you in on.
