Junior Predictions for the US Jesolo and Pac Rims Teams

At least six junior gymnasts will be selected on Monday to represent the US in Italy at the City of Jesolo Trophy and three at the Pacific Rims Gymnastics Championships. These teams might be made up of nine separate gymnasts or have some overlap. Without a doubt, there are some juniors who are at the top of the pack and very likely to take some of these spots. There are also a lot of juniors attending the camp that we don’t know as well and any of them could be wild cards!The nominative list for Jesolo includes the following:

Bailie Key
Nia Dennis
Norah Flatley
Emily Gaskins
Ragan Smith
Jordan Chiles

The first four on this list seem to be obvious as they are the four healthy gymnasts currently on the junior national team and are each fabulous in their own right. (Note- Laurie Hernandez is injured). Ragan Smith and Jordan Chiles both stood out last year as fan favorite juniors and it is not surprising to seem them on this list.

Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championship Team

As with the seniors, Martha Karolyi usually sends the USA’s best gymnasts to the Pacific Rim Championships. My prediction is that Bailie Key, Norah Flatley and Nia Dennis will be the juniors that get this assignment. They are all great gymnasts, are some of the top contenders for the 2016 Olympics and they fill in gaps with some of the seniors. Most notably on beam, where Norah outshines most of our seniors and Bailie is always to be counted on. The only alternatives I would see is if Martha sends a bars/beam specialist as a senior, then she might want to send one of our best junior vaulters. Ariana Agrapides could be a possibility. But as Bailie and Nia are both good vaulters as well, this is doubtful to me.

Here are my picks for Pac Rims along with the most recent gymnastics we have seen from them. (For most of the juniors, the last we have seen was last years nationals).

Bailie Key

Nia Dennis

Norah Flatley

City of Jesolo Trophy Team

The question then becomes if Martha sends the same juniors to both events. These three are definitely our top juniors. And it would make sense for Martha to continue giving them international experience. We would also be most assured of medals in Jesolo by sending them. However, we have many talented juniors and the more experienced a breadth of gymnasts are, the better prepared we are for the future. My gut feeling is that she will send the same three to Jesolo as well and add Emily Gaskins. As we haven’t seen anything in 2014 outside of the current national team members, the other two spots are anyone’s guess. So I will go with the nominative list. Ragan Smith and Jordan Chiles.

Bailie Key
Norah Flatley
Nia Dennis
Emily Gaskins