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GymACT 2026w9 Review: NIU Invite


Huskies, Hawkeyes, Gophers, Alliance, Twisters, Flippers and more


GymACT teams and junior athletes shared the competitive arena this past weekend at the 2026 NIU Invitational.  The atmosphere was electric! 


NIU was the gracious host at the DuPage Fairgrounds, in Wheaton, IL, where GymACT programs from NY Alliance, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas City and Wisconsin put on a great show to the excited gymnastics fans.  Also present were a number of high school gymnasts from Lakeshore Gymnastics Academy Bright Raven Gymnastics, Edge Gymnastics, Altius Gymnastics, Libertyville Gymnastics Academy, Prairie Fire Gymnastics and Springfield Gymnastics and Aquatics. 


Thank you Zack McCue for the awesome webstream of the meet. I, for one, love watching the 6-ring gymnastics circus. It’s an exciting format and feels like being there in person. Good stuff.


Congratulations to all the teams and athletes who participated. And in case you missed it, check out the full meet on the GymACT youtube channel. Due to internet difficulties in the venue, the stream was broken into two parts: 


This week’s results brought a little change to the national team averages. Both team and individual rankings remained mostly unchanged with only a couple of changes. Here are the latest charts:



Week 9 Top National Average Team Scores (compared to week 8)

🏆1. Arizona State, 302.658 (🥇for 3 weeks and the National High Score: 315.150)

🥈2. Minnesota, 301.992 (Maintaining 🥈3 weeks)

🥉3. Bay Area Bandits, 292.917 (Maintaining 🥉5 weeks)

FX: Arizona State, 51.410 (still tumbling on top)

PH: Washington, 50.113 (still swinging on top)

SR: Minnesota, 50.658 (still strong on top)

VT: Arizona, 53.760 (still explosive on top)

PB: Minnesota, 50.242 (still unparalleled)

HB: Bay Area Bandits, 50.633 (still the highest bar)


Week 9 Top Ranked Individuals:

🏆Ben Letvin, Minnesota (74.217); 🥈Elliot Foster, Arizona (74.400); 🥉William Pearce, Bandits (73.850)

FX: Nicky Franz, Arizona (13.483)

PH: Patrick Hoopes, Mavericks (15.100)

SR: Aiden Whitehead, Georgia United (13.400)

VT: Jakaris Williams, Georgia (14.000)

PB: Evan Hymanson, Bandits (13.000)

HB: William Pearce, Bandits (12.950)



That’s what this gymrat saw this week from the den in the middle of the ocean.


Breeze


STICK MASTERS

🏆Indy-Hio: 10

Kansas City United: 8

Minnesota: 5 sticks for Team 1, 2 sticks for Team 2


From the Coaches

MINNESOTA:

Minnesota competed in their final regular season meet of the 2026 Season at the NIU Invitational. Minnesota posted their second highest team score of the year with a 306.70 which was the top team score of the meet. "This is always an exciting meet because of the great format Meet Director Zach McCue has created with the pairing of GymACT Teams with local Junior Teams," said head coach Mike Burns. "It's always fun to be back in the Chicagoland area, one of the Cradles of Civilization when it comes to the development of gymnastics in this country!"

It's always good to see old friends who show up to cheer on this new generation of GymACT athletes who are carrying on the tradition! 

Minnesota moved their season won-loss record to an impressive 16-1, with that lone loss coming to rivals Arizona State.


INDY-HIO:

We had an intersquad at the Queen City classic. We did not fill a full team but we did get judged. It was first time for some of our athletes to compete new skills. Some of the highlights were Arthur Ashton competing three events (pommels, pbars, h bar) and scoring 13+ on all of them.


GymACT Socials:

Keep an eye on our social media channels as we get closer to Championship Season! 


EAST AND WEST CAMPS


This upcoming summer we'll have TWO GymACT college bound camps!  


East Conference (Cincinnati, OH) and West Conference (Lafayette, CO) summer camps. 


Get in on the action and get DOUBLE the fun!


2026 WEST GymACT Conference College Bound Camp

When: Friday - Sunday, June 19-21, 2026 

Where: Xtreme Altitude Gymnastics

1405 South Public Rd • Lafayette, CO 80026


2026 EAST GymACT Conference College Bound Camp

When: Friday - Sunday, July 17-19, 2026

Where: Kids First Sports Center

7900 E. Kemper Road • Cincinnati, OH 45249


Once again ALL of the GymACT programs will be represented, and gymnasts may choose a deeper training opportunity with the coaches from the geographic area closest to them. Or, go to both camps and get experience DOUBLE the collegiate program recruiting opportunity! 


Register now and guarantee your spot! 


Gymnast of the Week 9

Nominees

Jerid Enyard - NIU


Senior Jerid Enyard had a stellar performance on pommel horse at this past weekend’s NIU Invitational. He scored a 12.8 on this event and ended up earning the event title for the competition. Jerid also competed parallel bars for the first time this year and scored an 11.5 getting 7th place. Jerid helped the Huskies in bringing home not just their season high for the year but also their highest team score since 2022 and their second highest team score ever. NIU scored a 286.5 and got 3rd place at the competition.  Go Huskies!!


Joshua Laudie - KC Twisters


Joshua Laudie has demonstrated he is possibly GymACT's most stalwart athlete. Outlining his outstanding athletic performance from each meet has become a compulsory act at this point.

Here are some things you don't know about the KC Twisters most prolific athlete.

Josh is not only a student working on a business degree. He has a full time job for an excavation company operating heavy machinery 30+ hours a week, as well as an assistant coach of successful girls program at EDGE Gymnastics in KC. All of this, and he still finds time to train, and fulfill his role as team Capt.

This weekends meet performance is no exception, its a rubber stamp of excellence. Josh leads his teammates by example. often stepping up and competing events outside his wheelhouse, all while pushing his teammates to success. His leadership and hard work continue to inspire. This young man embodies all that GymACT stands for.

I truly wish GymACT had an award for an individual like This!!


Ben Letvin - Minnesota: email and photo


Ben Letvin continues to make his mark on the 2026 GymACT Season with another top All Around showing at the NIU Invitational this past weekend. Posting his second score above 75.0 moved him atop the National All Around rankings in GymACT. "Ben continues to find ways to get to the top of the rankings with his performances this season," said his coach Mike Burns. "We're still waiting for that signature performance from Ben, but he continues to shine for the Minnesota team this season." With five top-6 placings in this meet, Ben's name was heard on numerous occasions during the awards ceremony. Ben was battling a pretty severe heel bruise he sustained the week before in the MIGSP Invite but he pushed through the pain to deliver a championship performance on Floor Exercise, posting the sixth-highest FX score in the nation this season. Ben was instrumental in helping Minnesota to another first place finish at the NIU Invitational, pushing the Gophers to a final regular season record of 16-1.


Arthur Ashton - Indy-Hio


While Indy-Hio didn’t field a full team we did have members of the team compete at the Queen City Classic in Cincinnati. Arthur Ashton stuck all his dismounts when he competed on Pommels (13.4), Parallel Bars (13.7) and Horizontal Bar (13.8)


Up Next:

Week 10 GymACT Competition Schedule

Saturday, March 14

Arizona State, SC United, Washington Vs. Bay Area Bandits @ Silicon Valley Invitational

Texas Armadillos @ Texas State Championship

 
 
 
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