Week 16 summary: Conference Championships
- Breeze
- Apr 30
- 10 min read
GymACT 2025 Season: week 16
Weekend of April 26
This past weekend, the 4th GymACT Conference Championships (East and West) took place in conjunction with USA Gymnastics Eastern and Western developmental nationals. East Conference teams competed in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and West Conference teams met up in Reno, NV. Both meets were on Saturday, April 26th, 2025.
Quick links to this edition’s topics:
Stick Masters - team stuck landings
From the coaches - updates from individual GymACT programs
College bound camps - East and West Summer Camps
Gymnast of the week - nominations and selection
In the media - what the world has to say about us
Meet the Coaches - Spotlighting GymACT program head coaches
Connecting the Dots - way less than 6 degrees of separation
Up next: upcoming meets
Week 16 summary
Who was where and when?
Saturday, April 26, 2025
EAST Conference Championships: Minnesota (🏆300.75), Indy-Hio (295.8), Iowa (290.45), Temple (285.05), New York Alliance (281.5), NIU (276.0), Florida Storm (272.3), Georgia United (265.75), PLUS event specialists from impending GymACT program North Carolina Airmen (58.7).
GymACTLive East Conference : https://youtube.com/live/ynBjqT2bczo
East TEAM results: meetscoresonline.com/results/34675/team
East individuals: meetscoresonline.com/results/34675
WEST Conference Championships: Arizona State (🏆312.6), Bay Area Bandits (298.1) Washington(294.45), Rocky Mountain Mavericks (290.0), SC United (280.15), Texas Armadillos (257.4), Kansas City (70.05)
Live Webcast: https://youtube.com/live/-JNnI3CX8xA
West TEAM results: meetscoresonline.com/results/34676/team
West Individuals: meetscoresonline.com/Results/34676
The defending champions of each conference (East and West) continue their respective supremacy and are once again crowned winners: Minnesota (4 years in a row) and Arizona (2 years in a row). WELL deserved congratulations!
Gotta say, tho: Based on the nationals rankings and what these teams have been scoring regularly throughout the season, I was not TOO surprised. Yet, we all know how gymnastics meets go and results are NEVER guaranteed. Both teams HAD to deliver great gymnastics to clinch the deal. And they did! BOOM, shakalaka, bling BLING!
And that is FAR from the end of the story. There was PLENTY of drama on both sides of the country. The usual suspects (healthy bouts between regional rivals) and a few pleasant surprises as there WERE a number of sneak attacks deployed throughout each meet. My favorite development is how BOTH second place finishers displayed phenomenal grit and determination from start to finish of the competition(s) in order to earn the silver team medal over their respective opponents – East: Indy-Hio vs. Iowa; West: Bay Area Bandits vs. Washington.
Spectacular floor routines, explosive vaults and massive high bar releases wowed the audiences both in person and virtually. Of course, the pommel horse dished out a few humble pies once again, while SOME elegantly mastered the beast. It was thrilling.
Awesome performances all around and we got to watch the WHOLE THING LIVE. Thanks to the above-and-beyond efforts of our intrepid media team with MUCH help from the teams on the competition floor, the meets were webcast on the GymACT youtube channel.
“THANK YOU,” especially to John Lucas (producer and commentator), Kevin Riggle and Carl Meader (commentators) for providing the virtual experience. To date, over 1500 people enjoyed it and I, for one, am deeply grateful).
And one last important reminder, that these conference meets are THE qualifying competitions for the upcoming GymACT National Championships (May 10th, Salt Lake City). The top 4 teams from each conference (plus one at large team, the top 5th place team score from either conference) qualify to the National Championships as a full team in a 5 up, 4 count format. The remainder of the teams enter the Commissioner’s Cup competition (3 up, 3 count format); plus all-arounders and individuals from any impending team (this year: North Carolina Airmen).
Congratulations to all competitors, particularly to these ‘full team’ National Qualifiers:
EAST: Minnesota, Indy-Hio, Iowa, Temple and (at large) NYA
WEST: Arizona State, Bay Area Bandits, Washington and Rocky Mountain Mavericks
More information about the Conference Championships at: gymact.org/conferences
Ok, now go watch the archived stream and enjoy it for yourself. (youtube.com/@GymACT)
That’s about all I know from the rock in the middle of the Pacific.
Breeze
STICK MASTERS
🏆EAST: Minnesota: (7)
🏆WEST: Rocky Mountain Mavericks (7)
Honorable mention: Bandits (5)
From the Coaches
North Carolina Airmen
The North Carolina Airmen were very excited to be accepted as the 16th team in the league last month. We brought 4 athletes to compete in our one allotted spot per event at Eastern Conference Championships. All four guys enjoyed the experience and got a flavor for competing at the collegiate level. Two of them will compete at GymACT Nationals, gaining valuable experience we can use next year for our first full GymACT season!
Bay Area Bandits
Team Results for the Bandits
Floor: 49.4, 3 falls, 3 sticks, Season High
Pommel: 50.25 , 0 falls, Season High
Rings: 50.05, 0 falls, 1 stick, Season High
Vault: 51.4, 2 falls, 0 sticks, Season High
P bars: 48.25, 4 falls, 0 sticks
H bar: 48.75, 3 falls, 1 stick
Team Total: 298.1, 12 falls, 5 sticks.
A promising meet with season highs on many of our weaker events this season, with some debut bandits adding firepower to our lineup, Toma Murakawa (Gymnastics Olympica/Stanford) and Joseph Conley (Bayshore Elite). Plenty of uncharacteristic mistakes from the team, but the team is looking forward to making final adjustments before nationals and showing their true potential. Our goal was to break 300 this competition, and we proved that it’s possible, but we can’t have 12 missed routines and make that happen. I was really impressed with Freshman, Victor Joulin-Batejat for upgrading his Pommel Horse significantly, adding a point in difficulty while keeping his E-Score above a 9.0 and posting a 12.15.
Minnesota
Minnesota raised the Eastern Conference Championship plaque for the 4th straight season with a score of 300.75 to hold off a strong contingent of Eastern teams that continue to place a bullseye on the Gopher's back. Led by a one-two punch of All Around Champion David Grossman (77.15) and All Around Vice Champion Ben Letvin (75.60), Minnesota came to Ft Lauderdale and achieved one of its main team goals for the season. Minnesota also pulled in a fair amount of hardware with Grossman winning 4 events (FX, SR, PB, & HB) and Letvin taking home the Gold on Vault. With this victory behind them, Minnesota will now set its sites on the National Title.
Rocky Mountain Mavericks
WESTERNS BY THE NUMBERS!
Team Score = 290.0 (SEASON HIGH!)
Stick = 7
Average E-score = 8.4 (GOOD! Within goal range on 8.4-8.8)
Best E-score = 9.45 CLARK WARRENER ON PBARS!!!
Best Final Score = 13.25 JACKSON KOROWIN ON VAULT - FHA Front Pike Full!
Highest Start Value = 14.6 EVAN McGRATH ON FLOOR!!
Arizona State
We started the weekend with an early morning training session at our own gym in Chandler, AZ and then headed directly to the airport to catch a flight up to Reno. When we arrived in Reno we headed for lunch at Denny's- a restaurant that 3 of our team members have never eaten at before! Yes we provide great & new experiences on this team!
After lunch we headed directly to Gymnastics Nevada Gymnastics where Denise Dalton welcomed us into her gym to get some training and work out our travel bugs.
Before landing at the hotel we had to stop at Scheels and take a ride on the ferris wheel and check out the guns.
At the competition on Saturday our team started on the floor where we had a couple major breaks. Needing to bounce back our PH team went five for five and scored the highest PH team score of the season which started a streak of 19 hit sets in a row. The streak was broken when Izaiha dismounted his double pike off P bars and was so far back on his heels that he ended up flying off the mat and getting tackled by assistant coach Nick. The high bar team put the nail in the coffin though with a superb finish with Captain Peacock nailing a set and sticking his dismount for a perfect ending.
In all, the team took home 12 medals including first place on PH- Sammy Walker: SR- Nicky Franz: VT- Caden Peacock and Elliot Foster: PB- Will Howard: HB- Caden Peacock. And to top all that off the team scored seven points higher than our season high and one the conference meet for the second year in a row.
To celebrate, the next day the team drove over the Sierra Nevada mountains to Lake Tahoe to bum around. We had a great time tromping through the snow and having snowball fights. But now it's time to buckle down once again because in two weeks we have our biggest meet of the year with the National Championships in Salt Lake City. See you there!
GymACT Socials:
Keep an eye on our social media channels as we get closer to Championship Season!
IG: @gymact
FB: @GymACTeams
YT: @GymACT
EAST AND WEST CAMPS
Registration OPEN NOW!
This year, for the first time we have TWO college bound camps so that we can bring the action closer to YOU!
GymACT is launching East Conference (Cincinnati, OH) and West Conference (Lafayette, CO) summer camps.
Double the IMPACT!
Per usual ALL of the GymACT programs will be represented, only now 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 college recruiting opportunity!
Register now and guarantee your spot!
Gymnast of the Week 16
Nominees
Joseph Conly - Bandits
Joseph Conley had his debut meet as a bandit this past weekend, proving that he's a competent competitor in the big leagues! Joseph competed in the Developmental Program until Regionals, and then battled to make it into 4 lineup spots on the Bandits to help them secure a Program Record and 2nd place finish at Conference.
David Grossman - Minnesota
David Grossman put on a command performance at the 2025 GymACT Eastern Conference Championships in Ft Lauderdale this past weekend. David came prepared and not only led his team to its 4th straight GymACT Conference Championship, but he also won the All Around with a stellar score of 77.15 which puts him at the top of the National Rankings in the All Around. This was the second highest all around score of the season, second only to the highest all around score he posted earlier in the season. David also took home top honors on FX (13.35), SR (13.05), PB (13.7), and HB (13.45). If ever there was a gymnast worthy of the GOTW honors, it would be David Grossman on the Minnesota GymACT Team.
Cody Myers - Mavericks
Cody Myers crushed his performance at the WESTERN Conference Championships, helping the MAVERICKS achieve their season high score of 290.0 and qualifying to nationals as a full team. Cody went 3-for-3 on VT, PB, and HB, nailing some of the best performances and highest execution scores of the season. On top of that, he completed the hardest HB routine he has ever done for the MAVS, including the newly added full pirouette and TWO tkachevs! Cody has done an outstanding job this year to ensure that he has his peak performances at our championship meets. On top of all that, Cody has to work harder than most MAVS just to train. Cody is one of our two CO satellite athletes in Colorado Springs, almost 2.5 hours away from our main hub. Cody coaches juniors at Kinetic Gymnastics just to have a place that he can train. He often has to train after work and during off hours at the gym alone with little coaching support. Luckily, the owner Randy Lane and boys team head coach Andriy Stepanchenko (formerly of the OTC) give him all the support and guidance they can! Cody's hard work, passion, and spirit carried the MAVS through the championships and kept our energy high.
Caden Peacock - Arizona State
We are thrilled to nominate Caden Peacock for the GymACT Gymnast of the Week award! Caden delivered an absolutely standout performance this week, leading our team with first-place finishes on Vault and High Bar, and adding an impressive third-place finish on Parallel Bars (PB). His leadership and energy lifted the entire team’s performance from start to finish.
Caden’s momentum never wavered, and he carried that fire all the way to the final event, where he sealed the night by sticking his layout double-double—a spectacular moment that clinched our season-high team score! It was a true highlight that had the whole team and crowd on their feet.
Even more remarkable, Caden debuted and scored a season-high on a new, higher-difficulty routine on P Bars, showcasing his commitment to pushing his limits and continually improving. His new set was a major highlight and a testament to his hard work, determination, and love for the sport even as he comes to the sunset of his career.
If awarded, this would be Caden’s first Gymnast of the Week honor — and as a senior, there is no one more deserving. He truly embodies the spirit, grit, and excellence that GymACT celebrates. His passion, leadership, and unwavering support for his teammates make him a role model both in and out of the gym.
We proudly and enthusiastically nominate Caden Peacock for this well-earned recognition!
In the Media
No media coverage of GymACT this week, so enjoy a little SOCIAL media eye candy.
Meet the Coaches
Don Brown (North Carolina Airmen head coach)
New kid in town? Far from it!
North Carolina may be the newest program to join GymACT, but the team history is much deeper than most realize. The last time Airmen head coach Don Brown was on the competition floor with Tom Dunn, Don was an athlete at Iowa under coach Tom Dunn.
Band of Bandits:
During the most of the season, the Bay Area Team spent its time essentially as an athlete led/run team. Running inquiries, keeping track of routine stats, competing, and coaching each other at every meet. We've made it to Westerns and Nationals now, and have a large amount of support from Bay Area Coaches looking forward to hanging around and supporting us on our final push of the season. Thank you to Tyler Evans (CSC), Panteley Kolodi (SBG), Andrew Fairchild (CSC), Scott Burns (SBG), Victor Vasquez (HIT) and Carl Meader (TG) for helping out this past weekend, and allowing our phenomenal athlete/coaches focus on just being athletes for a change!
Connecting the Dots - Gymnastics is a very small world
The GymACT ⇔ NCAA Bridge
The Bay Area Bandits provide (out-of eligibility NCAA) student-athletes opportunities to keep their competitive edge sharp.
Westerns was the debut competition for another Stanford Gymnast, Toma Murakawa. Toma's been gearing up all year with the plan of competing at Westerns and Nationals with the Bandits, and certainly had a huge impact right off the bat. Toma put up a 13.6 on Rings to win the event and a 75 to win the All-Around despite 4 falls. Looking forward to seeing him build on this performance for Nationals, before returning to the Cardinal's roster in the fall.
It’s a family affair
David Grossman's grandmother was in the crowd [at East Conference Championships], celebrating her birthday. She was overheard saying "This is the best birthday present ever!! Thank you David!!"
Up Next:
Week 18: May 10, 2025
National Championships (In conjunction with USAGymnastics National Developmental Championships in Salt Lake City): Arizona State, Minnesota, Bay Area Bandits, Indy-Hio, Washington, Iowa, Rocky Mountain Mavericks, Temple, NYA, SC United, NIU, Florida Storm, Georgia United, Texas Armadillos, Kansas City, North Carolina Airmen.
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