GymACT 2025 Season: week 8
Weekend of March 1-2
The rankings are still shifting dramatically each weekend as teams continue to polish their line-ups. Athletes are more confident in their routines, settling in the difficulty and start values – gymnastics is stronger, skills are cleaner and presentation is tighter. SWEET!
Quick links to this edition’s topics:
Stick Masters - team stuck landings
From the coaches - updates from individual GymACT programs
2025 All-Stars: GymACT East Vs. West Competition
College bound camps: East and West Summer Camps
Gymnast of the week - nominations and selection
Meet the coaches - Spotlighting GymACT program head coaches
Up next: upcoming meets
Week 8 “summary”
Who was where and when? (all meets took place Saturday night)
Dual Meet: Indi-hio (🏆296.10) vs. Temple (283.50)
MIGSP Invitational: Minnesota (🏆303.30) vs. Iowa (282.85)
More ranking information on roadtonationals.com/results/standingsGA/
The top 5 teams in the national rankings are still in the same order as the previous week. But I AM excited that some of the numbers have changed considerably. In the fight for 1st place the Arizona-Minnesota gap is shrinking. The Gophers are 1.0 point closer to the national leaders. The battle for 3rd place is also more dramatic as the Hyenas continue to sneak up on the Huskies. Indy-hio had a stellar meet with Temple this weekend and bumped their national average by more than 2.5 points to put the pressure on Washington (who had a week off competitions this week).
I’m so excited I could fall off my hammock!
The GymACT All-Star teams qualification process has ended and the East and West rosters are nearly established. It’s shaping up to be a GREAT competition! This year’s meet will take place in conjunction with the NAIGC national festival in Pittsburgh, PA. By the way, GymACT did it first. Just sayin’! ;)
More info: https://naigc.org/nationals-2025
The GymACT summer camp registrations are coming in and we are all STOKED that the choice to split the camps to two locations have been well received. #letsgo
And that’s as I understand it from a rock in the middle of the pacific.
Breeze
STICK MASTERS
Team stuck dismounts in last weekend's competitions.
🏆Minnesota: 9
Temple University: 7
Indy-Hio: 5
From the Coaches
INDY-HIO
The hyenas had senior night at the Don Sellman Invitational against Temple University. It was the last meet before Easterns for seniors David Wallace, Logan Schmitt and Caleb Shinkle.
The Hyenas got back some of their athletes that were missing in the past meets and scored a season high (296.10) against Temple University (283.50). The Hyenas as a team won floor, pommels, rings, vault, parallel bars and tied the Owls on high bar. Event winners were Max Ford on floor (13.6), Duncan Beckel on rings (14.2), Drew Mitchell on vault (13.5) and David Wallace on parallel bars (12.6). This is the last competition until the conference championships.
TEMPLE:
With a few key members unable to compete last weekend, the Owls put together a new line up which allowed for a new set of opportunities for our other team members. We had Evan Zakrewski compete in the all-around for the first time in over a year, Aidan Whittier competed floor for the first time in two years, Landon Brady and Matthew Janson competing on rings for the first time in college, as did Diego Rodriguez on pommel horse. After finishing a rough pommel horse rotation the Owls made an excellent comeback on Rings with 4 stuck dismounts, then went on to hit 5 clean vaults, and 4 clean P-Bar sets. Although this was not our season high, the meet provided a new chance for several members and revealed some unexpected routines on a few events that will likely be key in the upcoming conference and national championships.
MINNESOTA:
The Minnesota Gophers are gradually moving up in the scoring department, breaking the coveted 300 barrier this past week in a dual meet against East Conference rival, the Iowa Hawkeyes. Sophomore Ben Letvin was able to take top honors in the All Around against Iowa's top dog, Raif Shaffner on the way to posting a 303,30 Team Score. He also won the Still Rings (12.95) and Vault (14.45). The Gophers took top honors on all 6 events in their best performance of the year: FX: Anthony Nicholas (13.05); PH: Paul Acker (12.40); as mentioned above, Ben Letvin won SR & V; PB: Luke Pedersen (13.00); and HB: Jack Gagamov (12.70). Heading into the last regular season meet this upcoming weekend at the NIU Invitational, Minnesota will face their toughest challenge as they take on the current Number 1 ranked team in the country, the Sun Devils of Arizona State. "This will be a great litmus test of what the end of the season is going to look like at GymACT Nationals. Defending our National Title is the team's number one goal and we'll get a taste of what that's going to take this weekend," said Head Coach Mike Burns.
2025 ALL STAR MEET
The 2025 GymACT All Star Meet is around the corner and the field is set. The popularity of the GymACT All Star Meet continues to grow as GymACT athletes vie to represent their conference with one of the 5 coveted spots on each event. Here are just a few of the numbers:
By the numbers:
556 total routines entered (GymACT All Star record)
13 of 15 GymACT programs participated
11 of 15 GymACT programs will be represented (GymACT All Star record)
And, a quick look at the top qualifying scores has this prediction: West (307.0) Vs. East (304.4).
It's anyone's meet where one or two large errors could be the difference.
Keep an eye on our social media channels as the full rosters will be published later this week.
IG: @gymact
FB: @GymACTeams
EAST AND WEST CAMPS
Registration OPEN NOW!
GymACT is here to serve the gymnastics community. You asked, we obliged!
We now have TWO college bound camps so that we can bring the action closer to YOU!
This year, for the first time, GymACT is launching East Conference (Cincinnati, OH) and West Conference (Lafayette, CO) summer camps. Double the fun!
As with previous years, 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 8
Nominees
Indy-Hio: Max Ford
Because of injuries that have happened, Max was asked to pick up two events he hasn’t touched in two years. (Pommels and rings). This super specialist then became an all-arounder for the last two meets helping us set a program record of 296.1. Max won floor and placed 2nd in the all around to help us win our meet against Temple. @indyhiogym
Minnesota: Ben Letvin
Ben Letvin continues to share the duties of team leadership as one of our main all-around competitors. In our season high scoring effort this past weekend, Ben won the All Around as we posted our 13th straight regular season victory with a score of 303.30. Only the second GymACT team this year to break the coveted 300 barrier, Ben also posted 1st place finishes on Still Rings (12.95) and Vault (14.45). Not only does Ben lead on the competition floor, but he's a force outside the gym as well with his efforts on the recruiting front and during our equipment setups and teardowns. When he arrives he's already hit the ground running, asking what needs to get done first. An amazing self starter, he's also doing great work in the classroom as a Civil Engineering student.
MEET THE COACHES:
JESSE KITZEN-ABELSON, Temple Owls
Former Temple gymnast, Jesse Kitzen-Abelson, is in his eighth year as the head coach for Temple.
The Temple University Men's Gymnastics program has made a significant impact on Jesse's life, which is why he dedicated himself to rebuilding the program. He wants to continue to provide opportunities for young men to work hard and flourish while continuing their gymnastics careers at a high level.
As a team member, he was elected co-captain twice, was an NCAA semi-finalist on the pommel horse and earned First Team All-America Scholar-Athlete status from 2008-2011.
From 2011-2016, Jesse coached high-performance gymnastics in South Africa and was able to represent the country on the world stage multiple times while doing so.
He was recently the head coach for Team USA at the 2022 Maccabiah Games in Israel and will head there again this summer for the 2025 Games.
Up Next:
Week 9: Saturday, March 8, 2025
NIU Invitational: Northern Illinois vs. Arizona State, Iowa, KC United & Minnesota (6:30 central)
Individuals: Indy-Hio @ Queen City Classic to try new skills
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