This year’s Nastia Liukin Cup Series will comprise 22 meets, each of which will qualify one senior gymnast (aged 16 or older) and one junior (15 or younger) to the 16th Nastia Liukin Cup in Louisville, Kentucky, on February 25.
This week there were four meets, resulting in eight qualifiers.
California Grand Invitational
Winner (senior division): Avery Neff
Winner (junior division): Keria Cameron
Utah signee Neff was the co-winner of last year’s Nastia Liukin Cup and is the No. 1 rated recruit in the class of 2024, with an almost perfect score of 98 points. Neff had an outstanding day, including a 10.00 on vault, to punch her ticket with a 39.500 in the all around. There are still some form issues to tweak on beam and bars, but such a high score so early in the season should give Utah even more reason to anticipate the impact she can make in Salt Lake City next year.
As a first year level 10, Cameron is somewhat of an unknown, but she will be delighted to have qualified to the Nastia Liukin Cup in her very first meet of the season. Her bar routine features smooth transitions and a floaty pac salto, finishing with a sky high full out. Keep your eye out for Cameron for the rest of the season to see how she might stack up compared to the junior field as it fills…
