We may have barely scratched the surface during intrasquad season, but there are still a million directions to look as we approach the beginning of 2024. Here’s what I’m watching, anticipating, and worrying about in these last weeks before everything begins.
Question: How will the new Michigan routines stack up against last year’s standards?
Michigan graduated 11 routines—just short of half of its whole team—from its postseason lineups last year, and the freshman class brought in to replace those routines consists of one former three-star recruit and two unrated athletes. We know there are more routines among the returners: Farah Lipetz and Paige Thaxton not seeing lineup time last year was a big disappointment that I expect to see rectified, plus in what’s becoming one of the most reliable preseason tropes in college gymnastics, Bev Plocki bafflingly still seems to think that Jenna Mulligan is a future star. Still, replacing Natalie Wojcik, Abby Heiskell, and Nicoletta Koulos with routines that didn’t make lineups last year is a very big ask.
To complete the accounting in more detail, Kaylen Morgan is out with a preseason shoulder injury (and while we don’t have an estimated return date for her, I never hold my breath when it comes to shoulder injuries)….
