Here are the Bloomington area gymnasts to watch in 2024

The gang is back together again.

At the end of last season, it seemed unlikely that Michelle Stroud (Bloomington South), Andrea Smith (North) and Andrea Stroud (Edgewood) would fill the gymnastics head coaching spots as they had for several years prior to 2022.

Michelle Stroud, having moved to Terre Haute, was ready to step down, with the caveat she'd come back if the Panthers couldn't find a suitable replacement. They couldn't. She's back.

"I kind of had it in the back of my mind that if they couldn't find a coach, I wouldn't leave the girls not having a team," said Stroud, noting that the search for next year's coach is already underway. "It was something I kept a close eye on. I talked to some people who thought about applying and didn't."

Smith returns after taking a year off in which she was named an assistant athletic director for the Cougars. And Andrea Stroud is back on board as well when it looked like a change in jobs might limit her availability.

With that settled, here's a look at the gymnasts to watch this season:

Bloomington North aiming for state again

COACH: Andrea Smith. TOP RETURNERS: Jessica Floyd, Sr.; Claire Dann, Sr.; Sofie Garcia, Jr.; Hannah Abel, Jr.; Ella Buehler, Jr.

OUTLOOK: Smith jumps back after a year under Alaina Wray and the long-term hope is a third straight trip to state as a team for the first time ever. The Cougars will have to get there with a smaller group than in the past, so keeping the key figures healthy when March arrives will be key. "(State is) definitely the goal. We know it's going to be tough," Smith said. "We don't have as many athletes, so we're really going to be relying on everyone at some point. Ultimately, we want to take it one meet at a time. I definitely have an older team and great leadership there. They've done it before, especially since they've been to state a couple of times. My juniors and seniors are some of the best leaders I've had in my years here."

Floyd is back as an all-arounder (beam and floor are her best events), and she put in a lot of off-season work to prep for this final season. "She has a different drive this year," Smith said. Dann is a leader verbally and with her work ethic as another solid, consistent piece. Added to the senior group this year is Eberle, who skipped last year to focus on track (she made state in four events). "It's great having her back," Smith said. "She's hard-working and hilarious, too. She stepped away last year, but it's like she hasn't missed a beat. I know she has confidence in track, but I don't know if she has that same confidence yet in gymnastics." Garcia, two-time athlete of the year, continues to impress and improve and show more skills again this year, having led the way in the season opener. "She's looking to me already better than she was last year," Smith said. Abel, an all-arounder, will miss the early part of the season with an injury. Buehler's strength will help her get good air time in her routines. Sophomore Tori Bilohavek will do all-around, helping on beam for sure and possibly bars and vault. Freshman Josie Mann is coming back after a few years off while Zoey Rogers (beam, bars) is dealing with a knee she injured in October.

Bloomington South welcomes back Stroud, big senior group

COACH: Michelle Stroud. TOP RETURNERS: Maddie Kawanishi, Sr.; Stella Eibling, Sr.; Morgan Cockerill, Sr.; Claire Lutz, Sr.; Alex Riggs, Jr.; Tristan Farris, Jr.

OUTLOOK: The Panthers are heavy with juniors and seniors this year, despite losing three seniors with injuries playing a key factor there. Still, Stroud has a lot of all-arounders on this team to help cover for anyone who might be out. Leading the way will be Kawanishi, a state qualifier on floor and the Panthers' top all-arounder. "Maddie is hungrier than I've ever seen," Stroud said. "Initially, she and Stella were both not coming back if I was gone but when they found out, I was back, they put everything into it. Maddie sat out a lot of the summer, but she feels good and is ready to go. She had a lot of big goals and at the rate she's going, I look for a lot of big things." Eibling has an injury that kept her out of the first meet but looks good otherwise. Cockerill, a three-sport athlete, has added a lot of new skills and toughed out an injury in the opener. She competes all-around but vault and floor are her best events. Audrey Freeman-Day is back after two years but did compete for Stroud's team at the Y and will help on bars, beam and floor. Lutz's favorite event is vault. "Our varsity lineup will be hard to break into the top six," Stroud said. "Especially on beam and floor."

One underclassman who looks like she'll do it is sophomore newcomer Chloe Gautier, a Level 8 gymnast at BUGS. "She'll be a tremendous help to us," Stroud said. "She's strong in the all-around and does our only flipping vault and she's getting confident in it. Sophomore Sayen Aninao Huenupi also returns but broke her collarbone playing lacrosse and is unlikely to make it back in time. Juniors Riggs and Farris are back back and looking for a spot. Both are all-arounders. Farris has shown great improvement while Riggs is in just her second year back and looks strong on the floor. Sophomores Gwen Roder and Siena Johnson and freshman Emilia LaBella round out the squad.

Edgewood unveils bigger squad this season

COACH: Andrea Stroud. TOP RETURNERS: Addison Goerges, Sr.; Harlie Robbins, Sr.; Bella Carson, So., Addie Morwick, So.

More: Gymnastics teams work out jitters on opening night

OUTLOOK: Goerges and Robbins are the experienced leaders for a team that went from just four last year to nine this time. Goerges came within an eyelash of making it to regional on vault and comes back as a solid all-arounder. Robbins' strongest event is also vault and she'll compete all-around as well. "Her and Harlie are a dream team," Andrea Stroud said. "Because they can show the kids, we are going to make mistakes, it's OK. If we're not worried about it, you don't need to be worried about it. The team aspect is so good." The only other all-arounder at the opener was Nerissa Zelhof-Arriaga, who was top-three for the team on floor and vault on Monday. She is one of three freshmen on board this year with Marly Moody and Natalie Moore. "We've got some really strong freshmen," Stroud said. Carson worked vault, beam and floor in the first meet and Morwick vault and floor. Junior Katie Franklin has a chance to help on beam, floor and vault as well after a good opener in those three events.

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on X @JimGordillo.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Gymnastics: Here are the Bloomington area athletes to watch in 2024