All Things Gymnastics Podcast

Today we’re bringing you the fifth episode in the Coaches Corner series – our interview with UCLA head coach, Janelle McDonald! Janelle joins us to reflect back on the lessons learned from last season, plus she talks freshman, injury updates, and more!  Thank you to our monthly Patreon supporters:  Lee B, Cookiemaster, Happy Girl, Erica S, Semflam, Amy C, Becca S, Cathleen R, Kerry M, Derek H, Emi...

This week, we’re bringing you the fourth episode in our Coaches Corner series — our interview with Utah head coach Carly Dockendorf! It’s no surprise that the Red Rocks didn’t have the finish they had hoped for last season, when, for the first time in program history, they didn’t advance to the NCAA Championships. But it’s a moment they don’t plan to let define them in 2027. This is a team that’s...

This week, we’re bringing you the third episode in our Coaches Corner series, featuring an interview with Ryan Roberts, who is entering his first season at the helm of Auburn. Before becoming Auburn’s head coach, Ryan spent four years at Georgia—two as the co-head coach and two as an assistant coach. He also spent four years as an assistant coach at Alabama and five years coaching at the club leve...

Today, we’re excited to bring you our second episode in the Coaches Corner series, featuring an interview with two of our absolute favorite people — Nicole Jones, the new head coach at Nebraska, and Devin Wright, the associate head coach. Nicole and Devin spent many years at MSU, helping build the program into a powerhouse in the Big Ten and on the national stage. Now at the helm of Nebraska, they...

Today, we’re excited to bring you our interview with Rylee Guevara, a junior who transferred to Maryland from Ohio State in the offseason. During her time at Ohio State, Rylee was a staple in the beam and floor lineups, taking on the role of a steady and reliable leadoff. During her freshman season, Rylee earned a spot on the 2025 All-Big Ten Championship Team and was named a Big Ten Scholar-Athle...

We’re kicking off the Coaches Corner series for the fourth year, and we’re starting things off with a new face on the show: Brett Nelligan, who is entering his 18th season as head coach of the Maryland Terrapins. During his tenure with the Terps, Brett has brought in some of the top recruiting classes in program history and led the program to 14 NCAA Regional appearances. This season could be a go...

This week, we’re excited to be joined by NCAA Champion and rising Sooners sophomore Ella Murphy. In her freshman season, Ella earned both NCAA and WCGA First-Team All-American honors on beam, was named to the SEC All-Team on bars, beam and floor, and, of course, helped the Sooners secure their eighth NCAA team title. Ella joins us to talk about how she ended up at Oklahoma, look back on her incred...

This week we are excited to be joined by two Michigan Wolverines who recently qualified for the World Championships this fall. We have Sophia Diaz, a two-time NCAA individual qualifier, who recently helped the Dominican Republic make history by earning a bronze medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games. Joining her is Jahzara Ranger, who earned First Team All-Big Ten honors last season and...

This week, we are so excited to be joined by a very special guest for our 300th episode: Joscelyn Roberson, who has been a longtime favorite of ours. Joscelyn has already accomplished so much in her career, including being an alternate for the 2024 Olympic team in Paris, a team world champion in 2023, and an individual vault world bronze medalist in 2025. After years of elite gymnastics, Joscelyn...

This week, we are so excited to be joined by Lacie Saltzmann, who is a rising sophomore at the University of Minnesota. Lacie had an incredible freshman season, where she was a mainstay in the Gophers’ bars and floor lineups, posting career highs of 9.9625 and 9.925, respectively. She, of course, helped her team advance out of the toughest regional to move on to the NCAA Championships and then hel...

This week we are thrilled to be joined by seven-time All-American and rising senior on the Utah gymnastics team, Ella Zirbes. Ella is known not only for her beautiful gymnastics but also for being an advocate for mental health in the sport as someone who has very publicly struggled with performance anxiety. We dive deeper into the struggles she’s faced and how she’s learned to manage her anxiety w...

In this month's episode of Mental Gymnastics , Dr. JD Barton sits down with Maggie Nichols, a 2015 World Team Champion and floor exercise bronze medalist, as well as an eight-time NCAA Champion during her career as an Oklahoma Sooner. She talks about the disappointment of not making the 2016 Olympic team, the pandemic abruptly ending her career, navigating body image issues in the sport, the a...

This is the 8th and final episode of the Recruit Reflection series, brought to you by Full Out Collegiate Recruiting. This week, we have one of our most interesting recruit perspectives yet: Caroline Walker from Air Force. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to get into a military academy or what Air Force cadets experience, this episode is a must-listen. We also talk about the U.S. Classic and...

This is Episode 7 of the Recruit Reflection series, brought to you by Full Out Collegiate Recruiting, and this week, for the first time in the history of this series, we are joined by a club coach! We are so grateful to be joined by Rachael Tracy Gardner, the head coach at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy, where she coaches Levels 8 through Elite. She joins us to talk about all things recruiting from...

This is episode 6 of the Recruit Reflection series, brought to you by Full Out Collegiate Recruiting, and this week we're joined by future Iowa Hawkeye Morgan Braun. Morgan is coming off her most successful Level 10 season yet, which included competing at the 2026 Nastia Liukin Cup and finishing second in the all-around and on bars at the 2026 Level 10 National Championships. As she gears up f...

This week, we're joined by Amika Every, an elite gymnast from Aruba who is making history as the first Aruban gymnast to commit to competing in college gymnastics. In May, Amika announced her commitment to Southern Connecticut State University. Shortly afterward, we had the chance to chat with her about what led to that decision and how she first discovered college gymnastics. We also talked a...

This week on Mental Gymnastics, Dr. JD Barton sits down with Ebee Price, one of the most accomplished gymnasts of her generation. A 2012 Olympic alternate, 2014 American Cup champion, and winner of the 2013 — 14 World Cup All-Around Series, Ebee went on to have even more success at Stanford, where she became a 2x NCAA champion, Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year, AAI Award winner, and one of the most deco...

This is Episode Four of the Recruit Reflection Series, sponsored by Full Out Collegiate Recruiting. This week, we are joined by Claire Donahue, a D3 gymnast who recently transferred from Wisconsin Whitewater to Wisconsin Stout. Claire joins us to talk about her initial recruiting journey as a Level 10, where she dealt with a lot of injuries and didn’t receive much interest from schools. She also t...

This is Episode 3 of the Recruit Reflection Series, sponsored by Full Out Collegiate Recruiting. This week, we’re joined by Mya Jett, an uncommitted gymnast in the Class of 2027.  Mya was originally committed to Iowa State on a full athletic scholarship, but as many unfortunately know, the program was cut in March, leaving several gymnasts — including Mya — without a home. Now heading into her sen...

This is Episode 2 of the Recruit Reflection Series, sponsored by Full Out Collegiate Recruiting. This week, we're joined by Rehna Saalinger, a rising sophomore at Brown University. She was a staple in the beam lineup during her freshman season, scoring as high as a 9.85 in her collegiate debut and earning GEC Newcomer of the Week honors. Rehna joins us to talk about her recruiting journey as a...

‘Tis the season for Recruit Reflections! It’s that time of year when we kick off our Recruit Reflection series once again for Season 4, sponsored by Full Out Collegiate Recruiting. We’re so excited to begin with three athletes who are not only among the top Level 10 gymnasts in the country, but are also teammates at Brandy Johnson’s in Florida. We are joined by Imani White, who was originally comm...

Dr. JD Barton sits down with Dr. Nicole Hayes, who served as the UCLA gymnastics team psychologist from 2019 to 2023, to discuss body image in and out of the gym, the impact of social media and NIL, navigating injuries, academic pressure, and more. Thank you to our monthly Patreon supporters:  Lee B, Cookiemaster, Happy Girl, Erica S, Semflam, Amy C, Maria L, Becca S, Cathleen R, Faith, Kerry M, D...

This week, we break down the latest NCAA coaching changes and transfer portal news, share highlights from the 2026 Development Program National Championships, discuss Ana Bărbosu’s suspension, and more. Later in the episode (around the 43-minute mark), we’re joined by Kailin Chio following the conclusion of her standout sophomore season at LSU. Chio made program history this year, recording 13 per...

We’re kicking off May with a jam-packed episode. We’ve got one of UCLA’s star freshmen, Ashlee Sullivan, on the show, plus there has been so much news between coaching changes and the transfer portal, so we have a lot to unpack. Ashlee Sullivan is a four-time U.S. National Team member, an alternate for the 2025 Worlds team, the 2025 Winter Cup all-around champion, and now an NCAA All-American on f...

In this episode of Mental Gymnastics , Dr. JD Barton sits down with Ilka Juk, who represented Canada and Hungary as an elite gymnast and went on to compete collegiately at LIU and Iowa. Ilka looks back on the abusive coaching she experienced in Canada, her struggles with OCD, how she knew it was time to walk away from elite gymnastics, and how her career has shaped the coach she is today. Thank yo...