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Six gymnasts have committed to the University of Utah for next fall, co-head coaches Greg and Megan Marsden announced Wednesday. The signing class, which will comprise nearly half of the 2011 Utah team, features a U.S. Olympic Team alternate, three Junior Olympians and two local gymnasts.
The newest Utes are Lia Del Priore (Center Valley, Pa.), Alyssa Gale (Simi Valley, Calif.), Hailee Hansen (Bountiful, Utah), Mary Beth Lofgren (Salt Lake City), Corrie Lothrop (Gaithersburg, Md.) and Victoria Shanley (Colorado Springs, Colo.).
They will compete for the only school to qualify for 34-consecutive national championships--one that has won 10 national championships, placed in the top three 22 times and has never finished lower than 10th in the nation. Utah holds every gymnastics attendance record--averaging more than 11,000 spectators a meet at home for nearly 20 years.
"We are very excited about this group of athletes," said Greg Marsden. "It's a great mix of experience and developing talent. In this class, we have both extremes and everything in between. Corrie Lothrop was an Olympic alternate and has competed for the USA internationally. On the other end of the spectrum, Hailee Hansen has had relatively little competitive experience but shows a great deal of potential."
Adds Megan Marsden, "Alyssa Gale, Victoria Shanley, Mary Beth Lofgren and Lia Del Priore have all produced great results but are continuing to improve and have not yet reached their full potential. We're excited to have the opportunity to help them do that here at Utah."
Lia Del Priore (pronounced Lee-a, Del-pre-or-ee) is a former junior international elite and a two-time U.S. Classic qualifier. A member of the Region 7 all-star team, Del Priore placed fourth in the all-around at the 2009 Junior Olympic Championships, where she was second on floor and sixth on vault. She won the bronze medal on bars at the 2009 regionals and was the 2009 Pennsylvania state bar champion, as well as the vault, floor and all-around runner-up.
Del Priore trains at Parkettes Gymnastics for Bill and Donna Strauss, Robin Netwell, John Holman, Milo Johnson and Natalia Yurchenko. The daughter of Alex and Dawn Del Priore attends Bridgeway Academy.
Alyssa Gale won three vault and two all-around titles in 2009. She won vault at the Metroplex Challenge, the San Diego Classic and the Lady Luck Invitational, winning the all-around at the latter two. She also won the bar title in San Diego and the floor at the Lady Luck. An exceptional vaulter, she was the 2008 Region I and the 2007 U.S. Challenge vault champion.
From Simi Valley, Calif., Gale trains at Monarchs NGTC for coach Yelena Urusova. The daughter of Douglas and Darcy Gale attends Royal High School.
Signing an offer of admission to the University of Utah is Hailee Hansen. Hansen trains for Illia Belov at USA Gymnastics. The daughter of Tom and Cori Gyuro attends Woods Cross High School.
Mary Beth Lofgren is coming off an 11th-place all-around finish at the 2009 Junior Olympic Championships. The Salt Lake City native was the 2008 Region 1 beam champion--placing third in the all-around--and a two-time Utah state all-around champion (2005 and 2007). She finished second on bars and eighth in the all-around at the 2007 J.O. Championships and was fourth on bars at the 2008 Junior Olympics.
Lofgren is coached by Mary Wright and Ryan Kirkham at Olympus Gymnastics. The daughter of Dan and Deena Lofgren attends Skyline High School.
Corrie Lothrop (pronounced Low-thrup) considered one of the top recruits in the nation, has been a member of the U.S. National Team since 2006 and was a 2008 Olympic Team alternate. She placed ninth in the all-around at the 2008 Olympic Trials and was eighth at the 2008 USA Championships. An international elite, Lothrop placed second in the all-around during the 2009 European Tour at its Germany stop and won the all-around in a 2008 meet in Belgium. She was the all-around runner-up at the 2008 U.S. Classic, where she finished first on the bars. Lothrop won vault and finished second on the bars, beam and floor at the 2008 Pan American Games.
Born in Wuhan, China, Corrie Dong Quan Lothrop was adopted at age two by Joan and Dan Lothrop. She grew up in Danvers, Mass., but moved to Gaithersville, Md., in 2005 to train at Hill's Gymnastics for Kelli Hill and Elena Todorova. She attends Magruder High School in Rockville, Md.
Victoria Shanley is a Junior Olympian who trains at the same club (Colorado Aerials) as former Utah NCAA all-around champion Theresa Kulikowski. Shanley, the two-time reigning Colorado state floor champion, also won a bronze on the beam at the 2009 regionals and placed eighth on the bars at the 2009 Junior Olympic Championships. She was ninth in the all-around at the 2008 J.O. nationals, finishing third on floor, fourth on bars and fifth on vault.
From Colorado Springs, Colo., Shanley is coached by Kathy Vigil and Jason Baits at Colorado Aerials. The daughter of Sean and Victoria Shanley attends Pine Creek High School.
