The offseason is here for most Arizona sports, the 2025-26 season in the books and the 2026-27 seasons still a few months away.
What better time than now to press pause and check the pulse of each Wildcat program?
Over the next few weeks we’ll take a look at each of the UA’s men’s and women’s athletic programs to see what shape they’re in, as well as the prospects for the near future. We’ll break down each team and evaluate how it has performed under the current coaching staff, comparing it to how it looked
beforehand, and assess how it fits into the Big 12 Conference.
Next up: The Arizona GymCats under John Court
How it looked before
Arizona gymnastics was built by Jim Gault, who guided the program from 1980 until retirement in 1998. During his time, the program went 344-153-1. Gault himself was inducted into numerous halls of fame, including the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Although he was never a gymnast, he rose to become the coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team.
Gault’s legacy was maintained by Bill Ryden, who moved up from top assistant to head coach of the program in 1998-99 and stayed until he retired in 2015. The former ASU gymnast started his career at Arizona as Gault’s assistant in 1990. Ryden went 219-200-4 in his tenure as the head coach at Arizona, retiring with the most wins in program history. He still comes to McKale to watch the team and is very invested in the legacy of the program.
After a brief period under Tabitha Yim, Court took the reins, first as the interim head coach and then as the permanent head coach. Like Ryden before him, Court had been an assistant coach for years before taking over the program. He joined Ryden’s staff in 1999, coming west when the University of Vermont discontinued its gymnastics program. Court had been the head coach at Vermont for three years after two years as an assistant.
Yim left rather abruptly just before classes started in August of 2017 to take over the program at her alma mater. Court guided the program for most of the first year as the interim replacement, but had the interim tag removed before the end of the 2018 season.
He guided the program through that transition, as well as the uncertainty of the pandemic. There were steps forward each year from 2018 through 2025.
The program’s best year under Court came in 2025 during the its first season in the Big 12. The team notched 14 wins for the first time since Ryden’s final year at the helm.
Its only losses in the Big 12 came against Utah, once during the regular season and once during the Big 12 Championships. Court was named Big 12 Coach of the Year and fifth-year specialist Elena Deets was named Big 12 co-Event Specialist of the Year. The team advanced to regional finals for the first time since the NCAA postseason format changed in 2019.
The strong showing got the assistant coaches recognized as the regional staff of the year and Court was given a contract extension.
Taking Stock 2026
The offseason provides a great opportunity to evaluate each of Arizona’s athletic programs under its current leadership. Check back each day for another sport breakdown.
Tuesday, June 16: Men’s and women’s track and field
Sunday, May 31: Football
Monday, June 1: Volleyball
Tuesday, June 2: Soccer
Wednesday, June 3: Triathlon
Thursday, June 4: Cross country
Friday, June 5: Men’s and women’s swimming
Saturday, June 6: Men’s basketball
Sunday, June 7: Women’s basketball
Monday, June 8: Gymnastics
Tuesday, June 9: Beach volleyball
Wednesday, June 10: Women’s golf
Thursday, June 11: Women’s tennis
Friday, June 12: Men’s tennis
Saturday, June 13: Baseball
Sunday, June 14: Softball
Monday, June 15: Men’s golf
Where things stand now
Arizona took a bit of a slide in 2026 compared to the big showing in 2025. The losses of Alysen Fears, Emily Mueller, and Deets were big hits. Their graduations meant the GymCats had to replace 10 of 24 routines.
While the team did well in McKale Center, it counted a fall in every away meet. A year after finishing third in the regular season and second at Big 12 Championships, the GymCats fell to fourth in the regular season and fifth at the conference championship meet.
The GymCats made regionals, but they were in the play-in meet against Arizona State on the Sun Devils’ home floor. Arizona went into the final rotation with a lead of almost 0.400, but a disastrous beam rotation allowed ASU to rush ahead and eliminate the ‘Cats from the postseason.
There was a silver lining, though. For the third time in his seven postseasons as a head coach, Court and his staff had an individual gymnast qualify for nationals. Junior all-arounder Abigayle Martin qualified with a 9.925 on balance beam, the very event that had ended the team’s season.
In addition to the postseason appearance, the GymCats again had an athlete recognized by the Big 12. Senior Gianna Lenczner was the Scholar-Athlete of the Year for gymnastics after completing her accounting degree with a 4.0 GPA.
The GymCats lost a few important pieces to graduation. They will once again have to replace several routines but not as many as in 2026.
Redshirt senior Elizabeth LaRusso and true seniors Lenczner, Emma Strom, and Sophia Stephens will need to be replaced. Stephens did not compete in 2026, but the combination of LaRusso, Lenczner, and Strom typically performed seven routines.
Court will bring in five freshmen and three transfers to complete the roster. The freshman class has a couple of athletes with strong scores across the board and others who will likely compete as specialists.
Abba MacKinney and Avery Tarico are the two freshmen most likely to contribute right away simply because they have more options. JJ Schibel isn’t far behind. Avery McKay has the potential to do the same, but she was out with an injury for most of her senior season.
MacKinney will arrive in Tucson as a reigning national champion on bars and bronze medalist on beam after a strong showing at the national meet in May. She won the all-around in seven of her eight meets her senior year and had personal bests on all four events plus the all-around.
Schibel competed in all four events at nationals. She finished in the top 25 of everything except vault. She was 47th in that event. However, her strongest and most consistent event has been floor exercise, where she has a career high of 9.800. She scored a 9.700 or better on floor in three of her eight meets as a senior.
Tarico only competed in vault at nationals, but she had a strong Level 10 career. She has personal bests of 9.825 or better on everything except bars where her best is 9.600. She finished fourth in the all-around for her age group at Level 10 nationals in 2025.
McKay only competed in two meets in 2026, but she finished in the top 16 of all four events at 2025 Level 10 nationals. She was eighth in the country in the all-around. Since moving up to L10 in 2023, her most consistent and high-scoring event has been floor exercise.
Camryn Pennucci might find her way into the beam rotation where she has both her highest personal best and the most consistency over her Level 10 career. Olivia Sawyer might find time on balance beam or floor exercise, where she has won Texas state championships.
On the transfer front, the GymCats lost two to the portal but brought in three to replace them. Lacey Gardner from BYU, McCall McMullen from New Hampshire, and Karleigh Reutzel from Ohio State all found their way to Tucson. Because gymnastics meets often include teams from Division I, Division II, and Division III, scores should translate well for all three athletes.
McMullen has the most experience of the three. The rising senior has competed in every meet for New Hampshire over the past three years. She fills needs for Arizona on vault and floor exercise where she scored a 9.800 or better 14 times in 2026. Ten of those scores came on floor exercise.
Reutzel will be returning to competition after a year on the sidelines, but she had a solid freshman year in 2025. Reutzel competed in seven meets as a rookie. She vaulted in all seven and performed bars in six. Once again, she will help Arizona on vault where she scored 9.800 or better in three of the seven meets. She scored 9.825 or better on bars in three of six meets. She was in the rotation for both events at Big Ten Championships and NCAA Regionals.
Gardner did not compete for BYU last season, so she will be trying to return to the floor. During her final club season, she finished in the top 15 on every event in every meet. She appears to be another leg specialist with her strongest performances coming on vault and floor exercise.
The returners and newcomers will be getting used to an entirely new staff with the exception of Court. Former associate head coach Taylor Spears left before the 2025-26 season. Assistant coach Shelby Martinez and newly-promoted associate head coach Kylie Kratchwell completed the season but left immediately afterwards.
Court didn’t take too long to fill his staff. First up was Strom, who was hired as an assistant coach just weeks before her graduation from Arizona. She will take lead on floor exercise. Former Georgia gymnast and assistant coach Julie Ballard Clark will coach balance beam. Former Nebraska assistant Brian Amato will take over bars. Court will continue taking point on vault.
Life in the Big 12
Arizona’s first season in the Big 12 was one of its best in recent memory. It beat everyone in the league except Utah during the regular season, although it officially finished third behind Denver due to NQS. Once the GymCats got to Big 12 Championships, they righted that by defeating Denver once again to take second in the league. Once again, only Utah scored better than the ‘Cats.
Arizona found its second season more difficult, but that was true both in and outside conference competition. Overall, the Big 12 is a much better league for the GymCats simply because there are fewer heavyweights in it than in the old Pac-12.
The league took a hit last year when Iowa State first cancelled its season halfway through then eliminated the program altogether. Starting next year, Big 12 gymnastics will consist of Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Denver, Utah, and West Virginia. While Utah is the clear and away favorite going into each season, spots 2-6 are within reach in any given season. Denver tends to be the No. 2 team, but Arizona has already proven that they are beatable.
One big question
The only real question for Arizona gymnastics is how it rebounds from a disappointing season after having such a strong start to the Big 12 era. When the postseason was over, Arizona fell to 35th a year after finishing 16th.
Spears had helped the beam lineup become one of the strongest in the country. It was still Arizona’s best event in 2026, but “best event” meant ranked 30th in the country. That was the lowest since 2021 when it was 32nd.
Court has had a relatively young staff for most of his tenure at Arizona. He still has one very young coach in Strom, but he went with experienced coaches with winning pedigrees for the other two positions. Will it be the change Arizona needs?
Court has rarely had many transfers moving in or out of the program. This season, there were multiple moves in both directions. Were they the moves Arizona needed?
The answers to those secondary questions will form the answer to the primary one. Can the GymCats get back into the top 25 next year?
