KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan gymnastics program and head coach Penny Jernigan are proud to announce the addition of eight student-athletes to the 2021-22 roster.
 
Halle Faulkner (Canton, Mich./Salem High School), Molly Freeman (Portage, Mich./Portage Northern High School), Rylee Gallmeyer (Greenwood, Ind.,/Mason High School), Donna Kathryn Roy (Rockhill S.C.), Ally Schaupp (Algonquin, Ill./Huntley High School), Abby Singh (Winfield, Ill./St. Francis High School), Gigi Singh (Winfield, Ill./St. Francis High School), and Cassie St. Clair (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North High School) have all pledged their futures to the Broncos.
 
"Coach Scharns and I are very proud of how our 2021 recruiting class came together," said Jernigan. "It's our largest class ever with eight true freshmen. They're all hard workers in the classroom and in the gym. With their depth of talent and passion we expect them to make an immediate impact next fall."
 
Halle Faulkner | Canton, Mich./Salem High School
Faulkner was a state champion on the balance beam in 2019 and on vault in 2017. In 2019 she also qualified to Level 10 Junior Olympic Nationals and helped her team take first place at the Michigan State Championships. Faulkner was a first year Level 10 JO National Qualifier in 2016, taking fourth place on vault at nationals. Her highest all-around score was a 37.925 set in 2019 and she posted a personal-best score of 9.850 on vault in 2020.
 
Jernigan on Halle Faulkner - "Coach Scharns and I have been tracking Halle for a long time, and she's just continued to improve year after year. She's strong on all four events. She has the combination of both explosive athletic ability and a beautiful, elegant quality of movement in her dance."

Molly Freeman | Portage, Mich./Portage Northern High School/Branch Gymnastics
Freeman was a Level 9 Regional and State bars champion in 2019 and a Level 9 Eastern National Qualifier. At the Eastern National Championships had top-10 finishes on the vault, beam, floor and all-around. As a student she is a member of the National Honor Society and an International Baccalaureate Diploma candidate.
 
Jernigan on Molly Freeman - "Molly is a local talent from right here in Kalamazoo. We believe she has enormous potential, especially on uneven bars. She can already do several different high level dismounts and releases. We expect to see her making the bars line up right off the bat."

Rylee Gallmeyer | Greenwood, Ind./Mason High School
Gallmeyer's strongest events are beam and floor. She qualified to the Level 10 Regional Championships in both 2018 and 2019. In 2020 she was the Level 10 floor exercise champion at the Pikes Peak Invitational with a 9.625. As a student she is a four-year member of the Honor Roll.
 
Jernigan on Rylee Gallmeyer - "Rylee committed to us early on and we're thrilled to officially welcome her into our Bronco Gymnastics family. She's stellar on beam and we believe she has great potential on bars and floor as well. She's another recruit that just continues to get better and better."

Donna Kathryn Roy |Rockhill, S.C.
Roy was the Level 10 all-around champion at the 2020 Presidential Classic with a score of 37.30. She also posted scores of 9.70 on vault and 9.45 on beam in the meet. She set a personal-best of 9.725 on vault at the 2020 Ozone Invitational and earned the title on that event. Last month she won all-around, vault, bars and floor at the Crown of the Carolinas meet.
 
Jernigan on Donna Kathryn Roy - "Donna Kay is a late addition to our 2021 class. She is an all-around powerhouse. She has a dynamic vault, artistic lines on bars and beam and her floor difficulty will be one of the best in the Mid-American Conference. DK's potential is enormous. She's got raw talent paired with true passion for her sport. She's a gem and we expect to see her shine brightly." 

Ally Schaupp | Algonquin, Ill./Huntley High School
Schaupp competes on bars, beam, floor and vault. She was the Level 10 all-around champion at the 2018 Gasparilla Classic and is a four-time Level 10 Regional Championships qualifier. As a student, Schaupp is a member of the National Honor Society, a member of the Engineering Academy and is a National Merit Commended scholar.
 
Jernigan on Ally Schaup - "Ally is another recruit that Coach Scharns and I have been tracking for a long time. She's got a calm confidence about her that reminds us a lot of former Bronco Gymnastics standout Rachael Underwood. The two are from the same club in Illinois and share a similar artistic style on beam and floor."'

Abby Singh | Winfield, Ill./St. Francis High School
Singh was a Level 9 Eastern Nationals Top 5 competitor in 2017 and progressed to a Level 10 JO National Qualifier in 2019, where she was top 20 in the all-around. She posted a top 100 vault score of 9.850 in 2020 and won the Vault Region 5 Yahtzee Award. Singh is an honor roll student and received the AP Scholar Award at her school in 2020.
 
Gigi Singh | Winfield, Ill./St. Francis ­­High School
Singh placed 10^th on bars at the 2019 Level 10 Regional Championships. She placed in the top 20 in 2018 and was the Regional All-Around winner at the 2017 Eastern Nationals. As a student she is a member of the Honor Roll and was the DuPage County Fair Art Competition winner in both 2018 and 2019.
 
Jernigan on Abby and Gigi Singh - "Abby and Gigi are identical twins. Abby is a strong all-arounder and Gigi is a powerful vaulter and tumbler. Both are phenomenal students as well. With their character and work ethic, we expect them to emerge as leaders within our program."

Cassie St. Clair | Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North High School
St. Clair scored a 9.825 in the vault to place in the top 100 in the nation at the 2020 UGA Classic. She earned a first place finish in the floor at the Level 9 Regional Championships. At Level 10 she holds top scores of 9.825 on vault, 9.625 on floor and an all-around score of 37.200. St. Clair is also an Honor Roll student at Plainfield North High School.
 
Jernigan on Cassie St. Clair - "Cassie is a superstar on vault and floor. She competes a unique vault called a Tskuahara tucked with a full and a half twist. It's a 10.0 start value, the highest difficulty level in collegiate gymnastics. Her power and explosiveness are stunning. With her gymnastics ability and maturity, we believe she's destined to be a champion."