Signing Day For Boise State Gymnastics

Football signing day always gets major mention in the media but today belongs to gymnastics, specifically Boise State who today signed three gymnasts to national letters of intent.

Boise State gymnastics head coach Tina Bird announced the signings of Courtney Blackson (Elk Grove, Calif.), Talia Little (Rochester, N.Y.) and Emily Lopez (Mission Viejo, Calif.) each will join the Broncos for the 2020-21 academic year.

“I couldn’t be more excited to announce this class,” Bird said. “They are all incredibly talented gymnasts that have competed at the highest levels of competition. They are also great students, which is an important part of our culture, and wonderful people from great families. I am elated that they chose to be part of this program.”

Here no some information on all three signees:

COURTNEY BLACKSON
Blackson is joining the Broncos from Byers Roseville, where she is coached by Rhonda Hawkins, Elisha Adrian, Cassie Hall and Addie Mclaughlin.

“Courtney is an amazing athlete who performs dynamic skills with huge amplitude,” Bird said. “Her routines will amaze our fans. She is our third athlete from Byers Roseville (Shani Remme and Rachel Obmann) and is sure to contribute to the team score right out of the gate.”

Blackson was a member of the Junior Olympic National Team in 2018, and attended the Junior Olympic National Team Camp that year as well. She has been a Junior Olympic National qualifier in each of the last four years, finishing in the top 10 on bars in each of the last two. In 2018, she finished third in the all-around, second on bars and fourth on floor; and in 2019, finished ninth on bars.

At the Junior Olympic Region 1 Regionals, Blackson finished second on vault, sixth on floor and seventh in the all-around in 2018. In 2019, she captured both the vault and floor titles while finishing second in the all-around.

At the Northern California State Championships, Blackson won the vault title in each of the last two years. She also finished first on bars in 2018 while finishing second on floor and in the all-around. This past year she finished first on floor and third in the all-around.

TALIA LITTLE
Little is joining the Broncos from Rochester Gymnastics Academy, where she is coached by Barry and Youlia Coss.

“We are thrilled to have Talia join our team,” Bird said. “She demonstrates all of the characteristics that are paramount to our team culture. Add to that a national championship in the all-around and on bars and beam, and we couldn’t ask for a better recruit.”

Little was a member of the 2019 Junior Olympic National Team, and attended the Junior Olympic National Team Camp in both 2016 and 2019.

In 2019, Little captured the Junior Olympic national championship in the all-around, and also on both bars and beam. That year she was the New York Level 10 state champion in the all-around and on beam.

In 2018, while competing at the Level 1 Region 6 Regional, she captured titles in the all-around and on both bars and beam.

EMILY LOPEZ
Lopez is joining the Broncos from Wildfire Gymnastics, where she is coached by Rick Watson, Whitney Dames, Hayley Butler, Stephanie Calvert and Tom Wakeling.

“Emily is a beautiful gymnast on all four events, who will bring tons of consistency and grace under pressure to the team,” Bird said. “She is sure to steal the hearts of Bronco Nation and help us continue our record-breaking trends.”

This past year Lopez finished sixth in the all-around at Junior Olympic nationals, while placing eighth on vault, 10th on bars and 11th on floor. She also finished fourth in the all-around at regionals while placing third on both vault and bars, and eighth on beam. At the Southern California State Championships, she took home the beam title while finishing third on vault and in the all-around.

She also competed at Junior Olympic nationals in 2018, and at regionals finished second in the all-around while placing third on vault and beam. At the state championships she finished second on both vault and beam.