By Nick Pantages
@nick_pantages22
In his first season in collegiate gymnastics, Peyton Cramer quickly filled up his resume. He was named as both the ECAC Rookie and Specialist of the Year, and became the program’s first All-American since 2014. He also represented Springfield in a men’s gymnastics individual final at the NCAA Championships for just the third time since 1984, finishing in fifth in the pommel horse.
He will get another opportunity to shine on the national stage, as on Oct. 15 the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) announced that Cramer was selected to compete in the CGA East vs. West All-Star competition in pommel horse for Team East.
“This is definitely a cool shoutout,” Cramer said. “It’s really low stakes to just record a routine, but it’s a fun way to get people into gymnastics, get people watching and get people excited for the season.”
This will be the third annual meet, and it is held to generate interest in men’s gymnastics before the season starts.
The event is fully virtual, and follows an East vs. West format, with each side receiving four members in each of the six individual events, which include the aforementioned pommel horse, as well as vault, still rings, horizontal bar, parallel bars and a floor routine.
Cramer was chosen due to his results at the National Championships last April, ranking second among athletes from schools that fall in the CGA’s East region.
Currently all other athletes selected for Team East attend one of the four Big Ten powerhouse gymnastics schools – Michigan, Penn State, Illinois and Ohio State – who have 32 team national championships between them. To have Springfield in the same class as some of those giants is not something Cramer takes for granted.
“Having Springfield next to schools like Michigan and Illinois, that is such a cool opportunity,” Cramer said.
Two of Cramer’s teammates will be Paris Olympians Frederick Richard and Paul Juda, who will compete for Team East in the still rings and floor, respectively. Cramer is looking forward to sharing the same national platform with some of the sport’s biggest names.
“I’m super excited for that,” Cramer said. “It’s one of the benefits of men’s gymnastics, especially in college, it’s such a small sport you are right up there with literal Olympians.”
The event is scheduled for Jan. 3, 2025, and features some adjusted rules to ease the athletes into competition, making it less physically taxing due to it being before the start of the regular season. For pommel horse athletes specifically, each athlete will perform six skills instead of the usual eight in an effort to make the event quicker and more watchable, as well as ease the stress on the athletes.
Individually, Cramer’s goals for the event are simple.
“Just go get that routine recorded and show off what I’ve been working on,” Cramer said. “I’m competing against Olympians, so at the end of the day placement is placement, but I’m just super excited to be able to have the opportunity.”
So far, only two people per team and event have been announced, with the last two spots likely to be announced within the coming weeks. They will be filled by winners of a vote, and, according to Cramer, some of those vacant slots could be filled by some of his fellow Pride teammates.
“Hopefully we get some more Springfield people up there, get that Springfield name out there,” Cramer said.
If some Springfield gymnast’s are nominated, Cramer implores the campus community to show their support and get some of his teammates with him on the national stage.
“You better help nominate,” Cramer said. “You have to go out there, like it up, if you want to see Springfield going up against Olympians, we all have to contribute, it’s on us.”
Photo courtesy of Springfield Athletics