The DIIsmount: Week Three USAG

It was a fascinating week in USAG action as Lindenwood soared at home to top No. 1 UIC’s peak score on Friday, only for the Flames to take it back on Saturday with the first 195 of the season. We also saw our first 9.900s and some fantastic all around performances.

We wanted to show more love to the non-top teams in college gym in 2019, so we broke out our Dismounts into DI, DII (all USAG nationals teams) and DIII. Each week, we’re also dishing out a few superlatives for some of our favorite moments, looks and results from the weekend of competition. Below those, you’ll find your typical results and highlights from every DII and USAG nationals-eligible team’s meet. For reference, teams eligible for USAG nationals include those with less than seven and a half full scholarships. They include Ivy league schools, all DII teams, Air Force, Centenary and SEMO.

Routine of the Week

Anna Kaziska (SEMO) – Floor

We knew before this season started that SEMO would depend on its freshmen to pan out immediately, and Kaziska is keeping her part of the bargain particularly on floor, where she’s ranked No. 5 in USAG standings.

Surprise Performance of the Week

Courtney Mitchell (Lindenwood) – All Around

We saw sophomore Mitchell looking good in Lindenwood’s preseason training clips, but we didn’t anticipate how quickly she would become an all around leader for the Lions. She picked up four individual titles and set a personal best in the all around at Lindenwood’s home opener this weekend.

Best Recovery

Brown

The Bears had a difficult opening weekend last week, struggling through beam and floor at a double header at Alaska, but they bounced back in style this weekend at home with a new season high that was almost four points above the previous one. It wasn’t enough to help Brown’s ranking much, but the team proved it’s capable of impressive scores.

Top Scores

Gymnast Team Event Score
Courtney Mitchell Lindenwood Bars 9.900
Anna Kaziska SEMO Floor 9.900
Alisa Sheremeta UIC Floor 9.900
Serena Baker UIC Bars 9.875
Kathryn Doran Bridgeport Bars 9.850
Cassidy Jung Brown Beam 9.850
Courtney Mitchell Lindenwood Beam 9.850
Kayla Baddeley UIC Vault 9.850
Riley Mahoney UIC Vault 9.850
Rebecca Chong Yale Floor 9.850
Jessica Wang Yale Bars 9.850

The Highlights

No. 26 West Virginia and No. 73 Cortland at No. 52 Air Force
Full Results WVU: 194.750 USAFA: 193.675 Cortland: 180.475
VT: Koshinski 9.950 UB: Abarca 9.800 BB: Hornung 9.825 FX: Davis, Koshinski 9.850 AA: Davis 38.875

The Big Storyline: Air Force had a great home opener, improving on its first week score by almost two points and keeping the pressure on West Virginia throughout. All arounder Tyler Davis excelled to pick up two individual titles while the Falcons’ freshmen continue to settle in with three newcomers hitting a total of four-for-four.

Implications: Air Force is up to No. 5 in USAG rankings, above defending champion Texas Woman’s.

Records: Tyler Davis set a career high in the all around.

No. 28 Pittsburgh, No. 44 Temple and No. 48 Bridgeport at No. 40 New Hampshire
Full Results UNH: 194.925 Pitt: 193.725 Bridgeport: 193.575 Temple: 191.950
VT: O’Leary, Petrikis, Brechwald 9.800 UB: Doran 9.850 BB: Bondanza 9.925 FX: Watkins, Winer 9.850 AA: Servido 38.800

The Big Storyline: Bridgeport claimed its second Division I scalp of the season with a win over Temple and put up another strong mark despite counting a fall on floor. The Purple Knights have done an excellent job converting freshman talent to big scores early on in the season and have the ability to push 195 once they get their consistency sorted out.

Implications: Bridgeport was passed by Lindenwood this week, dropping to No. 4, but that’s not a change anyone will be losing sleep over.

No. 31 UC Davis at No. 63 Seattle Pacific
Full Results UC Davis: 195.225 SPU: 192.625
VT: Burns 9.800 UB: Suzuki 9.850 BB: Liddle 9.850 FX: Hebert 9.875 AA: Hebert 39.200

The Big Storyline: SPU put up a fantastic mark for January, improving on last week’s total by almost three points. Much of the Falcons’ success can be attributed to junior Darian Burns, but they also benefited from a team-leading floor score by freshman Kayla Chan and a solid all around performance by Itzia San Roman.

Implications: The Falcons improved their ranking by several places, lying No. 9 in USAG standings and No. 4 in the MPSF, above two Division I rivals.

Records: Darian Burns set a personal best in the all around that also tied the school’s fifth-highest score all time.

No. 32 N.C. State, No. 57 Cornell and William & Mary at No. 61 Towson
Full Results N.C. State: 194.600 W&M: 192.150 Towson: 191.975 Cornell: 191.725
VT: Grantham 9.825 UB: Tamburro 9.900 BB: Hurst 9.875 FX: Sakti 9.925 AA: Grantham 39.175

The Big Storyline: Cornell added around a point to its first meet result and topped the field on beam at its quad meet this week. It also finished second on vault. The Big Red is still adjusting to the loss of usual all arounder Amy Shen, who was injured just before season, but it’s making progress.

Implications: Cornell’s rankings remain much the same as in week two.

No. 35 UIC at No. 64 Bowling Green
Full Results UIC: 195.200 BGSU: 194.825
VT: Baddeley, Mahoney 9.850 UB: Baker 9.875 BB: East 9.950 FX: East, Sheremeta 9.900 AA: Northern 38.500

The Big Storyline: UIC was on pace to hit a near-196 after vault and bars, its weak events. Two beam falls ended that dream, but this team is capable; it’s both exciting and heartbreaking that it’s all happening this year.

Implications: UIC is up with Lindenwood at the top of the MIC conference and should be a factor in that conference championship conversation, as well as at the USAG championships. Don’t count the Flames out of the regionals picture either. Not too many teams are putting up 195s away at this point.

Records: UIC’s Serena Baker had a career-high mark on bars (9.875), Kayla Baddeley put one up on vault (9.850) while Riley Mahoney had a pair, on vault (9.850) and beam (9.825).

No. 59 Penn at No. 39 Yale
Full Results Yale: 193.775 Penn: 192.350
VT: Kraez 9.825 UB: Wang 9.850 BB: Yang 9.825 FX: Chong 9.850 AA: Buford 38.850

The Big Storyline: Penn is getting its freshman firing already this season with two newcomers picking up event titles on the road and several others putting up good scores in New Haven, staying close to Yale until a few errors on beam in the last rotation. In contrast, Yale hasn’t been able to get more than one event out of its ultra-talented freshmen due to some injuries before season, but it soared on floor with a 48.925 to pull out a good win.

Implications: Neither team will make a major ranking jump.

Records: Yale’s Rebecca Chong picked up the floor title after having to sit out of the event for the past two years due to injury.

No. 47 San Jose State at No. 68 SEMO
Full Results SJSU: 193.225 SEMO: 189.800
VT: Adams 9.775 UB: Chan 9.825 BB: Kaziska 9.825 FX: Kaziska, Chan 9.900 AA: Chan 39.150

The Big Storyline: SEMO got a bit of confidence back after its disaster on the road last week. Freshman Anna Kaziska put up some incredible marks, and sophomore Gabrielle Adams also won a title.

Implications: SEMO’s rankings will remain much the same this week.

Records: All three SEMO all arounders, Anna Kaziska, Mackenzie Slee and Michael Sanders, set personal bests in the all around.

No. 74 Winona State at No. 51 Lindenwood
Full Results Lindenwood: 194.550 Winona State: 183.950
VT: Mitchell 9.800 UB: Mitchell 9.900 BB: Mitchell 9.850 FX: Franklin 9.800 AA: Mitchell 39.075

The Big Storyline: Lindenwood was on fire in its home opener, picking up what was at that time the highest score of the young USAG season and improving on every event from its first meet. Courtney Mitchell’s career day helped, as did a fantastic bar rotation.

Implications: The Lions move into the lead in Division II this week and into No. 3 in USAG rankings.

Records: Mitchell matched a program record with her 9.900 on bars and set a career high in the all around for the second week in a row.

No. 78 Ursinus at No. 58 West Chester
Full Results West Chester: 188.875 Ursinus: 183.225
VT: Rush 9.425 UB: Duke 9.575 BB:Boyd 9.675 FX: Meakim 9.825 AA: LaFountain 37.175

The Big Storyline: Sophomores Jessica Meakim and Yolanda Nodarse excelled to lead the Rams to a win over Division III Ursinus, but they finished a fair distance back from their first week total after a difficult rotation on vault.

Implications: West Chester dropped down to No. 65 in the rankings.

No. 60 Southern Connecticut at No. 65 Brown
Full Results Brown: 192.850 SCSU: 189.625
VT: Costa 9.800 UB: Costa 9.800 BB: Jung 9.850 FX: Green 9.825 AA: Girolamo 38.350

The Big Storyline: Brown swept the individual event titles and all four events to set a season high by a margin of 3.950. Southern Connecticut finished a little below its first week performance but still had some individual highlights.

Implications: Neither team will move more than a few spots in the rankings after the meet, but Brown’s season high shows that it has a lot of potential for the rest of the season.

Records: Caroline Jung’s title-winning beam performance was a career high.

Controversies: The meet was postponed by a day because of inclement weather.

No. 77 UW-Eau Claire at No. 76 Centenary
Full Results Centenary: 188.100 UWEC: 185.725
VT: Benes 9.575 UB: Smith, Lewis 9.625 BB: Jordan, Ehde 9.600 FX: Jordan 9.700 AA: Smith 37.800

The Big Storyline: Centenary had a fantastic night to put up the highest score of the Division III season so far. It’s questionable how relevant this is since Centenary is a USAG team and not really in competition with the rest of Division III, but it’s still unusual for the Ladies to come out ahead of the whole division.

Implications: The Ladies rank No. 1 in Division III on beam and No. 3 on floor.

READ THIS NEXT: The Dismount: Week Three WAG

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Article by Rebecca Scally, Emily Minehart

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