The Denver Pioneers host George Washington and West Virginia in the team’s first Big 12 matchup of the season, and we’re here to cover all of it! The Pioneers look to hit all 4 and break the 197 mark for the first time this season. More importantly, the team wants to hit six for six on bars, an event where falls have illuded them this year. West Virginia has had amazing consistency lately and hopes to continue and improve upon that trend, while the Colonials also look to continue their upward trajectory that has been a theme all season. Especially of note, watch to see how the team uses its freshmen class, which the team has not relied upon as much as some thought to begin the season. We should have ourselves a battle in the all around, with front runners being Maddie Karr and Lynnzee Brown of Denver, Kirah Koshinski of West Virginia, and both Jillian Winstanley and Camille Drouin-Allaire for the Colonials. Don’t count out the Pioneers’ Mia Sundstrom, and as always watch for the dynamic floor routines from the back half of the Pioneers’ lineup as well as the team’s beam anchor, Kaitlyn Schou. Also watch for Zaakira Muhammad for the Mountaineers, who has been another star for the team during her collegiate career.
If you’d like to follow along with us, the meet is being streamed on FloGymnastics for those with a FloPro membership.
Warmups just concluded here in Denver! Intros should be underway shortly.
Another sellout for Denver!
Tonight's meet is officially SOLD OUT! No more tickets are available!
THANK YOU, FANS! #DU1NATION #NCAAGym pic.twitter.com/H4SxoqNsyH
— Denver Gymnastics (@DU_Gymnastics) February 10, 2018
GW has teal ribbons pinned to their warmups! Love seeing all the support!
DU lineups. No Lynnzee Brown, evidently…
Line-ups for tonight's meet: pic.twitter.com/Y2arOsjRrm
— Denver Gymnastics (@DU_Gymnastics) February 11, 2018
Kern and Loper also warmed up floor! Hopefully we’ll see a full six soon.
Rotation 1: Denver Vault, WVU Bars, GW Floor
Here’s the WVU bar lineup
For the third straight week, we will start the meet on uneven bars. WVU shows a 48.9 season high on the event. Junior Jaquie Tun has tallied a team-best 9.85 twice!
Take a look at the lineup! ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/0R6t2azgtH
— WVU Gymnastics (@WVUGymnastics) February 11, 2018
Chesnok VT: nice yfull with a hop in place 9.8
Bernard UB: nice set overall! guess she fell when I didn’t see. 8.925
Mermelstein FX: she’s so tiny! looked solid of what I saw. 9.65
Sundstrom VT: yfull, just a slide back! nice! 9.775
Tun UB: nice straddled jaeger! bail to a lovely hs! pretty position on double lay but a little short 9.65
Winstanley FX: missed most of her routine, but looked good from what I could see! 9.75
Addison VT: STUCK yfull cold! gonna be a big score! 9.9
Muhammad UB: huge tkatchev! straddle back good. Stuck double lay! 9.775
Karr VT: another stick for the Pios! this time Karr on her y1.5. 9.925
Zois FX: nice opening double pike. beautiful 2.5! 9.75
Gillette UB: markelov! and stuck landing! all I saw from her. 9.675
Schou VT: another great one for the Pios! a small hop in place, if anything. 9.85
Cluchey UB: beautiful pak! short on last handstand. almost stuck double lay. 9.7
Crasa FX: front punch through to double pike good. lil short on combo pass but pulls it around nicely. chest down on double tuck. 9.625
Marler UB: nice first handstand; good piked jaeger; nice bail; stuck double lay. Nice! 9.775
Drouin-Allaire FX: huge tucked full in to open! such fun choreo! fhs front full front lay good. nice extension on her leaps! nice closing double pike! 9.875
Seibold FX: squatty double pike to open; fhs front full front half nice; good 2.5 to close! 9.7
After 1: Denver 49.25, GW 48.75, WVU 48.575
The Pioneers opened strong on vault, seemingly letting the absence of Brown fuel their fire! Both WVU and GW are off to a solid start as well, but definitely look to improve throughout the meet!
Rotation 2: DU bars, WVU beam, GW vault
Kern UB: straddled jaeger good nice bail to hs! small hop on double lay. Nice hit routine to start for the Pios! 9.8
Zois VT: yfull, a little piking, small hop on landing. 9.825
Koshinski BB: have missed most of this routine, but dismounts with a 1.5 with a step. 9.625
McLaughlin VT: yfull with a hop but good position 9.7
Sundstrom UB: good opening hs; nice clear hip tkatchev! good on bail to hs; flung her dbl lay and has to take a step back 9.8
Pfieler VT: nice y full! 9.85
Drouin-Allaire VT: beautiful yfull!! 9.9
Lomonte UB: nice maloney; I think she usually connects the bail but she takes an extra long hang kip; stalder double tuck good! another hit!
Winstanley VT: nice y1.5 with just a hop! 9.875
Mermelstein VT: solid yfull! 9.725
Chesnok UB: giant full tkatchev good! nice bail to hs. she’s beautiful on bars. ftdt with a tinyyyy hop. Great routine! Denver announcer–that was not a stick. but ok. 9.8
Glynn UB: beautiful gienger! she’s cleaned it up so much from her club days. good bail to hs! just a small foot repositioning on the landing. great to have her back on bars again! 9.9
Karr UB: nice gienger directly to bail! loses balance for a sec on squat on but sticks DLO! 9.875
Man. Bars judges tight tonight so far through 2.
Cumber BB: bobble on acro series; nice full turn; cat leap switch half beat jump nice; 1.5 with a step 9.6
Galpin BB: nice full turn; oooo beauriful scorpion! sheep jump split jump lovely! Love her flexibility! side aerial with knee bend but pulls it around into the lay full dismount.
After 2: DU 98.425, GW 97.9, WVU 96.775
Denver hit six for six on bars! Great for the team. GW also had some nice vaults, highlighted by Drouin-Allaire’s 9.9 yfull! I honestly missed a lot of WVU beam, but they all hit as well, although the highest score was a 9.75.
Rotation 3: DU beam, WVU floor, GW bars
Zois UB: giant full to straddle back lovely! good tkatchev, nice handstands, ends with a stick!
Addison BB: nice series; good sissone; beat jump straddle 3/4 nice and secure; side somi secure; stuck gainer pike. great leadoff. and she’s thrilled! Love the emotions. 9.8
Pfieler UB: giant full gienger good; good bail; nice final hs; giant full double back with a hop. 9.725
Chesnok BB: good split jump, little check so she repeats it to connect to the sheep jump; bhs loso and she’s off. Could just tell she was tentative; beat jump good; nice full turn. good front aerial; stuck gainer full. Nice recovery. 9.175
Winstanley UB: huge gienger with leg sep; unique pirouette combo into bail! huge ftdt stuck!
Sundstrom BB: switch to switch half good; secure, beautiful side aerial; good full turn; she’s so calm and confident; bhs to loso good. just has the dismount left now. nearly stuck gainer pike. Just what the Pios needed! 9.85
McLaughlin UB: good first hs; good straddled jaeger; bail to hs nice; missed the dismount. 9.725
Karr BB: sude aerial bhs lovely! good on full turn; hitch kick side somi lovely; split full good! stuck 1.5 to close. great routine!
Schou BB: I love her mount series! front aerial bhs loso, little arm check but good; beautiful sissone–her lines are just lovely! secure beat jump to sheep jump; bhs gainer full stuck! Great routine for the Pios!
Glynn BB: switch leap spilt jump straddle jump lovely! bhs loso, wobble but she stays on! standing loso small check; good full turn, she twists it fast; stuck gainer pike. She hits her first competitive beam routine! 9.675
Koshinski FX: great combo pass missed her first pass; huge double tuck to close! Nice routine from what I saw!
After 3: DU 147.5, WVU 145.7 ,GW 146.875
The Pioneers hit 5, though they’ll definitely want to improve on that performance in the future. GW had a solid bars rotation from what I saw, highlighted by Winstanley! I missed most of floor, but Koshinski was dynamic as usual!
Rotation 4: DU floor, WVU vault, GW beam
Bernard VT: leads off with a clean yhalf! 9.85
Sundstrom FX: good double tuck! love her kick choreo! front lay front full with great control on the landing! nice extension on her leap series; split full to close; good leadoff! 9.85
Tun VT: clean y full 9.775
Mermelstein BB: nice leaps; missed most of routine but stuck 1.5 to close
Glynn FX: huge double pike with nice control! Semi missed her leap series but good extension; front full to front tuck good (I think she normally does a lay though?); double tuck, good control. Another good routine! 9.75
Koshinski VT: powerfy y1.5, just a small hop! 9.9
Schou FX: fhs front double good; 1.5 to front lay solid; ring leap to leap I couldn’t see lovely; closes with a fhs rudi to split jump! Another solid routine! 9.775
Pfieler BB: gorgeous bhs loso and sticks gainer full; missed rest of routine 9.8
Karr FX: good double pike to open! 1.5 to lay full with secure landing; tour jete 1/2 wolf full good; great double full to close! 9.925
Addison FX: HUGE DLO to open, well controlled; 1.5 to front lay good; nice leap series, don’t have a great view on it; great double pike to close! Excellent routine. 9.925
Final: DU 196.725, GW 195.9, WVU 194.925
A full hit meet for Denver! Still some things they’d like to improve (see: beam), but they didn’t have to count a fall despite Chesnok’s fall on beam. A small step back from last week score-wise for GW, but still a very nice meet for them! WVU showed consistency yet again, despite a small score decrease, they are still within .1 of last week’s score. A solid meet all around!
Live blog by Tara Graeve
