Week two has come and gone, and season is officially in full swing! For the NCGA East, Ithaca opened the season with a bang, proving it’s the team to beat after opening its season with a division-high 187.000. In the WIAC, we saw some big performances as well with Gustavus starting its season with its highest opening score and UW-Oshkosh showing it’s capable of taking on the big dogs—a.k.a. DI schools.
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 NCGA meet.
Routine of the Week
Tali Twomey – Springfield Floor
Twomey showed why she’s the reigning DIII floor champion by scoring a big 9.825 in the first meet of the season and winning the event in a quad meet between Brockport, Springfield, Ursinus and Rhode Island.
Surprise Performance of the Week
Cassidy Marquette – Ithaca Vault
A junior on the team, Marquette made huge splash in her debut performance on vault and scored a big 9.600 to win the event.
Top Scores
| Gymnast | Team | Score |
| Tali Twomey | Springfield | 9.825 |
| Eleanor LaFountain | Ursinus | 9.775 |
| Candis Kowalik | Brockport | 9.725 |
| Kaira Hammond | UW-Oshkosh | 9.700 |
| Emma Schulz | Cortland | 9.675 |
| Mackenzie Kennedy | Ithaca | 9.675 |
| Carolyn Nichols | Ithaca | 9.675 |
| Ali Rushlow | Springfield | 9.675 |
| Hailey DiCicco | Ursinus | 9.650 |
| Bailey Finin | UW-Oshkosh | 9.650 |
| Candis Kowalik | Brockport | 9.625 |
| Rachel Filipski | Cortland | 9.625 |
| Emma Schulz | Cortland | 9.625 |
| Tori Gery | Ithaca | 9.600 |
| Cassidy Marquette | Ithaca | 9.600 |
| Dani Barmore | UW-La Crosse | 9.600 |
The Highlights
| No. 39 Hamline, Gustavus Adolphus and Winona State at No. 22 Minnesota | ||||
| Full Results | Minnesota: 195.600 | Hamline: 183.500 | Winona: 182.325 | Gustavus: 182.175 |
| VT: Loper 9.825 | UB: Lu 9.925 | BB: Ramler 9.925 | FX: Ramler 9.850 | AA: Ramler 39.475 |
The Big Storyline: Look how close these WIAC teams are! The big story here is Gustavus. We saw the Gusties conclude their 2018 season with a fifth place finish at conference, and the question was whether they would be able to build on that this year; this meet proved they could. They finished a mere tenth and a half behind Winona on the way to their best season opener in program history. Winona also showed it shouldn’t be forgotten with multiple scores in the 9.500-range and gymnasts topping the other DIII competitors on both bars and beam—events that have been fairly weak across the division so far.
Implications: Hamline continues to inch past its competitors and remains the top DIII team in Minnesota, but like UW-Oshkosh did last weekend, Winona and Gustavus put some pressure on the Pipers by finishing less than a point and a half behind.
Records: This was Gustavus’ highest season opener score ever.
| No. 40 UW-Oshkosh, Centenary and Kent State at No. 24 UIC | ||||
| Full Results | UIC: 194.200 | Kent State: 191.250 | UW-Oshkosh: 185.750 | Centenary: 181.800 |
| VT: Williams 9.750 | UB: Northern 9.725 | BB: Baddeley 9.850 | FX: Sheremeta 9.875 | AA: Northern 39.050 |
The Big Storyline: Both Centenary and UW-Oshkosh put up stellar beam lineups receiving a 47.700 and 47.400, respectively, which allowed both teams to overtake DI team Kent State on that event. For Centenary, Navia Jordan and Cami Bea Austin lead the way, and Kaira Hammond was the top scorer for the Titans. UW-Oshkosh was also able to put up a full lineup on vault this week, adding back Naya Haynes who was a solid and consistent contributor in 2018.
Implications: This performance from the Titan’s puts them above Hamline in the rankings, moving them up to second in the WIAC. Centenary is likely a bit disappointed in its overall team ranking within the USAG field, however its fantastic performance on beam this weekend puts the team ahead of five DI and DII programs on that particular event which should be a confidence booster.
| Brockport, Springfield and Ursinus at Rhode Island | ||||
| Full Results | Brockport: 186.300 | Springfield: 183.300 | Ursinus: 180.125 | Rhode Island: 177.200 |
| VT: Twomey 9.500 | UB: Clemens 9.575 | BB: Kowalik 9.625 | FX: Twomey 9.825 | AA: Kowalik 37.975 |
The Big Storyline: This was our first official look at Ursinus and Rhode Island under their new head coaches. Though both teams had their ups and downs, they also had some shining moments—vault and floor being standout spots for both teams. RIC in particular had an exciting final rotation with three competitors receiving career-bests on floor and scoring a big 47.050 on the event, one high enough to top meet champion Brockport.
Implications: Team results from this meet pretty much shook out the way you would have expected it to looking at where these teams stacked up at the end of last season. Brockport is consistently sitting in that 186.000-range, which is a great start to the season. However, it will definitely be working toward hitting the 190.000 mark in the next few weeks.
Records: Rhode Island’s Grace Davis, Chandler Lynn and Christa Vaccaro all scored career-bests on floor with 9.450, 9.450 and 9.300, respectively. Ursinus gymnasts Eleanor LaFountain and Hailey DiCicco both competed all around for the first time in their careers.
| Cortland, Penn and West Chester at Maryland | ||||
| Full Results | Maryland: 193.850 | West Chester: 190.650 | Penn: 190.550 | Cortland: 183.450 |
| VT: Burgess 9.775 | UB: Farina 9.875 | BB: Moore 9.800 | FX: Farina 9.750 | AA: Petermen 38.500 |
The Big Storyline: Cortland was able to improve its team score by five tenths between its season opener last Tuesday and this past Sunday—a steady increase the Red Dragons will hope to continue making in an attempt to peak at just the right time. Rachel Filipski and Emma Schulz were once again standout performers and freshman all arounder Megan Hanley proved she’s a steady, reliable competitor upping her total to just about the 37.000 mark.
Implications: Only Ithaca and Brockport have been able to top a 183.450 in the NCGA East this season, so Cortland is sitting pretty for now.
| UW-La Crosse at UW-Eau Claire | ||||
| Full Results | UW-La Crosse: 184.125 | UW-Eau Claire: 181.100 | ||
| VT: Hawkins 9.550 | UB: Barmore 9.600 | BB: Ahrens 9.500 | FX: Bjorge 9.400 | AA: N/A |
The Big Storyline: A weak beam rotation from UW-Eau Claire makes this meet look a little less exciting than it actually was. In fact, these two teams were neck and neck in every other event—separated by only four and a half tenths on the other three. However, La Crosse bounced back in the last rotation with a 47.150 on beam—its highest score of the night—to pull ahead.
Implications: Conference powerhouse UW-La Crosse didn’t quite start its season as strongly as it has in recent years. Though still ranked on top of the WIAC, UW-Oshkosh and Hamline are not too far behind. UW-Eau Claire should be fairly pleased with its performance and take comfort in knowing it was able to keep up with the reigning conference champions on three of the four events.
| Ithaca at Rhode Island | ||||
| Full Results | Ithaca: 187.000 | Rhode Island: 176.275 | ||
| VT: Marquette 9.600 | UB: Christoforo 9.500 | BB: Holcomb 9.500 | FX: Nichols 9.675 | AA: Murphy 36.150 |
The Big Storyline: Ithaca, Ithaca, Ithaca—this team has got it! After a breakout season in 2018, the Bombers proved once again they are a force to be reckoned with, not only scoring the highest DIII opening score of the year so far but also their own highest opening score in at least 16 seasons. Newcomer Mackenzie Kennedy had a stellar performance on floor to tie veteran Carolyn Nichols for first place and lead the team to a massive 48.025 on the event.
Implications: Ithaca proved its conference-winning performance in 2018 wasn’t a one-and-done type of situation. This team is hungry for success and will start its season ranked on top of the entire division.
Records: Ithaca’s team score of 187.000 was its highest season opener in at least 16 years. Also, junior Cassidy Marquette competed vault for the first time and won the event with a 9.600.
READ THIS NEXT: The Dismount: Week Two WAG
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Article by Rachel Riesterer
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