The Mount: Week Five WAG

We’re getting closer to the heart of the season and the switch to RQS. Things are starting to matter. Keep an eye in particular on teams that have gotten off to a slow start in 2019, as well as ones that either need to start dropping iffy away scores or those that have done particularly well on the road. But the biggest meet of the weekend comes when No. 2 Florida heads to face off against No. 1 Oklahoma. You don’t want to miss it.

As always, you’ll find everything you need to follow along with all the meets happening this weekend, including previews of the top matchups, Fantasy Gymnastics resources and every scoring and video link you could ever need.

Can’t-Miss Matchups

No. 2 Florida at No. 1 Oklahoma

When You Need to Tell Your Friends You’re Busy: Friday, February 1 at 8 p.m. ET

Why You Should Cancel Plans For It: After switching places with UCLA, Florida is now ranked second behind Oklahoma, establishing this as a meet between the two best teams in the nation at the moment. Florida beat OU last year when the matchup was in Gainesville, but that doesn’t mean the same result couldn’t happen here. Don’t be surprised to see at least one 10 either.

Routines to Avoid Going to the Bathroom During: Alicia Boren (Florida, FX),  Brenna Dowell (OU, VT), Rachel Gowey (Florida, BB), Maggie Nichols (OU, AA), Trinity Thomas (Florida, UB), Anastasia Webb (OU, BB)

What Else You Should Know Before Tuning In: This is also an alumni meet for Oklahoma, so there will likely be various members of the OU dynasty in attendance. You can also likely expect Maggie Nichols to be back in the all around for this important contest. Florida’s Nya Reed was out of vault and floor last week for unknown reasons. However, she could be back as well to help the Gators put up their best possible lineups in Norman.

No. 13 Nebraska at No. 10 Michigan

When You Need to Tell Your Friends You’re Busy: Sunday, February 3 at 2 p.m. ET

Why You Should Cancel Plans For It: Oh boy. Michigan has quietly cruised in the low-to-mid 196 range so far to lead the Big Ten. Nebraska had a disaster-meet for a 194 but also put up the Big Ten’s first 197 last week to move just behind the Wolverines in the rankings. Which Nebraska will we see in Ann Arbor? Michigan has its own yikes moments to worry about too, namely bars and injuries. Either team could win. Either team could have an implosion meet. This is a big one.

Routines to Avoid Going to the Bathroom During: Olivia Karas (UM, FX), Natalie Wojcik (UM, VT), Abby Brenner (UM, VT), Taylor Houchin (UNL, UB), Adnerys De Jesus (UNL, FX), Megan Schweihofer (UNL, FX)

What Else You Should Know Before Tuning In: Injuries galore! Megan Schweihofer (shoulder) has been limited to beam and floor, as has Sienna Crouse (finger infection). Crouse has been seen on bars in training clips recently, and the Huskers need her there. Catelyn Orel (knee) is not expected back until postseason, but she showed beam work this week. For the Wolverines, Maggie O’Hara, this year’s surprise bars and beam rock, seems to have torn her Achilles, and Emma McLean sat out last week with a sore shoulder. It turns out that Abby Heiskell’s absence has had less to do with last year’s Achilles injury and more to do with a recent appendectomy; she exhibitioned beam last week and is badly needed.

Meets You Didn’t Know You Should Be Interested In

No. 11 Auburn at No. 17 Kentucky

When the Meet’s Happening: Friday, February 1 at 7 p.m. ET (SECN+)

Why You Should See the Error of Your Ways: Both of these teams have had ups and downs over the past few weeks, and they need to put up even more of a fight if they want a chance at clawing their way up the rankings in both the SEC and the NCAA as a whole. Both Auburn and Kentucky should come into tonight with a drive to win (especially Auburn, since it’s yet to lose in 2019), and both have a shot to do so.

Routines to Look Up on YouTube Before the Meet That Prove Our Point: Samantha Cerio (Auburn, UB), Jada Glenn (Auburn, VT), Derrian Gobourne (Auburn, FX), Alex Hyland (Kentucky, FX), Mollie Korth (Kentucky, VT), Cally Nixon (Kentucky, UB)

No. 9 Boise State and No. 36 UC Davis at No. 52 San Jose State

When the Meet’s Happening: Friday, February 1 at 10 p.m. ET

Why You Should See the Error of Your Ways:

This meet isn’t interesting for its result—it would be truly shocking if these teams finished out of ranking order—but each one has questions to answer before we understand how they fit into the postseason picture. Boise State has been a lot better at home than on the road this year, and if it can’t put up a solid score here, the early weeks of RQS might sting. UC Davis has had a few injuries and is coming off a nightmare meet, but if sophomore Kyla Kessler has recovered enough from her early season ankle trouble to add beam and maybe floor, it will help a lot. San Jose State is having a difficult season with injuries and a new head coach, so we’ll be looking for any signs of life from the Spartans to decide if we should just write 2019 off as a building year.

Routines to Look Up on YouTube Before the Meet That Prove Our Point: Shani Remme (Boise State, BB), Emily Muhlenhaupt (Boise State, UB), Sarah Means (Boise State, VT), Yasmine Yektaparast (UC Davis, BB), Kyla Kessler (UC Davis, BB), Taylor Chan (San Jose State, FX)

No. 45 Bridgeport, No. 65 Southern Connecticut and No. 73 Springfield at No. 43 Yale

When the Meet’s Happening: Saturday, February 2 at 12 p.m. ET

Why You Should See the Error of Your Ways: Yale’s annual Don Tonry Invitational is fascinating this year since the Bulldogs and the Bridgeport Purple Knights are ranked so closely. Bridgeport has the higher peak score by a good margin, but Yale has been building steadily and also has home floor advantage. Meanwhile, Southern Connecticut will be hoping to convert the star power of its newcomers into team scores that could allow it to contend for USAG nationals this year, and Springfield could use the meet to creep closer to the top of the NCGA-East.

Routines to Look Up on YouTube Before the Meet That Prove Our Point: Jade Buford (Yale, BB FX), Jessica Wang (Yale, UB), Jacey Baldovino (Yale, UB, BB), Maya Reimers (Bridgeport, BB FX), Kathryn Doran (Bridgeport, UB), Hannah Stahlbrodt (SCSU, FX), Tali Twomey (Springfield, FX)

No.19 Arizona State and No. 14 BYU at No. 18 California

When the Meet’s Happening: Saturday, February 2 at 8 p.m. ET

Why You Should See the Error of Your Ways: This is honestly one of the most exciting meets of the weekend.. Arizona State, BYU and California are all up-and-coming teams that also perform unique skills. When you think of this meet, think all of the beautiful gymnastics in one place. BYU’s floor is killer, California has risen up near the top of the Pac-12 and Arizona State continues to improve under the guidance of Jay and Jessica Santos.

Routines to Look Up on YouTube Before the Meet That Prove Our Point: Justine Callis (ASU, BB), Milan Clausi (Cal, FX), Shannon Evans (BYU, FX), Kyana George (Cal, FX), Cairo Leonard-Baker (ASU, UB), Abbey Miner (BYU, BB)

Meets You Should at Least Record and Watch Later

No. 30 N.C. State at No. 5 LSU

When to Find It on the TV Guide: Friday, February 1 at 8 p.m. ET

Why You Should Clear Space on Your DVR: N.C. State has been slowly making gains this season, and it will need to capitalize on that improvement in this matchup against its biggest opponent of the season. LSU should expect to take the win, but it remains important for the Tigers to perform at their best level since they’ll be at home and will want to prove that last week’s success at Alabama wasn’t entirely a fluke.

Routines to Check Out If You Can’t Rewatch Everything: Kennedi Edney (LSU, VT), Sarah Finnegan (LSU, BB, FX), Caitlyn Fillard (NC State, VT), Drew Grantham (NC State, FX), Ruby Harrold (LSU, UB), Alexa Phillips (NC State, VT)

No. 41 Iowa at No. 15 Ohio State

When to Find It on the TV Guide: Saturday, February 2 at 12 p.m. ET

Why You Should Clear Space on Your DVR: This is the Buckeyes’ first home meet. That’s right, this team is No. 15, with three 196s under its belt all from away meets. What can Ohio State put up in St. John Arena? All eyes should be on this squad as it pushes to upset the Michigan-Nebraska 1-2 we’ve all come to expect in the Big Ten.

Routines to Check Out If You Can’t Rewatch Everything: Jenna Swartzentruber (tOSU, UB), Olivia Aepli (tOSU, UB), Jamie Stone (tOSU, FX), Bridget Killian (Iowa, BB), Lauren Guerin (Iowa, FX), Clair Kaji (Iowa, FX)

No. 3 UCLA at No. 20 Oregon State

When to Find It on the TV Guide: Saturday, February 2 at 2:30 p.m. ET

Why You Should Clear Space on Your DVR: Gymnastics aside, these two teams have promised us a postmeet dance party for the ages Saturday. In actual routine content, we’re expecting UCLA to rebound after a wonky meet last Sunday at Stanford and are fascinated by which 10.0 SV vaults the Bruins will elect to throw after some landing problems recently. Will Kyla Ross even still be in the lineup? Will she downgrade to the full for a week or two? We’ll also be watching the status of McKenna Singley and Sabrina Gill very closely: If the Beavers have sufficient depth, they could take advantage of the reliably comfortable scoring environment in Gill Coliseum to put up a score on par with the best in the Pac-12.

Routines to Check Out If You Can’t Rewatch Everything: Katelyn Ohashi (UCLA, BB FX), Kyla Ross (UCLA, AA), Margzetta Frazier (UCLA, BB FX), Sekai Wright (UCLA, VT), Kaitlyn Yanish (OSU FX), Maela Lazaro (OSU BB), Madi Dagen (OSU VT, BB)

Links and Things

These aren’t the only meets happening this weekend. To see all the matchups all in one place, take a look at our master schedule. You can also find live scoring and video links for all this weekend’s competitions below.

Date Time (ET) Teams Scoring Link Video Link
Thurs, Jan. 30 6 p.m. EMU at BGSU (Location Change) Scores ESPN 3
Fri, Feb. 1 7 p.m. Ark at UGA Scores SECN
Fri, Feb. 1 7 p.m. Aub at UK Scores SECN+
Fri, Feb. 1 7 p.m. Gustavus & TWU at Centenary Scores Free Stream
Fri, Feb. 1 7 p.m. Hamline & UWEC at UWS Scores Free Stream
Fri, Feb. 1 7 p.m. KSU, LU & SPU at NIU Scores Free Stream
Fri, Feb. 1 7 p.m. Temple & UNC at Pitt Scores ACCN Extra
Fri, Feb. 1 7 p.m. Winona at UWO Scores Free Stream
Fri, Feb. 1 7:30 p.m. UWW & USAFA at UWLC Scores Free Stream
Fri, Feb. 1 8 p.m. CMU at Ill St Scores Free Stream
Fri, Feb. 1 8 p.m. UF at OU Scores FCS Pacific
Fri, Feb. 1 8 p.m. NCSU at LSU Scores SECN+
Fri, Feb. 1 8:30 p.m. Ala at Miz Scores SECN
Fri, Feb. 1 9 p.m. Ariz at Utah Scores Free Stream
Fri, Feb. 1 9 p.m. USU at SUU Scores PlutoTV (Ch. 201)
Fri, Feb. 1 10 p.m. BSU & UCD at SJSU Scores Free Stream
Fri, Feb. 1 10 p.m. UW at Stan Scores P12N
Sat, Feb. 2 12 p.m. Bridgeport, SCSU & Springfield at Yale Scores ESPN+
Sat, Feb. 2 12 p.m. Iowa at tOSU Scores FloPro/BTN+
Sat, Feb. 2 1 p.m. Ithaca & RIC at Brockport Scores Free Stream
Sat, Feb. 2 2:30 p.m. UCLA at Oregon St Scores P12N
Sat, Feb. 2 3 p.m. UMD at RU Scores
Sat, Feb. 2 5 p.m. MSU at Minn Scores FloPro/BTN+
Sat, Feb. 2 5 p.m. PSU at Ill Scores BTN+
Sat, Feb. 2 7 p.m. DU & Iowa St at WVU Scores Free Stream
Sat, Feb. 2 8 p.m. ASU & BYU at Cal Scores
Sun, Feb. 3 1 p.m. Brown, Cornell & Ursinus at Penn Scores
Sun, Feb. 3 1 p.m. EMU at UIC Scores
Sun, Feb. 3 1 p.m. GW at UNH Scores Free Stream
Sun, Feb. 3 1 p.m. WMU at Ball St Scores
Sun, Feb. 3 2 p.m. Neb at UM Scores ESPN
Sun, Feb. 3 2 p.m. WCU at Towson Scores
Sun, Feb. 3 3 p.m. Gustavus at Centenary Scores

Fantasy Gymnastics Resources

Don’t worry! We haven’t forgotten about Fantasy Gymnastics players. We have a number of resources to aid in your weekly success. Check out our updated injury report to see if any of your gymnasts have been out of action. We also have a list of teams on byes—as well as those with multiple competitions—this week.

READ THIS NEXT: The Mount: Week Five MAG

Want to receive the latest collegiate gymnastics news in your inbox? Sign up for the College Gym NewsLetter here.


Article by the editors of College Gym News

Like what you see? Consider donating to support our efforts throughout the year!

One comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.