Week five is complete, and there are some clear leaders that are starting to pull away from the pack. UW-Stout and UW-La Crosse sit atop the WIAC while Brockport, Ithaca and Springfield have distanced themselves from the rest of the NCGA-East. However, that’s not to say big things aren’t happening with the lower ranked teams. This week, we saw Gustavus score a season-high, Ursinus bounce back after a tough outing in week four and Rhode Island College score season highs on vault and beam.
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
Britney Wolfe (UW-Stout) – Beam
For the second week in a row, freshman Britney Wolfe broke a 9.700 on beam. She competes a floaty back handspring layout, and her routine is capped off with a solid side aerial + back full dismount.
Surprise Performance of the Week
Jess Clemens (Springfield) – Bars
Clemens broke the school record this weekend after scoring a 9.800 for her high-flying Gienger and stuck dismount.
Best Moment of the Week
This weekend, Brockport honored volunteer coach and former gymnast Shelby Schumaker. Schumaker retired early due to a recent Lupus diagnosis. The team surprised her by dedicating its performance to her.
Top Scores
| Gymnast | Team | Score |
| Jessica Clemens | Springfield | 9.800 |
| Kimberly Musall | Brockport | 9.750 |
| Mikala Bugge | UW-Stout | 9.725 |
| Alexis Castellaneta | Brockport | 9.700 |
| Alexis Griffin | Ithaca | 9.700 |
| Nicole Jackson | Brockport | 9.700 |
| Taylor Keough | Brockport | 9.700 |
| Candis Kowalik | Brockport | 9.700 |
| Candis Kowalik | Brockport | 9.700 |
| Stephanie Mager | Brockport | 9.700 |
| Britney Wolfe | UW-Stout | 9.700 |
| Shadae Boone | UW-Stout | 9.675 |
| Katie Holcomb | Ithaca | 9.675 |
| Candis Kowalik | Brockport | 9.675 |
| Carolyn Nichols | Ithaca | 9.675 |
| Carolyn Nichols | Ithaca | 9.675 |
| Stephanie Mager | Brockport | 9.675 |
| Jess Ahrens | UW-La Crosse | 9.650 |
| Ally Blixt | UW-La Crosse | 9.650 |
| Amanda Malo | Gustavus | 9.650 |
The Highlights
| No. 44 Bridgeport, No. 63 Southern Connecticut and No. 72 Springfield at No. 45 Yale | ||||
| Full Results | Bridgeport: 194.200 | Yale: 193.175 | SCSU: 192.350 | Springfield: 188.200 |
| VT: Roland 9.875 | UB: Borsellino 9.850 | BB: Baldovino 9.800 | FX: Reimers 9.900 | AA: Roland 39.075 |
The Big Storyline: Springfield had its best meet of the season with a few gymnasts scoring season highs and two scoring personal bests—Jess Clemens with a 9.800 on bars and Lena Morant with a 9.500 on the same event. Week after week, the Pride has been steadily improving and continues to solidify its spot in the top three teams in the NCGA-East.
Implications: With a three-point lead over Cortland, Springfield is becoming a top team in the conference this year and proving it can make a push for the NCGA-East title.
Records: Clemens broke the school record on bars with a 9.800.
| No. 57 Air Force No. 74 UW-Whitewater at No. 70 UW-La Crosse | ||||
| Full Results | Air Force: 188.200 | UW-L: 186.975 | UW-W: 182.500 | |
| VT: Davis 9.500 | UB: Salamone 9.750 | BB: Barber 9.775 | FX: Davis 9.600 | AA: Davis 37.550 |
The Big Storyline: Beam falls and tight scoring on vault and floor led to some uncharacteristic team scores from Air Force and Whitewater. All three teams ended up counting at least two falls on beam, which was especially disappointing for an Air Force team that has been solid all season and ranked in the top 20 on the event the past few weeks. As for the two DIII teams here, we expected this to be a bit closer between them than it was with UW-W continuing to struggle with putting up full lineups with full difficulty.
Implications: UW-La Crosse moved ahead of Ithaca in the rankings, putting it at No. 3 in the division behind UW-Stout and Brockport. UW-W stays at No. 3 in the WIAC.
| No. 61 Cornell, No. 66 Brown and No. 81 Ursinus at No. 58 Penn | ||||
| Full Results | Penn: 193.900 | Cornell: 191.125 | Brown: 191.000 | Ursinus: 183.025 |
| VT: Costa 9.725 | UB: Costa 9.875 | BB: Moore 9.800 | FX: Haklik 9.800 | AA: Petrillo 38.375 |
The Big Storyline: Ursinus had a much better finish than it did last week when it was unable to field a lineup of five on bars after an injury in the first rotation. The Bears nearly matched their season high, thanks to standout performances from Lindsay Rush on vault, and Emma Brown, who scored a team-high of 9.600 on floor. Though plagued with some injuries, Ursinus continues to make the best of its situation and showed resilience in its comeback after an unfortunate finish in week four.
Implications: Ursinus will stay in the No. 5 spot in the NCGA-East.
| No. 71 Ithaca and No. 82 Rhode Island at No. 69 Brockport | ||||
| Full Results | Brockport: 189.050 | Ithaca: 185.975 | RIC: 178.250 | |
| VT: Jackson and Kowalik 9.700 | UB: Doll 9.475 | BB: Kowalik 9.700 | FX: Musall 9.750 | AA: Kowalik 38.350 |
The Big Storyline: Brockport hit a fantastic meet and managed to sweep all the individual titles in this closely-ranked competition with Ithaca. However, both teams did well and had a lot of success. In fact, 13 of the top 20 DIII scores this weekend belonged to gymnasts from Brockport and Ithaca. Rhode Island continued to struggle on bars but put up a solid meet otherwise, scoring a season high on vault and beam.
Implications: Brockport continues to distance itself from Ithaca and Springfield and is proving it is the team to beat in the conference.
| No. 75 Hamline and No. 79 UW-Eau Claire at No. 67 UW-Stout | ||||
| Full Results | UW-S: 186.825 | Hamline: 180.725 | UW-EC: 179.175 | |
| VT: Boone and Bugge 9.600 | UB: Beaver 9.550 | BB: Wolfe 9.700 | FX: Bugge 9.725 | AA: Bugge 37.500 |
The Big Storyline: Though the Blue Devils had their lowest total of season so far, they continued their winning streak over WIAC competitors, coming out ahead with the team’s largest margin of victory this season. In addition to a team victory, Stout swept all the individual titles. Mikala Bugge was the star of the night claiming the vault, floor and all around titles for the Blue Devils. The Blugolds had two top three finishes from Ashley Benes on vault and Kiya Bjorge on floor. Katie Kalland was the Piper’s top performer, finishing second on beam with a 9.600.
Implications: Stout will remain the top DIII team this week, but Brockport is closing in quickly—trailing the Blue Devils by only 0.423.
| No. 78 Winona State at No. 76 UW-Oshkosh | ||||
| Full Results | UW-O: 182.200 | Winona: 180.550 | ||
| VT: Gilot 9.475 | UB: Hardy 9.350 | BB: Gilot 9.400 | FX: Gilot 9.550 | AA: Gilot 36.825 |
The Big Storyline: Like Stout, UW-Oshkosh dominated its meet, besting Winona by nearly two points and sweeping all the individual titles. Titan freshman Emily Gilot was a key contributor and collected four titles for herself while Bailee Hardy claimed the fifth. The Warriors had four top three finishes from Kaitlyn West on vault, Shelsea Zehr on bars and Sunny Hasebe and Natalie Koehler on beam.
Implications: Winona pulled ahead of UW-Eau Claire in the standings.
| No. 80 Gustavus Adolphus at No. 68 Centenary | ||||
| Full Results | Centenary: 190.375 | Gustavus: 182.725 | ||
| VT: Austin 9.725 | UB: Ponder 9.625 | BB: Austin 9.675 | FX: Jordan 9.825 | AA: Smith 38.050 |
The Big Storyline: After missing their first meet of the weekend due to weather, the Gusties brought the heat on Sunday and scored a season high with some big scores all around. Amanda Malo recorded the team’s highest score on vault and floor while Sam Ardy was best on bars. Malo’s score of 9.675 on floor is the Gustie’s first score to make our top scores chart this season.
Implications: This score wasn’t enough to move Gustavus up in the rankings this week, but it is only trailing UW-EC by 0.200.
READ THIS NEXT: The Dismount: Week Five WAG
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Article by Rachel Riesterer
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