It’s time for the first EAGL matchup of the year! The reigning champion New Hampshire Wildcats travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Panthers.
New Hampshire got off to a solid start last week at Illinois State, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. Senior Emma Winer won all three events she competed in and is looking to have a breakout year. In addition, freshmen Robyn Kelley and Kylie Gorgenyi both had solid debuts and should be big assets to the Wildcats this season. Another gymnast you should keep your eye on is junior Lauren Diggan. She competes a unique hop full to Gienger on bars and has a huge full-in on floor.
Pitt is coming off a rough 2019 season where it was riddled with injury and couldn’t quite meet its full potential, but there is reason to be optimistic this year. Senior transfer Michaela Burton could be a game changer, with huge scoring potential on bars, beam and floor. Also watch for sophomore Katie Chamberlain, who was out last season with an injury but has strong all around potential, and junior Haley Brechwald, who was limited last season but is a huge contributor when healthy.
One additional tidbit to keep in mind: the Panthers have set a record for the highest opening score in program history each of the last two years. With a score 194.750 or better today, it can make it three in a row.
Rotation 1
Pitt: vault, New Hampshire: bars
Brechwald (Pitt) – good y full with a hop back – 9.65
Hampford (UNH) – little close on jaeger and off on bail but saves it, step on landing – 9.5
Ceccarini (Pitt) – good y full, a little chest down with a step – 9.625
Watkins (UNH) – good jaeger, might be a touch short on handstands, great straddle back, and small hop on DLO – 9.675
Liszewski (Pitt) – big y full with a small hop. So much distance! – 9.625
Freehling (UNH) – little close on jaeger, great bail handstand, and step on DLO
Petrikis (Pitt) – big y full with a hop back – 9.75
Lui (UNH) – good maloney, little leg sep on bail but nice handstand, hop on dismount – 9.725
Ward (Pitt) – big y full with a step back – 9.625
Diggan (UNH) – great hop full to gienger (love that skill!), great straddle back, hitting every handstand, small step on dismount – 9.75
Herbine (Pitt) – big y half with a large step forward – 9.775
Gorgenyi (UNH) – beautiful maloney to bail, good toe shoot, and small hop on dismount. Nice! – 9.725
Worthington (UNH) exh – fall on tkatchev, remounts, little close on bail, stuck DLO. Nice finish!
After 1: New Hampshire: 48.475, Pitt: 48.425
Close meet! Scoring is a bit tight, but that’s pretty typical for Pitt. Highlight of the rotation was definitely Herbine and Petrikis on vault and Diggan and Gorgenyi on bars.
Rotation 2
Pitt: bars, New Hampshire: vault
Freehling (UNH) – stuck y full, chest down, but great start -9.6
Dugan (Pitt) – bit close on gienger but solid, great handstand on bail, step on dismount – 9.6
Calandra (UNH) – good y full with a large step back – 9.575
Brechwald (Pitt) – great jaeger, great handstand on bail, tiny hop on dismount – 9.575 seems really low….
Kelley (UNH) – whoops, missed the vault, but appeared to be a good y full – 9.675
Ward (Pitt) – good maloney, little short on hans handstands, small hop on dismount – 9.475
Winer (UNH) – stuck y full, slight chest down but got a lot of height! – 9.75
Weiss (Pitt) – good tkatchev, great hanstand, small hop on dismount – 9.775
Diggan (UNH) – whoops, missed that one too because I though bars was about to go, but looked like she hit a good y full – 9.725
Floyd (Pitt) – good maloney, catches a bit close on pak, small step on dismount – 9.55
Gorgenyi (UNH) – big y full with a small hop back – 9.8
Burton (Pitt) – beautiful maloney to pak, small hop on DLO. That better get a good score – 9.85
Biette (UNH) exh- chest down on y full
After 2: New Hampshire: 97.025, Pitt: 96.775
Still a pretty close meet! Some of those bars scores seemed low, but what can you do. Burton of course was the highlight of the rotation.
Rotation 3
Pitt: beam, New Hampshire: floor
Beckwith (Pitt) – good leaps, great BHS LOSO series, switch leap to beat jump, side aerial to full with a small hop – 9.65
Freehling (UNH) – great double pike to open, good 1.5 to front lay, good wolf full, and finished with a double tuck with a small hop – 9.575
Brechwald (Pitt) – hood full turn, great front aerial to BHS, great split leap to sheep jump, good front toss, step on gainer pike – 9.6
These scores……
Lui (UNH) – great front double full to open, good front lay to rudi, such beautiful dance, gorgeous leaps, and great rudi to split jump to close – 9.7
Herbine (Pitt) – good full turn, slight wobble on BHS LOSO but covers well, great position on leaps, great punch front, and sticks gainer pike – 9.8
Kelley (UNH) – opens with a good double pike, great leap series, good 1.5 to front pike, and a great double back to finish – 9.775
Ceccarini (Pitt) – good full turn, great BHS LOSO, Pitt nailing these series, good leap series, good front toss, college salutes out of her gainer pike. – 9.725
Winer (UNH) – huge full in to open, great 1,5 to front half to split jump, and good double back to close – 9.775
Robatin (Pitt) – good full turn, god front toss to BHS, wobble on beat jump to split 3/4, wobble on front toss to scale, and step on dismount – 9.55
Diggan (UNH) – huge full in and goes OOB, beautiful leap series, front lay front lay front half good, and big double back to close – 9.5
Burton (Pitt) – beautiful front aerial to beat jump, great BHS LOSO, great full turn, beautiful split leap to sheep jump, and sticks gainer full. Nice! – 9.85
Watkins (UNH) – great rudi to LOSO, great position on split jump, and good front full to half to close – 9.65
Liszewski (Pitt) exh – great BHS LOSO series, great position on leaps, solid split jump to back tuck, and falls on side somi, and step on dismount. Shame about the fall but promising routine
Gorgenyi (UNH) exh – great double pike to open, good 1.5 to front lay, rudi to close – looks like she underrotated a bit and cheated the landing. Definitely could be in the lineup eventually.
After 3: New Hampshire 145.500, Pitt: 145.400
So close! Pitt closed the gap with a great beam rotation.
Rotation 4
Pitt: floor, New Hampshire: beam
Freehling (UNH) – good BHS LOSO to open, good full turn, solid front toss to beat jump, step on 1.5 dismount
Bochenek (Pitt) – great wolf full to open, good rudi, looked a bit short on leaps, good 1.5 to front lay to close – 9.5
Baddick (UNH) – good punch front to open, big leg up wobble on BHS LOSO, good split leap to beat jump, stuck dismount – 9.7
Petrikis (Pitt) – good front lay to front full to open, beautiful leap series, great double back to close. Great routine! – 9.675
Worthington (UNH) – great side aerial to BHS, beautiful leaps, sticks side aerial to full, Great routine! – 9.8
Miller (Pitt) – great double back to open, beautiful split jump to wolf jump, great front full to front lay, and great double pike to close. – 9.75
Winer (UNH) – good BHS LOSO, great front toss, wobble on full turn but covers, great split leap to split jump, sticks 1.5 dismount. – 9.775
Herbine (Pitt) – great front lay to front full to open, beautiful split jump, short on double back and takes a big step forward. – 9.575
Kelley (UNH) – good full turn, beautiful triple series, split leaps to split jump excellent, good front toss, wobble on leap, small step on 1.5 dismount – 9.675
Ceccarini (Pitt) – great first pass, short on double back and takes a big step forward, great leap series – 9.6
Lui (UNH) – so pretty, beautiful front aerial to split jump, falls on BSH LOSO, great full turn, good side aerial, good side somi, step on dismount – 9.225
Burton (Pitt) – great double back to open, great front lay to front full, beautiful leaps, and great double pike to close. Nice! – 9.825
Final: New Hampshire: 194.175 Pitt: 193.800
Solid meet for both teams. Scores definitely don’t reflect how the meet went with quite a few scores (bars and floor in particular) that left me scratching my head. No counted falls from either team, which is great to see!
Live blog by Mary Emma Burton
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