We have finally gotten our first look at most of the NCGA teams. Across the board, scoring has been a lot tighter than last year with four teams opening their seasons with scores below 180.000 as opposed to one team in 2019. Overall however, it looks like this season will be quite thrilling with a lot of new skills and added difficulty across the entire division and six teams within a point and a half of each other. Watch for a lot of shake-ups in the rankings these next few weeks once everyone starts settling in and getting more confident and comfortable competing new routines.
Below you’ll not only find fast facts from every NCGA meet this weekend (for more on DI and USAG teams, check out their respective Dismounts), but the overall NCGA standings, top scores and a few superlatives for some of our favorite moments as well.
Routine of the Week
Karina Sabol, a freshman from UW-Whitewater, scored a massive 9.775 for her first collegiate floor routine to claim the event title and lead the Warhawks to a division-high score of 47.725 on the event.
Stick of the Week
Ursinus senior Breanna Couts stuck a nearly perfect Yurchenko layout in the Bears’ anchor spot for an impressive 9.525 on a vault that only starts out of a 9.750.
An Ode to Stick It
UW-La Crosse beam anchor Jess Ahrens had a creative way of covering for a balk on her series. The Eagles senior failed to do her back handspring layout step-out on the first try. And instead of walking back to the starting position or doing a couple poses to get there, she went full-on Stick It and danced her way back up the beam to try again—and hit it on the second try.
Overall Standings
| Place | Team | Average |
| 1 | Brockport | 186.013 |
| 2 | UW-Whitewater | 185.825 |
| 3 | Cortland State | 182.375 |
| 4 | Springfield | 182.300 |
| 5 | UW-Oshkosh | 181.900 |
| 6 | Ursinus | 181.525 |
| 7 | UW-La Crosse | 181.350 |
| 8 | Hamline | 180.850 |
| 9 | Gustavus Adolphus | 178.625 |
| 10 | Winona State | 178.150 |
| 11 | Rhode Island College | 177.750 |
| 12 | UW-Eau Claire | 177.600 |
Top Scores
| Gymnast | Team | Event | Score |
| Emma Schulz | Cortland | BB | 9.800 |
| Karina Sabol | UW-Whitewater | FX | 9.775 |
| Taylor Campagnone | Springfield | FX | 9.750 |
| Kaylin Knapsack | Ursinus | FX | 9.750 |
| MacKenzie Macleod | Springfield | FX | 9.700 |
| Kaylin Knapsack | Ursinus | BB | 9.650 |
| Acacia Fossum | UW-Whitewater | BB | 9.625 |
| Lauren Marshall | UW-Whitewater | VT | 9.625 |
| Alex Panetta | Ursinus | UB | 9.625 |
| Kelly Johnston | Winona State | BB | 9.600 |
| Meg McGinley | UW-Whitewater | FX | 9.600 |
NCGA-East Meet of the Week
| Cortland at Ursinus | ||||
| Full Results | Cortland: 184.275 | Ursinus: 181.525 | ||
| VT: Schulz 9.550 | UB: Panetta 9.625 | BB: Schulz 9.800 | FX: Knapsack 9.750 | AA: Hanley 36.125 |
The Big Storyline: This was the most closely ranked NCGA-East meet of the weekend with either team having a chance to come out on top. However, already having first meet jitters out of the way proved to be a major benefit for the Red Dragons as they easily defeated a rather shaky Ursinus team.
Implications: Cortland improved its team total by nearly four points, making this meet a little less close than anticipated. However, Ursinus will still be happy with this start as it scored over a point better than its 2019 season opener. Kaylin Knapsack played a big role in the Bears’ beam and floor lineups scoring a 9.650 and 9.750 to lead the team on both of her events. Meanwhile, Cortland can attribute its massive score increase to a much stronger bars rotation that was highlighted by a 9.450 from Megan Hanley. The Red Dragons’ performance solidified their second place ranking in the NCGA-East conference.
WIAC Meet of the Week
| UW-La Crosse at UW-Oshkosh | ||||
| Full Results | UW-Oshkosh: 181.900 | UW-La Crosse: 181.350 | ||
| VT: Hawkins 9.525 | UB: Legault 9.550 | BB: Hammond 9.400 | FX: Grant 9.425 | AA: Gilot 36.075 |
The Big Storyline: Difficulty, difficulty, difficulty. Between these two teams, there were two double layouts, a double Arabian, front tucks through to double backs, back two and a halves and multiple routines ending with doubles—and that was just floor! DIII is pulling out all the stops this year.
Implications: Though neither team will be happy with their final team scores, both have a lot to be proud of. The Titans came out in full force and with a ton of difficulty. Their vault lineup featured six twisting vaults and bars had six single-bar releases. The Eagles, on the other hand, played it a bit more safe in the first meet of the season by watering down a few of their bars and floor routines, yet were still able to keep pace with a talented Oshkosh team. Both teams will have to work on hitting under pressure if they want to vie for a spot at nationals, but overall this was an extremely promising start for all parties.
The Rest
| No. 22 SEMO and UW-Eau Claire at Alaska | ||||
| Full Results | Alaska: 191.125 | SEMO: 189.500 | UW-Eau Claire: 177.600 | |
| VT: Kaziska 9.675 | UB: Nelson 9.800 | BB: Kaziska 9.875 | FX: Fox 9.825 | AA: Kaziska 38.950 |
| Brown, Southern Connecticut and Yale at Springfield | ||||
| Full Results | Yale: 191.525 | SCSU: 189.475 | Brown: 189.275 | Springfield: 182.300 |
| VT: Gardner 9.775 | UB: Costa and Walker 9.825 | BB: Firmstone 9.775 | FX: Firth 9.825 | AA: Stahlbrodt 38.400 |
| Brockport at Rhode Island College | ||||
| Full Results | Brockport: 186.800 | Rhode Island College: 177.750 | ||
| VT: Castellaneta 9.575 | UB: Eck 9.400 | BB: Todd 9.425 | FX: Castellaneta 9.575 | AA: Gates 36.275 |
| UW-Whitewater at Hamline | ||||
| Full Results | UW-Whitewater: 185.825 | Hamline: 180.850 | ||
| VT: Marshall 9.625 | UB: Fossum 9.400 | BB: Fossum 9.625 | FX: Sabol 9.775 | AA: Wilson 36.800 |
| Winona State at Gustavus Adolphus | ||||
| Full Results | Gustavus Adolphus: 178.625 | Winona State: 178.15 | ||
| VT: Esteb 9.300 | UB: Corbett 9.250 | BB: Johnston 9.600 | FX: Zehr 9.475 | AA: Corbett 36.050 |
READ THIS NEXT: The Dismount: Week 2
Article by Rachel Riesterer
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