Name: Maggie O’Hara
Previous Team: Michigan
New Team: Arkansas
College Year: Graduate
Major: Movement science
Transfer Announcement: Instagram
Social Handles: Twitter | Instagram
NCAA Career Highs
| Vault | Uneven Bars | Balance Beam | Floor Exercise |
| – | 9.875 | 9.875 | – |
Videos
| Vault | Uneven Bars | Balance Beam | Floor Exercise |
| – | Michigan, Denver, Bowling Green at Alabama (2019) | Michigan State at Michigan (2019) | – |
About Maggie
O’Hara’s contribution at Michigan was limited by injuries, but in her senior season she made both the bars and the beam lineups consistently. With the Wolverines she won three Big Ten championships (2017-19) and made two NCAA championship appearances (2017 and 2019). Prior to Michigan O’Hara was a four-time J.O. nationals qualifier (2013-16), winning silver on bars in both 2015 and 2016, and was a 2015 Nastia Liukin Cup competitor.
What She Brings to Arkansas
Vault
- Skill: Yurchenko full
- Margin of Improvement: O’Hara never competed vault in college. In club she competed a quite good Yurchenko full, which was just a bit piked down on landing.
- Impact on the Team: Arkansas would not mind some help on vault, but it is unlikely O’Hara will debut on this apparatus in her final season.
Uneven Bars
- Skills: Jaeger, bail to handstand, double layout dismount
- Margin of Improvement: O’Hara has beautiful lines on bars. Her scores were a bit uneven during her career at Michigan because of lack of competitive experience. If she can make the lineup consistently at Arkansas, though, her confidence will grow and she will score high.
- Impact on the Team: Arkansas had a lot of potential on bars in 2020 but did not always manage to put the pieces together. O’Hara, thanks to her polished lines and collegiate experience, will be expected to make a difference here.
Balance Beam
- Skills: full turn, side aerial to backhandspring, leap jump to double stag ring jump, side aerial to 1.5 twist dismount
- Margin of Improvement: O’Hara looks a bit nervous at times on beam but her execution is excellent.
- Impact on the Team: This is O’Hara’s best apparatus, and she will be expected to contribute to the lineup consistently.
Floor Exercise
- Skills: double pike, front full twist to front pike, 1.5 twist to front pike
- Margin of Improvement: O’Hara never competed floor in college. In club her routine was not the most difficult, but her execution was quite clean.
- Impact on the Team: Arkansas is a strong floor team. Given her injuries, it is unlikely that O’Hara will make her debut here. However, fans would love to see her finally compete her Star Wars routine she performed at a preview meet for Michigan before getting injured.
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Article by Talitha Ilacqua
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