The Mount: Week 8

Results

Note: There are two live streams for this meet, one for vault/beam and one for bars/floor. Both can be found at the video link above.

Recap

The Big Storyline: Overall, this competition played out pretty much as expected. The most exciting thing was the incredible showing that Blugold freshman Tia Ravara had at her first collegiate competition. Ravara was expected to be a star, but winning three event titles and the all around in your first meet is impressive no matter who you are. On the flipside, Hamline struggled a bit without one of its highest scorers, sophomore Tisana Lowe. However, the Pipers had enough depth to still put together strong enough lineups to claim the win.

Recap

The Big Storyline: This was an exciting one! Minnesota had a strong meet, playing with some lineup changes that worked for the most part. Illinois also put together a solid one and will be thrilled with that road number. There remains some long-term lineup questions with Arayah Simons out for the year, but the Illini showed good depth. Maryland lost sophomore Emma Silberman to an injury after bars; Alexsis Rubio got the surprise last-minute all around green light and had a hit meet. Ohio State and Nebraska each counted some numbers they’d rather not, but there were no complete meltdowns. 

Implications: In classic Big Ten fashion…we just don’t know! Good times. Minnesota and Illinois will definitely be in the conference championship evening session. Last year, the conference was planning to switch to a six-team afternoon and four-team evening format. Previously, it was always six evening, four afternoon. If the conference goes back to the old way, Maryland will join the Gophers and Illini. Iowa and Michigan are the session two sure things, with Ohio State waiting for the conference to tell us what’s happening. The Gophers surged to No. 5 in NQS rankings.

Records: Every team in this one scored a season-best bar total, and the Gophers set a new program record with their 49.575.

Controversies: Scores were a little bit happy. Lexy Ramler, star that she is, shouldn’t be getting 10s for vaults with bent knees. Also, see the note about season-bests on bars. Every team? Mmm.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 8 Minnesota, No. 19 Illinois, No. 21 Ohio State and No. 38 Nebraska at No. 26 Maryland

Why You Should Cancel Plans for It: This one is juicy. Teams will be vying to land in the top three to get a berth to the conference championship night session, and it’ll be tight. Minnesota should run away with the win here, but Illinois, Maryland and Ohio State will be duking it out for the next two spots. All three have highs in the mid 196s and averages in the 195s. Illinois and Ohio State should take the spots, but Maryland is absolutely capable of capitalizing on any mistakes. We can’t count out Nebraska, either. The Huskers have struggled but are capable of mid-195s. Misses at the top could open the door.

What We’re Watching: Minnesota nearly crushed its program record 197.700 last week, and it’ll be aiming at that number here. Illinois’ total has been slowly creeping up week after week, and you can bet the Illini have what would be only the third 197 in program history on their minds. Things could get interesting on beam, where any error from Lexy Ramler opens the door for Kynsee Roby or Mia Takekawa. 

What Else You Should Know Before Tuning In: Here’s your quick refresher on Big Fives! The top three teams from this session, together with the top three teams from session two, will qualify to the conference championship evening session. The remaining four teams land in the afternoon session. Any team from either session can win the championship, but it’s definitely a point of pride to be in the later session. In normal years, these meets also finish the in-conference regular season and determine a Big Ten regular season champion based on win-loss record. This year, both Michigan and Michigan State have cancelled or postponed conference duals due to COVID issues, so it remains unclear whether a regular season champion will be crowned after this week, or at all in 2021.

Recap

The Big Storyline: In a year where preseason was a bit of a mess for everyone, Gustavus will be extremely pleased to have opened its season with a score that is right on par with many of its most recent season-openers. Though Stout’s score wasn’t what we have seen from the Blue Devils in recent years, they will likely still be happy with the outcome as they quite easily managed to finish ahead despite losing senior Mikala Bugge to injury earlier this week.

Recap

The Big Storyline: It was a much-improved performance from LIU on vault and bars, but the Sharks once again struggled on beam, having to count three falls. Mara Titarsolej finally made her debut and scored a 9.900 on bars, giving LIU its first ever event win. Towson scored its second 196 of the season, matching its season high from two weeks ago. New Hampshire also matched its season high.

Implications: NQS finally kicks in this week. With two 196s already and several low scores still to drop, Towson is in a good position with its NQS. The Tigers have not qualified to regionals since 2000. New Hampshire seems to have found its groove, but it will need to improve on its current numbers if there is any hope of qualifying to regionals.

Records: Titarsolej’s 9.900 on bars is LIU’s first program event win and sets a new program record. Towson’s 49.250 on vault is the highest score in program history. Camille Vitoff’s 9.900 and Jenna Weitz’s 9.875 on vault were career highs. Towson has not beat New Hampshire since 2004. 

Recap

The Big Storyline: Kentucky completed the upset on senior night to hand LSU its third consecutive dual meet loss. Kentucky had the lead after the first two rotations with season-high event scores on vault and bars. The real difference maker came in stuck landings. However, Kentucky had some struggles on beam, leaving them behind LSU heading into the final rotation. But LSU faltered on beam as well, and had two falls to end the meet. Despite Kentucky’s shaky third rotation, the team was able to avoid counting a fall. Therefore, staying on the beam would make the difference in this competition.

Implications: LSU is struggling and has lost three meets in a row. However, in the long run only scores matter, and one of those competitions resulted in a 198 score. LSU will need to come out strong in its final regular season competition to make a statement before postseason arrives if it wants to be competitive. Kentucky has made steady improvements throughout the course of the season. The team is an underdog, but its consistency and commitment to clean gymnastics shouldn’t be counted out. Watch out for the Wildcats over the next few seasons as they only have competed one competitive routine by a senior in 2021. 

Records: LSU had the second highest vault score in the NCAA this season with a 49.625.  Alyona Shchennikova had a career high 9.950 on vault and 9.925 on beam. Elena Arenas scored a career high 9.925 on vault. Cally Nixon scored a career best 9.975 on bars. Isabella Magnelli scored a career high 9.900 on vault and Bailey Bunn also notched a career high 9.900 on floor.

Recap

The Big Storyline: SEMO broke through as a major national championship contender at this meet, joining Lindenwood and Texas Woman’s in the exclusive 195 club with rotation scores above 49.000 on both beam and floor. Junior Anna Kaziska led both of those lineups, while Alana Fischer and Dahlia Solorzano-Caruso also turned in top scores. Meanwhile, Centenary struggled on bars, producing just a 43.050 that limited the team total despite strong rotations on the other three events.

Implications: Both USAG teams competed again later this weekend.

Records: SEMO’s team total is 12th in program history, and its beam rotation ranks fourth all time.

Recap

The Big Storyline: Oklahoma had a good-not-great meet. Ragan Smith returned on bars, but the Sooners weren’t without their struggles. Beam was particularly shaky, and many landings overall weren’t up to par with what we’re used to from the Sooners. Denver put up one of its better performances of late and notched its second-highest total score of the season. Floor was a weaker event, but Lynnzee Brown’s 9.975 propelled the team total. It was probably Denver’s best vault rotation of the year, though the Pioneers left tenths on the table elsewhere. 

Implications: Conference rankings remain unchanged. With NQS starting, Oklahoma will move up from No. 3 to No. 2, while Denver falls down to No. 13 with other teams being able to drop low scores. Denver will want to replicate or better this score moving forward if it wants to move back up into the top 10. 

Records: Emily Glynn’s 9.925 on vault is a new career high. Jessica Hutchinson also set a new career high of 9.900 on floor. Audrey Davis notched a career high 9.950 on vault. KJ Kindler reached a milestone 500 career wins overall.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 10 Denver, No. 44 Lindenwood and No. 45 Texas Woman’s at No. 3 Oklahoma 

Why You Should Clear Space on Your DVR: Oklahoma has rebounded from its early-season slump in a big way, averaging a 197.333 in its past three meets. Texas Woman’s set five new career highs en route to a second place finish at Metroplex; this is a team to watch! Lindenwood’s vault lineup is currently ranked 20th—two spots higher than Denver for those keeping track—and absolutely worth watching. Speaking of Denver, the Pioneers are one of the best bars and beam teams in the country, and are capable of going 197-plus on a good day. 

You Can Fast Forward, but not Through This: When the Sooners hit beam, they hit beam: They’ve posted some of the highest beam scores this season. Also keep an eye out for Texas Woman’s floor rotation; Isabel Goyco’s Rickrolling routine is a whole lotta fun. 

Recap

The Big Storyline: This meet proved to be as close as was promised, with the final results coming down to the final few routines for each team. Arkansas got off to a rough start on vault and never quite managed to overcome the deficit after the first rotation, although it came close on its final and best event, floor. 

Implications: If Florida had lost this week, Alabama was in position to fight for the title of regular season champion; however, the Florida win sealed that victory for the Gators. The Crimson Tide also passed the Razorbacks in the rankings this week, but both teams remain in a position to be in the night session at the SEC championship.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 7 Alabama at No. 6 Arkansas

Why You Should Make Time to Tune in: Both Alabama and Arkansas had absolutely incredible performances last week. The Razorbacks scored their highest team total in program history and Kennedy Hambrick scored a program record in the individual all around with a 39.750. Not to be outdone, however, the Crimson Tide recorded their highest team score since Feb. 3, 2017, and both Luisa Blanco and Lexi Graber had outstanding all around performances as well. Alabama has the higher score ceiling here, but Arkansas has been more consistent throughout the season, so this truly could go either way. 

Need More Proof? As mentioned above, watch for outstanding performances by Luisa Blanco (who scored a sky-high 39.825 in the all around last week) and Kennedy Hambrick (who recorded an impressive school record 39.750 herself). The Crimson Tide also nailed all five of their 10.0 starts on vault, which could be the key to setting them apart from the Razorbacks early in the meet. 

Recap

The Big Storyline: It was an emotional night for the seniors as Florida captured the highest score in the nation with a strong performance on all four apparatuses. The Gators particularly shined on beam in this dual meet; 49.700 is the highest in program history. Trinity Thomas was stellar in her return after missing last week’s competition due to contact tracing protocols. The junior captured perfection twice and is the first gymnast to get a perfect 10.000 on bars this season. Auburn fell behind Florida but was able to grab its best road score this season to improve its NQS. Derrian Gobourne was lights out for the Tigers, capturing her career best all around score. 

Implications: If Florida is at its best it’s going to be very difficult for another team to beat it. However, the Gators head to Alabama next week and have a 21-51-1 track record in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide is on a hot streak and could beat them if the Gators have errors. Auburn, much like Kentucky, has been consistently improving over the course of the season. The team remains an underdog as postseason approaches, but mistakes from top teams could propel it to a higher standing than expected. Freshman Gabrielle McLaughlin is an under-the-radar beam worker and has the opportunity to take home postseason individual titles. 

Records: 198.275 is the fifth-best score in Florida’s program history and the highest in the NCAA this season. The Gators’ beam score of 49.700 is the best score in team history. Trinity Thomas is the second gymnast in school history to capture two 10s in one meet. Megan Skaggs notched a career best 9.925 on vault. Ellie Lazzari had a career high on beam with a 9.975 and floor with a 9.900. Derrian Gobourne had a career best in the all around with a 39.575.

Recap

The Big Storyline: Consistency was the key as both programs scored a 49.000+ on every apparatus. It was a record night for the Aggies, but they fell just short of taking home an upset win against BYU. Utah State tallied a season-best 196.600 which is the fourth best score in program history and the third highest away score. BYU was trailing behind Utah State after three, but ended the meet on its best event. The Cougars recorded a 49.600 on floor which is its highest floor score since 2003. Abbey Miner-Alder anchored the close competition with near perfection resulting in a 9.975.

Implications: Utah State found its groove and was able to push 49-plus on each apparatus for the first time since it faced BYU last season. The entire MRGC conference has so much potential, so don’t be surprised to see these teams making a run to the national championships over the course of the next few years. It’s a fun conference to watch, and the competitiveness between the programs continues to increase week after week.

Records: Utah State tallied the fourth best score in program history and third best away score in program history with a 196.600. The Aggies scored a 49-plus on beam for the sixth straight meet, extending the school record. Logan Varnadore had a career best 9.900 on vault. BYU’s 49.6000 is the highest program floor score since 2003. Abbey Miner Alder notched a career high 9.975 on floor. Brittney Vitkauskas had a career high 9.950 on floor. Avery Bennett also had a career high 9.925 on floor.

Recap

The Big Storyline: Utah showed off on its signature event, beam, led by a near-perfect score from Maile O’Keefe to edge California in a meet that came down to the final rotation. The Golden Bears took the lead to begin after starting on their strongest event, bars, and held on through the halfway point before the Utes took over. Back-to-back 9.950s from Cristal Isa and Abby Paulson set the stage for O’Keefe’s monster score on beam, and Utah tied its floor season high to capture the win. California was led by Milan Clausi’s winning vault and Maya Green and Nina Schank tying for the bars title.

Implications: Utah now stands alone atop the Pac-12 regular season standings with both teams coming into this meet undefeated in conference action. The Utes will be heavily favored to claim that title with Oregon State the only remaining conference foe left on their schedule. California still has to face UCLA and Washington.

Records: Utah sophomore Jaedyn Rucker notched a new career high on floor en route to winning the event title.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 9 California at No. 4 Utah

Why You Should Clear Space on Your DVR: The weekend’s premier Pac-12 conference meet pits the favorite against the dark horse. Utah comes into this matchup with momentum after narrowly defeating rival UCLA last weekend, but it did post a score lower than what opponent California achieved in defeating Oregon State. These are the final two undefeated teams in conference action, so the winner of this matchup will be in prime position to take home the regular season crown.

You Can Fast Forward, but not Through This: Leading the way for the Golden Bears has been their trio of all arounders: Maya Bordas, Nevaeh DeSouza and Kyana George. Both DeSouza and George have put up big 39.6s in recent weeks, so watch for them to lead California to a hopeful upset. The Utes have their own stellar all arounder in Maile O’Keefe, but don’t forget to keep an eye on Alexia Burch who has vaulted for 9.975s in Utah’s last two meets.

Note: Michigan State will no longer be competing due to COVID issues within the program.

Recap

The Big Storyline: Uhhhhhhhh that went just as NO ONE expected. Michigan had a floor meltdown that began with an Abby Brenner injury on her first pass that led to her being carried off the floor. Then both Natalie Wojcik and Gabby Wilson fell. Iowa also had a rough rotation on beam, counting a fall. After that, this thing turned around. Michigan was 198-pace on its other three, and Iowa put up a season-best vault number. Penn State stuck five vaults in a row, Ava Verdeflor had herself a day and Rutgers didn’t count any falls. We ended on a high note across the board.

Implications: Ugh, OK, who knows?! We don’t know two important things: 1. how the Big Ten is deciding its regular season champion given that Michigan and Michigan State have missed matchups, and 2. are we rolling with a six afternoon, four evening conference championships or a four afternoon, six evening? If the conference awards the regular season strictly by win-loss in official conference meets completed, Iowa walks away with it in the Hawkeyes’ undefeated conference season.* If championships go six-four, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa and Michigan will land in the night session seeded in that order. If it ends up being four-six, Maryland and Penn State will join them, with the Terps and Nittany Lions seeded behind Michigan in that order. Phew, got all that?

*The loss to Minnesota in Iowa City was not an official conference matchup.

Controversies: BTN+ really let us down, cutting away before Abby Heiskell’s beam set which was the deciding routine of the meet. Just look at the score as it comes in, you say? Oh, don’t worry the stats feed crashed at the same time. Plus, we continue to have some…questions about the Crisler Center floor. There were the Michigan issues, but some Penn State gymnasts weren’t getting the punch they seemed to be expecting while tumbling, and a number of athletes had uncharacteristically flat, under-roated jumps. 

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 12 Iowa, No. 30 Penn State, No. 31 Michigan State and No. 43 Rutgers at No. 5 Michigan

Why You Should Cancel Plans for It: The fight here for the third and final berth to the conference championship night session will be fierce. Michigan should handily win, with Iowa not too far behind, but the remaining three teams are all capable of nabbing that spot. Rutgers put up a stellar 24-for-24 meet at Minnesota last week for a 195.975, a number that can absolute challenge a Spartan team coming off a two-week COVID pause and a Penn State team that has topped out at 196.000. 

What We’re Watching: It’ll be interesting to see what kind of shape Michigan State is in. It had only two meets before pausing for two weeks. Granted, those two meets were strong, but we really have no idea of the team’s status at the moment. We’ll be keeping our eyes out for program record level numbers: Anything 196.800 or better puts the Hawkeyes in top five territory. For Michigan, 197.825 or better is in the top five. The Scarlet Knights need a 195.900 or better to hit a top-five score. These are all scores in the realm of possibility. The Big Ten is really having a year!

What Else You Should Know Before Tuning In: Here’s your quick refresher on Big Fives! The top three teams from this session, together with the top three teams from session two, will qualify to the conference championship evening session. The remaining four teams land in the afternoon session. Any team from either session can win the championship, but it’s definitely a point of pride to be in the later session. In normal years, these meets also finish the in-conference regular season and determine a Big Ten regular season champion based on win-loss record. This year, both Michigan and Michigan State have cancelled or postponed conference duals due to COVID issues, so it remains unclear whether a regular season champion will be crowned after this week, or at all in 2021.

Results

Results

Results

Recap

The Big Storyline: This was a great start to the season for both of these teams, and it showed in their gymnastics with just how happy they were to be able to compete. Oshkosh started the competition on bars and went six for six hitting all of its routines while La Crosse had a very solid start on vault, which included a stuck Yurchenko full from sophomore Madi Vanderpool. The Titans had powerful vaults and tumbling passes but lacked control on landings, which resulted in numerous little deductions here and there and ultimately allowed the Eagles to finish on top.

Records: Oshkosh set a school record team score in a season opener with a 185.600

Recap

The Big Storyline: Bar lineups are always a struggle to put together at the DIII level. Add on a pandemic and the extra challenges that brought to training, and it seems like maybe there was too much stacked against the Warhawks to be able to put together a full lineup in time for the first meet. However, the Warhawks’ other three events were solid and right on pace with the teams in the top half of the conference, so they’ll be golden when/if they figure out the bars situation. Winona has a lot of room for improvement, but a neat fact about the Warriors’ performance is that every single freshman had the opportunity to compete! 

Results

Recap

The Big Storyline: Centenary bounced back from a tough meet on Friday, gaining two and a half points on bars and two on beam to return comfortably to the high 180s. This is a team that definitely can crack 190 in the coming weeks, but with a very late start, consistency is still coming together. SEMO fell ever so slightly back to earth after its exceptional Friday meet, but still produced its third-best score of the year.

Implications: Sunday was key for SEMO’s ranking: The Redhawks had one much lower score in their provisional NQS and were able to beat it by two points. This meet is when they became No. 1 in USAG rankings, practically speaking. In individual rankings, SEMO is also looking good: Dahlia Solorzano-Caruso ranks No. 1 in the all around, Anna Kaziska tops the standings on beam and floor and Jolie Miller is the best in USAG on bars.

Records: Anna Kaziska’s 9.925 on floor is her career high as well as No. 7 in program history on that event.

Results

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 29 Western Michigan at No. 36 Ball State  

Why You Should Make Time to Tune in: Western Michigan made a statement with their double meet weekend scoring 196-plus in both competitions. Ball state was not far behind scoring just under half a tenth less in their dual meet last week. This competition could be back and forth as both teams will strive to perform better than last week. All season long these programs have been setting and breaking records, so it should be a good matchup between the two. 

Need More Proof? Payton Murphy was a superstar in the all around last week for Western Michigan totaling a 39.375, which set a new program record. Cardinal Arden Hudson has a stunning beam set that set a program high for Ball State as well. Beam is a must watch rotation for both schools.

Recap

The Big Storyline: This was a meet Texas Woman’s will be happy to forget about. With three misses on bars and only two floor scores above 9.500, it was a frustrating season low after a solid meet two days before at Oklahoma. Air Force, on the other hand, set a season high in its home opener, improving on three events from last week.

Implications: Texas Woman’s jumped over Lindenwood in the inaugural rankings, though SEMO overtook both. All four of TWU’s current NQS scores were on the road, so there’s no reason to worry about the logistics of replacing anything.

Results