The USAG Dismount: Week 8

Update 2/7: Pittsburgh joined this meet.

Update 2/24: Centenary joined this meet.

Recap 

The Big Storyline: LSU, Pitt and TWU will be happy to drop their lowest counting NQS scores. LSU took a commanding lead from the start with its 49.425 on bars. The only hiccup in the Tigers’ day was counting a host of 9.8s on beam. Kiya Johnson made her return to the floor lineup while Alyona Shchennikova was back on bars as well. Pittsburgh held onto the victory over TWU despite a shaky beam performance in the final rotation. The Panthers stunned on bars with a 49.250 led by Chamberlain’s third 9.9-plus in a row. TWU posted another score above 195.000, proving that the Pioneers’ difficulties on bars are a thing of the past. Centenary posted a season high team score after making improvements on bars. 

Implications: Despite Auburn breaking its program record this weekend, LSU will sneak just past to reclaim the second spot in the SEC. With one 196 dropped and another left to go, the Tigers are in a good spot heading into a slate of two home meets prior to the conference championship. With things starting to shake up in the EAGL, Pittsburgh has primed itself to move up in the rankings this week. Did we mention that the Panthers still have 194s counting in their NQS? There’s even more room to improve. Today was a grounding experience after the high of breaking the program record last weekend, but don’t forget this team’s potential. Texas Woman’s posted yet another season high on its alumni night. Could it have been the velvet leos? Maybe so. The Pioneers showed a level of consistency that they have been searching for. With tonight’s 195-plus, the team will move tentatively into the top spot in the USAG. Centenary made some improvements this week and will re-enter the rankings now that the team has enough scores for an NQS. The Ladies will continue to look to improve consistency to avoid counting falls, especially on bars and beam. 

Records: Kyla Podges increased her beam career high to 9.825. KJ Johnson achieved perfection on vault with a 9.950 for her Yurchenko full while fellow freshman Aleah Finnegan posted the first 9.925 on beam in her career. Texas Woman’s broke an attendance record with 1,237 fans in the stands. 

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 6 LSU and No. 30 Pittsburgh at No. 47 Texas Woman’s

Why You Should Clear Space on Your DVR: This is the third meeting between Pittsburgh and Texas Woman’s this season. The teams last saw each other at a tri meet in West Virginia where the Pioneers fell short of defeating the Panthers by just 0.075. Both have eclipsed season highs since then, and the Panthers even posted a new program high of 196.775 last weekend. For LSU, there’s nothing quite like watching a top-10 team compete with less pressure. It’s a recipe for season and career debuts! LSU will be looking to drop one of its 196s from its NQS to inch closer to Auburn while fending off Alabama. 

You Can Fast Forward, but not Through This: There’s a few routines in LSU’s lineups that could be watched on repeat. The most obvious of which is Haleigh Bryant’s vault, which is capable of repeated perfection. In addition, watch out for KJ Johnson and Kiya Johnson. Their explosiveness is next level. Katie Chamberlain is one to keep an eye on for Pittsburgh. She just surpassed the program bars record two meets ago and has posted multiple 9.9s since then. TWU’s Madeline Gose performed six routines last weekend, and five of them were over 9.850. She is capable of 9.9s on beam and floor, so watch for her to contend for an event title or two. 

Recap 

The Big Storyline: William & Mary had a few struggles. After starting off tying its season high on vault, its bars struggles continued, although it did have nearly a full point improvement over last week. The problems followed to beam where the Tribe counted several scores in the 8s, as well as several uncharacteristically low scores on floor. The Golden Rams had a spectacular outing on vault, scoring a season high with four gymnasts scoring or tying career highs on the event. Like the Tribe, the Golden Rams had a less-than-average bars rotation, counting a few scores under a 9.500, but their consistency on vault proved to be the difference. 

Implications: With SEMO posting a new season high, the Redhawks surged past steady West Chester this week. All of West Chester’s counting scores are within one point of each other. That’s great from a consistency standpoint but not so great when trying to make a difference in the team’s NQS. The Rams are locked into the sixth spot in the USAG at the moment with two points between them and the next closest adversary. Basically, West Chester just needs to keep doing what it’s doing and the team will qualify to nationals. 

Records: West Chester scored several new career highs on vault, Kiley Fred scored a 9.775 for a new high, McKenna Kissinger scored a 9.700. Caitlyn Allen notched a 9.675 and Annie Bailey scored a 9.600 to tie their career best. Sarah Kuper of William & Mary scored a career high 9.600 on vault. Chloe Campbell scored a new personal high of 9.825 on floor as did Keaghan Schafer with a 9.775.

Recap 

The Big Storyline: SEMO and Illinois State traded 9.9s back and forth in an exciting conference matchup that doubled as the Redhawks’ senior night. Both teams posted season high team scores. Madison Kipp was lights out again, collecting a pair of 9.9s of her own on bars and beam. Anna Kaziska had herself a night, claiming two event victories. Both teams are coming into their own just in time to prepare for the conference championship. This meet showed that the MIC has a lot of great gymnastics to offer. 

Implications: Considering the amount of things stacked against SEMO this year, the Redhawks have refused to take no for an answer. The Redhawks lost Jordan Jones to an ACL injury a couple meets ago and have not missed a beat. SEMO has mastered the art of the pivot. Thanks to the it’s third 194-plus in the last four weeks, the team will tentatively move into fourth in the USAG rankings. Next week, SEMO will begin the trek to dropping its two 191 away scores. Illinois State will remain at the top of the conference this week. The Redbirds are approaching the regional qualifying bubble, ranked No. 40 in the nation. The team will need to keep this same energy and improve beam consistency to contend for a potential regionals berth. These two teams will meet once more prior to the conference championship, this time at Illinois State. 

Records: Jolie Miller collected a share of the SEMO program record on bars with a 9.950. Angelica Labat tied a career high in the all-around thanks to a trio of 9.875s. Kipp tied her beam career high of 9.900. Lydia Webb entered her first all-around competition with a 39.075 thanks to a career high 9.875 on beam. Senior Anna Kaziska’s 9.950 on floor was her new best on the event. 

Recap 

The Big Storyline: Madison Diab earned her first career perfect 10.0 on floor while teammate Andrea Maldonado earned a 10.0 from one judge on the same event. Tonight’s performance marked the Cyclones’ highest team total of the season. Lindenwood fell off its usual pace due to counting a fall on bars. Gayla Griswold was left out of the vault lineup this week despite being nearly perfect last week. 

Implications: Overall, this season has been up and down for the Lions. When the team hits, the score is among the best in the conference and USAG. However, this week’s low resulted in Lindenwood finally succumbing to conference foe TWU in the rankings, with SEMO, Air Force and Yale still charging closer. The Lions will need to pick the pace back up if they hope to remain the No. 1 seed through the end of the season. Gayla Griswold was missing in tonight’s efforts on vault and had a less-than-normal floor performance as well. We hope it was just a precautionary rest day and not something more serious. For Iowa State, this improved team performance did not make a huge eimpact on its national standing. In fact, the Cyclones will slide back at least one spot as Boise State re-enters the rankings this week. The team will be happy with its improved beam performance this weekend, led by a 9.900 from Meixi Semple. Iowa State will look to continue this momentum through the rest of the season, capitalizing on the scoring potential of its top performers. 

Records: Diab’s 10.000 is a new career high on floor. Griswold’s 9.825 on beam is also a personal best. Iowa State posted the second-highest score in Jay Ronayne’s tenure with a 196.875. 

Recap 

The Big Storyline: Air Force achieved redemption as the team secured the conference win on its senior night. The Falcons returned to the land of 194s thanks to increased consistency across the four events. With a nearly six-tenth improvement on bars alone, Air Force will hope to keep that momentum going through the rest of the season. Sacramento State had an off night, counting mistakes on multiple events. Emma Morganthaler continued to be a consistent all-around performer for the Hornets. 

Implications: The Falcons are finally back to hitting bars like they are capable. Over the last few meets, inconsistency has kept Air Force from continuing its ascent through the USAG rankings. However, this conference victory should help increase the team’s confidence moving forward. Tentatively, Air Force will remain in the third position in the USAG, but SEMO is surging closer with a season high of its on Friday. The Falcons will look to keep this momentum to maintain their position. Ideally, approaching 195 will be necessary to consider putting pressure on Lindenwood and TWU. This team is capable if it puts everything together on the same day. The same goal will move the Falcons within striking distance of Sacramento State in the MPSF battle as well. These teams will meet next at the conference championship. There, Sacramento State and Air Force will determine who wins the best two out of their three matchups. 

Update 2/24: Centenary was unable to travel due to weather.

Recap 

The Big Storyline: The Owls cruised to first place thanks to their consistency and new season highs, guided by Hanna Zebdi and Cassidy Girolamo. Springfield posted a new overall team season high, as well as on vault and floor. With several standout scores on floor, Springfield cleared its previous season high on vault and floor by nearly half a point, with just beam proving to hamper the team overall. Rhode Island also put together a record-setting meet, with Olivia Keyes and Emma tucker leading the Anchorwoman to a new season high. 

Implications: Southern Connecticut’s new highs puts added pressure on Cornell. With just a few weeks to go, Cornell could find itself overtaken by the Owls. With SAS coming into play, Springfield sits in third place, applying pressure to Ursinus as it continues through the season. Rhode Island sits just behind in fourth despite another record-breaking weekend in a tough NCGA-East conference.

Records: Southern Connecticut set a new team bars record with a 48.575. The Pride’s MacKenzie MacLeod set a new career high of 9.825 on floor, as did Sophie Parquet with a 9.775, Rae Anna Schutz with a 9.700, Devon Rosier with a 9.675 and Delaney LaViolette with a 9.625. On vault Anne Kiley set a new high with a 9.625 and Rae Anna Schutz with a 9.575. Emma Tucker and Olivia Keyes each set new program records, as Emma Tucker notched a personal and record high on beam with a 9.750, a mark previously set by Olivia Keyes. On floor, Olivia Keyes set a new program and personal record of 9.875, another record she had set with Kelsey Gates this season.

For a small fee, international viewers can watch the meet here.

Recap 

The Big Storyline: Yale went over 49 on beam for the first time this season thanks to a duo of 9.875s from Lindsay Chia and Kendal Toy, along with an event-winning 9.900 from Raegan Walker. Yale also brought out a full lineup of twisting vaults for the first time this season. Across the board, the Bulldogs brought a calm consistency that has been lacking in previous meets. Penn started the Ivy Classic in a bit of a hole after counting a fall in the first rotation on floor. The bar squad brought it home with a meet best 49.000, but it was too late to catch the Bulldogs. Brown put together the best vault rotation on the day, but beam struggles kept the Bears from contending at the end of the meet. Cornell also was forced to count a fall in the first rotation. There were bright spots throughout each rotation for the Big Red, but it was unable to put everything together today. 

Implications: With a win today, Yale proved that Penn will not be a guaranteed victor of the GEC conference championship. Although the Quakers have been leading the pack all season, it will take a hit on all four events to stay ahead of the Bulldogs. Overall, there will be no changes in the conference standings this week. Yale nearly overtook Air Force in the USAG standings, but a second 194-plus on the weekend saved the Falcons from losing the third spot. On the bright side, counting a 190 in the Bulldogs’ NQS will be a thing of the past. Brown and Cornell both fell victim to a balance beam situation, so neither could put up a real challenge in this competition. However, both teams will be happy to be rid of the 188s from their season openers. There’s more distance between these teams and Southern Connecticut at the moment, hopefully assuring a nationals berth.

Recap

The Big Storyline: Jessica Hutchinson had herself a day with wins on four of the five possible events. She even earned a 10.0 from one judge for her efforts on floor. Denver continued to make adjustments after losing a second fifth-year to an Achilles injury. Although the Pioneers’ performance was not mistake free, the team fought through the entire competition to avoid counting any falls. Air Force had its best vault performance of the year, not counting any scores below 9.750. The Falcons did not count any major mistakes today, so the team will count that as a victory. 

Implications: With a second 194-plus score on the weekend, Air Force successfully will fend off the advances of Yale. However, the Bulldogs are hot on the Falcons’ tail, so the team will need a few more performances like this. The Falcons need to get back to performing the beam they are capable of if they hope to stay in the third spot in USAG long term. On the bright side, Air Force has successfully moved ahead of Sacramento State on the conference front. Denver will slide back one more spot to 12th in the national rankings this week. The team continues to search for an adequate replacement for Mia Sundstrom’s scores. Several athletes are raising their game, but the Pioneers will need more time for these new lineup additions to compete to their potential.