After falling short of a trip to nationals in 2022, the Pioneers are looking to make it back to Fort Worth in 2023. It all starts with the Crimson and Gold Intrasquad. Today Pioneer fans will hopefully get an answer to the big question: When will we see Lynnzee Brown back on the competition floor?
Even if we don’t get to see Brown quite yet—or quite yet on all four—the Pioneers are looking promising for the 2023 season. Denver is looking to add more 10.0 start value vaults in juniors Jessica Hutchinson and Rosie Casali, who have been training Yurchenko 1.5’s. The team is also adding a stellar group of freshmen in Mila Brusch, Cecilia Cooley, Ava Mabanta and Kiley Rorich. Pioneer fans should expect to see some of the freshmen in a few lineups.
As for injuries, the Pioneers seem to be having a fairly healthy preseason. With the exception of sophomore bars standout Mia Hebinck being seen on crutches, it’s looking like the team is healthy and we’ll see an accurate representation of where they are in the preseason.
It looks like the first rotation is going to be a mix of vault and beam because they have so many routines that could make the final lineup. So the beginning of the first rotation will be alternating between vault and beam.
ROTATION ONE: VAULT/BEAM
Ruiz (VT): Solid Yurchenko full. Good amplitude and chest was up on the landing. Maybe a tiny hop, but very solid! 9.725
Schlottman (BB): Starts with a flic lay, very solid landing. Switch leap to split three quarter, good split positions. Side aerial, no wobbles. Finishes with a back handspring gainer full. Super solid routine! 9.8
Brusch (VT): Wow. Really high Yurchenko full. She got a ton of height and distance, took a tiny hop on the landing. 9.775
Cooley (BB): Her hands slipped on her back handspring going into her series, so she fell all the way off on her layout. She’s starting her routine over. Flic lay lay, nails it on her second attempt. Switch leap split jump, great split positions. Finishes with a roundoff 1.5, I couldn’t quite see the landing but it looked like a small hop. She looked really confident after a scary fall!
B. Mabanta (VT): Solid Yurchenko full. Hop in place on the landing. These vaults are looking really solid. 9.85
Hutchinson (VT): Oh it’s a new Yurchenko 1.5! Great height and a great stick, but had a small bend in the legs. 9.875
Brown (BB): Front toss to back handspring, her arms were a little bent in the back handspring. Super solid full turn. Switch leap to split jump. Front aerial to wolf jump, just some slightly flexed feet. Finishes with a gainer full. Great to see her back! 9.725
Casali (VT): Another Yurchenko 1.5, she took a big step back on the landing but was able to save the fall. She had great form in the air! 9.625
Mundell (VT): Yurchenko 1.5 with a small hop backwards. Had some bent knees in the air but overall it was great! 9.8
Fitts (VT exhibition): Yurchenko full, good distance from the table and had a medium-sized hop on the landing.
Overall it was a great first rotation for the Pioneers! It was great to see some new 10.0 start values in the vault lineup, and all the vaults had amazing amplitude! The beam routines also looked super solid, I’m excited to see the full beam rotation later, it’s looking like there’s going to be some serious competition to make that lineup this year.
AFTER ONE: 49.025
ROTATION TWO: BARS
Ruiz: Starts on the high bar, Tkatchev doesn’t have the highest amplitude, but it’s solid and has great form. Next she does a great shootover, then a solid last handstand on the high bar. Finishes with a double layout and sticks the landing. 9.775
Thompson: Starts with a Maloney connected to a shootover, separates the feet a little in the Maloney. The last handstand into her dismount was solid, she finishes with a double layout with a tiny hop on the landing. 9.7
Casali: Solid first handstand, starts with a Maloney to shootover combination, her feet are glued together the whole time. Great last handstand. Finishes with a beautiful double layout and maybe does a little bit of a college stick. Really good routine. 9.9, well deserved.
Brown: Starts with a Maloney to Pak combination, then a Maloney half back to the high bar. Her double layout was super high and she stuck it. She had some flexed feet and a tiny bit of leg separation throughout most of the routine, but overall it was solid. 9.875
Hutchinson: Perfect handstand to start off, great Maloney to Pak combination her legs were glued together in her Maloney and then were a little separated in the Pak, and then she does a Maloney half back to the high bar. Awesome double layout dismount and a perfect stick. 9.9
Mundell: Starts off on the high bar with a perfect handstand and a huge Tkatchev. Shootover to the low bar lands perfectly in a handstand. A tiny bit short on the last handstand, then she finishes with a pretty double layout with a tiny hop on the landing. 9.825
Cooley (exhibition): Starts on the high bar, a little archy on the first handstand. Nice Ray to start out, she then gets a spot on her shootover, but it looks nice. Tiny bit short on the last handstand, and then she doesn’t show a dismount.
Overall bars looked pretty good! Their releases and dismounts looked amazing, so now they’ll probably be working on locking in on their handstands and landings, which we typically see from them when season rolls around.
AFTER TWO: 49.275 on bars, 98.3 total
ROTATION THREE: BEAM
Iwai: Switch leap to split jump to start, little bit of a knee bend in the leap. Flic lay lay for her series, her form and landing were both amazing. Nice side aerial with a little bit of a wobble. Finishes with a cartwheel gainer full dismount to a stuck landing. She looked very confident up there, just what you want in a leadoff! 9.875
Ruiz: Hitch kick to switch side to start it off, she had great form and a great straddle position. Nice flic lay, she looks like she wobbled on the landing but covered it with dance. Side aerial to split jump was solid. She finishes with a gainer pike to a perfectly stuck landing. 9.85
Thompson: Starts with an aerial back handspring series, she had a nice landing but some slightly flexed feet. Next is a switch leap switch leap, they don’t quite hit 180 but otherwise her form is good. She finishes with an aerial to a back 1.5 with a great stuck landing. 9.875
B. Mabanta: Very pretty full wolf turn to start out. Her flic lay is super solid, great form and a great landing. Next she does a split leap to a switch side, she has amazing positions. Switch leap to split jump, again gorgeous split positions. She finishes up with a gainer pike with a stuck landing. She looked incredibly confident, and for good reason because everything was beautiful. 9.9
Mundell: Starts with a super floaty flic lay with a great landing. Slight wobble on the full turn. Switch leap to switch half with a pretty significant wobble on the landing, but she saved the fall. Finishes with a nice roundoff 1.5 with a good landing, maybe a little bit of a college stick. 9.725
Hutchinson: Starts with a front toss to back handspring series, tiny wobble after the front toss but she covered it very well. Switch leap to split jump, nice splits. Piked front toss was super solid, she didn’t even think of wobbling. Same with her full turn. Finishes with a cartwheel to gainer full, I couldn’t quite see the landing but it didn’t look like it could’ve been more than a hop. 9.9
Casali (exhibition): Flic lay lay for her series, she falls. Switch leap switch leap, they’re both a little less than 180. Finishes with a cartwheel gainer full with a small hop on her landing. She finished her routine with a lot of confidence after the fall! 8.75
A. Mabanta (exhibition): Gorgeous flic lay series, but she falls. Switch half with a pretty big wobble. Next she does a front aerial with a great landing. Switch leap to split jump is super pretty. She does a cartwheel gainer full for her dismount, her chest is down a little bit on the landing and causes a small hop forward. The fall was unfortunate because the rest of the routine was very solid.
Well, just as I suspected, beam was great. It’s going to be quite the challenge to get into that lineup this year, but that means there will be lots of depth, and what coach doesn’t love depth on beam?
AFTER THREE: 49.4 on beam, 147.7 total
ROTATION FOUR:
Ruiz: First pass is a front tuck through to double back, she has a nice solid landing. Switch side Popa Popa and she showed nice flexibility. Finishes with a double pike with a spot. 9.775. Looks like the scores will disregard the spotting.
A. Mabanta: Starts with a back 1.5 to front layout, the layout was super floaty. Nice switch ring to switch half. Finishes with a double back with a spot. 9.875
Mundell: Starts off with a nice double pike, but she stepped out of bounds. Nice switch ring, switch half, wolf full. She had great amplitude. Next is a front layout front full, she takes a very controlled lunge out of it. Finishes with a Rudi with some great height. 9.675, which surprised me a little bit even with the out of bounds.
Casali: First pass is a Rudi to back layout step out, really nice height on both elements. Switch half wolf full wolf full had great amplitude. Finishes with a 2.5 to front tuck. Great form on the 2.5 and her landing was very controlled. 9.825
B. Mabanta: Starts off with a back 1.5 to front layout. Switch ring half into a split jump was pretty. Next pass is a front layout to a Rudi, her chest was down on her landing a little bit. 9.825
Hutchinson: Her first pass is a front handspring to double front twist, which has great height and a great landing. Next she does a back 1.5 to front layout, nice height on the layout. Oops, I totally missed the leap pass. Last pass is a front handspring to Rudi to straddle jump, gorgeous amplitude in the whole thing. 9.9
Cooley (exhibition): Starts off with a front layout front layout, has a big jump forward and goes out of bounds but I think that was on purpose. Good switch side to split full. Next pass is a back 1.5 to front layout, pretty solid overall.
Floor looked really nice! I’m loving the music and choreography this year, and I think the fans will too, they look like they’ll be very crowd-engaging. Some of them got spots on some landings, but other than that a lot of the landings looked great! With the exception of the spots, it looked like it could be a regular-season meet!
Overall, I’d say this meet was a success. There are some details to work on, but they did the important things well. The Pioneers look like they should be in good shape for their first meet in a few weeks!
FINAL: 49.2 on floor, 196.9 total
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