The Dismount: Week 4

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Recap

The Big Storyline: LSU earned it’s first win of 2023 and the first win post Kiya Johnson Achilles injury, but it wasn’t without some bumps in the road. After having a six-tenth lead halfway through the meet, LSU tallied a season low on beam and brought its lead down to just under three tenths. Unfortunately, Missouri also had several wobbles on the event, allowing LSU to secure the victory after a 49.300 on floor.

Implications: LSU will move into the top three in the SEC and potentially back into the top 10 nationally with its second 197-plus in a row. Missouri has yet to tally a 197 so far this season and will remain just outside the top 10 as it continues its search for a meet that truly represents the team’s potential.

Records: Missouri’s streak of consecutive meets with a 49 on beam came to an end at 21 after it tallied a 48.950 in the final rotation.

Controversies: Haleigh Bryant’s floor was originally given a 9.900 after a judge gave her a UTL deduction for not having a backwards tumbling element. The score was ultimately raised to a 9.950, giving her the floor title.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 12 Missouri at No. 13 LSU

Why You Should Make Time to Tune in: The Battle of the Tigers comes to the bayou! While these teams may be close on paper, they’re both coming off of very different seasons. Missouri was the Cinderella story of the postseason, advancing all the way to their highest finish in program history and a trip to the national semifinals. LSU was eliminated in round two and finished the season with its lowest ranking since 2011. Missouri started off 2023 with wins against Illinois and Georgia, but a 197.000-plus could put it into the top half of the SEC. LSU will be competing for the third time in seven days and with limited depth due to injuries. It will need to be nearly perfect to beat Missouri, but as the home team, it has the home meet advantage.

Need More Proof? With Kiya Johnson out with an Achilles injury, all eyes will be on Haleigh Bryant to lead LSU across all four events. Elena Arenas has come into her own in the light of Johnson’s injury, adding beam to her repertoire, and if her last two performances are anything to go off of, quite successfully at that. For Missouri, Helen Hu put up critical 9.925s on bars and beam against Georgia to help propel it over the Gymdogs in last week’s SEC dual. 

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with Ball State, Fisk, Kent State, Lindenwood and SEMO in Lebanon, Tennessee

Records: Ball State brought home the victory with program records on vault, beam and overall team total with a 49.250, 49.350 and 196.550, respectively. Aaliyah Reed-Hammon became the first athlete in Fisk’s history to surpass the 9.900 mark with her tie for the beam win. 

Recap

The Big Storyline: This meet was mostly one to forget for both teams: The Gators extended their win/loss record to 3-0 despite uncharacteristic mistakes on all four events. Consistency remains an issue for the Crimson Tide—missing routines from key contributors Shallon Olsen and Makarri Doggette certainly didn’t help—though they rallied after counting a fall on bars to finish strong with a season high score on beam and floor. Fifth-year Sania Mitchell made her collegiate debut on vault, her first competitive routine since tearing her Achilles at the 2022 SEC championship.   

Implications: Alabama drops to fifth in the SEC while Florida retains its top spot by a comfortable three tenths over Auburn. Florida remains at No. 2 nationally, but at one point dropped to No. 3 in the in-progress standings, showing its position isn’t as secure as it may seem.

Records: Alabama’s Shania Adams matched her career high 9.900 on floor in her season debut. Trinity Thomas’s five-routine streak of 10s on floor came to an end, though she tied Bridget Sloan for most career all-around wins (27) in program history.

Controversies: Scoring remained generous at times but mostly plausible through the first three quarters of the meet before veering toward the mathematically impossible during the final rotation.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 2 Florida at No. 11 Alabama

Why You Should Cancel Plans for It: Florida has been hot so far this season, averaging 197.788 in back-to-back victories at home. Can Jenny Rowland and company replicate that level of success on the road and officially overtake Oklahoma at the top of the rankings? After a lackluster performance against Arkansas in Week 2, Alabama will be looking to prove it’s still one of the top teams in the SEC.   

What We’re Watching: Florida fifth-year Trinity Thomas has scored a perfect 10s in six consecutive meets and is currently tied with Maggie Nichols and Kyla Ross for fourth-most career 10s of all time, just four off the record shared by Jenny Hansen and Jamie Dantzscher. 

What Else to Know Before Tuning in: In addition to Thomas, this meet will feature the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week Gabby Gladieux, Specialist of the Week Kayla DiCello and Gymnast of the Week Leanne Wong.

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Recap

The Big Storyline: Auburn was able to put up the SEC’s top score of Week 3, bring it closer to Florida at the top of conference rankings. Arkansas bounced back on bars from a disappointing performance last week, only to be hit by a myriad of wobbles on beam, barring the Razorbacks from a much needed 197. Cami Weaver was a glimmer of hope for the Razorbacks on the event, though, scoring a much needed 9.950 under pressure. 

Implications: Auburn will move back into the national top five and solidify its position as the second best team in the SEC. Arkansas will continue to be ranked last in the SEC and will be one of three SEC teams yet to score above 197 this season, with Alabama and Missouri both maxing out at 196.975. 

Records: With its fourth win in a row against the Razorbacks, Auburn took control of the series between the two teams, improving to 10-9 against Arkansas all time. 

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 7 Auburn at No. 25 Arkansas

Why You Should Clear Space on Your DVR: Auburn has been steady as she goes in its first two meets but is still looking for a really big—as in mid-197 or higher—to challenge for a spot in the top five. Given that the Tigers tend to save their best performances for home, expect this season home opener in a sold-out Neville Arena to be a doozy. 

You Can Fast Forward, but not Through This: All eyes will be on the Razorbacks’ bars after a disastrous sub-48 rotation last week. Their performance in Week 1 notched a solid 49.100, so it remains to be seen which score was the fluke. Their fifth-year transfer Norah Flatley continues to prove her mettle as a top all-arounder, but she’ll have to be at her absolute best if she hopes to upset Auburn’s reigning queen, Sunisa Lee. 

Recap

The Big Storyline: In a tight matchup between two tightly ranked foes, the higher-ranked Cardinal ultimately edged the Sun Devils in comeback fashion after being down over a tenth heading into the final rotation. Four Stanford gymnasts notched at least season-best beam scores in that final rotation to seal the deal, highlighted by a 9.900 from Chloe Widner. Freshman Anna Roberts took home two event titles en route to her all-around win, as she just edged out Arizona State’s Emily White. Sarah Clark led the way for the Sun Devils, as her 9.875s on bars and beam matched their highest score of the evening.

Implications: Both programs’ scores raise their season averages just slightly, so neither should make a dramatic change up or down in the rankings this week. The most important stat from this meet is that Stanford is now 1-0 and Arizona State 0-1 in what should be a competitive conference battle in 2023.

Records: This was the first dual meet win for the Cardinal over the Sun Devils since 2017.

Recap

The Big Storyline: The first two sub-49 totals for the Golden Bears this season culminated in a season-low, but a big 49.450 on beam in the final rotation was enough to hold off a season-high from the Wildcats and seal the win. Nevaeh DeSouza led the way with her first all-around title of the season, while Ella Cesario’s beam debut for a 9.900 was a key moment in securing California’s victory. Arizona was paced by its usual star, Malia Hargrove, who took home event wins on two of her three routines.

Implications: In their quest for back-to-back conference regular season championships, avoiding an upset is huge for the Golden Bears, who will still likely fall in the rankings after going sub-197. Arizona has been gradually increasing its score each meet and should improve in this week’s rankings.

Records: California’s beam total is the fifth-highest in program history.

Recap

The Big Storyline: Despite some beam troubles, BYU was able to edge out Boise State thanks to strong performances on bars and floor.

Implications: This meet delivered in terms of being a close competition and suggests that conference competition in the MRGC will be tight throughout the season. However, both of these teams still had somewhat rough meets. Vault was a low score for both teams, and BYU struggled on beam while Boise State had some endurance issues on floor. While these issues can be resolved as the season progresses, these teams do look a little behind conference foe Southern Utah, who scored over a point higher than both teams on Friday.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 36 Boise State at No. 42 BYU

Why You Should Make Time to Tune in: The MRGC is always a competitive conference, and this matchup is no exception. Last week, BYU and Boise State scored within one tenth of each other, and both teams have lots of room to grow. Each counted falls last week and will be looking to bounce back against a conference foe. 

Need More Proof? Despite counting a fall on bars, Boise State also recorded two scores of 9.900-plus, and Emily Lopez’s stunning set is worthy of your attention. Vault will also be exciting with three relatively new upgrades being competed. For BYU, Allix Mason debuted a Yurchenko one and a half last weekend, and Rebekah Bean Ripley competed a front handspring pike half after being out of competition with injury for the last three years. For the Broncos, Adriana Popp debuted a front handspring pike half of her own last week. The execution of these upgraded vaults could be the difference maker in this meet.

Recap

The Big Storyline: Southern Utah put up its best performance of the season behind Karley McClain’s strong all-around performance and delightful routines from Shylen Murakami on beam and Ellie Cacciola on floor. Utah State, meanwhile, had a meet to forget after a strong opening performance at Best of Utah. The Aggies started the meet on the wrong foot, counting numerous falls on bars. While they recovered OK, the rest of the meet left room for improvement, too, and they counted a miss on beam in the meet’s final rotation.

Implications: Utah State showed it’s a young team capable of producing strong results, but not without struggles along the way. There were lots of new routines in these lineups, and it showed. Moving forward, this is a performance the Aggies will want to drop when NQS kicks in; for now, the result drops the team in the rankings and from second to fourth in the MRGC. Southern Utah was able to drop a fall on both bars and beam; the beam squad in particular is showing tremendous growth this season thus far with its ability to bounce back from mistakes. The Thunderbirds’ 196.600 is a solid score to build upon and will be a welcome addition to their initial NQS when the time comes. 

Records: Southern Utah sophomore Ellie Cacciola notched two personal bests: a 9.850 on vault and a 9.925 on beam. Utah State’s Dani Kirstine and Amari Evans had career-best scores of 9.800 and 9.725, respectively, on bars.

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Recap

The Big Storyline: It’s Jade Carey’s world, and we’re just living in it. The sophomore sensation led her team to a season-high score and an upset of No. 8 Denver, as well as wins over Brown and Sacramento State, with a country high-tying 39.825 all-around score. Brown set season highs on three events and the team total in head coach Brittany Harris’ return to her alma mater.

Implications: No conference rankings changed as a result of this meet, but Oregon State advanced two spots to No. 16 nationwide, and Brown, which got a season high by a margin of over two points, improved its average substantially.

Records: Oregon State is undefeated in Gill Coliseum since the beginning of 2022, with a record of 11-0 in that timespan. Six Beaver routines set career highs.

Controversies: Denver had several beam scores adjusted after start values were questioned. Lynnzee Brown, Abbie Thompson and Jessica Hutchinson all had their scores increased after successful inquiries. As usual with Oregon State livestreams, few non-Beaver routines were shown, and commentators made several errors identifying high-profile gymnasts, including mixing up Mila Brusch and Lynnzee Brown.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 8 Denver, No. 58 Sacramento State, No. 59 Brown at No. 18 Oregon State

Why You Should Make Time to Tune in: This quad meet breaks down into two independently compelling duals. Denver, fresh off a program record on vault at Michigan last week, is the favorite, but first it’ll have to get past the juggernaut of Oregon State home floor. Oregon State should be feeling good after a great result in the high-scoring evening session of the Wasatch Classic, where it was led by a 39.725 (and two controversial perfect 10.000s) from sophomore Jade Carey. Brown and Sacramento State have each only competed once and produced similar results, though both can improve a lot on their opening gambits. This meet is also a homecoming for Beaver alumna Brittany Harris, now the head coach at Brown.

Need More Proof? At Oregon State, only two people not named Jade Carey have scored 9.900-plus on any event this year, and one of them is freshman Savannah Miller on floor. If her name is unfamiliar, her debut in Gill Coliseum is a great time to get to know her. Denver’s Rosie Casali debuted a monster Yurchenko one and a half last week at Denver, scoring a 9.975 and beating Michigan’s entire lineup of stellar vaulters. Don’t miss Sacramento State powerhouse Emma Morgenthaler competing the same vault, either. If you haven’t watched Brown in a while, the name you need to know is Julia Bedell: She’s ultra-powerful, with scores as high as 9.900 on floor in her freshman season.

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Recap

The Big Storyline: The former No. 1 recruit continues to cement herself as an NCAA star as Selena Harris nearly swept the event titles and all-around as she and Jordan Chiles propelled the Bruins to a road conference victory. UCLA fell under 197 for the first time this season due to some beam wobbles and low vault start values, but it was able to show depth on a few events, too. The Huskies were plagued by issues on vault and couldn’t quite match the 9.9s of the Bruins—outside of standout Amara Cunningham and her powerful floor routine that tied Chiles for the event win.

Implications: The Bruins finished 3-3 in Pac-12 action last season, so starting with a win is crucial despite putting up a score that lowers their overall average. 

Records: Washington set a new attendance record for a home opener with 5,432 fans in the stands.

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Recap

The Big Storyline: It was a close meet through all four rotations, but ultimately Ohio State came out on top. The Buckeyes put up some huge scores on bars and floor, and they’re showing that they are a force to be reckoned with. 

Implications: Ohio State keeps its win streak alive! The Buckeyes will move to second place in the Big Ten and Iowa will stay in fourth. Ohio State will drop out of the top 10 in the national rankings but only to the 11th spot. 

Records: The Buckeyes pulled off their third best score in program history with a 197.225.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 15 Iowa at No. 10 Ohio State

Why You Should Make Time to Tune in: Iowa and Ohio State’s averages are only separated by just over three tenths, so it’s safe to say this meet will be fairly evenly matched. Ohio State will be looking to stay in the top 10 in the national rankings while also holding off Michigan State and Iowa in the Big Ten rankings. 

Need More Proof? Ohio State’s star freshman Payton Harris improved her all-around score by 0.225 from Week 1 to Week 2, and it’s looking like that number will keep going up. As for Iowa, its team score improved by almost four tenths, and if it keeps hitting routines, Iowa may be able to challenge Ohio State both at the meet and for the second spot in the Big Ten. 

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Recap

The Big Storyline: A combination of Michigan’s mistakes and Michigan State coming ready to play lead to the Spartans coming out on top of their in-state rival Wolverines. Michigan scored its first score in the 196s this season, and Michigan State scored its first 197.

Implications: This meet tells us that Michigan State’s historic 2022 season wasn’t a fluke, and the Spartans are back and hungry for more. As for the Big Ten standings, they look mostly the same. Michigan remains in first and Michigan State will stay in third behind Ohio State. 

Records: This is the first time the Spartans have beaten the Wolverines since 2007. It was also a sell-out for Michigan State.

 Preview

Current Rankings: No. 3 Michigan at No. 14 Michigan State

Why You Should Clear Space on Your DVR: For the first time in a long time this in-state rivalry is going to look more like a fair fight. The Wolverines far outpace the Spartans overall, but individuals on the Michigan State roster can fight for event titles and having such stiff competition at home might just help the Spartans take the next step to approach the 197 mark. For Michigan, this one is about securing a Big Ten win—the conference championship is seeded by in-conference win/loss records, and this week marks the first of Big Ten conference competition—and nabbing at least a high 197 to stash away for its NQS later in the year.

You Can Fast Forward, but not Through This: Don’t take your eyes off of anyone in the Michigan vault lineup. Every member of the top six is capable of sticking her one and a half. The Spartans’ Gabrielle Stephen was perfect on her full in 2022 as well. Michigan State struggled on bars last week; look for Olivia Zsarmani and Delanie Harkness to lead the lineup to redemption there. For Michigan, beam is the weak spot. Natalie Wojcik has been near-perfect, but the rest of the lineup has failed to get out of the 9.8s so far. That’ll be the focus for the Wolverines here.

Recap

The Big Storyline: A lot of fans expected this one to be close from beginning to end, but a stellar opening vault rotation from the Sooners put them in control from the beginning. A season-high 49.650 gave Oklahoma a lead that it did not relinquish—even with some stumbles on balance beam from both teams. In the end, the Sooners matched their season-high score from the Super 16 while Utah hit its second-highest team score of the season.

Implications: With Michigan’s loss to Michigan State, Oklahoma will remain the No. 1 team nationally and No. 1 in the Big 12. Utah will be at the top of the Pac-12 and move up to fourth nationally even with a loss.

Controversies: While it ended up being dropped, Ragan Smith’s bars score was conferenced on by the judges after she had to do an extra swing after her Pak salto, typically a three-tenth deduction. The judges ultimately gave her a 9.700.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 5 Utah at No. 1 Oklahoma

Why You Should Cancel Plans for It: Rounding out the weekend may be the most exciting matchup of the week, with a top-five showdown between two teams expected to contend for the NCAA title in a few months. Leading the way for the Sooners has been Jordan Bowers, who made her way into the beam lineup this year and now ranks fourth in the all-around. She’ll be challenged by Ute Grace McCallum, who ranks outside the top 25 in the all-around due to a fall on vault in Week 1 but is capable of beating anybody on any day when she hits.

What We’re Watching: Make sure to dial into the last two rotations, as beam is the specialty event for both of these programs. Between the Utes, who are ranked No. 1 on the event, and the Sooners, who rank No. 2, they claim four of the top 10 individual spots on the beam rankings at the moment—Utah’s Maile O’Keefe and Kara Eaker share the top spot while Oklahoma’s Ava Siegfeldt and Bowers are tied at sixth.

What Else to Know Before Tuning in: Last season in Salt Lake City, the Utes defeated the Sooners 197.775 to 196.650.

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