The USAG Dismount: Week 5

Recap

The Big Storyline: Michigan came out with the win at Rutgers, scoring a season high 198.300. The Wolverines scored two perfect 10s on vault on the anniversary of its three-10 lineup at Rutgers last year. This year’s 10s were from Sierra Brooks and Abby Heiskell. Rutgers put up its lowest home score this season with a 194.700 after having to count several low scores throughout the meet. Southern Connecticut put up its highest score of the year, and Fisk scored a 188.175.

Implications: The conference standings will remain the same: Michigan stays atop the Big Ten and Rutgers is at the bottom. Michigan’s incredible performance gives it a good road score that the Wolverines will hope to count when it’s time to use NQS.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 69 Fisk, No. 3 Michigan and No. 71 Southern Connecticut at No. 39 Rutgers

Why You Should Clear Space on Your DVR: After an off week at Michigan State, Michigan is back to looking like its usual self. Week 5 will be about if the Wolverines can break back into the 198 range on the road. Rutgers has been inconsistent this year; it’s coming off of a 194.150 and a 195.150 in the same weekend. But with the Scarlet Knights back at home, you can expect them to perform closer to their full potential. 

You Can Fast Forward, but not Through This: Michigan has some gorgeous gymnastics in all of its lineups, but you’ll definitely want to tune in to vault. Last year when Michigan competed at Rutgers, the Wolverines had three perfect 10s on the event, so you won’t want to miss the anniversary of that historic lineup. Vault is the event to watch for the Scarlet Knights, too. Emily Leese has been competing a Yurchenko 1.5 that is stuck more often than not. For Fisk, look out for Aliyah Reed-Hammon on vault and beam. She’s one of the Bulldogs’ main contributors and is coming off of a 9.700 and a 9.775 on vault and beam, respectively. As for Southern Connecticut, keep an eye on the beam. The Owls had to count several scores below 9 last week, so they’ll be looking to stay on the event and find a bit more consistency here. 

Recap

Recap

The Big Storyline: Iowa State shook off whatever fatigue it might have had after competing at Oklahoma on Friday and earned two wins at the TWU tri meet. Balance beam ended up being the difference maker between the teams; each had some rough routines, but the Cyclones only counted one low score, whereas the other teams had to count multiple, which affected their team total.

Implications: Iowa State’s score will keep it in the regionals picture while New Hampshire will need to figure out its beam woes if it wants to contend for a spot. TWU will want to keep building scores to keep it in contention for USAGs.

Records: Kylie Gorgenyi tied a New Hampshire individual program record on bars by scoring a 9.950, winning the event title.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 43 Iowa State and No. 51 New Hampshire at No. 55 Texas Woman’s

Why You Should Make Time to Tune in: If you are looking for a tri meet that could end up going any team’s way, you don’t want to miss this one. Each team has had some large score fluctuations so far this season, so while Iowa State is the favorite rankings-wise, a shake up in the bottom three is likely. Any of the teams could come out on top should the Cyclones not have a clean meet. 

Need More Proof? New Hampshire is coming off of a rough beam rotation and will be looking for strong routines from Robyn Kelley and Alyssa Worthington to right that ship. Iowa State scored a season-high last time out and had big numbers from Loganne Basuel and Maddie Diab on beam and floor, respectively. You also can never count the home team out; TWU logged a season high team score last week and had big floor scores from Alix Pierce and Ruby Goad. The Pioneers always find the most success at home.

Recap