For full scores and results for every meet, check out Week 2 Results.
That first weekend of NCAA gymnastics is always a tough act to follow, but Week 2 kept the momentum going, and going strong. Let’s take a dive into all three sessions of the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad, recap historic program debuts, and check out which teams are making waves across all divisions and conferences.
Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad
There weren’t any upsets coming out of Salt Lake City, as Arizona, Oklahoma, and California each won their respective sessions as predicted. That’s not to say there weren’t any surprises: Almost every team—including Oklahoma—had at least one fall or major error on beam, which made all three meets feel closer than the final scores may otherwise suggest.
The Wildcats edged out Boise State by just over two tenths to win Friday’s competition, but all four teams walked away with multiple top-three finishes in the individual events.
In Saturday’s premier session featuring Oklahoma, Utah, LSU, and UCLA, sophomore Selena Harris claimed the top spot in a stacked field of all-arounders like Haleigh Bryant, Faith Torrez, and Grace McCallum, while former US national champion Konnor McClain snagged a perfect 10 on bars in just her second collegiate meet.
Notable Duals
Expectations for Clemson were high heading into its long-awaited program debut, but no one could have anticipated just how big of a splash this team would make: The Tigers posted an NCAA-best 196.325 in their home opener against William & Mary, cracking the top 20 in the national rankings their first time out.
Michigan was undeniably off in Week 1 but looked much more like the championship-contender at home against visiting Stanford. Sierra Brooks turned in a pair of 9.975s and a perfect 10 on floor en route to her 39.850 all-around score, a new program best for the Wolverines. The Cardinal rebounded from a disastrous bars rotation by matching the second-best beam score in the country.
The Wildcats continue to shake up the SEC status quo, coming back from an early deficit to beat the Auburn Tigers by nearly half a point on their home turf. Star Raena Worley led the way with a 39.650, but Kentucky’s freshmen contributed an impressive four scores of 9.850 or better to the team’s 197.475 total.
The battle between Ithaca and Brockport might not make major waves on the national stage, but it’s a potential foreshadowing of things to come in the NCGA-East this season. Brockport has run away with the East the past two years and nearly went undefeated in the regular season again last year. The Bombers have long been looking to turn the Golden Eagles silver, and they’re already hot on their heels. Still, Brockport snagged the win in this first meeting by a little over a point.
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Everything Else
Snow forced the cancellation of the inaugural MLK Day Invitational, featuring the only six NCAA gymnastics teams headed by Black women: Fisk (Corrinne Tarver), Brown (Brittany Harris), Iowa State (Ashley Miles Greig), Rutgers (Umme Salim-Beasley), Talladega (Aja Sims-Fletcher). and William & Mary (Kelsey Hinton). These teams will almost certainly cross paths with one another at some point as the season progresses, and all six coaches have confirmed their intention of making this an annual event. However, it’s incredibly frustrating to miss this first opportunity to witness a “[celebration of] African American inclusion in this beloved sport.”
One small consolation is that the Talladega Tornadoes, led by former Alabama standout Sims-Fletcher, were still able to make their historic competitive debut earlier in the weekend alongside fellow HBCU Fisk (now in its second season) and George Washington at Florida.
Rounding out the trio of new teams competing for the first time this weekend, Utica finished fourth at their quad meet behind Oregon State, host Rutgers, and Southern Connecticut, but this was a very respectable first showing for the Pioneers. Freshman Grace Marra placed tenth on floor with a 9.750, and dynamic tumbler Alexis Castellaneta wasn’t far behind with a 9.625.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, both the USAG and NCGA teams are already smashing those beloved vinyls: West Chester set or tied three individual records, including Jordan Coleman’s new career-high 9.925 on bars. Not to be left out, the Big Red notched a new team beam record with a 49.025. Rhode Island and Springfield both landed in top five records for the respective programs in the East, and UW-Oshkosh tied the individual beam record and set new team scores, all while tying the program bars score. And it was just the first weekend out for many of those teams.
READ THIS NEXT: Live Blog: Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad Session 3 with No. 6 California, No. 14 Michigan State, No. 19 BYU, and No. 30 N.C. State
Article by Claire Billman and Allison Freeman
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