Colorado Springs welcomes three visiting teams to compete alongside Air Force tonight, bringing together two programs each from the MAC and Mountain West in what promises to be a wide-open quad meet. As always in this format—especially on an already unpredictable weekend—anything can happen. Below is a snapshot of the key routines and storylines to watch from each lineup.
If Kent State can carry its home-meet momentum into its first road test of the season, expect a late surge on vault led by senior Charlie Behner. Behner delivered a near-perfect 9.900 Yurchenko full last weekend, setting the tone for the Golden Flashes alongside newcomer Taylor Archambeau’s 9.850. Boise State, meanwhile, has competed exclusively on the road so far and has shown impressive steadiness across all four events. Freshman Miraya Nero earned her first all-around win as a Bronco last weekend against BYU, but she’ll face a stiff challenge if she hopes to repeat, going up against Maggie Slife. Slife already owns two 39.425 all-around totals this season and has posted 9.900s on three events, with Alyssa Bigler providing equally potent support—including a standout full-twisting double layout on bars.
Eastern Michigan is still hunting its first 194-plus score of the season, and a strong beam rotation could put that within reach. Analiah Solorio is averaging better than a 9.800 on the event, Jacquelyn Patterson opened the year with a 9.875, and Katin Childress has hit both beam routines so far with her signature front tuck mount anchoring the set.
By the end of the weekend, the national picture should come into sharper focus as averages begin to separate. Any gymnast who can add another 9.900-plus performance tonight will keep their name firmly in the conversation as teams inch closer to the new, more meaningful NQS calculations. From a team perspective, the benchmark to watch is 195.000—the score that starts to push early-season totals out of the picture and reshape the postseason outlook.
Follow along with scores here, with video provided through the Mountain West Network.
Rotation 1: Air Force VT, Boise State UB, Kent State BB, Eastern Michigan FX
Hartley (AF): we’re off! she starts the meet with a tucked Y full, tucks before clearing the table and takes a hop back. 9.650
Buell (BSU): nearly stuck DLO to start the Broncos’ campaign. 9.575
Rankin (KSU): clean switch to straddle 1/2. stable on her skills but a little slower through the routine than normal. I give her credit for going slow and steady — she sticks her cat leap to gainer. 9.250
Willis (AF): Y full, a tad piked and hops back. 9.700
Ball (BSU): toe hs Maloney Pak with her legs glued throughout, from this angle we can’t see any hip bends either. finishes her blind full a hair early, but gets it over to a stuck double tuck. 9.700
Migliore (KSU): long conference before she can start. switch to switch jump connects fluidly, and she lands her front toss nearly upright. almost holds the stick, but takes a small hop forward from her front full dismount. 9.650
Evans (EMU): front tuck through to double tuck, compact as ever and hops back. ring full tells me it’s a two pass routine. roundoff 1.5 punches to a front tuck, expect a conference over the start value. 9.150 (10.0/9.9 split on the start value)
Raife (AF): LAUNCHES her Y full, somehow only takes one step backward. 9.675
Fuertez (KSU): beam judges are taking their time today! cat leap to switch side, and then off on her bhs bhs loso. almost holds the landing on her front full, takes a small hop. 8.850
Greene (AF): near-stuck Y full! amplitude over sticks seems to be working for the Falcons tonight. 9.775
Werline (BSU): attacks her handstands into her seemingly compulsory toe handstand Maloney Pak series. massive FTDT and the classic college salute. 9.600
Riley (KSU): she’ll have to rally hard, in effort to only keep Rankin’s 9.250. clean through her bhs loso as if she’s at home. easy switch to split full. holds her aerial, and sticks the gainer full.
Nihart (EMU): big double tuck, keeps it in bounds by a matter of inches. front layout to rudi without a hitch, and rotates precisely around her switch full to wolf full. third pass flirts with the line. 9.650
Bigler (AF): Y1.5, steps it forward. 9.775
Shchennikova (BSU): big Jaeger alert! she shows off her shoulder flexibility again with a toe on front pike half. 9.700
Morgan (KSU): big front toss to bhs series, flows easily. switch switch with a small check, and then she reins it in for her front aerial. bhs 1.5 sticks to close her routine. 9.625
Karle (EMU): we’re approaching Sydney Soloski levels of nonstop energy with this routine! big front tumbling (ending with a punch front double twist hello) and putting her all into jumps whether it’s for dance series or out of her side pass. 9.575
Slife (AF): carbon copy of the Y1.5 we’ve seen in weeks two and three. 9.800
Schultz (KSU): beat to split 3/4 with a smirk for good measure. cat leap to front toss, and her bhs loso flow easily, putting her past the big tests of her routine. sticks her 1.5, and flushes Fuertez’ fall in the process. 9.775.
Brushwood (EMU): looking to capitalize on being at the back of the lineup. switch side half to straddle half floats, and makes her tumbling look extra sprung. 9.875, in a tight scoring first rotation!
Most (KSU): exh — in love with her mount, and how she carries each movement right to her fingertips. off on the front aerial before it can pass through to scale to be saved. front aerial to bhs hits on the second try. cat leap connects to front aerial scale, and she crushes her switch to split 3/4. clean gainer pike. 9.050
AFTER ONE: Air Force 48.725, Eastern Michigan 48.450, Boise State 48.375, Kent State 47.950
The Golden Flashes will kick it into high gear to work back up from counting a low start value routine, and floor is just the place for them to do it. Eastern Michigan can expect another big score with a fast turnaround for floor-anchor-vault-leadoff Abby Brushwood, after throwing down the highest single score of rotation one across the meet. Boise State trails Eastern Michigan closely, with their core of big-potential-bars that seems to be figuring out its landings slowly but surely. They have dynamic and diverse dismounts, showing four over six routines. Host Air Force started comfortably on vault seemingly opting to rid their amplitude deductions rather than landings today. This is great in the long run, but if we look at today’s first rotation they’re closely followed by two teams who have just finished on traditionally tighter scoring events.
Rotation 2: Eastern Michigan VT, Air Force UB, Boise State BB, Kent State FX
Brushwood (EMU): arches on her Y half, and takes only a small step sideways. 9.700
Wallace (AF): bind half to piked jaeger, and takes her bail right to 180. blind full to stuck double tuck, with only a minor leg separation. 9.725
Lucas (BSU): looks very at home on beam. big cheers after her routine. 9.600
Rankin (KSU): scoots back on her front through to double tuck, and makes quick work getting into her dance. nails the double pike. back in the leadoff spot after testing out the back end. 9.650
Lowe (EMU): near stick Y full alert! 9.675
Boyer (AF): toe hs to Maloney (leg sep) and bail to hs, then cranks her stalder albeit with bent elbows to a stuck double tuck. 9.750
Delarosa (BSU): switch to two splits looking just as comfortable as ever. i’m eating my words, she takes a check on her front aerial. bhs 1.5 tucked takes a small hop fwds. 9.750
Rudnitskaya (KSU): clean through her front through to double tuck, then gets lower than usual on her jumps but maintains control rotating the twists. roundoff 1.5 punch layout and ending double pike seem to have just enough energy. 9.525
Nero (BSU): small check after her bhs loso. 9.775
Fuertez (KSU): stays in bounds to avenge last week’s return to the event after a year. 9.625 seems to reflect today’s scoring.
Dunwoody (EMU): dials in on the stick after her Y full and sits too far to hold it, she takes a smart step back. 9.700
Bigler (AF): blind full Geinger to bail with her legs superglued. she manages to flare her FTDLO and takes a small hop. 9.725
Shchennikova (BSU): small hop after an otherwise stunning gainer full. 9.725
Bingman (KSU): fhs front double twist looks more controlled than at home, along with almost every other skill in her energetic routine. 9.750
Greene (AF): fluid Jaeger, and takes her bail to vertical. stuck blind full to double tuck #3 for the Falcons today. 9.800
Kho (BSU): large check after the front aerial, and between the sissone and switch half. small hop after her gainer full, which travelled backwards a fair bit. 9.700
Morgan (KSU): hoppy out of her front layout to rudi, then cranks around her three jumps a tad hastily — perhaps dialling down from the overcooked first pass. accurately rotates the double pike. 9.725
Slack (EMU): definitely the highest block off the table for Eastern. floats her Y full, albeit with a slight knee bend, and takes a small hop out. 9.675
Slife (AF): attacking her bars with the same precision as her vault. carries it through to a stuck FTDT to close for the Falcons. 9.900
Leitch (BSU): bhs pike (layout?) and hops off the beam. small check after her wolf jump to split 3/4, and again after her front toss. she rallies hard for one of my favorite dismounts: switch split to gainer pike. 9.175
Behner (KSU): first of three anchor routines for her today. she starts with a punch double twist that stays in bounds but barely, then gets big air on her switch half, Popa, wolf series. she strong-arms together a massive final pass, with a gritty and dynamic front tuck through to double tuck. 9.750
McDermott (AF): exh — launches her blind half to Jaeger then stomachs it. 8.575
Mast (KSU): exh — this is my third consecutive week seeing her floor, and every time I’m hyperfixated. massive punch front double twist, and truly floats her tour jete half to wolf full. front layout to rudi lands more upright than in previous weeks. 9.575
Kristianson (AF): exh — another massive Jaeger to stomach. tentative on her handstands in and out of her bail, but shows a promising DLO. 8.675
AFTER TWO: Eastern Michigan 96.975, Boise State 96.925, Air Force 97.625, Kent State 96.450
Eastern Michigan pulls into the lead at halfway, with their strongest event yet to come! Though their vault ceiling today was a modest 9.725, it remained enough to continue holding off Boise State by a hair, both teams now surpassing Air Force with their full hand of bars sticks punctuated by Slife’s 9.900. Kent State had a harder time adjusting to Air Force’s floor, with almost every athlete figuring out the bounce in time for their final pass.
Rotation 3: Kent State VT, Eastern Michigan UB, Air Force BB, Boise State FX
Rankin (KSU): almost holds the stick for her Y full, then uncharacteristically hops forward. 9.625
Leitch (BSU): another fast turnaround for anchor-then-leadoff, with a hoppy first pass. steps forward out of her double pike, almost covering it up as the allowable controlled lunge. 9.525
Evans (EMU): toe hs to Maloney hits easy, but the Pak after kills her speed and has to do a clear hip to horizontal. clean DLO, but too little too late. 9.050
Nero (BSU): OOB on her first pass. redeems it with a big front layout punch rudi and a true rebounding split jump. 9.525
Morgan (KSU): tries to dial down after floor being bouncy, and lands her Y full with her chest very low. 9.575
Cantu (EMU): big floaty DLO! 9.675
Bigler (AF): bhs loso with post-season confidence. she’s on a roll today, and carries it through to a stuck 1.5 dismount. 9.925
Reeves (BSU): gorgeous roundoff layout half to rudi for her final pass, which we’re treated to when the quad box returned after Bigler’s routine. 9.675
Archambeau (KSU): getting the Golden Flashes back on track, with a chest up Y full and a near stuck. 9.725
Slife (AF): a 9.900 here would give her one on each event so far this season. small check on her bhs loso. clean leap series, and a stuck 1.5 dismount to parallel Bigler’s. we didn’t see the acro series, and the routine goes 9.675.
Ferguson (BSU): fun ABBA routine, that we get glimpses of between Slife’s routine clips. we get an uninterrupted last pass, a clean and high double tuck. 9.650
Bingman (KSU): lower off the table for her Y full than normal, lands short but covers well. 9.700
Kohler (EMU): eeeeasy handstand work in her toe on Maloney bail sequence. cranks giants to a DLO that wants to be stuck so bad, but has to hop forward after an arm circle. 9.725
Greene (AF): gainer bhs loso smooth as ever. switch switch takes a check after going short on the angle on her second. gainer loso in her mixed series looks even calmer than off of two feet, and she translates that confidence to a third stuck 1.5 in a row for her team. 9.800
Behner (KSU): SOMEHOW is able to bounce back out of her Y full, which is normal for kent state on seemingly any other day. 9.800 ties Slife so far on vault.
Lowe (EMU): blind half to a big piked Jaeger, and a pak shortly after from a controlled handstand. hops back out of the toe on front pike half. 9.800
Bacott (AF): ready to anchor a rock solid rotation. checks her full turn, but moves on and nails a standing back pike. checks again on her side aerial, then does it again to get her aerial – aerial scale series. finds her groove again with her two jump series, and sticks a gainer full to finish a packed routine. 9.475
Pascal (BSU): great extension in her switch ring! looking like one of few away team gymnasts who’s figured out the floor today with her roundoff 1.5 punch layout, and again on her fhs rudi split jump. 9.825
Boyer (AF): exh — off on her side aerial, then takes the tiniest of checks on a massive switch half and again on a standing tuck. gorgeous extension in her split to straddle 3/4, and makes sure we know she stuck her front full. 8.600
Lehan (AF): exh — tiniest of checks on her bhs loso, then a larger one after her switch switch series. aerial roundoff lands (albeit low), and the “i told you so” smile forces its way out before her gainer full. 9.500
AFTER THREE: Air Force 146.475, Boise State 145.300, Eastern Michigan 144.900, Kent State 144.875
Eastern Michigan having to count a fall on bars puts them back with Kent State ahead on the Golden Flashes by a quarter tenth, despite huge efforts from Kohler and Lowe. Meanwhile Air Force reclaims the lead after a massive beam rotation nearing 49.000, punctuated by Bigler’s new career high of 9.925. Blaise Pascal notched only the second 9.800+ floor score after three rotations(!!), helping separate Boise State from Eastern Michigan in second and third respectively. Kent State will head to bars now at what is 11:00pm in their regular time zone, which I personally cannot imagine to be a fun time. Upperclassmen Rudnitskaya and Behner have big potential, but need to push aside results from today to do so.
Rotation 4: Boise State VT, Kent State UB, Eastern Michigan BB, Air Force FX
Kho (BSU): closest we’ve seen to a stuck Y full all day, as Boise makes their final push at Air Force for the team title. 9.825 outright wins vault.
Fuertez (KSU): her first proper hit of the night, going 9.725
Childress (EMU): 3 for 3 on her front tuck mount! bhs loso and her jump series land easily, and she holds the stick for her 1.5. massive 9.875 in the leadoff spot.
Bacott (AF): big Rudi to a double stag that looks like it catches her off guard. cleeean roundoff 1.5 punch front full. 9.725
Balko (KSU): clean and easy toe hs to toe on front pike half. 9.575
Kohler (EMU): bhs layout two feet lands like it’s just another day at the office for her. she blows a kiss to the judge before her shoulder cartwheel, and then for good measure sticks her 1.5 dismount. 9.850
Hartley (AF): easily one of my favourite double pikes of the night — she hears me and perfectly cooks her double tuck as well. 9.575
Kemp (BSU): Y half, holds the layout shape like a dart the entire time. 9.775
Nihart (EMU): calm bhs loso. small check after her split 3/4, but doesn’t let it bug her before her front tuck full. 9.450
Willis (AF): stunning front layout to rudi and a split jump, high energy just like Karle in the first rotation. big double pike and a death drop to close. 9.700
Caffall (BSU): bouncy Y full. 9.725
Schultz (KSU): clear to Maloney and bail hs, she’s back on the high bar before i can blink. stuck DLO. 9.750
Patterson (EMU): bhs loso with a fight, but a fight she wins. split to split 1/2 is under total control, as is her cat leap to aerial. sticks the gainer pike, after waiting two hours to compete from march in. 9.625
Greene (AF): the most controlled front double full of the night, no over or underrotating on either axis. fhs rudi shortly after, then muscles through two leaps and two jumps apiece. third line without any hiccups. 9.625
Ball (BSU): y full on pike gets big cheers from her team. 9.725
Rudnitskaya (KSU): almost holds the stuck DLO, has to arm circle and take a step back. 9.475
Solorio (EMU): aerial bhs crispy as ever. carries it to her switch, split, and split 3/4. almost holds the dismount, taking a hop to the side. 9.800
Slife (AF): half in half out with a smile plastered on her entire face. switch side to Popa both exceed 180, then the feed moves to bars and back for her ending pose. 9.875
Behner (KSU): avenges Rudnitskaya’s dismount and sticks the stalder double tuck. 9.750
Lowe (EMU): bhs loso, and switch side both look like they’re on a foot wide beam. small check after her aerial that gets covered nicely, and a near-stuck roundoff 1.5 to finish the Eagles’ campaign in Colorado Springs. 9.675
Bigler (AF): another massive front double full, seemingly the skill of the night. switch full to split full both hang in the air. roundoff 2.5 takes a small step forward, and then puts on a masterclass controlling her roundoff 1.5 punch layout before lunging. Big day for Bigler! 9.825
Brushwood (EMU): exh — bhs, walks it back to go again and nails her bhs loso. switch to split just as easy. checks her cat leap to aerial, and seems to wobble walking out of it. small hop after her front full.
Lassila (AF): exh — clean through her double tuck, and switch half to two wolf fulls. second pass is a front layout to front full that seems to stutter before each skill, but still get the punch they need. takes a rudi to her shins in what looks like a stinger of a landing, but finishes the routine. 8.950
Landry (EMU): exh — candle, tries to hold vertical but goes through to front support. bhs hops off. retries, bhs loso with a stutter but stays on. checks again on her switch to split, but rocks her split 3/4 after. all of Air Force is cheering her on. front roll as her forwards skill, and a gainer full to close the evening. For Eastern Michigan and Kent State, the rotation ends at what feels like 11:30pm. Landry waiting the entire meet to exhibition this late is far from the dream, but definitely a pressure situation she can build from.
With that, the meet officially comes to a close! Whether it be jetlag, seasonal illness, or altitude sickness, visiting midwest teams had a much harder night than Air Force and Boise State. The former improves by more than a point over last week’s adventure in New Hampshire, earning three event titles and a tie for the all around win. This was by all means their meet to write, and write it the Falcons did. Three all arounders going at or above 39.000 is an amazing spot for their program to be in January.
Next week Boise State and Air Force face fellow MW opponent Utah State, alongside Sacramento State. Eastern Michigan will search for their 195.000, hoping to do so at home facing Wilberforce on Thursday. Kent State will do everything in their power to drop today’s score, on the road next Sunday facing Ball State and Illinois State.
FINAL: Air Force 195.225, Boise State 194.050, Eastern Michigan 193.750, Kent State 193.150
VT: Sydney Kho, Boise State (9.825)
UB: Maggie Slife, Air Force (9.900)
BB: Alyssa Bigler, Air Force (9.925)
FX: Abby Brushwood, Eastern Michigan & Maggie Slife, Air Force (9.875)
AA: Alyssa Bigler, Air Force & Maggie Slife, Air Force (39.250)
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Live blog by Peri Goodman
