The Dismount: Week 2 - College Gym News

Facebook Tweet Pin

The excitement continued this week in NCAA gymnastics with the first 197s, unfortunate implosions and teams that continued to impress. LSU started the weekend off in shocking fashion, having to count three falls during its competition against N.C. State in Las Vegas. No. 1 Michigan and No. 3 Florida both won easily while No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 6 Alabama picked up two wins in three days. Read more about the top 15 teams’ meets and find full results and event winners for every competition that took place this weekend.

Lady Luck Invitational: No. 1 LSU, No. 23 N.C. State: Full Results | LSU Video Highlights
LSU: 195.825 | N.C. State: 193.625
VT: Ewing 9.925 | UB: Finnegan 9.95 | BB: Macadaeg 9.875 | FX: Macadaeg 9.95 | AA: Gnat 38.975It started off even better than last week for LSU. However, after the halfway point, things went way, way downhill. Three Tigers fell on beam, one of which was sophomore Myia Hambrick, who missed the beam completely on her side aerial connected from a hitchkick. She was later taken out of the floor lineup for precautionary reasons and was seen icing her foot.

Floor wasn’t much better. The team had two falls, but last-minute-substitution Erin Macadaeg, competing in her first NCAA floor lineup, scored a whopping 9.95. Meanwhile, N.C. State had a consistent but average meet. The Wolfpack, scored three career-highs on vault from freshmen Caitlyn Fillard, Alexa Phillips and Maggie Tamburro.

No. 28 Ohio State at No. 1 Michigan: Full Results | Michigan Photos
Michigan: 196.950 | Ohio State: 195.275
VT: Karas 9.875 | UB: Brown 9.9 | BB: Chiarelli 9.95 | FX: Artz 9.9 | AA: Karas 39.425You can’t say Michigan isn’t consistent. Hitting a near-197 the first two meets was impressive. However, a third asks the question whether the Wolverines are stuck. It’s the little things causing the team to just just short of the benchmark total. And with a few more weeks of competition and training under their belts, the Wolverines are sure to finally get over the hump. In the end, consistency is the most important thing of course. Consistently good, that is. And the team has at least that going for it — it hasn’t scored below a 49 on any event dating back to the 2014 season! Ohio State also had a solid competition to add to its week one results. With room for improvement, the Buckeyes are looking strong at this point in the season.

No. 5 UCLA at No. 3 Florida: Full Results | Photos
Florida: 197.675 | UCLA: 196.925
VT: Baker, McMurtry 9.925 | UB: Sloan 9.975 | BB: Francis 9.95 | FX: Baker 9.95 | AA: Sloan 39.65While both teams were neck-and-neck during the beginning of the meet, the Gators pulled away on beam and floor after UCLA’s Peng-Peng Lee fell on her beam series and a couple other scores in the 9.7s hindered the Bruins’ performance on the event. The Gators, killed it and were filled with twice as much energy as the first competition. However, that wasn’t going to be a difficult task. Totals of 49.4, 49.525, 49.45 and 49.3 on vault, bars, beam and floor, respectively were more than enough to take the win. Bridget Sloan’s near-perfect 9.975 on bars and Alex McMurtry’s 9.925 (out of a 9.95) set the team apart. However, it was Bruin Danusia Francis on floor that wowed the Florida crowed. Her flexibility and expressive dance made the fans “legit scream.”

Photo gallery from #Gators home opening win vs UCLA at https://t.co/FlJsnLBSIY

Shots from Ron Irby pic.twitter.com/78GFZjgn9I

— Gator Gymnastics (@GatorsGym) January 16, 2016

No. 11 California, No. 51 Texas Woman’s at No. 4 Oklahoma: Full Results
Oklahoma: 197.125 | California: 194.225 | TWU: 188.25
VT: Scaman, Jackson 9.9 | UB: Capps, Wofford 9.925 | BB: Lovan 9.925 | FX: Jackson 9.925 | AA: Kmieciak 39.425Oklahoma picked up an easy win in its first home meet of the 2016 season. But it wasn’t without mistakes. The Sooners hit the 197-benchmark total, backed by a 49.475 on bars and a 49.4 on beam. Mistakes on floor, including a fall and a missed performance, caused the team from having a standout meet. Cal also had a pretty successful competition, with superstar sophomore Toni-Ann Williams picking the team up form a so-so beam rotation with a 9.9.

No. 4 Oklahoma at No. 16 Arkansas: Full Results
Oklahoma: 197.050 | Arkansas: 195.900
VT: Jackson 9.95 | UB: Wofford, Zaziski 9.9 | BB: Capps 9.925 | FX: Scaman 9.9 | AA: Kmieciak 39.4″Almost but not quite” was the name of the game for Oklahoma on Sunday. The Sooners’ vault landings were getting there with Haley Scaman upgrading to the Yurchenko one and a half and Ali Jackson’s 9.95, but the beam and floor struggles continue. However, if it wasn’t for scores, we’re betting fans totally wouldn’t care because THAT DANCE. Either way, the Sooners totaled a very usable low 197 for the effort. Arkansas also had a drop from its competition against Georgia Friday night. The Gymbacks were wobble-city on beam and had a couple more iffy routines on floor but pulled it together to finish with a 195.9.

Elevate the Stage: No. 6 Alabama, No. 7 Auburn: Full Results | Auburn Video Highlights
Alabama: 196.875 | Auburn: 196.075
VT: Demers, Brannan 9.875 | UB: McNeer, Winston, Atkinson 9.875 | BB: Beers 9.9 | FX: Giancroce, brannan, Bailey 9.85 | AA: Atkinson, Winston 39.375The teams were neck-and-neck through two rotations, with Alabama leading by only half a tenth going into the final half of the meet. However, mistakes on beam dropped Auburn down and the Tigers were never able to recover. It was still a solid performance, though, and the teams got their first taste of the podium in 2016. Tide senior Carley Sims was still missing in action, but Lauren Beers stepped up with a 9.9 on beam. Overall, the meet was consistent for both teams, with the only real mistakes coming on beam for Auburn. Had the rotation gone better and the Tigers might be coming off their first win ever over the Crimson Tide.

No. 14 Missouri at No. 6 Alabama: Full Results
Alabama: 197.175 | Missouri: 196.05
VT: Ward 9.925 | UB: Jetter 9.875 | BB: Ward 9.9 | FX: Jetter, beers 9.95 | AA: Porter 39.2There was never any doubt Alabama would win the competition. However, the Tigers kept the competition relatively close for the better part of the night. Backed by Britney Ward’s 9.925 on vault and 9.9 on beam, Missouri put up a strong 196 total in its third meet of the season, adding yet another solid meet to its 2016 campaign. The Crimson Tide also improved from its close meet one loss at UCLA. Senior Lauren Beers is already looking stronger after having four offseason surgeries. However, fellow senior Carley Sims was surprisingly absent from the lineups. It is yet to be determined why she didn’t compete.

A photo posted by Alabama Gymnastics (@bamagymnastics) on Jan 15, 2016 at 7:50pm PST

Auburn continued to make its case for another berth to the night session of the SEC Championships. The team posted a solid 196.275 in its first home meet. The Tigers started out strong with a 49.2 on vault and a 49.25 on bars. But lower scores overall on both beam and floor slowed down the pace a bit in the second half. Lexus Demers, Abby Milliet, Caitlin Atkinson and Kentucky’s Cori Rechenmacher all tied for the beam title with just a 9.85 while Wildcats Taylor Puryear and Sidney Dukes won floor with merely a 9.825. Dukes also won the all around with a 39.125 to enforce the belief that this is Kentucky’s strongest freshman class in quite some time.

No. 7 Utah at No. 30 Southern Utah: Full Results
Utah: 196.725 | SUU: 195.600
VT: Hughes 9.9 | UB: Lopez, Hughes 9.925 | BB: Lee, Partyka 9.9 | FX: Blake 9.9 | AA: Lee 38.775Like other teams across the country, this second meet of the season was an improvement upon the first week’s results. The Utes had solid performances, although not perfect ones, across four events, with the highlight coming on bars where the team scored a 49.475.

Breanna Hughes wins VT v @suugymnastics w a score of 9.9 on this stuck Y1.5. pic.twitter.com/262r7M0pQI

— Utah Gymnastics (@UtahGymnastics) January 16, 2016

Southern Utah also completed a solid competition sans a rough bar rotation where the Thunderbirds had to count a fall in their total. But they bounced back, thanks to a 9.9 on floor from Madyson Blake. The Utes had a number of 9.9+ scores as well with Breanna Hughes on vault and bars (9.9, 9.925), Kassandra Lopez on bars (9.925) and Kari Lee and Samantha Partyka on beam (9.9).

After thoroughly impressing fans the first week of the season, George Washington was back in action Sunday in its annual Lindsey Ferris Invitational. While the team did hit 196 a second time around, it did post a solid mid-195 to add to its team average. Sophomores Cami Drouin-Allaire and Jillian Winstanley continued to impress and junior Chelsea Raineri closed the show with a 9.9 on floor. Cornell had a surprise second-place finish, totaling a whopping 194.025 at the meet.

After a record-breaking performance in the season opener and first-year head coach Tabitha Yim’s first competition with Arizona, the team dropped a bit the second time out. The WIldcats had a less-than-stellar vault rotation and had to count two falls on beam but were solid on bars and floor to finish with a 193.475. Texas Woman’s also out-performed its previous two competitions, scoring a point better than its season high and more than four points higher than the previous meet.

Totals of 49+ on each event led Oregon State to a win over Lindenwood, Bridgeport, Illinois State and UW-Eau Claire in Lindenwood’s five-team competition Friday night. The Beavers, led by Maddie Gardiner, who took home titles on vault, beam and in the all around, only had two scores below 9.7 throughout the entire competition. Lindenwood also continued to impress fans and hold its own as a D-II team competing against D-I schools. The Lions posted a 195.325, a score similar to that other top teams scored in recent meets including Georgia’s opening 195.2 and Arkansas’ 195.15 in Cancun. It was a regular-season record for the team. Bridgeport also finished the competition with a solid 194.

No. 13 Denver at No. 39 Iowa: Full Results
Denver: 195.900 | Iowa: 194.725
VT: McGee 9.9 | UB: Ross 9.875 | BB: Ross 9.875 | FX: McGee, Drenth 9.85 | AA: McGee 39.425Denver was back in action Monday after more than a week off to prepare since its last meet. Nina McGee continued to impress despite not replicating her perfect performance on floor a second time out. It was, however, the McGee and Julia Ross show for the Pioneers, as the duo swept the four events and the all around. Iowa’s Mollie Drenth also took a share of the floor title. The Hawkeyes continued to improve after a meh performance to start the season, posting another high 194 total for their Monday-afternoon effort.

It was close until the very end. With Georgia leading after each of the first three events, a lower score from Vivi Babalis and fall from Gracie Cherrey on beam made things interesting. But senior duo Brittany Rogers and Mary Beth Box came back and hit their routines to make it almost impossible for Arkansas to catch up. The Razorbacks’ last competitor on floor, Amanda Wellick, needed a massive 9.975 to tie the Gym Dogs. Her routine was solid, great even, but “only” a 9.9 wasn’t enough to seal the win for Arkansas. Instead, Georgia will traveled back to Athens with the SEC road victory and confidence going into Monday’s matchup with Stanford. Good things happened in the first three-quarters of the competition as well. Brandie Jay nailed a Yurchenko one and a half for a 9.95 while Brittany Rogers performed her usual way on bars for a 9.9. Despite losing, the Razorbacks had a record-breaking performance, posting their highest team total in a home opener since the program started 13 years ago.

A photo posted by Hunker Down Productions (@hunkerdown_uga) on Jan 15, 2016 at 5:06pm PST

Georgia started off on its way to a season-high performance. But then beam happened. FOUR falls from the event in the third rotation all but erased the stellar start the Gym Dogs had on vault — where the team posted a nation-high 49.5 with the help of Brittany Rogers’ 9.95 and Brandie Jay’s 9.975. The teamalmostbounced back on floor, tying the meet with one routine left to go. The Gym Dogs needed a 9.9 from Jay to tie it. However, she only managed a 9.825 to give Stanford the win. The Cardinal didn’t have a meet to write home about either, but there were no glaring errors like Georgia had. Vault still featured a Yurchenko layout for one of its six and bars and floor included falls, but Elizabeth Price and Ivana Hong were there to save the day like always. And you can’t forget Taylor Rice, who got even the Georgia student section into her floor choreography and made it rain on beam as well.

Facebook Tweet Pin

Leave a Reply Cancel reply