Lindenwood at SEMO

Recap 

The Big Storyline: Lindenwood defeated SEMO for the third time in a row this season off the back of matching 9.900s from Gayla Griswold on vault and floor. The Lions’ vault and floor teams were on fire with the vault team hitting the 49 mark for the first time in 2022. SEMO’s team total was limited by decreased vault scoring potential and counting a fall on beam. However, this meet was just a half tenth short of the season high total from last week. With room to grow, the Redhawks continued to move in the right direction. Anna Kaziska was back to doing what she does best, capturing both the beam and floor event titles. 

Implications: Lindenwood’s second 195 of the year will allow it to continue to comfortably sit atop the USAG and MIC rankings for another week. A second 195 means this one will still count when NQS goes into effect. SEMO will move past Yale for the time being. However, Jordan Jones’ 1.000 on floor could be the sign of an injury mid-routine. If that’s the case, that could spell a major loss for the Redhawks as she’s been consistently contributing on three events. Depth has already been an ongoing issue for this team, and that would just add insult to injury. SEMO and Lindenwood will meet the final time this regular season on Feb. 18. 

Records: Anna Kaziska tied her career high 9.925 on floor to take the event victory while teammate Madison Greene matched that total. Griswold’s 9.9s on vault and floor were also career highs. 

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 51 Lindenwood at No. 58 SEMO

Why You Should Cancel Plans for It: Lindenwood and SEMO have had a brewing rivalry over the last several seasons. These teams each own the last two USAG national titles. Lindenwood brought home the victory in 2019 while SEMO had a quick rise to the top to sit atop the program in 2021. Just because these teams are not in the top-10 does not mean there won’t be big gymnastics. Lindenwood’s Gayla Griswold has an upgraded Yurchenko one and a half while SEMO’s Jolie Miller has a unique piked Tkatchev to Ezhova bar combination.

What We’re Watching: This very well could be a preview of this year’s MIC and USAG championships. This weekend’s competition will be the third meeting of these two teams this season. They last met Jan. 29 where host Lindenwood took the victory after SEMO had an uncharacteristic performance on bars. Both Lindenwood and SEMO tend to peak at the end of the season, so now is about the time things start ramping up. With this being SEMO’s first home competition of the season, the Redhawks will look for redemption from two weeks ago. After posting a season high last weekend that would’ve bested Lindenwood’s week five score, SEMO will feel more ready than ever.

What Else You Should Know Before Tuning In: Pay attention to the first half of the meet. Whoever is up at halftime will likely have the upper hand. Last week, SEMO had to put up only five athletes on bars. Let’s see if this week brings a bit more depth on that event or if the Redhawks are willing to test the five-up-five-count approach yet again. Watch out for Lydia Webb as she posted matching 9.825s on all three of her events last weekend. If you’re looking for fun floor choreography, look no further than Jordan Jones. Lindenwood has a season high of 195.475 this year. Will it be able to hit that number while on the road this week? The team will live or die by strong scores from its freshman class. The potential for greatness is there, but will the Lions be able to hit when it counts?