Missouri at Georgia

Recap

The Big Storyline: Victoria Nguyen made her AA debut for Georgia, and it was everything we could have asked for. She is the recruit Georgia desperately needed after many of its former elite and level 10 stars have been plagued with injuries. Nguyen scored a 39.400 in the AA and showcased her difficult, unique skills on bars, beam and floor. She’s one to watch for the next few years and could challenge Haleigh Bryant for SEC Freshman of the Week or Year. 

Implications: Georgia came out of the gate strong for the first time in years. It had a higher team total on bars (49.325) than in any competition in 2020. The rest of the SEC should keep its eyes on the Gymdogs as they continue to get healthy. Missouri is a young team and lacked roster depth for the opening meet. It may not have its best year, especially with Helen Hu out for the season, but this team has a bright future with star underclassman. 

Records: Mikayla Magee scored a career high on her stuck Yurchenko 1.5 (9.925), and Sienna Schreiber had a career high 9.900 on balance beam to close out the meet for the Tigers. 

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 16 Missouri at No. 10 Georgia

Why You Should Clear Space on Your DVR: This meet could indicate potential breakout stars for both teams. Missouri lost 2020 SEC Specialist of the Year and AA competitor Helen Hu to a season-ending injury, and fifth year Morgan Porter to graduation. Georgia said goodbye to Sabrina Vega but may see athletes like Megan Roberts, Amanda Cashman and Emily Schild back to full strength. 

You Can Fast Forward, but not Through This: Georgia freshman Victoria Nguyen is expected to make her debut on potentially three events for the Gymdogs. Balance Beam was her speciality in elite, and she appears to have brought a unique series to college: an onodi to a side aerial. Georgia’s Rachel Baumann is also one of the top balance beam workers in the country and is beautiful to watch. Keep an eye out for a strong performance from Roberts this season as well. Roberts has been limited throughout much of her college career due to various injuries, but she has been seen training a Y1.5 on vault. Missouri is looking for a big debut from freshman Jena Swanson with her Y1.5. She is expected to compete in the AA. Junior Alisa Sheremeta will compete her unique Rudi dismount on bars, which is always a treat to watch. Georgia may be favored to win, but the team has a history of first-meet jitters that could lead to an upset by Missouri.