Last year we posted weekly 10,000 word recaps. This year, because we’re all very tired and have lots of things going on and need to keep our sanity, we’re doing live blogs so you can go back and read those, and then we’re going to briefly recap how each team did in our previews for the following week. We’re also introducing these weekly highlight recaps so you can see some of our favorite moments, skills, and other big news items.

Now on with week one! Remember, these are our favorites. So many things happened this weekend, and it’s impossible to go into them all. What were your personal faves? Tell us in the comments!

A list of all results can be found on last week’s schedule, and you can also go back and read our live blog for fully detailed quick hits from a ton of meets. Want every detail about division 3 competition? Read about it here!

The Yurchenko 1.5s – Who Did It Best?

With the new vault rules devaluing a Yurchenko full to a 9.95 start value – meaning no more perfect 10s for this super popular vault – a lot of gymnasts have turned to the Yurchenko 1.5 to help boost their team scores. In the first few meets of the weekend, we saw falls from normally solid vaulters, including Briley Casanova of Michigan, Alicia Boren of Florida, and Gigi Marino of Georgia.

But we also saw some awesome work, including from Olivia Karas of Michigan, Caitlin Atkinson of Auburn, Brandie Jay of Georgia, Briannah Tsang of Penn State, Ali Jackson of Oklahoma, and Sydney Ewing of LSU. Michigan actually has three 1.5s in their line-up, which I think is the most of any school. The third belongs to Talia Chiarelli, who hit it very well but has the same leg form Aly Raisman has on her Amanars. #BresytanProbs

The best Yurchenko 1.5 vaults of the weekend in my eyes go to Mack Brannan of Alabama and Jillian Winstanley of George Washington University. Both were super clean in the air, rotated perfectly, and stuck to cap it off. Brannan could maybe get a bit more pop off the table on hers, which is why I think she didn’t get higher than a 9.9, but otherwise it was a dream.

There Are Other 10.0 Vaults, You Guys

While some gymnasts stepped up their game with a Yurchenko 1.5, we still got to see some other vaults with a 10.0 start value, the best being Alexis Mattern’s piked Cuervo. Mattern, who competes for Ohio State, does a front handspring onto the table, twists halfway around super quickly in a layout position, and then completes her back pike. We definitely see a bunch of front pike half-out vaults in the NCAA, but this one is sliiiightly different and suuuuuper awesome. The video below is from last year, but check it out to get a feel for how cool it is.

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Kickass Freshman of the Week

Malory Rose of Washington is a freshman walk-on, tacked to the end of a stacked beam line-up with the hopes of building her confidence and boosting her score. But then two of the team’s stars, Hailey Burleson and Janae Janik, struggled and fell, putting Rose under a ton of pressure in the anchor spot.

She didn’t just do a good job. She nailed her routine. There were some slight form issues but she had a beautiful front aerial to bhs series as well as a full Y turn in there. Just gorgeous work, and she deserves a ton of recognition for making her very first collegiate routine count.

The Teams That Killed It

In their second meet of the season, Michigan posted the highest team score of the week with a 196.975, which, when averaged with their opening meet score of 196.925, ties them in first place with LSU in the national rankings. Not only did they put up solid routines once again, they also showed a crazy good effort in their fight, overcoming falls and low-scoring routines with ease, which is definitely the makings of a strong program.

But the team that stole everyone’s heart this weekend was George Washington University. As one of only nine teams to post above a 196 this weekend, GWU is currently tied in seventh in the rankings after hitting a 196.175 in their debut, a record-breaking meet for the squad that first rose to prominence in 2015 when their freshman class blew everyone away, turning them into a surprise hit. With Cami Drouin-Allaire and Jillian Winstanley now sophomores with a bit more experience, they are fully expected to lead their team to big things this year, and they kicked that off with excellent performances in Boston on Saturday.

Runners up include LSU, Oklahoma, UCLA, Arizona, and Cal. All five teams had explosive first meets, and gym fans finally got to see former elite treasures Katelyn Ohashi, Lexie Priessman, and Sarah Finnegan back in action. All three did excellent work. Priessman already has the “I hit my routine!” MAG-style celebration down cold, Ohashi is right at home during her floor performance in front of screaming Bruins fans, but it was Finnegan who murdered our hearts.

We all know we were secretly hoping for her famous triple wolf turn to make its way into her NCAA routine. When she got into position and started winding up, I was biting my nails, thinking okay, we’re getting the wolf, but it’s probably just gonna be like, a full, right? NO. She got her three rotations around expertly, and even if she never competes elite again, she needs to go back and do a wolf turn clinic because she is as perfect as ever. Her entire beam was brilliant, actually, just what you’d expect from the 2012 Olympic alternate. She’ll get a 10 there in no time.

The First Perfect 10

Who says you can’t get a perfect 10 in your first meet of the season? Nina McGee of Denver killed it on floor on Saturday night, becoming the athlete with the honor of posting the first perfect 10 of 2016 thanks to great execution, stuck landings, and an excellent performance. One of my favorite moments of last season was when McGee made floor finals at NCAA nationals. As one of the only gymnasts in finals without a full team there to support her, every team and person in that arena came together to cheer her through what was easily the highlight of that final. Epic.

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Changing It Up

Kaitlyn Hofland of Ohio State has some of the most unique skills in the NCAA on beam. A former elite from Canada, Hofland has a double turn, a full-twisting back handspring, and then a killer gainer tuck full dismount off the end of the beam! Her routine is awesome and brings a little taste of something different when skills can often be so repetitive and boring.

Concussion, Conschmussion

Elizabeth Price of Stanford suffered a non-gymnastics-related concussion in November that limited her training time, but you never would’ve known from her performance on Sunday. While Stanford, dealing with 8 billion injuries as usual, was certainly rough around the edges, Price did everything about as perfectly as you can expect from the Olympic alternate. She scored a 39.5 at the Nor Cal Classic to win the all-around there in addition to posting the best score in the country in the first week of competition. No big deal.

Sleepy Florida’s Clunky Start

You know how the U.S. at worlds this year annihilated everyone in qualifications and yet it still felt like an off-day with uncharacteristic falls and a total lack of energy? That’s what Florida was in their debut. They’re without Rhonda Faehn, the former head coach who built the program and led them to three national titles in as many years, and are also really missing Kytra Hunter, who typically dominated alongside Bridget Sloan.

It’s not that they were bad. They just weren’t…Florida. It’s easy to lose attention to detail this early in the season, so things like messy form and steps on landings are entirely forgivable. It just felt like no one was mentally there, like they were going through the motions but not actually performing or excited. It felt like they were slugging through a muggy, hot, rainy, soupy jungle. When your energy matches a beaten down platoon in the Vietnam War part of Forrest Gump, it’s time to think about your life.

Except Sloan, but that’s because she lives in her own bubble of sunshine and rainbows. She killed it everywhere, getting a 39.5 to tie Elizabeth Price for the best all-around score of the weekend, and Kennedy Baker actually also had a stellar performance. Her club teammate Peyton Ernst made her collegiate debut on beam and was brilliant there, and Alex McMurtry is back with her textbook FTYs. The team finished with a 196.825, so there’s clearly a lot of good there and they should be just fine even without Faehn, but hopefully once they get back to Gainesville with the support of a home crowd, they can wake up and get back to the loud and crazy kids we know they are.

The Bluetooth Routine

Peng Peng Lee of UCLA, suffering from yet another injury because the universe is wacky, is limited to doing beam, and her routine has to be hands-free. She’s following in Sam Peszek’s footsteps, as Peszek put together something similar one week early in her collegiate career after her wrist was in pain from “writing too much on a final.” As it turns out, Lee could cut her hands off and still be one of the best gymnasts in the country, as her score of 9.95 on beam tied teammate Danusia Francis for the top score on that event in the first week of competition.

The Best Way Around “No Lyrics” in Floor Music

Can’t have lyrics in your floor music? Whatever. Skylee Lamano of Kent State uses a bit of the song “Tequila,” a 1950s Latin-flavored rock song by The Champs made infamous in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure in 1985. At one point in the song, the band yells “TEQUILA!” but just because her music isn’t allowed to keep that in, it doesn’t mean the crowd can’t yell it. And they did, which was hilarious and awesome.

Temple Knows How to Perform

Speaking of floor, I was super impressed with Temple’s line-up. The team tends to get docked for some landings as well as form on jumps and leaps especially, but the core of their floor rotation is incredible when it comes to performing. India Anderson, Sahara Gipson, and Briana Odom especially didn’t have a problem bringing the house down, and they weren’t even on their own home turf! Even the Kent State fans loved the dynamic routines from these ladies, so kudos to them for shining bright like a diamond. They also have some great music selection, probably some of the best in the NCAA. Truly a great job.

Article by Lauren Hopkins