Minnesota

The weekly NCAA gymnastics update featuring the must-know moments and top stats from every meet all in one place.

Oklahoma 198.075, Washington 196.250, Arizona State 195.650, George Washington 194.975 [Results]

The neutral quad meet held in Oklahoma City on Friday night was another killer win for the Sooners, who hit their third 198 of the season with Maggie Nichols back on vault. It wasn’t a perfect meet, as Nichols had an uncharacteristic wobble on beam, which counted because Nicole Lehrmann fell on her Korbut, but overall the team put up amazing work on bars and floor, making up for a not-as-strong beam.

Individually, Olivia Trautman killed it with a stuck Yurchenko 1½ and another 10 on floor where she nailed her double layout opening pass, and Anastasia Webb was excellent across the board, with especially nice work on bars and beam. This was also a hell of a meet for Brenna Dowell, back in the beam lineup with a team-high 9.9 for an incredible routine while also going 9.975 on floor with a solid landing on her eponymous first pass, and the rest of the routine was a hit, helping her to an all-around win with a 39.675.

In second, Washington had a few misses and mistakes throughout the night, but overall it was an especially strong night for them on vault and bars, with vault surpassing a 49 for the first time this season thanks to a bunch of 9.8s on top of Madison Copiak’s 9.85. Copiak also led the team on bars and beam, while Maya Washington was key on beam and floor, with Kristyn Hoffa’s 9.875 the standout on the latter.

Arizona State also did great work on vault and bars this week, despite fielding only five in the vault rotation, but the team unfortunately had to count some weak spots on beam and floor, where they’re still figuring things out with the lineup on the latter. Justine Callis had a strong day on bars and beam, Anne Kuhm put up good routines on all four events, leading the team on floor.

For GWU, there seem to be little improvements here and there as the weeks go on, and they didn’t count any falls here, though they still fell short of a 195 with some little mistakes counted throughout, especially on beam. On vault, there was a scary moment where Anna Warhol’s hand slipped on her roundoff, causing her to back handspring over the table to get a zero, though thankfully she was okay using that quick thinking to keep from getting injured. Alex Zois continues to lead the team as a standout on all four events, getting the top scores on vault, bars, and floor, while Cydney Crasa continues to bring the power on vault and floor, and Hannah Cohen came back from a bars fall in the first rotation to hit the team’s top beam set.

AA: Brenna Dowell, Oklahoma, 39.675
VT: Olivia Trautman, Oklahoma, 9.975
UB: Maggie Nichols, Oklahoma, 9.975
BB: Brenna Dowell & Anastasia Webb, Oklahoma, 9.900
FX: Olivia Trautman, Oklahoma, 10.000

UCLA 198.025, Arizona 194.975 [Results]

The Bruins recorded their first 198 of the season with a win at home against Arizona this weekend, pushing them up past Florida in the rankings to reclaim second place. Katelyn Ohashi competed her first vault of the season, landing her FTY with a hop, while Felicia Hano’s Yurchenko 1½ continues to get better, and Kyla Ross started her killer day with a 10 for her 1½, which was perfectly stuck. Ross also looked pretty much perfect at the end of an overall fabulous bars rotation, and I thought she’d get another 10 to kick off a Perfect 40 meet, but alas, only one judge rewarded her with a 10 there.

On beam, Norah Flatley had a wobble on her flight series and then fell on her leap series, so the team had to count Ohashi’s score, which included a deduction for a big wobble on her layout series, but the Bruins came back for an outstanding rotation, which saw Ross reach a 9.95 followed by another 10 from Ohashi, giving them a 49.75 on the event and helping Ross to a 39.85 in the all-around, the best so far this season.

Arizona started out solid but maybe a little rushed on bars, though Christina Berg was lovely, earning a 9.925 in the anchor spot. On vault, the landings were quite weak overall, not helped by a sat Yurchenko 1½ from Maddi Leydin, though they came back for a mostly excellent floor rotation, led by a pair of 9.9s from Berg and Leydin. Unfortunately, the middle of the beam rotation saw back-to-back falls from Kennedi Davis and Sydney Freidin, and the rest of the lineup wasn’t tight enough to truly turn things around here, holding the team back below a 195, the team’s weakest score since week two…though thankfully this was just due to mistakes that can be fixed and overcome in future competitions, and overall, they’re really starting to pull together as a team.

AA: Kyla Ross, UCLA, 39.850
VT: Kyla Ross, UCLA, 10.000
UB: Kyla Ross, UCLA, 9.975
BB: Kyla Ross, UCLA, 9.925
FX: Katelyn Ohashi, UCLA, 10.000

LSU 197.650, Missouri 195.475 [Results]

In the second meet for LSU this weekend, the team got to compete at home where they were able to capture a season-high 197.650, two tenths beyond their previous high score. The Tigers began looking a little off in their landings on vault, though McKenna Kelley got to snag the stick crown for nailing her handspring front pike half, and she picked up a 9.925 there with just a bit of sloppy form in the air.

Ruby Harrold opened the bars rotation with one of the strongest performances I’ve seen from her this year, looking truly on throughout, and the rest of the rotation was also mostly great minus a few little things here and there, especially in terms of handstands, where even Queen Sarah Finnegan wasn’t fully on the attack. Finnegan was also a bit wonky on her flight series on beam, though she still led the rotation with a 9.9 alongside Sami Durante, who had a super confident set, and floor was the strongest for the team, with Harrold putting up a fantastic opening set while Kennedi Edney came back from missing her leap series on beam to put up her best routine of the season here, and Finnegan was beautiful, as always, matching her 9.95.

This was also the second meet of the weekend for Missouri, and they looked a little tired overall, yet still managed to put up some pretty strong work on most of their routines. After leading the bars rotation with a beautiful set for a team-best 9.875, Madeleine Huber tweaked her elbow on her vault block, leaving the team short a gymnast which meant they had to count a fall from Gabrielle Gottula on her FTY. Floor was excellent for the Tigers, with Mary Nicholson’s routine my favorite, and Morgan Porter led the team with a 9.875, and they had a few balance checks throughout the beam rotation, though Britney Ward was great in the anchor spot, earning a 9.875 for clean work and a stuck 1½ dismount.

AA: Sarah Finnegan, LSU, 39.575
VT: McKenna Kelley, LSU, 9.925
UB: Bailey Ferrer, Sarah Finnegan, & Ruby Harrold, LSU, 9.900
BB: Sami Durante & Sarah Finnegan, LSU, 9.900
FX: Kennedi Edney, Sarah Finnegan, & McKenna Kelley, LSU, 9.950

Denver 197.625, Illinois State 193.375 [Results]

On Saturday, Denver reached its second-highest score in program history in front of a sold-out crowd, continuing to look better than ever as a team as they get closer to the postseason. There wasn’t a bad event for the Pioneers this weekend, with Lynnzee Brown putting up a standout all-around performance that included a pair of 9.975s on bars and floor, while Maddie Karr wasn’t far behind, also showing fantastic routines across the board. My favorite routine of the meet was Alexis Vasquez’s gorgeous beam set, which got a 9.925 for a front aerial to bhs loso, full Y turn, and a side aerial to stuck layout full, performed beautifully to “Go the Distance”…but at the end of the day, this was a team effort, with everyone contributing close to their top potential, and I’m so excited to watch them keep it up for the rest of the season.

Illinois State started off strong here on bars, though vault was a bit weak and they went on to count a fall on beam, making this a meet they’ll hope to put behind them, though individual standouts included Meredith LaRoche on vault, bars, and beam, Anna Marema on bars, Kylie Meyer on beam, and Gabrielle Cooke on floor, though the normally solid all-arounder unfortunately had a relatively weak day elsewhere this weekend so we hope to see her back at full strength next meet!

AA: Lynnzee Brown, Denver, 39.775
VT: Lynnzee Brown, Denver, 9.925
UB: Lynnzee Brown, Denver, 9.975
BB: Maddie Karr & Alexis Vasquez, Denver, 9.925
FX: Lynnzee Brown, Denver, 9.975

Florida 197.325, Alabama 196.475 [Results]

The Gators crossed state lines last Friday for an appearance at Bama, where they took down their rivals by nearly a point, though it wasn’t the greatest meet we’ve seen from them this season. Bars had a few weaknesses throughout, including Trinity Thomas going over in handstand on her clear hip and taking an extra swing, and the vault landings still weren’t there, though the judges didn’t seem to mind too much. I was mostly excited to see Alyssa Baumann debut her Yurchenko 1½, which was a little tucked with a hop, but it’s good to see them adding options to the lineup as they get closer to postseason.

On floor, Florida was pretty brilliant, with the front half of the rotation a dream lineup for most programs’ back halves, while the back half for Florida saw a pair of 9.975s from Thomas and Alicia Boren, and Baumann in the anchor spot got a 9.95. We saw Amelia Hundley shockingly split the beam on her flight series, and Boren also had a large break on her series, holding the Gators back from what could’ve been close to a 198, but Megan Skaggs was lovely in her leadoff routine, going 9.9, and I loved seeing Leah Clapper anchor with a fantastic set of her own, showing a solid triple series with just minor leg form issues and a side aerial to stuck layout full.

Bama had some decent rotations on vault and bars, though with Ari Guerra leading both thanks to an excellent landing on her Yurchenko 1½ followed up by a big Jaeger and a beautiful double layout on bars that took the title with a 9.9. The team gave up quite a bit on beam with falls from Abby Armbrecht followed immediately by Emily Gaskins on her series, though Lexi Graber wrapped things up with a lovely routine, especially on her front toss to scale, and the Crimson Tide had an excellent finish on floor, where Shallon Olsen unfortunately put her hands down on the debut of her double double, though everyone else was pretty on, seeing a 9.95 from both Shea Mahoney and then Graber to reach a team score of 49.45.

AA: Trinity Thomas, Florida, 39.525
VT: Trinity Thomas, Florida, 9.900
UB: Ari Guerra, Alabama, 9.900
BB: Lexi Graber, Alabama, 9.925
FX: Alicia Boren & Trinity Thomas, Florida, 9.975

Georgia 197.300, Kentucky 197.225 [Results]

Georgia continued to stay in the mix as a top team in the country this season thanks to an excellent performance on Friday night, where they were matched up against the equally on-fire Kentucky Wildcats, who fought like hell to take down the GymDogs on the road, but the scoring on their latter two events was a bit conservative compared to the host team’s, leaving them less than a tenth behind.

On vault, I was thrilled to see Abbey Ward back in the lineup with a good tsuk full, and though landings overall were a bit weak for Georgia, the team put up three 9.9s, one for Rachel Dickson’s Omelianchik, one for Rachel Lukacs’ DTY, and one for Sydney Snead’s Yurchenko 1½, all of which looked strong aside from a few minor form issues. Bars saw strong work from start to finish, again with a few little things throughout, though this was an especially fantastic week for Alexa Al-Hameed, who pulled in a 9.95 thanks to her super high Tkachev and a beautiful giant full to double tuck. The team fought past a mistake from Dickson and a fall from Rachel Baumann on beam to post a 49.05 thanks to a typically excellent anchor set from Sabrina Vega, who also killed it on floor for a 9.975 in a rotation that also saw huge scores for Lukacs and Dickson.

I thought Kentucky’s scoring on bars was actually a bit high, as they were pretty loose in their backs on most handstands, but that aside it was a good rotation with lots of sticks for the visiting team, finishing with a 9.95 for Mollie Korth, who was great on her piked Jaeger and stuck her double layout. On vault there were a few steps and bounces on landings, though Alex Hyland was clean and stuck with hers, getting a near-perfect 9.925. The team also put up good routines on floor, but had a couple of mistakes – including an out-of-bounds from Korth – which held them back a bit, but they were golden (and so underrated) on beam, coming back from a fall from Hailey Poland on her flight series to show excellent routines from Korth, Sidney Dukes, and Hyland, with Hyland’s 9.825 criminally low for the routine she presented.

AA: Alex Hyland, Kentucky, 39.550
VT: Alex Hyland, Kentucky, 9.925
UB: Alexa Al-Hameed, Georgia, & Mollie Korth, Kentucky, 9.950
BB: Sidney Dukes, Kentucky, 9.950
FX: Sabrina Vega, Georgia, 9.975

LSU 197.250, Utah 197.075, Missouri 196.475, Stanford 195.850 [Results]

In the evening session of the GymQuarters meet, the big show was between the fourth and fifth-ranked teams, Utah and LSU, respectively. The Tigers ended up coming out on top by just under two tenths thanks to an excellent floor rotation, but both teams performed super well, making for an exciting competition throughout.

LSU started on bars, where Kennedi Edney had an especially strong routine capped off with a stuck double layout, while Sarah Finnegan anchored with a 9.925, also sticking her dismount but looking a tiny bit weaker than usual in her handstands. Beam had a few checks, including from Finnegan, with the top score going to Edney with a 9.875, but floor was a knockout, with everyone on the team looking incredibly on, with Finnegan just taking a big step on her opening pass for a 9.925, while McKenna Kelley had some good covers on her landings to get a 9.9. Finishing on vault, Finnegan put up a literally perfect – both in score and in seeing it with my human eyes – FTY, but the rest of the team was a little weak in the landings, but the team was still in more of a good enough position to get the win thanks to the previous rotation.

With Utah going in Olympic order as the top-ranked team here, they were at an advantage here. At first, they seemed to be up for the challenge, leading after the first half thanks to a solid vault rotation where McKenna Merrell-Giles’ 9.925 led the team, followed by a mostly decent bars rotation, led by Missy Reinstadtler’s 9.925 that saw her catch her toe half to Jaeger and stuck her full-in dismount. They lost their lead on beam, where almost everyone looked a little off with some adjustments and bobbles, though Kari Lee managed a 9.9 for her steady set, and though they did really well to get back to business on floor – where MyKayla Skinner returned to the lineup to post a 9.925 – it was unfortunately not quite enough to make up for the beam issues.

Missouri ended up third here, putting up the solid routines we’ve come to know them for this season, led by Morgan Porter on vault, Madeleine Huber on bars, Lauren Clevenger on beam, and Mary Nicholson on floor, while Stanford finished fourth, their vault still not quite up to par and they also showed some weak spots in the lineup on beam, though they got good performances from Aleeza Yu on vault and bars, Kyla Bryant on bars and beam, and everyone was pretty great on floor, where Rachael Flam and Morgan Hoang were the standouts, bringing in a pair of 9.875s.

AA: Sarah Finnegan, LSU, 39.650
VT: Sarah Finnegan, LSU, 9.950
UB: Sarah Finnegan, LSU, Madeleine Huber, Missouri, & Missy Reinstadtler, Utah, 9.925
BB: Kari Lee, Utah, 9.900
FX: Sarah Finnegan, LSU, & MyKayla Skinner, Utah, 9.925

Boise State 197.175, BYU 196.900 [Results]

This was hands-down my favorite meet of the week with super close action from start to finish, including the two programs coming in for a tie going into the final rotation, though visiting Boise State ended up getting the win by about three tenths thanks to a beyond epic beam performance.

Beginning on bars, Boise State put up six excellent routines in a row, led by top all-arounder Shani Remme and specialist Emily Muhlenhaupt, both of whom brought in 9.95s to help the team reach a 49.475. On vault, there were a few issues with landings, though Remme was again great here while Sarah Means fought to hold onto the landing of her Yurchenko 1½, and the team again brought it with six sturdy floor sets, showing the occasional low landing, but holding tight in the 9.8 range. Ending on beam, it was hit after hit for the squad, and Remme anchored with a rockstar performance for another 9.95 (and a big tackle from her team), thought it was Courtney McGregor with the real standout set here, coming up absolutely fire to nail her punch front mount and land everything else with confidence and attack, also earning a 9.95, a new career high for her.

BYU looked mostly solid on vault, though there was an odd instance where Rebekah Bean landed her handspring front pike half seemingly well, though after saluting she realized she had pain in her knee and had to limp off, and then when the score came in, it was just a 9.350, apparently because one of the judges didn’t see her do it, which was odd and suggests that she perhaps went before she was allowed? Either way, the team fought back from the early drama to see a beautiful stuck FTY from Abbey Miner, which earned a 9.875, putting them in a strong place going into bars.

Bars was another tidy event for the Cougars, with Shannon Evans showing standout work, getting a 9.95 to share the title with her double layout looking gorgeous. On beam, there were some occasional bobbles, but again, overall this was a great rotation for the team, led by Helody Cyrenne, who showed very nice lines and steady skills to get a 9.875. On floor, Evans entertained the crowd as usual with an excellent performance of her Super Mario routine, but Miner again stole the show, nailing all of her tumbling passes and looking excellent in her dance to tally a 9.925.

AA: Shani Remme, Boise State, 39.600
VT: Abbey Miner, BYU, 9.875
UB: Emily Muhlenhaupt & Shani Remme, Boise State; Shannon Evans, BYU, 9.950
BB: Courtney McGregor & Shani Remme, Boise State, 9.950
FX: Abbey Miner, BYU, 9.925

Auburn 197.100, Arkansas 196.175 [Results]

Auburn had an incredibly strong day last weekend, putting up an especially great rotation on bars, where they earned a 49.6 counting scores all at 9.9 or higher including a 9.925 from Abby Milliet and a 9.975 from Gracie Day. The Tigers were also excellent on vault, seeing a 9.925 from Jada Glenn and a 9.95 from Drew Watson, who won the all-around with a 39.625 after also putting up fantastic performances on beam and floor. These events overall were a little weaker than the first two, with the team fighting past a couple mistakes on both, but in addition to Watson, they also saw fab performances from Taylor Krippner on beam and from Derrian Gobourne on floor, with Gobourne also posting a 39.400 in the all-around.

Arkansas got off to a rough start on bars, counting a fall, though the gymnasts who hit here were all excellent, seeing a pair of 9.875s from Hailey Garner and Sarah Shaffer. They picked things up as they moved to vault, looking increasingly better on landings throughout the rotation with a 9.875 high from Shaffer, and they went on to put up excellent floor and beam rotations, with Sophia Carter lovely on both, while Shaffer and Sydney McGlone were fantastic on floor, and Michaela Burton was outstanding on beam, scoring a 9.95 to win the title.

AA: Drew Watson, Auburn, 39.625
VT: Drew Watson, Auburn, 9.950
UB: Gracie Day, Auburn, 9.975
BB: Michaela Burton, Arkansas, 9.950
FX: Derrian Gobourne, Auburn, 9.925

Oregon State 196.950, California 196.150 [Results]

It was another great week for Oregon State, competing at home against Pac 12 rival Cal, where they got the win by nearly a point in Sunday’s meet. On vault, both Madi Dagen and Kaitlyn Yanish stuck their FTYs, followed up by Mary Jacobsen nearly sticking her tsuk full, and though McKenna Singley had a relatively weak landing on her vault, due to a camera flash from the crowd, she was allowed a second attempt, with the second landing an excellent one. Bars was strong from start to finish, with Mariana Colussi-Pelaez’s routine a beautiful one, featuring a lovely Jaeger and a super clean double layout, which she stuck cold, and I loved the beam work from Sabrina Gill and Lacy Dagen, with Dagen nailing a beautiful switch to straddle ¾ before sticking her side aerial to layout full for a 9.9. On floor, nearly everyone looked strong, but Yanish was especially brilliant, getting a 9.95 in the anchor spot after solid tumbling that included a huge and gorgeous double layout.

Cal’s meet was unfortunately a heartbreaker, starting out well with solid performances on bars, and though vault had lots of hops, the team managed to count mostly 9.8-range scores, including a 9.875 from Toni-Ann Williams. But one rotation later, the team saw some drama with a low score from Chelsea Shu, who came up super short on her last pass, and though Kyana George and Milan Clausi brought big routines to the rotation – Clausi’s full-in was excellent, as was her front double full – it came down to Williams in the anchor spot to ensure the team wouldn’t count a fall…though she sadly came up short for the double pike at the end of her otherwise great set, collapsing to the mat and clutching her ankle, and she later announced that she had ruptured her Achilles (again), which meant this was the end of the fifth-year’s collegiate career. With Williams expected to anchor the beam rotation, things were a little bit shaky there, though Shu – stepping in last-minute for Williams and coming back from her issues on floor – was magnificent with a beautiful flight series and side somi as well as a side aerial to stuck tuck full.

AA: Kyana George, California, 39.275
VT: Toni-Ann Williams, California, & Mary Jacobsen, Oregon State, 9.875
UB: Emi Watterson, California, & Mariana Colussi-Pelaez, Oregon State, 9.875
BB: Chelsea Shu, California; Lacy Dagen & Maela Lazaro, Oregon State, 9.900
FX: Kaitlyn Yanish, Oregon State, 9.950

Minnesota 196.850, Maryland 195.325 [Results]

The Gophers competed at home on Friday night, where they came within about a tenth of their season high, putting up one of the best bars rotations in the country this week in addition to really strong rotations elsewhere, though they could’ve used a slightly better floor performance to finally surpass that 197 goal. As always, Lexy Ramler was brilliant, getting a 39.725 in the all-around for her near-perfect work on all four events, leading ee team on vault with a 9.925, beam with a 9.95, and floor with a 9.9, while Ivy Lu was the strongest for the team on bars, her absolutely breathtaking routine getting a 9.975.Lu was also fantastic on beam for a 9.9, Paige Williams was super strong on vault and floor, and Hannah Willmarth showed a lot of talent on bars.

Maryland was also pretty excellent on bars, opening the meet with a 49.25, which included all scores counted at 9.825 or better, including a 9.875 from Kirsten Peterman. The team fought past a fall from leadoff Emma Johnson on vault to put up mostly solid scores, including a 9.8 from Alexis Rubio, who stuck her FTY, and they came back to show off a great floor performance, including a 9.8 from Sabriyya Rouse, who opened with a big double pike, and then a 9.85 from Collea Burgess, who opened her routine with an excellent triple full before going on to stick her front tuck through to double full and then finishing with a lunge back on her 2½ for one of my favorite routines of the week. On beam, the Terps had just a few minor flaws, but overall looked strong and steady, led by anchor Emilie LeBlanc with a 9.8 for a routine that included a solid flight series and a deep but stuck 1½ dismount.

AA: Lexy Ramler, Minnesota, 39.725
VT: Lexy Ramler, Minnesota, 9.925
UB: Ivy Lu, Minnesota, 9.975
BB: Lexy Ramler, Minnesota, 9.950
FX: Lexy Ramler, Minnesota, 9.900

Southern Utah 196.575, Temple 194.050 [Results]

Friday night saw some fantastic competition from Southern Utah at home, where the team went 49.05 or better on all four events, with an especially brilliant beam performance helping them to one of the top team scores of the week. Everyone looked solid on vault, where specialist Morgan Alfaro led the team with a 9.9, while fellow specialist Becky Rozsa matched her score with an excellent routine of her own on bars. On beam, we saw all-around champ Karley McClain do some great work to tally a 9.875, while Shylen Murakami was fantastic to put up a 9.925, and both McClain and Murakami were fantastic on floor, as was Hannah Nipp, with McClain and Nipp sharing the title with a 9.9.

Temple was also pretty strong here, making it through the first two rotations with fully hit routines, and they went on to fight past a fall on floor, though they ended up counting a couple of weak sets on beam. Jaylene Everett led the team on vault with her powerful set earning a 9.775, while Tori Edwards and all-arounder Ariana Castrence were best on bars with a pair of 9.725s. Castrence was excellent on all four events, also leading the team with a 9.8 on beam while posting a solid 9.775 on floor, and on the latter, both Edwards and India Anderson were fantastic, bringing in a pair of 9.85s to help Temple to its best event score of the meet.

AA: Karley McClain, Southern Utah, 39.350
VT: Morgan Alfaro, Southern Utah, 9.900
UB: Becky Rozsa, Southern Utah, 9.900
BB: Shylen Murakami, Southern Utah, 9.925
FX: Karley McClain & Hannah Nipp, Southern Utah, 9.900

Nebraska 196.400, Ohio State 195.750 [Results]

As one of Saturday afternoon’s big Big Ten meets, this was a highlight of the weekend, with the Huskers defeating Ohio State on the road, building up from an iffy but decent start to bars to finish strong on the remaining three events. On bars, Sienna Crouse went over on her Weiler half and had to change direction, but everyone else looked more or less sharp, led by Taylor Houchin with a big Tkachev, lovely bail, and clean double layout for a 9.875. On vault, Crouse was a highlight, getting a 9.875 for her excellent stuck Yurchenko 1½, but Houchin again stole the show with her great DTY earning a 9.9. Everyone seemed pretty “on” on floor, with Crouse the best, earning a 9.95 for a beautiful front double full into a layout stepout in her opening pass with her other passes landed well, and despite a fall from Sarah Hargrove on her gainer pike dismount, beam overall looked solid, seeing a 9.9 from Houchin to lead the team once again.

Ohio State had to dig themselves out of a few holes at this meet, but ultimately they pulled through each time, coming within about half a point from their season high with especially nice work on bars and floor. All-around champ Jamie stone brought her A-game here, leading the team on vault and posting some of the top scores on bars and floor, while Jenna Swartzentruber was beautiful on bars and Claire Gagliardi was a huge standout as well, earning a 9.9 with an Ezhova and a stuck double layout. Beam had some hits and misses, with Swartzentruber leading the team with a 9.825, and both Stone and Brooke Chesney were solid on floor, where Danica Abanto led the team with a 9.875.

AA: Jamie Stone, Ohio State, 39.200
VT: Taylor Houchin, Nebraska, 9.900
UB: Claire Gagliardi, Ohio State, 9.900
BB: Taylor Houchin, Nebraska, 9.900
FX: Sienna Crouse, Nebraska, 9.950

Utah State 196.075, West Virginia 195.575, Pittsburgh 195.100, Cornell 193.075 [Results]

This was a day for Madison Ward, who led Utah State to victory at this WVU quad thanks to an outstanding all-around performance that bested her previous career-high by three tenths. In her first season competing beam, Ward has really stepped it up, and here, she was absolutely beautiful there and everywhere else to help Utah State reach its season high. Beginning on bars, Ward led the team with a 9.85 after finishing with a huge and beautiful full-in before then getting a 9.9 on beam, where she anchored with huge amplitude on her acro series, beautiful leaps, and a double tuck she stuck cold. She continued her dominance on floor, where she earned a 9.925 to her Demi Lovato set that featured a huge full-in, a super clean 1½ to front layout, and a big double pike to finish, and she finished up on vault with a lovely almost-stuck FTY in the anchor position for a 9.85, winning the all-around with a 39.525. Also doing great work for Utah State were MaKayla Bullitt with a 9.8 on bars, who came back from a hard fall at last week’s meet, Emily Briones with a beautiful flight series on beam for a 9.85, Autumn DeHarde with a 9.875 for her excellent performance on floor, and the Varnadore twins, Leighton and Logan, who earned a 9.825 and 9.875, respectively, for their beautiful and nearly-identical Yurchenko layout halves.

West Virginia started out strong here, getting a pair of 9.8s on vault before Kirah Koshinski came in with her big Yurchenko 1½, which had a hop for a 9.825. On bars, Esperanza Abarca finally broke past a 9.8 to lead off the rotation with a 9.825 for her huge Gienger and always clean set, and I thought she was so underscored compared to most of those who followed, but Jaquie Tun was pretty excellent in her routine, getting a 9.875. Abarca was also a standout on beam, getting a 9.75 with a lovely mount, though there were several mistakes here, including a missed foot on Rachel Hornung’s front aerial series and then a fall from Erica Fontaine on her flight series, keeping WVU down a bit going into the final rotation. They came back incredibly strong on floor to post a 49.5, including a 9.925 from Tun, who opened with a huge full-in and nailed her whip to double full, and Koshinski almost got a perfect score here, hitting a huge double layout, lovely 1½ to front layout, and stuck double pike to end, scoring a 9.975.

Overall, Pittsburgh did really well here, though I thought they were wildly underscored on beam, their final event, compared to WVU before them. They had some iffy landings on floor which held them back slightly, though Charli Spivey was excellent, going 9.85 with an especially nice 2½ to punch front tuck, and they also had some rough landings on vault, where Jordan Ceccarini had a fall due to a flash going off, though she got to repeat at the end of the rotation to put up a 9.7, and Haley Brechwald had a solid FTY for a 9.8 to lead the team alongside Alecia Petrikis. Rachel Dugan and Lucy Brett led a great bars rotation with a pair of 9.85s, with Brett’s huge Gienger and stuck dismount especially nice, and everyone looked mostly strong on beam, though you wouldn’t know it with their tops cores just being a pair of 9.75s from Brechwald and Brett, both of whom looked lovely on the event.

Cornell opened on beam with one of the overall most innovative rotations I’ve seen in NCAA gym this season, with Evelyn Patient’s back handspring to one knee into an immediate front toss to her knee my favorite combo. There were a few minor issues throughout, so their scores weren’t as high as they would’ve liked, but everyone hit, with Izzy Herczeg picking up the biggest score with a 9.7, showing off an especially great punch front to beat jump. Unfortunately, two falls opened the team’s floor rotation, but the rest of the competitors fought back, getting a 9.8 for Donna Webster’s powerful routine and a 9.875 from Herczeg, and Webster also led vault with a 9.75, showing some great power and distance there as well. The team finished up strong on bars, where Patient fell on her dismount, but everyone else hit, with specialist Miranda Lund leading Cornell with a 9.8.

AA: Madison Ward, Utah State, 39.525
VT: Logan Varnadore, Utah State, 9.875
UB: Jaquie Tun, West Virginia, 9.875
BB: Madison Ward, Utah State, 9.900
FX: Kirah Koshinski, West Virginia, 9.975

New Hampshire 196.025, UC Davis 195.525 [Results]

In its second west coast meet of the week, UNH improved on Friday’s performance to get a season high, awesome for them to make happen during a busy weekend on the road. With just a few small form breaks on bars, led by Danielle Mulligan with a 9.825, the team was able to come back to post a 49.025 or better on the remaining three events, getting a trio of 9.8s followed by a 9.85 from Emma Winer on vault, posting 9.8 or better on floor, including a 9.875 from Nicole O’Leary, and fighting past a beam fall to count five solid routines, including Mulligan’s 9.9, which won the title in addition to her bars and all-around wins.

This was also a season-best meet for UC Davis, which like UNH looked a bit weak on bars, but then went 49+ on the rest of their events, starting off with a solid 49.1 on vault, where Cammi Johnson earned a 9.8 and all-arounder Kelley Hebert led with a 9.875. On bars, they had to fight past a fall, but did well in their recovery, though still had to count a couple of 9.6-range scores, and they also fought past a beam fall to hit the remaining five routines, with Yasmine Yektaparast posting a 9.85 to lead the team there. Yektaparast was also strong on floor, as was Sarah Liddle, who did a good job coming back from her bars fall, while Hebert led the team and won the event title with a 9.925 to finish off the day.

AA: Danielle Mulligan, New Hampshire, 39.325
VT: Kelley Hebert & Kyla Kessler, UC Davis, 9.875
UB: Danielle Mulligan, New Hampshire, 9.825
BB: Danielle Mulligan, New Hampshire, 9.900
FX: Kelley Hebert, UC Davis, 9.925

NC State 195.850, North Carolina 193.700 [Results]

With UNC faltering a bit on a couple of events, this ended up being an easier-than-expected win for NC State at home, which fought past a couple of mistakes throughout the meet to come out on top by over two points. On vault, things started out a little rough, but both Drew Grantham and Alexa Phillips had excellent FTYs, going 9.8 and 9.875, respectively. Things picked up moving to bars, where Grantham had a fall on her release, but the rest of the team had her back, counting scores at 9.8 or better, including a 9.9 from Lauren Kent for her excellent work. NCSU also saw a fall from Grantham on her flight series on beam in the five-spot, but everyone prior to her looked strong, and and Nicole Webb came back with a 9.8 to anchor, a score matched by Caitlyn Fillard and bested by specialist Kasey Nelson, who was excellent here. Everyone looked super strong on floor, with Phillips and Webb both going 9.85, while Grantham came back from her disappointing bars and beam performances to win the event with a 9.925.

UNCH unfortunately got off to a weak start on vault, seeing Megan Ruzicka fall over on a handstand, and though there was an effort to get them back on track, a second fall from Emery Summey on her Jaeger meant they had to count a fall and a couple of messy sets, with Grace Donaghy’s 9.725 the best here. Things picked up a bit on vault, where Alexis Allen had an especially beautiful Yurchenko layout half for a 9.8 while Mikayla Robinson and Khazia Hislop nailed their FTYs for a pair of 9.85s, but then the team saw two falls from leadoff Jamie Antinori on floor, followed by a fall from Drew Aldridge right after her, though the rest were good and Hislop was fabulous, just showing some tiny landing issues, but picking up a 9.85. Beam ended up being the team’s best event, with everyone hitting from start to finish for a 49.225, the top event score of the meet, led by a pair of 9.9s from Hislop and specialist Jamie DeCicco.

AA: Caitlyn Fillard, NC State, 39.225
VT: Alexa Phillips, NC State, 9.875
UB: Lauren Kent, NC State, 9.900
BB: Jamie DeCicco & Khazia Hislop, North Carolina, 9.900
FX: Drew Grantham, NC State, 9.925

Kent State 195.800, Bowling Green 194.075 [Results]

Kent State put up its season-best score at this Sunday meet at Bowling Green, showing four strong events and going 24-for-24 beginning with a tidy bars rotation and finishing strong on beam. The team had a pair of 9.85s on vault from Madison Trott and Dara Williams, while Abby Fletcher brought in a 9.85 on vault before then earning a 9.875 on floor, and Sarah McCarty was also great on these two events with scores of 9.825 and 9.85, respectively. On beam, specialist Cami Klein brought in a 9.85 early in the rotation, while fellow specialists Kennedy Plude and Samantha Henry helped to lead the team here with a 9.8 and 9.825.

AA: Jovannah East, Bowling Green, 38.800
VT: Jovannah East & Taylor Worthington, Bowling Green, & Abby Fletcher, Kent State, 9.850
UB: Madison Trott & Dara Williams, Kent State, 9.850
BB: Cami Klein, Kent State, 9.850
FX: Jovannah East, Bowling Green, 9.975

Northern Illinois 195.700, Ball State 194.700 [Results]

Northern Illinois got a big one-point road win against in-state and MAC rival Ball State, putting up solid and consistent work across all four events, with floor a huge standout, breaking the school record with a 49.425 to reach its season-high and sixth-best team score in school history. The team kicked off bars with six solid sets, led by Morgan Hooper with a 9.875, and they continued on to vault with an equally strong rotation seeing a high score from specialist Gabby Welch with a 9.8. On floor, there wasn’t a weak set in the mix, with NIU counting scores of 9.85 or better including a 9.9 from Tara Kofmehl and a 9.95 from Anna Martucci to set a new record, and though they weren’t quite able to carry over the magic to beam, they still came out with a decent score there, led by specialist Mia Lord with a 9.775.

Despite counting two falls on beam, this was still a season-best performance from Ball State, which went 49.075 or better on the other three events, and it’s a shame that beam didn’t go as well for them, as they could’ve really put up a fight to upset against the higher-ranked NIU. Vault had lots of strong landings, seeing a pair of 9.85s from Maddie MacDonald and Arden Hudson, who impressed with her non-salto handspring front double full. Bars was even better, with a pair of 9.875s from MacDonald and Jordyn Penny, while Penny led beam with a 9.8 in the anchor spot after a couple of mistakes before her. Ball State brought it back on floor with a pair of 9.825s from MacDonald and Sandra Elsadek, while Kaitlyn Menzione came back from her beam struggles to put up the team-high of the day with a 9.925.

VT: Arden Hudson & Maddie MacDonald, Ball State, 9.850
UB: Maddie MacDonald & Jordyn Penny, Ball State; Morgan Hooper, Northern Illinois, 9.875
BB: Jordyn Penny, Ball State, 9.800
FX: Anna Martucci, Northern Illinois, 9.950

Illinois 195.650, Iowa 195.400 [Results]

These midwestern Big Ten teams came together at Iowa on Saturday, where the visiting team had a season-best performance to take down the host team by just over two tenths thanks to incredible work on bars and beam. Bars, their first event, was especially fantastic, led by Kylie Noonan and Mary Jane Otto with a pair of 9.825s and Nicole Biondi with a 9.85. Vault was the weakest for the team thanks to some iffy landings, but they still managed mostly 9.7-range scores, including a 9.775 from specialist Kasey Meeks, and on floor, the team got a pair of 9.8s from Haylee Roe and Shaylah Scott as well as a 9.825 from Noonan. Noonan was also one of the top performers on beam with a 9.8, while the team also got a 9.825 from Biondi, a 9.85 from Otto coming back from a floor fall, and a 9.875 from Scott.

Iowa had a solid start to this meet, matching Illinois on vault with mostly 9.7-range scores including a trio of 9.75s, and then they improved immensely with a stunning bars rotation, where Nicole Chow and Jax Kranitz brought in a pair of 9.9s. Unfortunately, things fell apart a bit on beam, where the team had to count a fall, though those who hit all did well, including some 9.825s from Chow and Clair Kaji, who were both stunning. Though the team fought back hard to put up an incredible floor rotation that went 49.4 thanks to three 9.9s from Kaji, Lauren Guerin, and Erin Castle, it wasn’t quite enough to overcome their beam rotation, but while they were left behind Illinois, this was still the top season score for the Hawks, marking an important step as they hope to reach the top 36 before the regular season’s end.

AA: Karen Howell, Illinois, 38.975
VT: Kasey Meeks, Illinois, 9.775
UB: Nicole Chow & Jax Kranitz, Iowa, 9.900
BB: Shaylah Scott, Illinois, 9.875
FX: Erin Castle, Lauren Guerin, Clair Kaji, Iowa, 9.900

Michigan State 195.425, Rutgers 194.100 [Results]

Michigan State got its season-high at home on Saturday despite counting a fall on bars thanks to especially strong work on beam and floor, where they ended with a lights-out performance that earned a 49.2. The team saw several 9.775s on vault, including one from all-around leader Lea Mitchell, who anchored the rotation with a solid hit before going on to hit strong sets on her remaining events. Specialist Jessica Ling was lovely on bars, as was Sydney Ewing, who was also a top-performer on floor, while Molly Hoerner O’Malley came back from a bars fall to win beam with a 9.85, specialist Drew Hendershot picked up a 9.875 on floor, and Gabriella Douglas put up excellent work on beam and floor, winning the latter with a 9.925.

This was a pretty strong meet for Rutgers as well, minus some mistakes on beam, which held the team back from challenging their Big Ten rivals. Beginning on bars, the team earned a pair of 9.8s from Michelle Amoresano, who was great in the all-around, and from specialist Shannon Farrell, while both Amoresano and Jenna Rizkalla earned 9.775s on vault to tie for the title. Floor was pretty excellent for the team this weekend, seeing a 9.8 from Rizkalla, another 9.8 from Belle Huang, and a 9.85 from Riahanah Ali, and then Huang topped the team with a 9.8 on beam at the end of the rotation.

AA: Lea Mitchell, Michigan State, 39.025
VT: Gabriella Douglas, Sydney Ewing, Ashley Hofelich, & Lea Mitchell, Michigan State; Michelle Amoresano & Jenna Rizkalla, Rutgers, 9.775
UB: Sydney Ewing & Jessica Ling, Michigan State, 9.850
BB: Molly Hoerner O’Malley, Michigan State, 9.850
FX: Gabriella Douglas, Michigan State, 9.925

Lindenwood 195.275, Iowa State 193.675, Texas Woman’s 190.725, S.E. Missouri 188.500 [Results]

Lindenwood surprised here to get a big win over D1 program Iowa State, getting close to its season high after especially excellent vault and beam performances. Getting started on bars, the team had a few minor flaws, but overall looked sharp, with standout routines from Andavea Alexander and Ryan Henry, with Henry’s 9.8 winning the title. On beam, Breanna Franklin missed her flight series late in the lineup, but Henry posted another 9.8 and anchor Courtney Mitchell looked fantastic, earning a 9.825, and floor also saw a 9.825 from Henry, though some other routines were a bit iffy with landings. Nearly everyone came through with sticks on vault, with the team counting all scores of 9.8 or higher, including a 9.85 from Mitchell, who won the title here.

Iowa State, on the other hand, had lots of hops on vault, where they started the meet, with a lovely attempt from anchor Sohpia Steinmeyer going 9.825 and Sydney Converse’s big vault getting a 9.85. On bars, Madelyn Langkamp had a fall in the leadoff routine, which they had to count after a rhythm error from Converse in the five-spot, and overall the team wasn’t super tight here, with a 9.725 from Casandra Diaz the team’s strongest. Converse also had a stumble off the mat on beam to lead the team off there, but everyone else looked solid for the most part, getting a pair of 9.75s from Steinmeyer and Meixi Semple in addition to a 9.8 from Molly Russ, so they thankfully didn’t have to count the fall from anchor Grace Woolfolk. The team also fought past a fall on floor, where I thought they looked overall the strongest, and I really enjoyed Steinmeyer’s front through to double tuck, with her routine topping the team with a 9.825.

TWU ended up third here, counting falls and mishaps on bars and beam to fall far below their potential, with this meet the second-weakest of their season, though they made up for these rough rotations with stellar work on vault and floor. Hope Parkin led the team on vault with a 9.825, Jenna Cashmore led on bars with a 9.675, and Erin Alderman was best on beam and floor with a 9.55 and 9.85, respectively.

As for SEMO, this was one of the team’s better meets of the year, though they still struggled with falls on bars, keeping them below the 190 mark. Mackenzie Slee led the team on vault with a 9.8, and she also posted a 9.75 on floor where she had a high double tuck and an awesome finish on her 2½, Alana Fischer was best on bars with a 9.475, and the always-reliable Anna Kaziska was stellar on beam and floor, bringing in scores of 9.875 and 9.85.

AA: Ryan Henry, Lindenwood, 39.225
VT: Sydney Converse, Iowa State, & Courtney Mitchell, Lindenwood, 9.850
UB: Ryan Henry, Lindenwod, 9.800
BB: Anna Kaziska, S.E. Missouri, 9.875
FX: Anna Kaziska, S.E. Missouri, & Erin Alderman, Texas Woman’s, 9.850

UIC 195.100, S.E. Missouri 185.550 [Results]

Competing at home this week, the ladies of UIC continued looking as consistent as ever, posting yet another 195+ score for the fourth time in the past five weeks with nothing but hit routine after hit routine in this Sunday afternoon meet, where the Flames went 24-for-24. Kayla Baddeley led the team on vault with a 9.875, while Serena Baker was best on bars with a 9.85, Alisa Sheremeta won beam with a 9.825, and Ashley Albrecht won floor with a 9.875, with all-arounder Mikailla Northern also looking solid on every event to post some of the team’s top scores on all four, including a 9.8 on bars and a 9.85 on floor.

SEMO unfortunately continues to be plagued with falls, showing one of its weaker performances in recent weeks after an especially rough bars rotation, which saw nearly all scores in the 8.0-range, though Alana Fischer did a good job to bring in a 9.5. Bars aside, Anna Kaziska had an outstanding day, putting up a 9.65 on vault and then looking excellent on floor with a 9.85 and finishing with a 9.8 on beam, while Mackenzie Slee led the team on vault with a 9.675.

AA: Mikailla Northern, UIC, 39.150
VT: Kayla Baddeley, UIC, 9.875
UB: Serena Baker, UIC, 9.850
BB: Alisa Sheremeta, UIC, 9.825
FX: Ashley Albrecht, UIC, 9.875

Central Michigan 195.050, Eastern Michigan 192.750 [Results]

These in-state MAC rivals faced off at CMU on Friday, with CMU getting the win by over two points despite counting a fall on bars, thanks to an excellent finish with tons of big routines on beam and floor. Denelle Pedrick had one of the bars falls, but more than made up for it with team-best performances on vault, beam, and floor, getting a pair of 9.9s on the latter two, while Gianna Plaksa led the bars rotation with a 9.825, though this win was truly a team effort, with everyone contributing at close to full potential, with other shoutouts going to Abbie Rose Zoeller on bars and floor, and Morgan Tong on beam and floor.

Eastern Michigan had only a couple of minor hiccups on bars, and they built up to strong performances on vault and floor, but unfortunately had to count two falls on beam, which kept them a couple of points back from what they could have been capable of. Still, we saw a standout day from Jada Rondeau, who is typically excellent for this team, leading them here on beam in addition to posting some of the top scores on the other three events, while Megan Hultgren led vault with a 9.775, specialist Cortney Bezold led bars with a 9.775, and Emili Dobronics, who had a fall on beam, led floor with a 9.875.

AA: Denelle Pedrick, Central Michigan, & Jada Rondeau, Eastern Michigan, 38.850
VT: Denelle Pedrick, Central Michigan, 9.800
UB: Gianna Plaksa, Central Michigan, 9.825
BB: Denelle Pedrick, Central Michigan, 9.900
FX: Denelle Pedrick, Central Michigan, 9.900

Western Michigan 195.025, Towson 193.100 [Results]

Western Michigan got within under a tenth from its season high at home this week, showing fantastic work on all four events and overcoming falls on bars, beam, and floor to count only hit routines into its total. On vault, they counted mostly 9.7+ scores, including a 9.8 from mid-lineup standout Shailyn St. Brice, while bars saw a fantastic comeback after a leadoff fall from Rachael Underwood, with especially strong work from Stacie Harrison with a 9.825, Amelia Mohler with a 9.85, and Morgan Spence with a 9.9. On beam, Mohler had a fall in the five-spot, but it was Underwood’s turn to save the day, posting a 9.875 to win the event as the anchor, with Taylor Buis also contributing a big 9.825, and on floor, with a fall from Harrison in the five-spot, Underwood again came back with a clutch anchor routine, going 9.825 to match Spence with the same score on the event.

In Towson’s second meet of the weekend, the team struggled a bit on beam, but was otherwise strong, slightly besting Friday’s performance even with the mistakes. Ally Wesoly led a team of solid vaulters with her 9.725 in addition to also taking the reigns on bars with a 9.8 and anchoring with a 9.75 on floor, where the team saw a pair of 9.775s from Cortni Baker and Melissa Temkov, though she unfortunately counted a fall on beam, holding her back in the all-around competition. Mary Elle Arduino had a fall in the five-spot on floor, but she came back to anchor a shaky beam rotation with a beautiful set that went 9.875.

AA: Morgan Spence, Western Michigan, 39.125
VT: Shailyn St. Brice, Western Michigan, 9.800
UB: Morgan Spence, Western Michigan, 9.900
BB: Mary Elle Arduino, Towson, & Rachael Underwood, Western Michigan, 9.875
FX: Morgan Spence & Rachael Underwood, Western Michigan, 9.825

New Hampshire 194.800, San Jose State 194.400, Sacramento State 192.725 [Results]

After traveling cross-country for the tri-meet in San  Jose, New Hampshire proved to be the best against the two Bay Area rivals, counting 20-for-20 hit routines to finish with a solid total that included a 9.8 on vault from Nicole O’Leary, a pair of 9.875s on bars from Lauren Diggan and Danielle Mulligan, a 9.825 on beam from Courtney Bondanza, and a 9.85 on floor from Ava Watkins, with Mulligan also winning the all-around with a 39.2.

SJSU got close to taking down the visiting team, though a couple of weak spots on vault and beam ultimately held them back. On vault, there were a few highlights, including a 9.775 from Carli Orcutt, while bars saw excellent routines from Stephanie Relova with a 9.825 and Kaprece Nadonza with a 9.875. Josalyn Ray led the team on beam with a 9.825 to share the title, and on floor, Taylor Chan won with a 9.9, the top individual score for any event at this meet.

Sac State looks much better than they did earlier in the season, getting a season-best score here even with a fall counted on bars thanks to overall solid routines elsewhere. Jordyn Brent led the squad on vault and bars with confident and strong routines on both, while Kendra Braida led beam and floor with scores of 9.8 and 9.825, respectively.

AA: Danielle Mulligan, New Hampshire, 39.200
VT: Nicole O’Leary, New Hampshire, 9.800
UB: Lauren Diggan & Danielle Mulligan, New Hampshire; Kaprece Nadonza, San Jose State, 9.875
BB: Courtney Bondanza, New Hampshire, & Josalyn Ray, San Jose State, 9.825
FX: Taylor Chan, San Jose State, 9.900

Bowling Green 194.375, Towson 193.025 [Results]

Bowling Green got its first win of the season at its Pink Meet against Towson, with the squad posting its second-best score of 2019 thanks to its season-best bars performance, showing great improvements on an event that has caused some struggles this year. Jovannah East returned to the all-around, faltering slightly on bars, but overall crushing it, leading the team and winning titles one very other event to post a 39.325 all-around, the team’s seventh-best in history. On bars, the team fought past a fall to post several strong scores, including a leadoff 9.775 from Lauren DeMeno and a 9.8 from Leslie Delgado, and though the team was forced to count an early fall on floor, everyone else came together to fight back, with Lexi Augustine earning a 9.825 while East came through with a 9.9 to end the meet on a high note.

Towson got off to an excellent start on bars, where they counted all 9.7s or better, beginning with leadoff Cortni Baker and then ending with a 9.825 from Ally Wesoly, who also went on to lead the team on vault with a 9.775 and on floor with a 9.7, breaking a 39 in the all-around for her career-best. Baker was also strong on vault, while Mary Elle Arduino was fantastic on beam to post a 9.8 in the anchor spot.

AA: Jovannah East, Bowling Green, 39.325
VT: Jovannah East, Bowling Green, 9.875
UB: Ally Wesoly, Towson, 9.825
BB: Jovannah East, Bowling Green, 9.875
FX: Jovannah East, Bowling Green, 9.900

Air Force 194.200, Seattle Pacific 192.600, Oshkosh 189.100, Whitewater 185.025 [Results]

Air Force showed up for a solid road meet in this quad at Seattle Pacific, which featured teams from all three divisions. The Falcons were able to break 194 for the second week in a row, with vault a little behind the rest of their events, but they were otherwise fantastic, with Anna Salamone leading the team on vault and bars, her 9.9 winning the title on the latter, while Cam Barber won beam with a 9.85 and Tyler Davis led the team with a 9.85 on floor. D2 Seattle Pacific ended up a couple of points behind them for second, putting up especially strong performances on vault and bars to finish a quarter of a tenth back from their season high thanks especially to individual standout performances from Darian Burns in the all-around and McKenna Zimmermann on beam.

For D3 teams, Oshkosh got the upset over Whitewater thanks to an incredible beam performance that saw them break a 189, over three points ahead of the team’s previous high in 2019. Emily Gilot led the program on vault, Kaira Hammond was outstanding on bars and beam, and Olivia Keller was excellent on beam and floor, with specialist Baylee Tkaczuk also a standout on beam. For Whitewater, bars was super rough with several falls counted into their total, and beam also wasn’t the best, but they managed good enough vault and floor performances to just get them over a 185. I was especially impressed with the vault rotation, which saw all scores counted at 9.4 or better, including a 9.675 from specialist Lauren Marshall, while Blaisee Wilson was excellent on bars to post a 9.6, Franchesca Hutton led the team on beam with a 9.65, and Lewa Evans leading floor with a 9.575, with all event leaders specialists for the team.

AA: Darian Burns, Seattle Pacific, 39.075
VT: Anna Salamone, Air Force, & Darian Burns, Seattle Pacific, 9.700
UB: Anna Salamone, Air Force, 9.900
BB: Cam Barber, Air Force, 9.850
FX: Tyler Davis, Air Force, & Darian Burns, Seattle Pacific, 9.850

Lindenwood 194.000, Texas Woman’s 193.850 [Results]

This was the second meet of the weekend for Lindenwood and Texas Woman’s, both of whom competed at the GymQuarters invitational on Friday before meeting again in St. Charles on Sunday. Lindenwood, which won Friday’s quad, looked a bit tired and not quite as “on” here, allowing TWU to get closer to the win, coming in just over a tenth away from making it happen, but ultimately Lindenwood’s superior beam and floor rotations held them afloat. Courtney Mitchell was a standout here on vault, bars, and beam, Jordan Boogerd was excellent on vault and bars, and Andavea Alexander was solid on bars, beam, and floor, with the team counting four 9.7-range scores on both beam and floor to end on a high note, though they weren’t able to make any 9.8+ scores happen on either event this time around.

For TWU, it was good seeing them get close to a 194 to post a second-best score of the season thanks largely to Bria Northrop’s excellent all-around performance, where she posted a 9.7-range score on all four events. Hope Parkin was also great on vault and beam, Morgan Colee was a standout on vault and bars, Hunter Vincent was stellar on bars and beam, specialist Jenna Cashmore won the bars title with a 9.825, and Erin Alderman, who struggled on beam, put up a 9.825 to win the floor title.

AA: Bria Northrop, Texas Woman’s, 38.950
VT: Hope Parkin, Texas Woman’s, 9.775
UB: Courtney Mitchell, Lindenwood, & Jenna Cashmore, Texas Woman’s, 9.825
BB: Hunter Vincent, Texas Woman’s, 9.775
FX: Erin Alderman, Texas Woman’s, 9.825

Yale 193.775, Brown 191.950 [Results]

At this weekend’s meet, Yale continued to show some incredible consistency, getting past a few weak routines on beam to put up yet another 193.775, the team’s third this season. On vault, a few minor form issues held them back slightly, but they were able to count all scores at 9.65 or 9.675. On bars, Jacey Baldovino put up a 9.825 followed by a 9.875 from Jessica Wang in the anchor spot helping the team to a great 48.6 team total, and though beam wasn’t in top shape, Charlotte Cooperman put up a beautiful lead-off routine for a 9.7, with Lindsay Chia earning a 9.75 in the five-spot followed by a 9.775 from anchor Baldovino. The team finished up with an excellent floor performance, counting four 9.8s to nearly reach a 49 total, ending on a high note. I really hope in the coming weeks, we can see a bit more strength on vault and beam, because this team has 195+ potential and I’m dying to see them get there.

For Brown, beam was a bit of a headache, but otherwise the team looked more or less solid. The team counted a fall on bars, but everyone else in the lineup did an excellent job, with Mei Li Costa leading the rotation with a 9.85. Moving to vault, the team fought past a fall to put up mostly solid scores, including a 9.7 from Alyssa Gardner, who then fell to start the floor rotation, but her teammates had her back, putting up big numbers including a pair of 9.725s from Rose Domonoske and anchor Julia Green. In addition to a couple of falls on beam, the event just wasn’t super tight overall, and the first two routines we saw were actually the best for the program, with a 9.6 from Green in the leadoff spot followed by a 9.675 from Emma Hansen.

AA: Jade Buford, Yale, 38.550
VT: Alyssa Gardner, Brown, 9.700
UB: Jessica Wang, Yale, 9.875
BB: Jacey Baldovino, Yale, 9.775
FX: Kiarra Alleyne, Rebecca Chong, Charlotte Cooperman, & Emma Firmstone, Yale, 9.800

Pennsylvania 193.025, William & Mary 192.850 [Results]

Penn looked mostly consistent here to get just under a two-tenth win over William & Mary despite a last-rotation charge from the visiting team which put up an incredible performance on beam while the host team struggled and counted a fall on floor, though W&M’s own problems on floor a rotation earlier kept them a bit too far behind for the comeback. Penn had a great start on vault, seeing a 9.775 from Valerie Rube and a 9.8 from Sydney Kraez, and they counted five hits on bars, where Libby Garfoot’s 9.7 was the top. On beam, the team got over an early fall to count another five hits, including a 9.725 from Natalie Yang as well as a 9.75 from Caroline Moore in the anchor spot, and though the team unfortunately had the two falls on floor – including from anchor Kraez – the rest of the team was more than strong enough to overcome it, with a 9.75 from Jordyn Mannino, a pair of 9.775s from Moore and Morgan Hunker, and a 9.85 from Darcy Matsuda, coming back nicely from her beam fall in the previous rotation.

W&M was able to match the host team pretty nicely on bars and then vault, though falls from Evan Pakshong on floor meant the team had to count her 9.825 with only five up in the rotation. The rest of the team was excellent here, though, and they all fought back with an incredible beam rotation, counting five scores at 9.65 or better, showing amazing resilience and strength throughout. Aside from her floor issues, Pakshong was excellent on bars and beam, winning the title on the former, and Samantha Sakti was a queen as always, putting up the team’s best scores on beam and floor with a 9.875 and a 9.9, respectively, while Erika Marr led vault with a 9.8 and Caroline Caponi was excellent on all four events, putting up 9.7-range scores across the board.

AA: Caroline Caponi, William & Mary, 38.900
VT: Erika Marr, William & Mary, & Sydney Kraez, Pennsylvania, 9.800
UB: Evan Pakshong, William & Mary, 9.750
BB: Samantha Sakti, William & Mary, 9.875
FX: Samantha Sakti, William & Mary, 9.900

West Chester 192.675, William & Mary 192.525, Rhode Island College 182.825 [Results]

Host team West Chester got a season-high 48.45 on bars to take the tri-meet title by over a tenth ahead of D1 William & Mary, a huge feet for this D2 program despite counting a fall on beam. Bars was excellent across the board, starting with a 9.7 from Jordan Miranda and anchored by the same score from Myranda Marshall, while Melanie Wojewoda won the title with a 9.85 in the five-spot. Despite two mid-rotation falls on beam, the team fought back with some otherwise solid scores, including a 9.725 from anchor Sarah Boyd, and vault saw lots of hits, including a 9.65 from Ashley Duke. On floor, the team had a huge rotation to post a 48.875, getting over an early fall to see three 9.8-range scores, including a 9.8 from McKenna Kissinger and a pair of 9.85s from Rose Fanara and Jessica Meakim.

William & Mary unfortunately had to count a couple of falls on beam, but they otherwise showed a strong performance here, especially on floor, where they could field only five athletes. Samantha Sakti continues to be a star for this program, leading vault with a 9.75, beam with a 9.8, and floor with a 9.85, while Evan Pakshong matched her on beam with an equally solid routine, and Taylor White put up an excellent floor performance in the anchor spot for a 9.825. On bars, despite a few little mistakes, the team overall did well, with Pakshong leading the team with a 9.75 while White was close behind with a 9.7.

D3 RIC put up its best team score in two years here thanks to an exemplary rotation on floor, where Allie DiBiase put up the third-highest score in program history with her 9.675. DiBiase was also a leader on vault with a 9.4 and on bars with a 9.1, while Kyndel Yett and Christa Vaccaro matched her vault score, and Grace Davis anchored beam with a 9.5, leading the team and finishing eighth there overall.

AA: Caroline Caponi, William & Mary, 38.150
VT: Samantha Sakti, William & Mary, 9.750
UB: Melanie Wojewoda, West Chester, 9.850
BB: Evan Pakshong & Samantha Sakti, William & Mary, 9.800
FX: Rose Fanara & Jessica Meakim, West Chester; Samantha Sakti, William & Mary, 9.850

Southern Conn. 192.075, Ithaca 189.950, Springfield 188.100 [Results]

D2 Southern Conn. got the road win in this tri-meet, going 20-for-20 to come close to its season high and breaking 192 for the second time this season. Tiffany Coleman led the team with a strong vault that went 9.75 in the anchor spot, while Hannah Stahlbrodt anchored bars with a huge 9.85 and also led the team on beam and floor with scores of 9.725 and 9.825, respectively, while Jordan Peloquin and Keylea Brothers were also fantastic on floor with a pair of 9.8s.

D3 Ithaca, competing for the second time this weekend, broke its season high set four days earlier by a quarter of a tenth with an equally great meet, where they fought past some beam mistakes but put up great work on floor, seeing a pair of 9.8s from Mackenzie Kennedy and Victoria Gery. Carolyn Nichols led the team on vault with a 9.7, Courtney Christoforo led bars with a 9.75 in the anchor spot, and Katie Holcomb matched her on beam with a 9.75 of her own to take the title.

For host team Springfield, bars was a bit of a rough patch, but everything else was fantastic, especially seeing them come back from an early fall on beam to post scores of 9.525 or better, including a 9.7 from anchor Jessica Clemens. Ali Rushlow led the team on vault with a 9.65, Taylor Campagnone was the best on bars with a 9.325, and floor had not one weak spot in the entire rotation, seeing a 9.7 from Clemens, a 9.725 from Campagnone, and then a 9.825 from anchor Tali Twomey, who got to add a title to her collection.

AA: Hannah Stahlbrodt, Southern Conn., 39.050
VT: Tiffany Coleman, Southern Conn., 9.750
UB: Hannah Stahlbrodt, Southern Conn., 9.850
BB: Katie Holcomb, Ithaca, 9.750
FX: Hannah Stahlbrodt, Southern Conn., & Tali Twomey, Springfield, 9.825

Brockport 190.000, Cortland 184.025 [Results]

SUNY rivals Brockport and Cortland got together on Brockport’s turf on Saturday, where top-ranked D3 program Brockport reached a 190 for the second time this season thanks to especially strong vault and floor rotations. On vault, Candis Kowalik and Stephanie Mager led with a pair of 9.725s, and the team also saw a couple of 9.75s on floor, from Taylor Keough and Kimberly Musall. Bars was a bit weaker overall, with a 9.375 from Rachel Doll the team’s best, while Musall led the team on beam with a 9.625. For Cortland, there were a few week spots on every event but floor, where the team fought for an excellent performance led by Lily Szafranski with a 9.6 and Rachel Filipski with a 9.65. Filipski also led the team on vault with a 9.65, while Emily Speciale was the standout on bars and beam, winning the bars title with a 9.45.

AA: Candis Kowalik, Brockport, 37.575
VT: Candis Kowalik & Stephanie Mager, Brockport, 9.725
UB: Emily Speciale, Cortland, 9.450
BB: Kimberly Musall, Brockport, 9.625
FX: Taylor Keough & Kimberly Musall, Brockport, 9.750

Ithaca 189.925, Cortland 187.125 [Results]

These two Northern New York teams faced off at Cortland on Wednesday, where the host team had its best meet of the season, but it wasn’t quite strong enough to fend off third-ranked Ithaca, which got close to a 190 for the first time this season after an especially incredible floor performance that saw a pair of 9.75s from Victoria Gery and Carolyn Nichols. Nichols was also fantastic on vault, and the team counted five hit bars and beam sets with Baylie Trammell leading on the former, while Rachel Lee picked up a 9.725 Katie Holcomb anchored for a 9.75 on beam. Cortland also looked strong for the most part minus a couple of mistakes that held them back, especially on bars, but they ended with excellent work on floor, seeing a 9.75 from Emma Schulz, who also led the team and took the title with a 9.775 on beam. Additionally, Rachel Filipski led vault with a 9.55, and the team saw two lovely bars performances from Megan Hanley and Emily Speciale.

AA: Megan Hanley & Emma Schulz, Cortland, 37.200
VT: Cassidy Marquette, Ithaca, 9.725
UB: Emily Speciale, Cortland, & Baylie Trammell, Ithaca, 9.525
BB: Emma Schulz, Cortland, 9.775
FX: Emma Schulz, Cortland; Victoria Gery & Carolyn Nichols, Ithaca, 9.750

La Crosse 189.000, Winona State 183.150 [Results]

The ladies of La Crosse had an incredible road meet at Winona State last week, putting up a season-high with super strong routines on all four events to boost their average by several tenths. They got off to a great start on bars, where everyone hit and Breghan Kiloran’s 9.55 led the team, and things got better and better throughout the meet, with six excellent vaults led by Sam Weyker’s 9.5, another six great floor sets with Weyker and Ally Blixt earning a pair of 9.6s, and then a fantastic finish on beam, where Weyker had a fall in the five-spot but Blixt came back to anchor with a 9.625 to help them reach a 189. This was also a relatively good meet for Winona State, which saw some weak spots on bars, but overall there were lots of hits from everyone competing. Standouts here included Leah Messelt on vault, beam, and floor, Alexis Burton on bars, Kelly Johnston on beam, and Shelsea Zehr on floor.

VT: Sam Weyker, La Crosse, 9.500
UB: Breghan Kiloran, La Crosse, 9.550
BB: Ally Blixt, La Crosse, 9.625
FX: Ally Blixt & Sam Weyker, La Crosse, 9.600

Stout 185.800, Gustavus 184.775 [Results]

My new favorite D3 team, Stout, wasn’t quite as tight here as we saw them the previous week, and they were facing off against a Gustavus team that was ready to fight, though they still managed to get the win by over a point thanks to exemplary vault and floor rotations. Shadae Boone and Mikala Bugge were fantastic on both events, while Mallary Dick led the bars rotation, and Brooke Terry was excellent on bars and beam, with Britney Wolfe also a standout on the latter. Gustavus put up a season high here after some major improvements across bars and beam. All-around champ Amanda Malo was great on all four events, Samantha Ardy led the team on vault and bars, and Katy Trunk was fantastic on beam and floor.

AA: Amanda Malo, Gustavus, 37.575
VT: Mikala Bugge, Stout, 9.575
UB: Samantha Ardy, Gustavus, 9.500
BB: Brooke Terry, Stout, 9.525
FX: Mikala Bugge, Stout, 9.650

Eau Claire 182.750, Hamline 182.525 [Results]

The host team ended up getting the win in a super close match, relying on an early lead thanks to a strong bars performance to hang on tight despite beam and floor rotations that didn’t go quite as well as they’d hoped. Ashley Benes and Andrea Gessner were strongest for the program on vault, while Hannah Lewis put up the top bars routine for the team in addition to also hitting on beam and floor. Lauralynn Anderson led the beam rotation with a 9.25, and the team saw several strong routines on floor, including a 9.35 from Amelia Moorehouse and a 9.525 from the always-strong Kiya Bjorge. For Hamline, the opening bars rotation was a major struggle, with only one score above a 9 from Lydia Ingram, and though things improved greatly throughout the rest of the day with the team coming out ahead of the host team on beam and floor, they couldn’t quite make up for the early struggles. Standouts individually included Meghan Webb with excellent routines on vault, beam, and floor, while Katie Kalland was solid on beam and floor, and Darby Slater had a strong floor set.

VT: Ashley Benes, Eau Claire, 9.475
UB: Hannah Lewis, Eau Claire, 9.475
BB: Katie Kalland, Hamline, 9.500
FX: Kiya Bjorge, Eau Claire, 9.525

Article by Lauren Hopkins