NCAA women’s gymnastics Week 6: LSU-Auburn, Metroplex Challenge headline weekend slate
The 2023 NCAA women’s gymnastics season is flying by, and we are already in Week 6. Check out some of the exciting matchups and storylines we’ll be following this weekend.
Big Ten battle
#19 Minnesota @ #2 Michigan
The Minnesota Gophers come into Ann Arbor after posting a 196.675 at home last week. The focus for the Gophers should be to get a season-high score on the road to count toward their National Qualifying Score (NQS). This can happen if they improve on beam. The team has had four sub-49 scores on that event so far. Being able to hit six routines with minimal deductions will be key if the Gophers want to hang with the home team.
Minnesota is outstanding on floor exercise where they received a 49.55 last week. A repeat performance there would be appreciated as well. Gopher junior Mya Hooten can go 10.0 on floor exercise, and vault for that matter, any given week, so watch for her to shine once again.
The hosting Michigan Wolverines return home after a stellar season-high 198.3 performance on the road in Week 5. This included season-high scores on both vault (49.75) and beam (49.45). Particularly, being able to hit a great beam rotation should be great for Michigan’s confidence moving forward.
Notably, vault star Naomi Morrison was not in that lineup last time out. Watch for her to be back this week. It seems Michigan is playing with that lineup a bit. They have the potential to put up six Yurchenko 1.5s, but Reyna Guggino has struggled to find her landing on that vault this season. Moving forward, the Wolverines may opt to put a Yurchenko full in their last lineup spot from either Jenna Mulligan or Kaylen Morgan.
SEC showdown
#9 LSU @ #5 Auburn
The LSU Tigers hit the road after a 197.7 season-high and win at home last week. This came thanks to season-highs on both beam (49.25) and floor exercise (49.675). LSU will be looking to ride this momentum to an upset win over Auburn.
LSU’s Aleah Finnegan and Haleigh Bryant are having outstanding seasons. Expect them to lead the team with big all-around scores once again. Finnegan is coming off her first-career 10 while Bryant was nearly perfect on vault with a 9.975. These are the performances LSU will need if it wants to steal a win on the road.
The focus area for LSU will be on beam, their lowest-ranked event nationally. Look for contributors such as Kai Rivers and Elena Arenas to step up on the event for LSU. Arenas is slated to lead-off the event in early lineups.
The Auburn Tigers are also coming into the meet after a season-high 197.7, but unlike LSU, the Tigers were narrowly beaten by rival Alabama. Expect Auburn to come home and be locked in.
The focus area for Auburn this time out will likely be vault. The team has not consistently found many stuck landings on the apparatus, and doing so might be able to help them edge conference rival LSU.
Olympic all-around champion Suni Lee and senior Cassie Stevens are superb all-arounders for Auburn. Teammates Sophia Groth and Olivia Hollingsworth also compete in the all-around and will need to score some 9.9s to prevent an LSU upset.
Gymnastics Now will be on-site for this meet, so look out for our coverage from Auburn!
Pac-12 matchup
#7 California @ #13 Oregon State
The California Golden Bears hit the road following a season-high 197.6. This came despite a couple misses on floor exercise. It is time to officially put this team on 198 watch. This is a very hard score to achieve on the road, but if the Golden Bears are able to put on a complete performance across all four events, it is certainly not out of the question.
Look for bars star Ella Cesario to be back for the Golden Bears this week after sitting out last week with a “very, very minor” injury. Assuming Cesario is back, freshman eMjae Frazier will likely sit out bars and focus on the other three events.
Oregon State returns home following a season-high 197.3 at Washington in Week 5. The Beavers seemed to have figured out bars after scoring a 49.3 last time out, their highest mark on the event this season.
Expect Oregon State to continue performing better and better each week. If Olympic floor champion Jade Carey is back on floor, this meet is truly anyone’s to win.
Metroplex Challenge
Afternoon session: #4 Utah, #18 Georgia, #22 Illinois, and Illinois State
Utah comes in as the clear favorite to win this session after a 198.2 season-high performance at home last week. It will be interesting to see how Utah scores at this neutral site because their beam scoring can get a bit out of hand at home. The team is wonderful on that event, but getting great results on the road is not an easy task.
Georgia is on the road again after a 196.925 loss at LSU in Week 5. Expect the Bulldogs to try to focus on sticking vault landings to increase their scoring potential. This is necessary because the team does not have the difficulty on the event that other top teams such as Utah do. Senior Soraya Hawthorne can do a Yurchenko 1.5 but played it safe with a full last time out.
Illinois will be looking to bounce back after a sub-196 performance on the road last week. Senior Mia Takekawa is a star all-arounder for this team and is especially strong on beam. Junior Abby Mueller is the other all-around gymnast for the Fighting Illini and will be looking to rebound after going 38.6 last week. The only event in which Illinois scored over 49 in Week 5 was beam, so look for the team to really push for a 49 on all four events.
Illinois State had a big season-high 195.2 performance at home last week. Look for the Redbirds to use this as momentum to get a road score that can help them get back into NCAA Regionals contention. Their vault rotation has the potential to go big and could tell the story of how this meet will go. Reigning MIC Gymnast of the Week Angelica Labat can be great on all four events.
Evening session: #1 Oklahoma, #11 Alabama, #16 Arkansas, and #24 Stanford
The Sooners should have no problem winning this session. It will be interesting to see if they are able to have the highest overall score of the meet, with afternoon session competitor Utah also having the ability to go 198. The Sooners have shown no signs of resting star all-arounder Jordan Bowers, so expect her to come up big once again. Oklahoma will want to focus on controlling their floor exercise landings.
The Alabama Crimson Tide should be energized after knocking off rival Auburn at home last week. The main goal for Alabama should be to stick their vault landings. Despite the 197.85 in Week 5, the Crimson Tide only managed a 49.175 on vault. They have the coveted difficulty on the event but need to find their landings to maximize their start value advantage.
Arkansas should be very pleased with their performance at home against Florida last week. They hung with a top team and have shown that they should be taken seriously. The Razorbacks had a great performance across all four events. They should have a similar performance here. Look for a big all-around number from fifth-year Norah Flatley after an uncharacteristic fall on beam last time out.
Despite counting a fall on bars in Week 5, Stanford was able to post a season-high 196.275. Look for the team to rebound on bars, especially because the falls came from two of their best bar workers: Chloe Widner and Ira Alexeeva. Vault can also be an area for improvement as the Cardinal need to stick their landings there since they do not have the difficulty like the top teams.
