Pac-12 Gymnastics Week 3 Recap: Oregon State hits 197, Mya Lauzon remains all-around leader

With Utah not competing last weekend, Cal continued to separate itself from the rest of the Pac-12 gymnastics competitors.

Though four different Pac-12 teams won their meets in Week 3, and everyone posted a score above 196, Cal is ranked No. 2 in the nation for the second week in a row and is getting closer to a 198.

Here’s how Cal and the other Pac-12 teams fared in Week 3:

#24 Arizona State, Utah State @ #25 Southern Utah

Final score: Arizona State: 196.200, Utah State: 195.375, Southern Utah: 195.075

The Sun Devils had a solid meet altogether, and a great one on vault and floor. Arizona State reached its season high on vault, a 49.475, by sticking its first four vaults and each earning a 9.90 or better. Freshman Halle Gregoire won the vault title while putting up a career-high 9.925.

Gregoire took her career day to floor, where she put up a 9.850 in her first collegiate floor routine. Arizona State earned a 49.300 overall, with Emily White securing another event title with her 9.9.

Even though they had some struggles on beam from two of their upperclassmen and had to count a fall, the Sun Devils did enough on their other events to surpass the 196 mark and defeat their two opponents.

#2 California @ Washington 

Final score: California: 197.875 – Washington: 196.050

California

Cal fell short of earning a 198, but put together a strong all-around meet on its way to a second straight 197.875. The commentators also noted during the meet that the scoring in Washington can be a little harsher than other locations, especially with some of the inflated scoring seen across the NCAA in Week 3.

Cal made some significant changes for this meet, with Maddie Williams competing in the all-around and adding Andi Li to the floor lineup. Li was a welcomed addition to the floor lineup, with her beautiful floor and dance that earned a 9.9. If she can hit her double-Y turn, her routine will be a regular high-scorer.

Mya Lauzon continued her outstanding season with at least a 9.925 on all four events for a 39.775 all-around score and a high of 9.975. Unsurprisingly, outright won or tied for all individual titles, including matching Williams’ 9.95 on bars. Lauzon’s reign as the No. 1 all-around gymnast in the country continues after this meet.

Washington

Washington had some difficulties on beam, which prior to this meet had been its strongest event of the season. Chelsea Hallinan, Lana Navarro, and Deiah Moody all had varying balance checks, which resulted in a couple lower than normal scores. Still, Skylar Killough-Wilhelm was solid as ever in the anchor spot, earning a 9.925.

The highlight of the day for Washington was floor, where the Huskies put up a season-high 49.200. Both Killough-Wilhelm and Emily Innes scored at least a 9.9, with the sophomore Innes tying Cal’s Mya Lauzon for the win on floor with a 9.925.

Sacramento State @ #17 Arizona 

Final score: Arizona: 196.500 – Sacramento State: 194.200

The Wildcats got their second straight win while posting their second consecutive score over 196 as they won every event title against Sacramento State. This included freshman Sophie Derr, who won bars while scoring her first 9.90with a nice Ray and stuck full-twisting double back dismount.

Arizona hasn’t faced its hardest opponents yet, but has eased its way into the year with quality wins. Where the Wildcats will need to improve before they take on higher-ranked opponents is vault. Only Malia Hargrove (9.875) performed a vault with a 10.0 start value, and just two of their vaulters scored a 9.80 or better.

Where the Wildcats did do well enough to compete with those top teams was on floor, where they scored a 49.400. All of the Wildcats hit their routines, and upperclassmen Alysen Fears and Hargrove won with a pair of 9.9s. Fears also won beam with a 9.875. Sophomore Emma Strom put in a career-high 9.875 on floor, starting with a gorgeous back layout stepout out of her Rudi.

#11 UCLA, Stanford @ Denver quad 

Final score: Oklahoma: 198.325, Denver: 197.175, UCLA: 196.550, Stanford: 196.100

UCLA

For the second straight week, UCLA entered the final rotation in second before ending the meet in third. This time, the Bruins stayed on beam but fell twice on bars and had to count a fall. Frida Esparza fell on her Bhardwaj while sixth-year Margzetta Frazier had the first bars fall of her career on her Pak salto.

Outside of the falls on bars, UCLA’s vault regressed this week, with the Bruins unable to dial in their landings and earning a season-low 49.175. Ultimately, the reliable bright spot of the meet was floor, where they returned to form while posting a 49.575. The final four performers scored at least a 9.9, with Selena Harris tying for the floor win with a 9.95. Junior Emma Malabuyo also had her best meet of the year, posting a career-high 9.9 on bars and a 9.925 on beam.

Stanford

Stanford finished in fourth, but overall improved to earn its first 196+ of the season. The Cardinal started six gymnasts on both bars and vault this meet, and notched a huge rebound on bars with a 49.250 after some tough falls a week ago. Brenna Neault put her 7.4 from a week ago in the past, posting a 9.850 this time around.

However, the Cardinal were unable to repeat their beam performance from a week ago. Stanford had multiple balance breaks, and a fall forced the team to count three 9.625 routines, which kept them from having a serious chance at finishing better than fourth. The good news is that beam is usually one of their better events, so if they can move past this performance, Stanford should be in a much better position in the weeks to come.

Brown @ #21 Oregon State

Final score: Oregon State: 197.575 – Brown: 192.950

The Beavers got the win over Brown, posting their first 197 of the season. They had a much improved performance from last week’s meet despite the absence of key transfer Sage Thompson, with the main improvements coming on beam and floor, where the Beavers struggled last week.

Freshman Sophia Esposito started the beam rotation off beautifully with a stuck double twist dismount, earning a 9.9 and the event title. This was then followed by Ellie Weaver earning a 9.975 on a near-perfect routine to win the event title. Finally, Jade Carey closed out the event steady as ever, earning a 9.950. Carey tied with teammate Taylor DeVries for the bars title with matching 9.875s.

The Beavers also rebounded from two low floor scores from a week ago, with every routine going for at least a 9.825, and both Weaver and Ariana Young cleared the 9.9 mark. Young won the event title.

This meet also saw the return of Jade Carey on vault, though she just performed a Yurchenko full (9.875). Carey is focusing her NCAA efforts on bars and beam as she simultaneously trains for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but as witnessed this weekend, an occasional routine on another event isn’t out of the question.