No. 5 Georgia (197.385)
The Georgia Bulldogs, colloquially known as the GymDogs, have completed arguably their best regular season since 2009, the year in which they took home their tenth national championship. That season also happened to be then-Assistant Coach Jay Clark’s last season before being named the program’s head coach. In 2013, Clark left for his current job at LSU, where he has led the Tigers to five conference championships and a national title. Georgia had a pretty steep fall-off following his departure. Now, in its second season under Co-Head Coaches Ryan Roberts and Team USA Coach Cécile Canqueteau-Landi, Georgia has held a spot in the nation’s top-ten after over a decade of mediocrity. They’ve only posted less than 197.000 once this season, happening at their first SEC away competition at Oklahoma. They are down some talent though, as All-American Lily Smith suffered a season-ending foot injury during warmups at Kentucky. Still, the team has scraped together four wins since her absence.
Strongest event: Floor
After the loss of Smith in the sixth spot, CaMara Williams has grown into her own as the new anchor. Williams posted back-to-back 9.975s in a dual-meet weekend in early March. Another shining spot in the lineup has been Harley Tomlin, whose artistry adds depth and excitement to a rotation already full of raw talent. In its three meets over the last two weekends, the team posted 49.625, 49.725 and 49.500.
Weakest event: Vault
Georgia’s bars have been consistently the lowest-scoring event over the course of the season, but a recent 49.625 on the road shows me they’ve made the right adjustments. I will be watching their vault rotation closely on Saturday, one that’s been hugging the 49.300 area. Not bad by any means, but something had to give for a program that is good enough for Session Two.
No. 6 Arkansas (197.192)
After being the only team left out of last year’s championship, Arkansas enters this year’s clash with an NQS of 197.192, one one-hundredth of a point ahead of rival Missouri. 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist Jordan Weiber handles the reins of the Gymbacks, who also have Olympic talent on the mats. Joscelyn Roberson, now in her sophomore year with Arkansas, has brought her Team USA experience with her as a versatile piece in all but one rotation. The Razorbacks also have Morgan Price, who made history as the first Arkansas gymnast to score a perfect 10 on any event, doing so on vault. Price was also recently named a finalist for the AAI Award, an honor given to the nation’s top senior gymnast.
Strongest event: Beam
While its vault is higher in the national rankings, I would like to focus on Arkansas’ beam because the averages have looked stronger as of late. This rotation typically scores three 9.900s or higher, with anchor Joscelyn Roberson highlighting their last competition against LSU with a 9.975.
Weakest event: Bars
The bars lineup has a very strong anchor in Morgan Price, but the rest of the rotation is just okay. The lineup ranks 16th in the country, not a high enough number to do damage in the SEC.
No. 7 Missouri (197.191)
Shannon Welker and his Missouri Tigers can’t seem to escape the number seven. They started out with a preseason ranking of seventh in the country, staying put for all but one week leading up to now. As they currently sit at ninth in the national rankings, the Tigers are the seven seed in the conference tournament. After a third-place finish at NCAA nationals last season, Missouri has had to restructure its squad, one that was built around superstars Helen Hu, Amari Celestine and Mira Titarsolej. The Tigers have had some really solid outings, both in their arena and on the road. Their highest total of the year, a 197.550, came at home against second-ranked LSU. They recently capped off their regular season with a season-high road score of 197.325 in Auburn’s Neville Arena. They’ve kept it close with almost every opponent this year, but tight losses to three out of the SEC’s top five leave them near the bottom of the conference rankings.
Strongest event: Floor
The affectionately-called ”Fab Floor” has been lights-out this year. Juniors Kennedy Griffin and Hannah Horton have taken turns as event anchors and only have five combined scores lower than 9.900. Not to mention, Horton is one of the most underscored performers on the floor, in my opinion. Going into their final meet of the regular season, the Tigers were one of two programs nationally to score 49.350-plus in every meet.
Weakest event: Beam
While the bars have been a point of concern for most of the year, the lineup has gotten more consistent over the previous two weeks. Now, the focus shifts over to the beam, where the Tigers did not compete two of their most consistent performers last week. Amy Wier, who is down with a leg injury, is likely to be out on Saturday. Addison Lawrence, who did not compete last week due to a concussion, will likely anchor but will have to compete for the first time in two weeks. Missouri has also seen some lower individual scores as of late, in part due to lineup inconsistency.
No. 8 Auburn (196.547)
As one of two SEC programs not in the nation’s top ten and the only program without a conference win, Auburn has struggled to keep their finishes above 197.000. The program’s star, Sophia Bell, one of few NCAA gymnasts to compete a Yurchenko double full on vault, ruptured her achilles in warmups over a month ago.
Strongest event: Floor
Auburn has actually looked pretty good on floor as of late. They currently hold a 49.300 average that they can boost if Marissa Neal and company can bring their A-game. Neal, the anchor, is typically the only Tiger with a 9.900 routine, but two of her teammates matched that total a few weeks back against Michigan State.
Weakest event: Bars
At 30th in the country, Auburn’s bars struggles have persisted throughout the year. They haven’t scored above 49.150 in their last three competitions, a tough stretch headed into a competition where they will see the event following a bye rotation.
No. 9 Kentucky (196.503)
Despite having one of the nation’s strongest all-around competitors in Delaynee Rodriguez, the Wildcats haven’t lived up to their standard this year. It took them a while to get going, posting four straight scores below 195.000 to start out the year. They’ve only hit 197.000 four times this year, a bare minimum score for most SEC squads.
Strongest event: Floor
Last Friday against Florida, the Cats posted four scores of 9.900-plus. The energy of Delaynee Rodriguez and Creslyn Brose finishing out that lineup has highlighted some otherwise underwhelming meets.
Weakest event: Bars
9.900s are very rare on bars for this Kentucky team. In Tulsa, I predict an individual score of 9.850 to be the ceiling. Having to count multiple scores below 9.800 in multiple weeks this season has hurt the mojo of the lineup.
Session One of the SEC Gymnastics Championships will take place in Tulsa, OK on March 21 at 2:00 p.m.