The 2020-21 NCAA women’s gymnastics season has arrived.
Saturday night inside the Maverik Center in West Valley City, each of the four Division 1 programs in Utah — BYU, Southern Utah, Utah and Utah State — will kick off their campaigns in grand fashion: on podium at the Best of Utah.
“This will become one of the biggest gymnastics events in the country over the next couple years. It’s going to be a good meet. All four teams are very strong.” — SUU head coach Scott Bauman
It is a competition, a quad meet, that is still in its infancy. Last season was the first-ever Best of Utah. Due to the participation of BYU, SUU, Utah and USU, though, all of whom would have qualified for NCAA Regionals last year had COVID-19 not reared its head, the meet has the potential to become one of the nation’s premiere gymnastics events going forward.
“This will become one of the biggest gymnastics events in the country over the next couple years,” SUU head coach Scott Bauman said. “It’s going to be a good meet. All four teams are very strong.”
Here a few things to watch for on Saturday when the Cougars, Flippin’ Birds, Red Rocks and Aggies clash.
Utah
It is only fair that Utah comes first in any discussion about in-state gymnastics programs. Utah’s dominance against in-state competition cannot be overstated. The Red Rocks have ruled the state more absolutely than Louis XIV did 17th century France.
Here are the numbers:
• Utah leads BYU 100-2 in the all-time series and is undefeated on a neutral floor (26-0) against their rivals. If there is a legitimate dispute about a rivalry existing between Utah and BYU in any sport, it is gymnastics. That is how dominant the Red Rocks have been.
• Utah also holds a 25-0 mark in the all-time series over Southern Utah and has six wins over the Flippin’ Birds at a neutral site.
• And then, last but not least, Utah leads the all-time series against Utah State 90-3 and is 23-1 against the Aggies on a neutral floor.
Given their history against in-state competition, anything but a victory for Utah in the Best of Utah would be a complete and utter shock, which is why both the team and fanbase should and will be focused on other things during the meet.
What does the sophomore class do for an encore?
Last season was a coming out party for Utah’s now sophomore class, comprised of All-American’s Maile O’Keefe and Abby Paulson, as well as Jillian Hoffman and Jaedyn Rucker.
Paulson was fantastic from the get-go, and was one of only two Red Rocks to earn a perfect 10 during the year. O’Keefe started much slower, but by the end of the season was one of the best freshmen in the country, and ESPN recently tabbed her as a gymnast to watch in 2020-21.
“They really showed, I believe, the NCAA what they are capable of,” said Farden.
And there is an expectation that both will continue to improve, even become the best two gymnasts on the team.
As for Hoffman and Rucker, Hoffman dealt with injuries most of her freshman season, while Rucker missed the entire year due to a torn ACL. While the injury bug has once again bitten Hoffman, Rucker is now healthy and primed to compete on at least two events at the Best of Utah.
If Rucker, and eventually Hoffman, can add to the efforts of O’Keefe and Paulson, the Red Rocks’ sophomores will be a force to be reckoned with, the team along with it.
What kind of impact can the freshmen have?
Utah lost two key seniors from last year’s team — Kim Tessen and Missy Reinstadler — and the task of replacing them will fall on the shoulders of three freshmen.
Lucy Stanhope, Alani Sabado and Jaylene Gilstrap all arrived at Utah with a host of accolades from their elite careers and the expectation to make a swift and sudden impact, even though they had nearly five months off, a result of COVID-19.
If any of them are to make their Red Rocks debut at the Best of Utah, it will likely be either Stanhope or Sabado, both of whom Farden believes will see time in various lineups this season.
“They are going to see some time,” said Farden. “Where I don’t know yet.”
Gilstrap isn’t far behind either — “She is pushing hard,” Farden said — and Utah will need production from its freshmen class, both at the Best of Utah and throughout the season.
BYU
BYU gymnastics is at a crossroads heading into the 2020-21 season.
In one direction is a path to a top 10 ranking and with that comes consideration as one of the nation’s best programs. The other path leads to solid respectability, a top 25 ranking, and regular contention in the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference (MRGC).
The Cougars have experienced the latter path, particularly in the six years since Guard Young took over as head coach. Since Young returned to Provo, BYU has steadily improved, so much so that the Cougars finished the 2020 season ranked No. 16 in the nation, the team’s highest final national ranking in 15 years.
BYU also earned its highest single-meet score since 2004 (197.075) and became the MRGC champions for the first time in program history.
All of it led to BYU being ranked No. 17 to start this season, six spots better than the team’s initial ranking in 2019-20.
“It’s one of our team’s highest preseason rankings in a long time,” Young said. “We’re in really good company. We’re pretty close to Washington, Nebraska, ASU and Iowa State. These are big conference programs. ... This is a program that is continuing to get better year after year. We have big, lofty goals.”
And some big questions if BYU wants to go down the path to becoming a top 10 program.
How much will the Cougars miss Shannon Evans? Who will replace her?
In her time at BYU, Shannon Evans was nothing if not a superstar.
An All-American and nominee for most outstanding female gymnast in the nation, Evans essentially competed in the all-around for multiple seasons and was the face of the Cougars’ program for years, even as she struggled through an injury-marred senior season.
Evans is gone now and one of the biggest questions facing BYU entering the Best of Utah is how to replace her. You can throw Briana Pearson into that mix, too — the mix of gymnasts who need replacing — as Pearson was a regular in the Cougars’ floor lineup.
“Those are holes we have to fill,” said Young.
They are going to have to be filled by gymnasts who largely held down reserve roles a season ago.
“A lot of girls who were backups last year are (going to be) thrust into these roles,” Young said, before singling out Avery Bennett. “She has worked extremely hard on a floor routine so we are hoping to unveil her new floor routine this weekend.”
How good can Abbey Miner-Alder be?
While Evans was the face of the BYU program, the team’s best gymnast last season was Abbey Miner, now Abbey Miner-Alder.
She earned MRGC Gymnast of the Week honors for four consecutive weeks last season and first-team all-conference honors in the all-around. She was also a first team all-conference performer on vault and a second team all-conference performer on beam and floor.
“(She) should be commended for what she has accomplished,” Young said after the season. “She has worked extremely hard every year from being on one event as a freshman to now as a junior becoming the highest ranked all-around gymnast in the conference.”
Now a team captain, along with Abby Boden-Stainton, can Miner-Alder take another step forward in her senior season? How she performs at the Best of Utah should grant some clarity on that, and she is determined to do well after winning the all-around title in the same meet last year.
“She wants to defend her title,” said Young.
And lead BYU to greater heights.
“We’ve been in the gym training harder than ever these past few months and can’t wait for it to pay off this season,” she said.
Utah State
If you only paid attention to Utah State gymnastics at last year’s Best of Utah and no meet afterward, that was a mistake.
The Aggies struggled at the inaugural Best of Utah, finishing last among the four teams with a team score of 194.150. Things didn’t immediately improve for USU after that showing, but they did improve. And improve. And improve.
Enough for the 2019-20 season to become a record-breaking one for Utah State gymnastics.
- By the end of the season, Utah State had defeated every one of its conference rivals, snapping a 22-meet losing streak to Boise State, a nine-meet losing streak to BYU and a five-meet losing streak to Southern Utah.
- The Aggies ranked 19th nationally on beam at the end of the year and earned the best beam score in school history, a 49.575 at the Boise State quad meet.
- Utah State averaged a 49.039 score on beam, the single-season school record. The Aggies also averaged 48.875 on vault, the program’s third-highest score on that event all-time. Oh, and the 48.756 averaged on bars was good for the sixth-best average on that event in USU history, the 48.992 on floor good for fifth-best.
- USU also recorded its second (196.800), fourth (196.600) and fifth-best (196.525) team scores ever, and the 196.600 scored against No. 17 BYU and the 196.525 scored against No. 20 Southern Utah are the second-and third-best home scores in school history.
- Also, prior to the cancellation of the 2020 season the Aggies were ranked 29th in the nation with a NQS of 195.915 — the highest in school history.
It was a record-breaking season for USU and the Aggies are intent on improving upon it.
“We need to stay focused and just keep building,” head coach Amy Smith said. “... We are excited to be included in the top 36 of the (WCGA) poll; however, we don’t feel that 32nd is an accurate assessment of where this team is. We are excited to get out there and compete this year, and show the rest of the country all the hard work we have put into the preseason and have another incredibly successful year.”
Enjoy Autumn DeHarde while you can
There is no more important a USU gymnast to watch than senior Autumn DeHarde, at the Best of Utah and beyond.
The reigning MRGC Gymnast of the Year, DeHarde has been and continues to be USU’s best and by the end of this year could be the best ever to compete in Logan.
DeHarde ranks first all-time in school history with 12 beam titles and is tied for 10th all-time with eight floor titles.
Last season, she averaged a score of 9.889 on beam, which ranks first all-time in single-season school history. She was top gymnast in the MRGC on the event, and No. 27 in the country.
She was also tied for first in the MRGC on floor and her career-high of 9.950, recorded against BYU, is the tied for third all-time at Utah State.
“I expect Autumn to be authentically Autumn, just to bring her awesome gymnastics and her goofy great attitude to every competition,” Smith said. “We are hoping for her to have a stellar senior year and take down some more records.”
No Sofi Sullivan
Then freshman, now sophomore Sofi Sullivan was one of the Aggies’ best gymnasts last year.
She tied for first in the MRGC on beam and her 9.975 against Air Force is the second-best score in conference history. She also scored a 9.950 at the Boise State quad meet, the second-best beam score in school history.
All of it led to her being named MRGC Freshman of the Year, and MRGC co-Beam Specialist of the Year, an award she shared with DeHarde.
Sullivan will not be seen this year, however, after she and fellow sophomore Tori Loomis opted out of the season, an option for all NCAA athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lack of both gymnasts will test the Aggies, and they know it.
“We always talk about being adaptable and resilient, and with everything constantly changing, that is the only way we will get through this season successfully,” said Smith. “With so many variables this year, it is imperative that the team keep a great attitude and continue to be adaptable and resilient. We are so lucky to get out there together and do what we love and there are other teams that aren’t getting a 2021 season, so we need to celebrate that with every opportunity we get.”
SUU
The 2019-20 season had high notes and low notes for the SUU Flippin’ Birds.
On the one hand, SUU would have qualified for NCAA Regionals had COVID-19 not caused the abrupt cancellation of the season.
The Flippin’ Birds also set a new program-high team score, a 197.225 earned against Central Michigan. They also scored a 197.075 against Pittsburgh, the second-highest team score in school history.
There were fantastic individual outings as well, including record breaking routines on bars by Shylen Murakami and on floor by Hannah Nipp and Karley McClain.
McClain also matched the third-highest all-around score in program history with a 39.525.
And yet, SUU struggled in the win and losses category, finishing the year 6-7 overall and 3-4 in the MRGC, with losses to BYU, Utah State and Boise State.
And then, of course, there was the cancellation of the season, a low note for everyone involved in college gymnastics.
Heading into the 2020-21 season, SUU is ranked the No. 23 in the country, and expectations are high that the Flippin’ Birds can build upon their successes from a season ago, while avoiding any and all setbacks.
“I feel really good, I feel comfortable,” Bauman said. “They’re prepared, and I think we’ve prepared some contingency plans for certain situations as certain complications continue to creep up on us as we get closer to the season. So I think we’ve done a good job of preparing the girls for anything that might come up.”
An experienced roster opens the door for a special season
SUU has a great deal of experienced returners, headlined by Nipp, Murakami and McClain.
Nipp and Murakami each earned MRGC first-team all-conference honors a season ago, on beam and bars, respectively, while also earning second-team all-conference honors on floor and beam.
Then there is McClain. She won nine event titles last year alone, and was named co-MRGC Floor Specialist of the Year and was first-team all-conference in the all-around.
“Karley McClain is a stone-cold killer when it comes to competing,” Bauman said. “We knew we could count on her.”
Outside of those stars, SUU has four additional seniors — Morgan Alfaro, Mikaela DeFilippo, Molly Jozwiakowski and Alyssa LaDieu — and juniors — Mayson Bentley, Caitlin Kho, Rachel Smith and Stephanie Tervort — back, giving the team the experience necessary to make noise at the Best of Utah and in the MRGC.
SUU’s depth to be tested early on
As many experienced returners as are back, they won’t be back right away, per Bauman.
“We’re going to start the first meet with quite a few new placements,” he said. “And then we’ll be able to reinsert the upperclassmen as the year goes on.”
Who might those new placements be?
Celine Barney, Ruby Hernandez, Kayla Horton, Kaylee Kho, Tiffani Stufflebeam and Nikki Thomas are all sophomores of this season’s roster and the Flippin Birds’ added six freshmen to this year’s team, including Brianna Alcantar, Aly Coutu, Anna Hartley, Emma Ingrassia, Aubri Schwartze and Hailey Vultaggio.
Even with the needed to rely on untested youth early, Bauman is optimisitc.
“I feel really good about where we’re at,” he said. “I think we’re going to open up strong”