In Denver’s quest to maintain the nationals-qualifying level from 2017, three freshmen will be tasked with replacing the five lineup routines lost from last season’s roster.
It’s a scenario that bodes well mathematically for Denver since all three freshmen are potential all-arounders. We won’t actually see 12 total routines from them as a class, but we could.
| DENVER 2018 – Returning Routines | |
| VAULT Karr – 9.930 Addison – 9.830 Schou – 9.830 Chesnok – 9.650 |
BARS Ogden – 9.895 Chesnok – 9.880 Karr – 9.860 Lomonte – 9.850 Kern – 9.840 Addison – 9.660 |
| BEAM Karr – 9.890 Schou – 9.880 Addison – 9.820 Ogden – 9.815 Loper – 9.800 |
FLOOR Addison – 9.915 Karr – 9.900 Schou – 9.855 Loper – 9.825 Hammen – 9.796 Kern – 8.988 |
Lynnzee Brown
Brown arrives at Denver from GAGE as the most JO-accomplished of the three freshmen, finishing second AA at this year’s JO nationals. In many regards, Brown is your classic power gymnast and should find an immediate home at the end of Denver’s vault and floor lineups.
That Yurchenko 1.5 is a big old yes. It’s likely the most important of Brown’s routines because it should provide a second serious score in a vault lineup that too often last season felt like it was just Karr.
Similarly, the DLO makes Brown’s floor an obvious choice for Denver’s floor lineup and should become a top score—if not the top score. Just as important for NCAA composition purposes is that open shape on the double pike, the sign of a confident double pike, not a squeezed-around double pike.
Brown’s significance to Denver comes in the 9.9 potential on vault and floor, but we may see some bars from her as well.
In many ways, it’s prototypical power-gymnast bars in that there’s not a lot of rhythm there, but she also shows enough comfort in Shaposh-style skills that she can do a Van Leeuwen, which we still don’t see all that much in NCAA. The leg form on elements like the Pak is a concern—and she’ll need a dismount—but training videos have already shown an upgraded DLO, which indicates that this routine has been advanced as a project.
As for beam, Brown can get through it, but it’s her weak event, with enough knee-form issues that it likely wouldn’t be a first-choice set.
Emily Glynn
Watch out for Glynn as one of our major diamond-in-the-rough gymnasts this season. If you only looked at her JO scores and accomplishments, you would skim right past without another thought, but she has shown impressive standout skills in preseason training and appears to be improving right through to college to become a potentially significant contributor.
For example, Glynn’s recent scores on floor have been 8s or nonexistent, but she’s currently training an open full-in that looks quite nice and, if coming to fruition, would merit a significant place in the floor lineup along with Brown.
On vault, a perfectly acceptable Yurchenko full through the earlier portion of Glynn’s L10 career became a 10.0-start Tsuk full in 2017 that should feature as a third 10.0-start in Denver’s vault lineup.
Besides now having an open full-in on floor, Glynn’s other standout gymnastics is a Weiler ½ + Gienger combination on bars that doesn’t do anything for my hatred of the Weiler ½ but does feature a very nice, legs-together piked Gienger that one might want to build around.
Mia Sundstrom
Like her new teammates, Sundstrom’s best results have tended to come on vault and floor. This is very much a leg-event class but with potential to bring other events as well. It’s not an exclusively leg-event group.
Denver should have three 10.0 vaults this year, but that’s only half a lineup, so some fulls will be called upon as well. Sundstrom’s full is very plausible and improved in 2017 over previous efforts.
On floor, Sundstrom’s work is not as big as that of her classmates, but it looks very NCAA-ready, with an easy double pike, comfortable twisting, and fairly good leaps. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see that set in the lineup.
Beam has tended to be a weak score for Sundstrom in JO, which is somewhat unfortunate because those opening leaps are nice. A rare quality.
It’s really the form in the back handsprings and back tumbling that let her down on beam (and have undermined her scores) because the rest of her work is pretty well done. I bet you could come up with a leap-heavy routine with a fake-o acro series that would work for her.
Bars may be a little too mushy, particularly in areas like the bail, but she does have a tkatchev and a ½ in, ½ out and could put together something.
It’s why I say this class could come up with 12 competition routines. It’s more likely to be around 7-8, but that’s still a lot and more than the 5 Denver lost after last season, meaning this class should add to the team’s options and depth.
Sundstrom is SO PRETTY on beam. Can’t that back tumbling be improved? beautiful leaps, beautiful positions….something should be done (and yes to the fake-o ‘acro series’ in this case!)