| 2020 WASHINGTON ROSTER |
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| Seniors | ||
| Madison Copiak |
VT UB BB |
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| Kristyn Hoffa (redshirt) |
VT FX |
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| Michaela Nelson |
UB BB FX |
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| Evanni Roberson |
VT UB BB FX |
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| Allie Smith |
VT FX |
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| Maya Washington |
UB BB FX |
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| Juniors | ||
| Geneva Thompson |
VT UB FX |
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| Sophomores | ||
| Brenna Brooks |
VT UB BB FX |
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| Talia Brovedani |
|
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| Amara Cunningham |
VT FX |
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| Meaghan Ruttan |
BB |
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| Hannah Vandenkolk |
|
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| Freshmen | ||
| Morgan Bowles |
UB BB |
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| Isa Weiss |
VT |
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FINAL SEASON RANKING
2019 – 19th
2018 – 11th
2017 – 8th
2016 – 18th
2015 – 34th
2014 – 26th
2013 – 19th
2012 – 18th
2011 – 18th
2010 – 23rd
THE 2019 STORY
In 2019, Washington took a semi-step backward from the Elise Ray Renaissance that had characterized the previous seasons, following two of the best finishes in program history with a 19th-place result that more typically reflects the historical expectations for this Washington team.
DEPARTED ROUTINES
Monica Riley: VT, UB (BB, FX)
Mallory Rose: BB
Washington hasn’t lost a ton of routines from the 2019 lineups, though the beam routine from Mallory Rose and the bars routine from Monica Riley will be sorely missed.
INCOMING GYMNASTS
Washington has already lost one of its intended freshmen for the 2020 season with Ellie Bagley currently listed as team manager (in what is a somewhat troubling trend for Washington). That means the Huskies are left with two freshmen in Morgan Bowles and Isa Weiss, and senior transfer Allie Smith from Eastern Michigan.
2020 PROJECTION
There hasn’t been enough roster movement for Washington to expect a great deal of change in performance from 2019 to 2020. Mostly, the hope will be that the new gymnasts can replenish what was lost and keep the team consistently 196, ranked in the teens, challenging for a spot in the top half of the conference.
Washington did come up just .325 shy of advancing to the regional final last year—in a meet where Copiak had to stop her bars routine for a 1.000 and Evanni Roberson was limited to only bars after missing the previous four competitions entirely. Maintaining the level of last season’s team would still be enough keep Washington in contention for that top 16.
VAULT
2019 Event Ranking: 24
| Lineup locks: Madison Copiak, Geneva Thompson, Kristyn Hoffa, Evanni Roberson |
| Lineup options: Isa Weiss, Allie Smith, Amara Cunningham, Brenna Brooks |
Washington is not flush with vault options in 2020, and the keeping-up-with-the-10.0s struggle that the team experienced in 2019 is likely to continue this season. For the most part. There are still 4-5 solid fulls returning to the team, which can keep the scores sufficiently 9.800ish and the event total hovering around 49.000, though with little room for anyone to get injured.
In that race for 10.0s, Washington smuggled in freshman Isa Weiss from Alaska pretty much exclusively to vault, with the hope that her Tsuk full can come into the lineup and provide a little extra difficulty to protect against 9.750-itis. Washington will also want the transfer Allie Smith to step into the role vacated by Monica Riley and replenish the list of options. Smith capped off her career at EMU last year with a season-high 9.875 at the conference championship, a score Washington would very much welcome into the six.
Brenna Brooks and her prospective Omelianchik from the JO days did not make it into the lineup last season (her best vault score was a 9.775 for the tucked version), though that still looms as a possibility when looking for 10.0 options.
BARS
2019 Event Ranking: 13
| Lineup locks: Madison Copiak, Geneva Thompson, Michaela Nelson, Evanni Roberson, Maya Washington |
| Lineup options: Brenna Brooks, Meaghan Ruttan, Morgan Bowles |
Bars ranked as Washington’s most competitive event in 2019, and despite the team losing a late-lineup score from Monica Riley, a hearty core of routines nonetheless returns, one that will be expected to score over 9.800 on a weekly basis. All five gymnasts noted in the “lineup locks” section scored 9.9 at least once in the 2019 season, and Washington will look for weekly 49.2-type performances from this lineup.
Finding the other member of the six will be a race to watch. Brenna Brooks stepped into the lineup last year as a backup when needed, and while those routines probably don’t make her a first-choice option, she exists as a possible 9.7. We didn’t see Ruttan on bars in her first year, which doesn’t bode well, but she had some bars chops in her elite days. Freshman Morgan Bowles does have some line to work with, but the scores and full-routine content weren’t there in JO, so that would have to be a project.
But really, regardless of what happens with the sixth spot, that core five looks solid enough that we should expect competitive bars totals.
BEAM
2019 Event Ranking: 18
| Lineup locks: Evanni Roberson, Madison Copiak, Maya Washington |
| Lineup options: Morgan Bowles, Brenna Brooks, Michaela Nelson, Meaghan Ruttan |
Washington managed fairly well not having Goings and Burleson on beam anymore in the 2019 season. Beam remained one of the team’s stronger events and reinforced the idea that Elise Ray’s teams are going to be proficient at replenishing beam lineups year after year.
There is probably less security in the returning beamers making it back to the lineup in 2020 than there is on bars, in that I would say Roberson, Copiak, and Washington need to be there, while Brooks and Nelson could be there…but spots are open to be negotiated. Morgan Bowles has gorgeous ability on beam and needs to find her way into the lineup for Washington to meet its potential this season.
Meanwhile, Meaghan Ruttan showed two beam routines last year, one for 9.775 and one for a fall, and this former Canadian elite has too much ability not to end up contributing to the team in some way.
FLOOR
2019 Event Ranking: 26
| Lineup locks: Kristyn Hoffa, Maya Washington, Evanni Roberson, Geneva Thompson, Amara Cunningham |
| Lineup options: Brenna Brooks, Michaela Nelson, Allie Smith |
Filling out a floor lineup proved to be a challenge for Washington last season, featuring weeks early in the year when Brenna Brooks had to compete knowing that she likely wasn’t going to receive a 10.0 SV for her routine at that point, simply because she was the best available option. Compared to teams that could cough for 9.950, that proved to be a major disadvantage.
Positively for Washington in 2020, the floor lineup remains almost entirely intact. There’s no water to bail out of the boat to get it back to the level of 2019, and the core group of Hoffa, Washington, Roberson, Thompson, Cunningham, and Brooks remains. On the less positive side, there aren’t really any new routines that can come in and bolster the array of options. Allie Smith went as high as 9.800 on floor last season for EMU, so Washington will be hoping for a routine option from her but won’t expect it to be a game changer.
The hope for improvement on last season’s 49.0-49.1 story largely rests on development from those who already exist, like Brooks becoming a more consistent contributor here. (I also haven’t mentioned Vandenkolk because she didn’t compete last season, but she did have a front 2/1 in JO and potential on beam.)
Very late in the 2019 season, when Hoffa, Washington, Thompson, and Cunningham were all delivering at the same time, this turned into a pretty competitive floor team that matched Denver’s FX number in the regional semifinal, which incubates some optimism that this won’t be the weak event for Washington in 2020.
College gym news says Brovedani is out for the season with an Achilles tear, the same injury that sidelined her last year. They don’t provide a source link so I’m wondering if they could have mistakenly added it from the post from last year? Can anyone provide more info on whether or not this is legit?
Sadly you are correct. Talia is out with an Achilles tear. Last year it was ACL/miniscus (knee).
Oh my bad, I guess I misread last year’s post as Achilles. What a shame! Can’t even imagine how she must be feeling 🙁