RANKING HISTORY
2021 – 6th
2020 – 6th
2019 – 2nd
2018 – 4th
2017 – 2nd
2016 – 2nd
2015 – 10th
2014 – 3rd
2013 – 5th
2012 – 9th

2021 IN REVIEW

The 2021 campaign will certainly rank as a quality season for LSU—it’s been a long time since LSU had a bad season—and the 6th-place finish does underrate to a certain extent the talent level of a team that was solidly top-4 all year. But at the same time, LSU is established as a championship-contending program, so a 2021 season in which the team lost regular-season meets to Florida, Alabama, and Kentucky, finished 2nd at the SEC Championship to Alabama, and didn’t reach the final day again (even if by just .0375) will not sit well. It doesn’t count as a banner result for a team like LSU.

DEPARTED ROUTINES

None.

Olivia Gunter and Caitlin Smith did not compete in lineups in 2021.

THE NEW ONES

LSU has a fairly small incoming class of just three (compared to a number of teams with come-one-come-all approaches their new athletes this year), but there’s no dead weight in this group. We should see all three provide valuable routines and challenge for multiple lineups.

Aleah Finnegan brings the name brand, and while having to contend with Sarah expectations will be patently and inevitably unfair, don’t expect this to be a “This is our daughter Dottie, and this is our other daughter, Dottie’s sister” situation. Aleah Finnegan should provide an option on all four events, featuring a must-have upgrade to the beam lineup, a high-class floor routine, and a Deltchev on bars that would be a real travesty to hide away in a backup position.

Tori Tatum spend a good long while in elite herself and has been looming as one of the top NCAA prospects for years. We haven’t, however, seen a lot of Tatum in the last couple seasons, especially on vault and floor (I count exactly one floor score on her record since COVID times), and she did not appear at LSU’s Gym 101 on December 3rd. So, there will be some question marks as to what she’ll add to the team until we actually see her. Ideally, Tatum is bringing a Y1.5 to the vault lineup, an easy full-in to the floor lineup, and tons of release potential as an option on bars.

KJ Johnson doesn’t have the instant name recognition of the other two, but expect her to become a thing on floor. She has the well-completed full-in and satisfying leaps to make for a standout routine. Her Yfull on vault should also present a possibility depending on the needs of the team.

2022 PROJECTION

Even.

Score-wise, expect LSU to improve by bits and pieces on each event compared to 2021. There’s no lineup-busting reinvention happening, and most of these events should look pretty recognizable from last spring, but given that the team has lost zero routines while bringing in three new contributors, it should be harder to make lineups in 2022, which typically equals better scores.

The challenge for LSU is that the team is not alone in this outlook. Pretty much all of the top schools are bringing in more routines than they are losing this season and gaining in overall scoring potential. The story for every contender will be, you have to get better just to stay the same. Anticipate another season in which LSU is banging around the top 4—and in which qualification to the championship comes down to whether the lineup can stay on beam in the semifinal.

BY EVENT

VAULT

2021 Event Ranking: 2

Vault was probably LSU’s best (and definitely most reliable) event last season, and nothing much should change in that regard in 2022. Last year’s top four vaulters all look like locks again this year with their 10.0 starts: Bryant bringing her handspring pike 1/2 that was the best vault in college gymnastics last year, Johnson bringing her DTY that would anchor any other team, and Edwards and Shchennikova bringing their Y1.5s that should garner a fair share of 9.9s again.

Ideally, LSU will look to supplement that four with a Y1.5 from Tori Tatum and then probably Elena Arenas’s Yfull that outscored most Y1.5s last season, but there are plenty of other Yfulls on this team that can fill out additional spots as needed. KJ Johnson brings a strong one, Chase Brock competed plenty of times last season, and Kai Rivers should be back with her Yfull that scored 9.850ish in the leadoff position most weeks in 2020. Things looks rosy on vault. 

BARS

2021 Event Ranking: 6

Bars served LSU well for most of last season…but was also one of the events that got a little 49.2y and 49.3y at the important moments. That means the team won’t necessarily be as content with maintaining the status quo as they will be on vault, yet I don’t see the lineup changing all that much. Finnegan is the most likely new option, and while she may not be a lock right away as there are a couple body position cleany-uppies from her elite routine that need to happen before she can get 9.9s in college, it’s definitely a worthwhile project. Talent-wise, she’s a top-6 on this team. A now-healthy-again Kai Rivers could also jump back into a lineup where she was a reliable 9.8+ in 2020.

But mostly, I’d imagine LSU will be looking at returner improvements in order to add some more seasoned filling to the bars sandwich between Kiya Johnson and Sami Durante. Except for Durante, pretty much all the bars routines last season were in a position where they could go 9.825 depending on the day, the dismount, and the judging panel. LSU needs a few more bars routines that you can’t not give a 9.9. Olivia Dunne (who did not appear at the preview) was strong on bars last year and has more to give as a college gymnast, and Haleigh Bryant has the ability to bring bars and beam up (near) the level of her vault and floor as her college career progresses. I anticipate one of LSU’s most important progressions in 2022 will come not from new gymnasts, but rather from Bryant starting to lead on bars and beam as well.

BEAM

2021 Event Ranking: 7

Ultimately, beam was the least settled, least predictable event for LSU in 2021, and that elimination-meet run of 48.700, 49.525, 49.175 was a real adventure from which no one has recovered. But again, I don’t expect a drastic change to the lineup. Most of the issues last season, whether it was Johnson’s early-year consistency trouble, falls from Bryant and Durante at regionals, or the 9.7s from Campbell and Desiderio at nationals, came from people you’re not going to bump from the lineup. Success on beam for LSU in 2022 should be more about getting those same people hitting at the big moment, rather than replacing them with an updated operating system.

The one exception to Operation Samesies should be Aleah Finnegan, who has everything necessary to carve out a four-year spot for herself in that beam lineup. I’d slot her right into the position that was Shchennikova’s at the end of last season, while keeping the other options constant. That said, Kai Rivers may also come back as a choice, and Elena Arenas—despite not making the final lineup last season after a few tries in January—is angling for a spot in her second year.  

FLOOR

2021 Event Ranking: 2

Floor, I’m not worried about you. Floor was neck-and-neck with vault as LSU’s strongest event last season, and it’s definitely the best apparatus for the new gymnasts as well. The rich get richer. LSU brings back two of the top floor workers in the country in Kiya Johnson and Haleigh Bryant, and as long as we all agree that those times Bryant fell in the postseason last year weren’t real, there should be no problems there. Shchennikova got enough 9.9s last season to confirm her spot on this year’s floor squad, and expect Aleah Finnegan’s double Arabian and KJ Johnson’s full-in to make excellent cases for themselves as well. Throw in Tori Tatum, and I’d be perfectly happy with that as a floor lineup, though it’s not the extent of the options. Sarah Edwards and Sierra Ballard should be equivalent choices that see at least some routine opportunities, if not all the routine opportunities. 

One change may be that LSU has to lean less on this year’s super seniors to do heavy lifting on floor than it has in past seasons, which is probably good news for overall health. I’d imagine Campbell and Dean won’t need to be called upon this year, and Christina Desiderio has always been an excellent floor worker but may also have her legs mummified at any given meet. This year’s squad is deep enough on floor that they shouldn’t have to force it. 

RANKING HISTORY
2021 – 22nd
2020 – 15th
2019 – 6th
2018 – 27th
2017 – 11th
2016 – 14th
2015 – 12th
2014 – 13th
2013 – 16th
2012 – 12th

2021 IN REVIEW

Let’s not avoid the bars in the room. The 2021 season will go down as one of Oregon State’s weakest for exactly one reason: there was no bars lineup. Only five bars scores of 9.8 were recorded all season, gymnasts without 10.0 starts provided some of the most important and highest-scoring routines, and the team finished the year ranked 48th on the event. In fact, the lack of bars lineup ended up shrouding the quality on the remaining events. The Beavs were able to get mid-196s last season as what was basically a three-event team, and it would have taken only a 49.150 on bars to upset Denver at regionals and advance to the regional final. Sadly, the team peaked at 48.825 on bars.

DEPARTED ROUTINES

Lacy Dagen – VT, BB
Savanna Force – FX
Lexie Gonzales – BB
Lena Greene – VT
Niya Mack – UB, FX
Jane Poniewaz – VT, UB, BB

THE NEW ONES

Oregon State brings in a gigantic new class of 9 athletes, which is essential in the effort to reinvent many of these lineups. I expect to see a solid number of these first years get real competition time in 2022.

Of course, let’s start with Jade Carey. What’s interesting about Carey is less how she might fit into lineups (spoiler alert: yes) and more the eternal conundrum of how to manage skill selection for high-difficulty elites when they come to college. Does it make sense to try a vault like the Cheng, or will the wow-factor of a historically difficult vault in college not be able to overcome execution deductions? Would a downgrade to any number of easier 10.0-start vaults (she has like 5) end up gaining anything, or are the deductions about the same anyway so you might as well go for difficulty? Carey is at her best when she’s doing insane elements on vault and floor, so that asset must be retained, and her ability to land under control on floor when performing difficulty makes it particularly appealing for college scoring. What I’m saying is, Carey is going to have her most successful NCAA career if “and she’s the first person to do that in the history of college gymnastics” is said a lot.

Conversely on beam, downgrading will be the name of the game and college gymnastics should allow Carey to pare down her routine to avoid those stumbling block built-in deductions from elite (always shocking to NBC, apparently) and somewhat equalize her scoring potential on beam with the other events. As for bars, it’s sort of a misconception that Carey used to be terrible on bars. Even as a L10 she had NCAA-lineup ability there (her Pak and FTDT have always been great), but she lacked the necessary composition until recently. As we stand now, Carey is on track to Alex McMurtry where we’re like, “Hi, you’re good at power” and she’s like “Here’s a 10 on bars.”

OK, also there are other first years in this class I promise.

British elite Phoebe Jakubczyk most recently featured on GB’s team at this year’s European Championship and could show up on several events. Most importantly (no surprise), she looks to provide an absolute must in the reformed bars lineup with plenty of options for difficulty. Also keep an eye on Natalie Briones, the sister of US elite Brandon Briones, as a multi-eventer who definitely would have been in the bars lineup last season if that had been one of the choices. Her best event is probably floor, where I’d also anticipate seeing her some, but the need is far greater on bars. On the bars topic, walk-on Carley Beeman is pretty much a bars specialist and could also find her way into that six.

Shifting the focus from bars, another new one who looks to make lineups is Karlie Chavez (if your name isn’t Karlie or Kaitlyn, GET OUT OF THIS TEAM), who has excellent results on vault and floor, with a Yurchenko 1.5 on vault and a quality DLO on floor. She’s very heir-to-Kaitlyn-Yanish. As for the others, Kaitlin Garcia hasn’t really managed the scores in L10 aside from vault, but she showed a few events at OSU’s preview meet and could be called upon as needed. Perhaps one of the most interesting question marks of the whole season is Lauren Letzsch. Letzsch was a junior elite about a thousand years ago and has basically been injury MIA ever since, meaning there are no possible expectations. Still, she finished 13th AA at junior nationals in 2016, sandwiched right between Olivia Dunne and Jordan Bowers, and if she’s healthy and competing, then vault, beam, and floor would all be realistic events for her.

2022 PROJECTION

Improvement.

That’s kind of a no-brainer as it shouldn’t be too challenging for this team to improve on last year’s total scores given that there are now some people on this roster who don’t want to assassinate the bars at every opportunity (or at least…less). With Jade Carey coming in to improve the scoring potential on every event, we should see gains all over the place with the possibility of 197 popping up again. Oregon State hasn’t gone 197 since the 2019 season, and hitting that mark in 2022 would be a solid indication of the progress for this year’s team.

BY EVENT

VAULT

2021 Event Ranking: 10

Oregon State will be encouraged by how things are shaping up on vault. For a team that has never really been known for power vaulting, this year’s squad should have a competitive repertoire of 10.0 starts even beyond Carey. Carey will certainly be counted on for astronomical scores as the top vaulter. I’d imagine the DTY or the Lopez are the most likely college vaults for her, though I’d like to see the Amanar or Cheng get a moment or two because if someone is going to do those vaults in college…Carey. As far as the others, Madi Dagen’s very stick-able Y1.5 will be a huge asset once again for 9.9s, and first year Karlie Chavez brings another new Y1.5 that can be a top-3 vault for this lineup on her good days.

As always, put Kaitlyn Yanish into the lineup in pen as her Yfull has the massive distance and reliability to score well each week. Kristina Peterson and Sydney Gonzales both bring 10.0 starts back to the roster with their round-off 1/1-on entries, and while the landings can sometimes be hit-and-miss, they both get pretty solid amplitude as far as 1/1-on vaults go, and the boost in start value should continue making those vaults lineup-worthy. That’s probably the best-case six for OSU, but there should also be several other Yfull options, like Kayla Bird who led off last season, who can go for competitive scores.

BARS

2021 Event Ranking: 48

Obviously, it’s reinvention time on bars. Not much should return from last year’s lineup, though I do imagine that Kayla Bird (who got four of OSU’s five 9.8s on bars in 2021) will be called upon again. So perhaps not a fully new six. Also keep in mind that Oregon State should be getting fifth-year Colette Yamaoka back on bars after missing last season. She has been good for a weekly 9.750 throughout her career, which is not a huge score, but they would have killed for it last year. Madi Dagen also presents an interesting case because she had by far Oregon State’s best execution on bars last year but was working without a 10.0 start. And still got some of the team’s best scores. If she’s able to get a reliable 10.0 SV this year, I’d want her in the lineup.

Otherwise, we’re looking at first-year o’clock. Jade Carey showed up at Oregon State’s November preview straight from the tour and did a full competitive bars routine that would probably have gone 9.850 in a meet, so she’s on track there. Jakubczyk will be needed as another top scorer, Briones has the swing to be a good college bars worker, and Beeman should get a chance as well. There are a few other people from last year’s lineup like Hoiland and Domingo whom I think have the talent to be in a bars lineup, but their routines from last season probably aren’t making it back this time around.

I still see some 9.7ness in this group, so it may be the team’s low score at many meets again in 2022, but in comparison to last year, this lineup will be quite a bit less terrifying and should at least keep the Beavs in the competition.

BEAM

2021 Event Ranking: 18

Beam is the event on which to expect the least shake up compared to last season. A strong core emerged in 2021 that kept the team over 49 in each of its last eight meets, so there’s not a ton of need to mess with it. Madi Dagen proved a sturdy anchor for nothing less than 9.800 all year and notched the team’s top overall score, Domingo and Gonzales were peppering in 9.9s here and there, and Peterson has developed into a go-to leadoff beamer.

Carey will make her mark here, just as she will on the other events, though it could be that she’s the lone newcomer to make the beam lineup. Perhaps Jakubczyk gets in there depending on the dance element situation. Ariana Young got shoved into the lineup last year out of necessity but started to find her beam legs toward March and April for a bunch of 9.8s, so she’s one who could very well continue to progress this year and reconfirm her spot.

It’s not a ton of definite, competitive beamers though, so Oregon State may be looking for that “first year who hasn’t really had the scores before but figures out beam in college” type to beef up this slate of options.

FLOOR

2021 Event Ranking: 14

Oregon State will definitely raise the power quotient on floor in 2022. For Carey, she should be able to compete a double double for controlled landings and good college scores pretty comfortably, but I’d kind of like to see her bring a DLO 1/1 to college gymnastics. How about both? Kaitlyn Yanish and her DLO are a definite must in the back half of the lineup, even if she has to cede her anchor position to The Carey (should we start talking about using Carey earlier in lineups to force the judges to go high early?), and Madi Dagen was using her punch front 2/1 for competitive scores most of the time last season. And it’s just such a satisfying pass.

A number of the first years also bring initial pass difficulty with Chavez’s DLO, Briones’s piked full-in, and Jakubczyk’s double Arabian or full-in, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see any of them push their way into the lineup. If they find the right dance element options that can get by for Chavez, she’s going to be a huge floor scorer.

That’s not to ignore lineup mainstays Kayla Bird and Kristina Peterson, who both got high floor scores last year and should see time again this year, but this is going to be a fairly tough final lineup to make in 2022 if everyone is competing and doing what they can.

RANKING HISTORY
2021 – 13th
2020 – 18th
2019 – 18th
2018 – 10th
2017 – 19th
2016 – 20th
2015 – 14th
2014 – 15th
2013 – 10th
2012 – 6th

2021 IN REVIEW

While Arkansas’s final ranking of 13th is sort of middle-of-the-road in terms of program history, that undersells the significance of a season in which the team set records all over the place. March 5th’s total score of 197.425 was the highest ever recorded by Arkansas—breaking the previous record of 197.350 that the team had set a cool 14 days earlier—and Arkansas finished the season at #3 nationally on floor, also an all-time high for any apparatus. In all, four of the top six scores in Arkansas’s 19-year history belong to that 2021 squad…so you could say it went pretty well.

DEPARTED ROUTINES

Sophia Carter – UB, BB, FX
Gillian Rutz – UB, BB
Jordan Olszewski – VT

THE NEW ONES

Expect Arkansas’s first-year gymnasts to be prolific. The team has not lost all that much from last season—exactly one postseason routine on each event—which means a lineup remodel in 2022 is far from necessary. Yet, a noteworthy characteristic of this season’s roster is just how much quality and how many routines are now coming from seniors and fifth years. Arkansas doesn’t get a ton of routines out of the juniors and sophomores, so in future seasons, expect this year’s new class to become the program-defining group tasked with carrying the load. Even in 2022, we should see quite a bit from them.

Most notable in this new class is Leah Smith. Previously verballed to Washington before switching to Arkansas this year, Smith was one of the very best L10s in the country in 2021, winning the Nastia Cup and placing 2nd AA in her division at L10 Nationals. I’d consider Smith the best L10 tumbler entering college gymnastics this year, and huge scores will be realistic for her there (and elsewhere).

This is, for the most part, a vault and floor class. Makenzie Sedlacek also excels on those pieces, and her Yurchenko 1.5 will need to get in the vault lineup. Kalyxta Gamiao has the full complement of skills on floor, and Frankie Price has tremendous potential on both (though is dealing with a 2021 injury that may temper expectations for the upcoming season). We may see Maddie Jones and Cami Weaver largely in “backup options as needed depending on team health” territory, but watch out for Jones on bars. There’s a lot of ability there.

2022 PROJECTION

Improvement.

While Arkansas has lost a couple important routines from Sophia Carter, this year’s team gains far more than it is loses, which should be a recipe for continuing the upward trajectory established last season. The next step for Arkansas is reaching the top 8 and advancing to nationals, which will not be easy given the national quality this year but should absolutely be entertained as a realistic goal for the 2022 season.

BY EVENT

VAULT

2021 Event Ranking: 13

On vault, Arkansas stands to improve the most compared to 2021’s lineup. Quite frequently last season, Arkansas had to count some 9.7ish Yfulls that kept the total mired in the 49.1s. For 2022, the lineup should be able to retain only the strongest vaults from last year—those from Hambrick, Elswick, and Shaffer—and supplement them with new vaulters. Sedlacek’s Y1.5 has scored very well this year in L10 (save for a fall blip at nationals), and I’d treat Leah Smith as a vault lock as well. Smith frequently competed a huge Yfull in L10 that looks infinitely upgradeable, but whether she’s doing a full or more, she’ll be needed.

Ideally you’d also have Frankie Price joining this vault lineup (like Smith, she competes a huge full that could be more), but if injury recovery does not allow it, Arkansas will also have Abby Johnston returning from last season who can absolutely go and score well, Savannah Pennese who started to find her scores at the end of last year, and new vaults from Gamiao and Weaver. Keep an eye on Weaver. She added a Y1.5 to her repertoire in 2020, and while she’s never really had consistency with it, it exists. And if not, she has a competitive full.

BARS

2021 Event Ranking: 9

Bars was a strength for Arkansas last season with Hambrick and O’Hara hanging out in the last two spots and getting all the 9.9s. Since the biggest scores return to the roster this year, things are staged for another successful bars lineup. Many of the spots in that lineup, however, still look like they could go several directions. Most of the freshmen are capable and believable on bars, but not obvious locks, so they may contend with the early-lineup returners from last season like Gianfagna and Scalzo to see who proves the highest scorers.

I do expect to see Leah Smith in there, joining O’Hara, Hambrick, and Shaffer. Smith will get more attention for floor and vault I’m sure, but she has a crisp and efficient bars routine ready for that minimal-deduction college life. Maddie Jones has a floaty Pak (with legs together no less) and all the necessary skills and handstands, so while she didn’t always get the scores in L10, Arkansas’s most talented possible bars lineup probably has her in it.

How many spots are available for new gymnasts in this lineup may be dependent on Bailey Lovett, who has excellent ability on bars but is always in “is she healthy enough to go?” limbo. The elbow surgery that ended her season last year must, er, be taken into account when making bars plans.

BEAM

2021 Event Ranking: 11

If there’s an event Arkansas should be worried about this year, it’s beam. It was a somewhat nerve-wracking rotation last year, and the team has lost lineup lock Sophia Carter without bringing in an obvious 9.9er to fill the position. There’s still a useful returning core, though. Hambrick will get big scores, and Arkansas will want to get Lovett and O’Hara back in there as well. Even though beam has never been Shaffer’s most comfortable event, she was in the lineup pretty much every meet last season and I imagine will be relied upon again in 2022.

But some diamond-in-the-rough first years will likely need to emerge to keep Arkansas competitive. How many may depend on whether Gianfagna and Elswick are able to earn solid positions in the six this year. But for however many first-year spots it ends up being, it’s going to be a leaps race. Who can put together a routine that minimizes leap and extension deductions enough to get into the lineup? Sedlacek looks like a reasonable option, and while beam is definitely the weak event of the four for Smith, she could do it. There are several here with lower beam scores in L10 who could become beamers in college, and I’d put both Price and Weaver in that category.

FLOOR

2021 Event Ranking: 3

Arkansas’s current plan is to burn the faces of its enemies on floor. This is a team that ranked third on floor last season, lost one routine, and is bringing in a whole new class of floor stars. Which…sort of creates problems when it comes to concocting a lineup, leaving few locks and a lot of “well, she should…” As mentioned, Smith is going to be exceptional on floor, and Frankie Price is nearly to the same level depending on her injury situation, with an exceptional DLO. Sedlacek and Gamiao also bring very good full-ins—floor is definitely Gamiao’s best event, and it’s probably top two for Sedalcek.

And then there’s Kennedy Hambrick who will obviously return to a place of power in the lineup, Bailey Lovett with her 9.9s, Sarah Shaffer and Abby Johnston with their usually-almost 9.9s, and those are just the best 8 options on the list, with Hickey who competed every week last season also in the mix. It’s a deep enough lineup that if everyone is healthy, Arkansas could be leaving 9.900s on the sideline, and when everyone isn’t healthy, because obviously, there should always be a winning six that can go.