2015 Gymnastics Preseason Notebook
January 06, 2015 12:44 PM | General
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| Fourth-year seniors Dayah Haley, Beth Deal and Lia Salzano were freshmen when WVU won its last conference title in the EAGL in 2012. |
| WVU Photography |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – With four months of preseason behind, the West Virginia University gymnastics team officially opens the 2015 season with a tri-meet at Maryland with George Washington on Friday, Jan. 9, at 7 p.m., at the XFINITY Center, in College Park, Maryland.
Fourth-year coach Jason Butts returns following a 6-11 2014 campaign that saw the Mountaineers just-miss qualifying for the NCAA Regional Championships.
Experience Key
Young one season ago, the Mountaineers return 11 from the 2014 campaign, including seniors Beth Deal, Dayah Haley and Lia Salzano, all freshmen when the squad won its last conference title in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) in 2012. Butts will lean on this class to lead the Mountaineers through their third season in the Big 12 Conference.
“That group of seniors has seen everything throughout their time at WVU,” said Butts. “We will rely on them to help guide this program back to the NCAA Regional Championships. But we don’t want to just settle for a bid to the regional championships. Our goal each season is to advance to the NCAA National Championships, and that’s where we hope to end this year, too.”
Four Mountaineers individually qualified for the NCAA Athens Regional Championships in 2014, including Deal, who finished ninth on the balance beam. Sophomores Nicolette Swoboda and Alexa Goldberg placed seventh in the all-around and eighth on the uneven bars, respectively. Former Mountaineer Hope Sloanhoffer finished first on balance beam and second in the all-around and advanced to the NCAA National Championships.
Transfers, Freshmen Join Mountaineers
Seven fresh faces join the WVU gymnastics team this season: redshirt-senior Brittney Harris, junior Audrey Tolbert and freshmen Robyn Bernard, Amanda Bowman, Jordan Gillette, Zaakira Muhammad and Alexa Phillip.
Harris spent the previous four seasons at Pitt, while Tolbert competed for Ohio State from 2013-14.
Confidence in the Big 12 Conference
The Mountaineers’ strength of schedule enjoyed a large boost when the squad joined the Big 12 Conference in 2012-13. Though WVU shows a 1-7 two-year conference record, the program made much progress in 2014, as the Mountaineers scored 196.375 at the Big 12 Championship in Morgantown, an almost two-point increase from their 2013 showing.
Three Mountaineers earned All-Big 12 Championship Team honors. Deal and Haley finished second (9.9) on beam and third (39.125) in the all-around, respectively. Deal’s showing was her top career score in the WVU Coliseum, while Haley’s finish came in her first career all-around performance. Additionally, Sloanhoffer won the conference’s all-around crown and finished third on floor; her all-around win was the first Big 12 Conference title for a WVU gymnast.
The 2015 Big 12 Championship will be held at Oklahoma’s Lloyd Noble Center, in Norman, Oklahoma, on March 21. The Sooners have won seven Big 12 titles, including the last three straight, and captured their first National Championship in 2014. OU is the first Big 12 program to win the NCAA title.
A Look at the 2015 Slate
The Mountaineers’ 2015 schedule is highlighted by six meets at the WVU Coliseum, including the 2015 NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships in April.
Following a tri-meet at Ohio State with Michigan on Jan. 17, WVU will open its home season at the WVU Coliseum against Iowa State and George Washington on Jan. 25. The team’s full road schedule includes trips to NC State, New Hampshire and Pitt. The Mountaineers’ home slate features meets with Denver and Penn State.
WVU will travel to Norman, Oklahoma, for the first time since 2009 for the 2015 Big 12 Gymnastics Championship on March 21. The Mountaineers will play host to the 2015 NCAA Regional Gymnastics Championships on Saturday, April 4, at 4 p.m. This season will be WVU’s ninth regional championships.
Coaching Staff in Place
Coach Butts announced in late May the hiring of Kaylyn Millick as assistant coach. Millick, a three-year letterwinner for WVU from 2011-13, will oversee the team’s choreography for beam and floor, as well as lead the team’s community service outreach program. She served as a student assistant in 2014.
Butts also announced over the summer the elevation of seventh-year coach Travis Doak to associate head coach. Doak is responsible for coaching vault, bars and floor, and he also oversees the Mountaineers’ recruiting efforts.
Vault
The Mountaineers enter 2015 much improved on vault. Though the lineup lost its top vaulter in Sloanhoffer, three key contributors return, including 2013 All-Big 12 vaulter Jaida Lawrence. The junior was second on the team with a 9.814 season average last year and hit for a team- and personal-best 9.925 at The Perfect 10 Challenge.
Two freshmen pegged to contribute right away are Muhammad and Bowman.
“Vault is a stronger lineup this season,” said Butts. “We lost Hope and Erica (Smith), but we have at least five vaults we can use right away. I also think we’re going to be able to compete vaults we couldn’t get consistent last year, like Beth Deal’s and Emma Lasker’s.
“Zaakira and Amanda will be the highlights in this lineup, and Jaida has the potential to go 9.9 every meet. We’ll also have Dayah back. Really, we have 10 gymnasts we can put in the lineup, and that is a luxury we did not have last year. I compare this lineup to our 2012 vault lineup – the potential is there for us to score 9.8 in every spot.”
Uneven Bars
The Mountaineers consistently improved on the uneven bars as the 2014 season progressed, scoring 49.0 or better in three of the final four meets. Butts believes the team will pick up right where it left off this year.
“As much as we improved on this event last season, we’re infinitely better this year,” he explained. “We have huge releases, and the dismounts have been upgraded, too. I believe this is going to be a strong lineup for us this year.”
Goldberg is expected to anchor the lineup for the second straight season. A 2014 NCAA Athens Regional Championships individual qualifier in the event, she ranked No. 2 on the team with a 9.767 season average and hit for 9.9 or better three teams. Also expected to return to the lineup are junior Lindsey Litten, Lawrence and Swoboda.
WVU looks to replace key contributors Sloanhoffer and Smith, No. 1 (9.804 avg.) and No. 3 (9.752 avg.) on the team last year, with Haley, Harris, Tolbert, Muhammad and Bernard.
Balance Beam
Without question, Butts believes the Mountaineers will be strongest on balance beam this season, despite losing lineup staples Sloanhoffer, Smith and Amanda Carpenter to graduation.
“We can replace those routines, and then some. We easily have 17 10.0 beam routines this year,” he explained. “The mentality and training for this event are different this season – you are not allowed to jump off the beam in Cary Gym. This training have given the gymnasts a great mindset in a competition setting, and that’s awesome. The skills and routines are there; now, we just need the lineup to hit under pressure. I really believe that by the time we reach March, we can score 49.0 or better every meet.”
Deal returns to the anchor position. The Parkersburg, West Virginia, native, a 2014 NCAA Athens Regional Championships qualifier in the event, tallied 9.9 and finished in second place at last year’s Big 12 Championship. She paced the squad with a 9.76 season average.
While the lineup is expected to be fluid this season, several gymnasts should see consistent time, including junior Melissa Idell, Bernard, Haley and Litten.
Floor Exercise
“We were not happy with this lineup in 2014,” Butts unabashedly explained. “We weren’t used to having so many issues and so little depth. We honestly only had six gymnasts we could put into the lineup.
“This year, there is a ton of depth. We don’t know who our top six are because we have so many options, and that’s a great problem to have. I think we have four legitimate E tumbling passes that should be in the lineup this year.”
Haley has stood out the most throughout preseason, and the coaches believe she could be the lineup’s superstar this year. The Pasadena, Maryland, native ranked No. 2 on the team in 2014 with a 9.711 average.
Also expected to return to the lineup this season are Idell, Goldberg, Swoboda and sophomore Mackenzie Myers. Additionally, the coaches are excited to see Muhammad, Bernard, Harris, Bowman and Gillette in a competition setting.
“This year’s routines are louder and more fun,” Butts finished. “I can’t wait to see this lineup compete.”
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