By Assistant Coach – Ben Bloom
The Dawgs kicked off their competition season at the Washington Open last Saturday. Both fans and athletes alike were excited to be in the immense Alaska Airlines Arena of the Hec Ed Pavilion as the energy of the competition was palpable. The Huskies put on a decent performance to start the season scoring a 5 up 5 count score of 364.9 (6 points higher than their score at WA Open last year) and a 5 up 4 count score of 297.1.
The Dawgs strongest events of the night were vault, still rings, and parallel bars receiving team scores of 64.4 (52.6)*, 62.9 (51.6) , and 62.6 (50.8) respectively. Stand-out performances on these events included sophomore Andrew “Driggs” Laymen on the vault who performed his Kasamatsu 1.5 with a clean execution scoring a 14.4 to take 1st place in the competition. Andrew has been a key competitor on vault for the Huskies since his freshman year and they will continue to look to Andrew to put up clean, consistent, and high start value vaults all season. Shout-out on vault goes to freshman Xander Agate for stepping up on vault when the team needed him to replace fellow freshman Oscar Coromina-Pujol who was unfortunately injured during warm-up.
While vault is usually a high scoring event for teams the huskies other strengths showed through with fantastic execution on still rings and parallel bars. The Huskies had an average execution score of 8.62 on the rings with stand out performances from senior Connor Pattison who won the meet with a 13.1 on rings only losing eight tenths on his routine. Connor has continued to show himself as a dependable performer on the still rings and the Dawgs will look for him to continue to put up clean and precise routines. Rings shout-out goes to underclassman Sebastian Barquero who is coming into the lime-light on rings. Sebastian had a superb routine by performing difficult and unique strength elements and graceful swing elements. The Dawgs love to see when underclassmen step-up and show their strength and confidence.
Parallel bars was another highlight event for the huskies with more well executed routines. Freshman duo Xander Agate and Bradley Stroud will be ones to watch for the huskies on Parallel bars. Both had near flawless execution during this competition each only losing 6 tenths of a point on their routines. The Dawgs were fired up after both freshmen stuck their dismounts after excellently executed routines.
As for Floor, Pommel Horse, and Highbar the Dawgs will look to improve on technique, execution, and build greater difficulty throughout the season. Floor, normally a strong event for the huskies, was not as consistent as normal as the huskies only scored a 60.8 (49.3). While the overall score was lackluster, stand-out performances included junior Jameel Ali and senior Oscar Hemmert. Both performed unique and difficult routines that highlighted their strengths. Jameel with powerful, and quick twitch double flipping elements earned first place at the competition with a 13.2. Oscar with graceful twisting and bounding elements received second with a 12.5. For future competitions the huskies will look to improve their floor score by implementing improved landing technique to minimize deduction.
Pommel Horse was the weakest event for the huskies with a team score of 56.9 (46.1). Sophomore Andrew Layman had the top score of the meet with an 11.7 by executing a clean routine, doing his job and staying on the event. The Dawgs will look to improve their pommel score with repetition, mental training, and improved execution especially on scissor type elements.
Highbar was not much better than pommel horse as the dawgs only scored a 57.3. Despiste the score the Dawgs still caught 6 out 6 of their releases. Stand out performances came from senior co-captain Perry Lightfoot and freshman Bradley Stroud. Each performed similar and well executed routines with a Tkachev straddle release scoring 12.0 and 12.1 respectively. The Huskies will look to improve on highbar by improving pirouetting technique to minimize angle deductions.
Overall the Huskies have started the season well, but with room to improve. Keep an eye on these Dawgs as they are hungry to show what they are truly capable of in competition. Look to see what they do next by tuning in to Washington Men’s Gymnastics Facebook live on February 4th or come and see the competition live in the Alaska Airlines Arena! If you missed the Washington Open competition you can additionally find the replay of it on Washington Men’s Gymnastics Facebook.