By Caroline Medley

In our final potential lineups article of the preseason, we’ll analyze the Utah State Aggies, who ended their 2016 season at No. 30. After a massive loss of seven seniors, will they be able to bounce back and improve on last season’s finish? Their preseason training push and huge new class of freshmen seem to say it’s possible.

By Caroline Medley

​After a brief delay for the holiday season, we’re back with our Potential Lineups series! After a heated three-day Twitter battle, Kent State finally won, closely fought by Utah State. These are the final two teams we’ll be featuring in our series this preseason. So today we are covering the Kent State Golden Flashes, who finished 30th in the regular season in 2016. However, they’ve also been voted the number one seed in their conference coming into the 2017 season. As it gains some solid new freshmen and retains most of its heavy hitters, KSU should be in a great position to prove the MAC coaches’ poll right.

By Caroline Medley

​Today, we’ll take a look at the North Carolina State Wolfpack and how they might fare in the coming season. The team loses some major players in seniors Aubrey Hine, Courtney Turner, Brittni Watkins and Michaela Woodford. However, they’ll gain some key freshmen, including a former American elite and multiple J.O. national qualifiers. Maintaining its forward momentum and adding to it will be the key to qualifying to Regionals and beyond this year for NCSU.

By Caroline Medley

In our next bonus lineup, we tackle the North Carolina Tar Heels! Though this up-and-coming team lost some key seniors in Lexi Cappalli, Josselyn Mackey and Sarah Peterson, they actually win the title for largest incoming freshman class for the 2017 season. With a whopping eleven gymnasts, beating out Oregon State by one, the Tar Heels should expect to have a lot of depth in the coming seasons. But will it be enough?

By Caroline Medley

Our next bonus lineup takes a look at last season’s surprise Top 25 finish, the George Washington Colonials! The Colonials finished No. 24 after the postseason in 2016, an 11-place jump from 2015 and their highest finish since 2001. To keep up this success, they’ll need to replace just a few routines from seniors Alexsis Petrikis and Taylor Redmond and continue to up their ante. With four freshmen, each with their own strengths, and Auburn transfer Brooke Bray added to the roster, 2017 should be another excellent season for GW.

The Colonials’ vault lineup will see the return of all of its routines, including Alex DeMoura, Cami Drouin-Allaire, Julia McLaughin, Sara Mermelstein, Liz Pfeiler, Chelsea Raineri, Madeline Seibold, Jillian Winstanley and Alex Zois. Most of these gymnasts compete the Yurchenko full, with Raineri and Winstanley the standouts with Yurchenko 1.5s. However, incoming freshmen Cydney Crasa and Jenna Horner may be able to sneak into this crowded lineup. Crasa’s full is cleaner than some of the veterans’, and Horner competes a different vault entirely, a handspring front pike. While this vault is only worth a 9.9, if she can add just a half twist to it, it’ll be another 10.0 vault for GW. This may not be something we see immediately, but it’s definitely an option for her in the future.