(Photo Courtesy: Washington Athletics)
The University of Washington GymDawgs enter the Pac-12 Championships as the 7-seed in the conference and ranked No. 22 in the nation.
The Huskies enter the championships with a 2-6 dual meet record this season (1-5 Pac-12). Don’t let their record fool you – this team has put up big scores, with a season RQS standing at a 195.960. They are coming off their highest score of the season, a 196.600 against UC Davis. The team’s lowest score was a 194.325 in its first meet all season against No. 25 Kentucky.
Junior all-arounder Allison Northey, the sole all-around competitor this year for the Huskies, is the key gymnast set to compete for Washington. Coming off last season when she received First Team All-Pac-12 honors, Northey set a career-high with a 39.475 this year and won the all-around titles against Oregon State, Utah, Stanford and North Carolina State.
Biggest Strength
BEING THE UNDERDOG
This Washington team comes in as the second-lowest seed in the championships. With Arizona State not acting as a huge threat to any other team, this basically makes Washington the underdog in the competition. This can act as their strength because they can use this motivation to bring about strong routines and high-scoring performances. While the Huskies will still be the seventh-best team on paper, being the under-dawgs (pun absolutely intended) can lead to success in any athletic competition.
Biggest Weakness
EXPERIENCE
The GymDawgs have a roster comprised of primarily freshmen and sophomores. In fact, just 4 of the 16 active athletes are juniors or seniors. This makes a team with minimal experience competing at the level that the Pac-12 Championships warrants. Worst case scenario: chalk this year up as a learning experience for a young team with massive potential.
Prediction
Washington brings great skill to the competition floor; however, so does every other team in this conference. It won’t be a bad meet on paper for the ‘Dawgs by any stretch of the imagination, but a 7th place finish is in store for them this weekend simply due to the skill level of the rest of the field.
Agree? Disagree? We want to hear your input. Tweet at @CronkiteSports or @TylerPaley using #Pac12GymSpotlight.
