The 2016 season saw the world of collegiate vault—and its recruiting—turned on its head with the Yurchenko full being devalued from a 10.000 start value to a 9.950. It then took until 2019 for the league to see a vault lineup start from a maxed out 50.000 with Oklahoma, who would go on to be national champion that season. Nationally, lowering the start value for the most frequently seen vault became the new example of how to weigh execution against difficulty. Each team began to face this age-old question of gymnastics philosophy, and schools with stellar recruiting power were able to bring in athletes specifically to have it both ways: clean and reliable 10.0 start values.
Across the midwest, the answer is rarely that simple. Coveted Yurchenko one and a halves and double twists are seldom recruited into the MAC, with standout vaulters post-pandemic shutdown having raised their recruiting “market value” with dynamic front handspring, Tsuk, or twisting Yurchenko entries.
Immediately after the change came into play, Northern Illinois’ head coach Sam Morreale noticed its effects recruiting out of the level 10 program. The Huskies had in his words “created a staple of eight to 10 fulls, and then they devalued them… The good thing is it happened to…
