LIVE BLOG: No. 22 Central Michigan, No. 49 Texas Woman’s and No. 62 Sacramento State at No. 8 Denver

Hello from Hamilton Gymnasium for the first time in 2019!

Denver kicks off its exciting 2019 home slate with a fun quad meet featuring an interesting combination of teams in Central Michigan, Sacramento State and Texas Woman’s. By now you probably know that we at College Gym News love watching under-the-radar, smaller teams doing cool things, which is why I’m so excited for this meet, even if it’s not a big name one!

In its first meet, Denver put up one if its strongest opening meets in program history, upsetting both Alabama and Michigan down in Tuscaloosa. It’ll look to continue the progression in tonight’s home opener. Bars remains a strength for the Pioneers and the team cracked 49 on beam despite tighter scoring at Alabama, so it’ll be interesting to see how the routines translate over to a home setting. I’m especially interested to see the freshmen in their home debuts, as well as see if lineups change at all—as I wouldn’t be shocked to see Ruiz on beam at some point during the season.

Central Michigan is off to a strong start and is currently tied with Western Michigan for first place in the MAC. (Side note: Don’t sleep on the MAC, the conference dynamics have been super interesting to watch so far!) Freshmen Morgan Tong and Sierra Demarinis have been making a splash. Between them, Danelle Pedrick, Gianna Plaksa and Macey Hilliker, the Chippewas are certainly an exciting team to watch.

Texas Woman’s is the second highest ranked Division II team in the country and the third highest ranked team at this meet. The Pioneers have some under-the-radar gymnasts that are fabulous to watch, such as Bria Northop, Hope Parkin (her floor is to a mix of Ice Ice Baby and Chain Hang Low!) and Erin Alderman. Beyond that, I’ll be monitoring the status of Morgan Colee, who took a scary fall last meet on her bar dismount. It’ll be interesting to see if she’s back on vault and/or bars, and, if she’s not, who the replacement for her might be.

Sac State has had a rough start to the season, hovering around just 190.000 score-wise. The Hornets struggled mightily on bars so far, something that I’ll have to see in person to truly assess. What is causing the team to score literal 45s on the event? Is it falls? Is it start values? To be determined. Nevertheless, Sac State has always been a fun team to watch, especially on floor, even if the results don’t back it up.

See what I’m saying about this meet having an interesting combination of teams? Denver shouldn’t have an issue coming out on top barring disaster, but it’s the teams itself that will make it an interesting and exciting meet to watch.

With this being a quad meet, I’ll try to catch most of the highlights and as many routines as I can!

There’s no stream for this meet, but you can follow along with the live stats here.

Denver lineups: https://twitter.com/DU_Gymnastics/status/1086788234112262146

Rotation 1: DU VT, CMU UB, Sac St BB, TWU FX

A judge apparently just asked if they were going to vacuum the floor carpet. LOL.

DU VT

Chesnok: nice yfull to open. 9.75

Ruiz: I missed her vault, but the team was excited so I think it was better than last week! 9.725

Schou: hit yfull, I couldn’t judge the landing tooo well because a coach was in my way.

Sundstrom: basically stuck yfull, good vault for her! 9.8

Karr: 1.5 with a tiny hop.

Brown: 1.5, medium step. they’re gonna want to hone in on these landings as the season progresses.  9.8

Glynn exhibitions with a tsuk full. A little off center and a step.

CMU UB

CMU’s bars lineup: https://twitter.com/CMUGymnastics/status/1086790897256329217

Johnson: nice gienger; good hs after to bail; highh tucked full in, tiny hop. Nice routine!

CMU isn’t messing around at all this season!

Sac State BB

I can’t see beam very well, but I know Sac State had a lineup change that made their rotation take a little longer.

Wait….Now I’m hearing someone might have been injured, causing the change.

TWU FX

Northrop: secure double pike; also, mad props to TWU’s choroeographer. Amazing. double tuck second pass solid. combo pass good as wel. gets a hug from the coach! 9.8

omg. there’s people chanting TW and at first I heard “defense”. There is no defense in gymnastics. ahhhhhh

After 1:
Denver 48.925
CMU 48.475
Sac St 47.525
TWU 47.350

Denver looked good on vault and I was super impressed with CMU on bars! The Chippewas had a few errors but overall I was impressed. I didn’t catch much of Sac State but I’m hearing of a lineup change and someone may be injured but I don’t know who. TWU floor is also SO FUN. I love the choreo.

Here’s Sac State’s leos: https://twitter.com/GYMNALYSIS/status/1086799571156557824

Rotation 2: TWU VT, DU UB, CMU BB, Sac St FX

TWU VT

Balderas: yfull, very piked down but a full. 9.45

Alderman: another yfull, less piked than Balderas. 9.475

Northrop: Lovelyyy yfull.

 

DU UB

Kern: straddled jaeger, bail straight to hs, nice! DLO dismount, just a tiny step. Good leadoff! 9.85

Ruiz: caught tkatchev, good; she missed that in warmup; bail nice; DLO, another tiny hop about the size of Kern’s

Sundstrom: missed start; good bail; STUCK DLO. good routine from what I saw! 9.925

Glynn: Clear hip gienger nice; good bail; she’s improved her bars so much since coming to DU last fall! DLO. small step. Another good set! 9l.875

Brown: maloney to pak, her usual form; shap half nice; DLO, just a slide back. Not much at all, but it’s a movement. 9.9

Karr: gienger to immediate bail good; stuck DLO. And all the Maddie Karr emotions come. It’s lovely. 9.975–it’s a career high for her!

CMU BB

Plaska? off soo CMU will be counting a 9.675

Pedrick: missed the start; front aerial looked good but she checks it; double full with a step.

Sac St FX

Belkoff: she’s the sister of Corinne at ASU; good opening double pike; switch side wolf full good; hs lay front full secure; Sac State floor is always lovely! double tuck to close.

Watley: missed start; just took a fall on her last pass, caught by coach;

Schmeiss: good routine so far; seriously love their choreo; lay full underrotated but adjusts; ahh cute ending!

Brent: this is like the 10th time I’ve heard this floor music so that’s lovely…lay lay full good; sky high double tuck to close. That’s why she’s anchoring.

After 2
Denver 98.45
CMU 96.7
Sac St 95.3
TWU 95.1

49.525 on bars for Denver is a new school record. What’s crazy is they can do even better than what they did today! Lots of little landing adjustments that can be fixed. I didn’t catch much CMU beam but it seemed like they did ok, but not great. TWU hit vault, and Sac State floor never disappoints. Some of their scores were meh but the choreo makes up for it.

Here’s part of Karr’s routine: https://twitter.com/DU_Gymnastics/status/1086805483573235713

Rotation 3: Sac St VT, TWU UB, DU BB, CMU FX

Sac St VT

Catour: just a ylay, but a clean one

coach is proud of them. Just said “good job vaulters!” and clapped

TWU UB

Goyco: lovely DLO dismount, missed rest

DU BB

Brown: frotn toss to bhs lovely; super poised and confident tonight! stuck gainer full. Lovely leadoff. 9.85

Loper: front aerial, check, side aerial larrger check; bobbl on switch half; split to wolf good; good side somi; she’s getting better as this routine goes on; stuck tuck full. Not her best, but a hit. 9.3

Long wait for judges on Loper

Sundstrom: she’ll look to rebound from Loper’s routine; switch split beat jump good; she just did a cartwheel what? that’s not normally there. BHS LOSO, completely off, I strangely saw that coming. 9.3

Vasquez: ahh she’s just so pretty on beam! good start; lovely y turn; sissone is beautiful; side aerial lay full, good rebound routine for the Pios.

Karr: still love her beam music! and she’s off too; not the beam rotation DU wanted; switch to side somi good; ro 1.5 good landing; shame about the fall

Schou: front aerial bhs loso SOLID. sissone, good; her beam is LOVELY; beat jump sheep jump good; bhs gainer full stuck; good finish to the rotation, but that could have been much better for the Pioneers. 9.95, including a 10 from 1 judge!

Ruiz is exhibitioning, I wouldn’t be surprised to see her make the lineup at some point, especially after tonight. Her exhibition has looked good so far! Very good case for lineup.

CMU FX

Tong: good closing pass, nice leadoff!

Demarinis: switch side popa lovely; opened with anice double tuck; hand lay full good looked like a solid routine!

Williams: nice double pike; lay full lay solid; short on double pike and puts knee down. Good routine to that point.

Pedrick: triple twist, looked good but my view as semi blocked; 1.5 to punch front, landed a little deep; closes with double pike, good routine.

After 3:
Denver 146.75
CMU 144.6
TWU 143.15
Sac St 142.55

That was definitely not the beam rotation that Denver wanted. Hopefully the team can rebound on floor and use it as early season motivation to get better. CMU looked GREAT on floor and TWU is a very formidable bars team. I didn’t catch a ton of Sac State but from what I saw there’s not a lot of difficulty but the execution isn’t bad.

Here’s Vasquez’s beam: https://twitter.com/GYMNALYSIS/status/1086811070302367744

Also: attendance is impressive considering there’s a hockey game going at the same time. Hockey is BIG here at DU, but it’s a packed house in here. Great to see!

Rotation 4: CMU VT, Sac St UB, TWU BB, DU FX

CMU VT

Pedrick: first–why is she leading off? second–9.725. I totally missed her vault though

Williams: nice yfull; stuck, maybe a lil short though. 9.725

Johnson: nice yfull, just a hop. 9.7

Sac St UB

so Sac State is just a hot mess on bars. That’s all.

TWU BB

Vincent: bhs loso, completely off; rest of the routine was fine. 9.05

DU FX

Sundstrom: nice opening double tuck; lay lay full good; here comes her dance section; switch half wolf full nice; popa; good leadoff and good recovery for her! 9.875

Kern: double pike, very secure; good extension on leaps; lay lay full, just some leg form but otherwise good; good double tuck to close. 9.8

Ruiz: double tuck, landed a tad weird but covered it up; 1.5 to front lay, good; closing double pike, solid. Nice routine. 9.825

Schou: fhs to double full, nice; second pass looked good, but someone walked in front of me in the middle of it; lovely splits; good last pass. Good routine for her! 9.9

Karr: opening double pike, nailed it. She’s such a performer and I love it; 1.5 full lay good; fhs rudi to close. Nice routine for her! 9.9

Brown: opens with her AMAZING DLO. One of the best in NCAA. Seriously. switch ring to switch to immediate drop. She’s a great performer. combo pass lovely; closing double pike, tiny hp forward; Maddie Karr just got all the emotions again. LOVELY. 9.925

Here’s Brown’s floor: https://twitter.com/DU_Gymnastics/status/1086821542346911744

And Schou’s beam: https://twitter.com/DU_Gymnastics/status/1086818661568983042

FINAL
Denver 196.175
CMU 193.25
TWU 190.2
Sac St 190.15

Denver really rebounded on floor, with a 49.425. It managed to break 196 and almost hit its score from last week despite a beam meltdown. This team could go a long way in the future–they definitely haven’t hit their peak! CMU looked good on vault, too. I’m telling you, they’re a team to watch for! Sac State tremendously improved its bars, even though it was still kind of a disaster it was still almost 2 points higher than its previous bars scores. And TWU showed why it’s a USAG powerhouse. It can definitely compete with some of the D1 schools!


Live Blog by Tara Graeve

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