Denver should sail through this regional, but don’t be shocked if Boise State runs into some trouble. Its margin over No. 18 Washington isn’t massive in most meaningful stats and Southern Utah is a serious wildcard in any situation.
The Broncos and the Huskies have each lost their star all arounder recently—Shani Remme and Evanni Roberson—and the fact that Boise State has had longer to learn to cope without Remme might be a slight advantage.
Kelley Hebert from UC Davis will compete in the all around, rotating with Southern Utah. This session will also feature Maddi Leydin on vault, Anna Salamone and Christina Berg on bars, Sophia Hyderally, Alyssa Ito and Haylie Hendrickson on beam and Maddi Leydin and Christina Berg on floor.
Denver will start on vault, Southern Utah on bars, Boise State beam and Washington on floor.
ROTATION 1: DENVER VAULT, SOUTHERN UTAH BARS, BOISE STATE BEAM, WASHINGTON FLOOR
RUIZ – DU: OK full, soft knees, hop back. 9.775
MURAKAMI – SUU: Gotta be one of the best leads in the country. Jaeger to overshoot, FTDB and takes two arm swings to try to hold the landing. Chest down a little. 9.775
SCHOU – DU: Another good full, messy legs but lots of amplitude, arm swing to hold the stick. 9.7
NELSON – UW: Joined halfway. Good landing on twisting pass, switch ring to something, double pike nailed to close. 9.825 great start!
TERVORT – SUU: Missed a handstand quite badly, Gienger to overshoot is GORGEOUS and nailed. DLO with a hop. 9.725
BOUZA – BSU: BHS LOSO, off line, arm swing and lean to hold it. Full turn, cat leap front aerial to beat, gainer pike with a hop. 9.65
AMADO – BSU: BHS BHS two foot layout, pikey with feet and right off the side. Switch switch side I think, full turn, front aerial tentative but held, one and a half stuck with a lean. 9.175
RILEY – UW: Double pike, stumble back and fall. Floor isn’t her comfort zone, hopefully they can drop this. One and a half front lay, double back with nice pointed toes to close. 9.075
NIPP – SUU: Blind to Jaeger, catches a little close, toe on to bail to toe shoot, touch of legs. DLO with a hop. 9.7
MCGREGOR – BSU: BHS two foot layout, messy form but solid, full turn. Side aerial back full with a hop. Sounds like a very enthusiastic Boise State cheering section in Corvallis. 9.825
BROWN – DU: One and a half, nice in the air, slightly awkward landing with a cross step back. 9.825
KHO – SUU: Maloney to Pak, nice, touch of leg sep but nothing drastic. Toe on to FTDB a little deep with a quick step back. 9.75
CUNNINGHAM – UW:Â Feed missed the first pass. One and a half front pike is a downgrade from her, she had more in the first half of the season. Switch half wolf full is good, double pike maaaaybe a little deep but not bad. 9.85
JORGENSEN – SUU: CH + Gienger + overshoot, tiny leg flicker, blind to half to double back with a hop. Nice.
MEANS – BSU: BHS LOSO is good, switch straddle quarter, question on her splits. Full turn, kickover front deep to beat. BHS gainer full, couldn’t see her feet.
HEBERT – UCD: Blind to pike Jaeger, toe on front pike with a step.
THOMPSON – UW: Double back, huge. Tour jete full, front lay front full, maybe a touch of form. Rudi to close. Great!
HYDERALLY – UAA: She’s SO glittery. Maybe even glitterier than usual. Front aerial front aerial, yes. Switch straddle quarter is great, split back tuck nailed. “We call that a gym-acro series” well maybe you do… Full turn, lifts her hip a little but it’s fine, gainer pike stuck. YES. 9.9!
WASHINGTON – UW: Double back, scoots back a little. Front lay front full good. Switch side straddle quarter, double pike, another scoot way back. 9.85 LOL all judges are obsessed with this girl.
HOFFA – UW: Full in, nailed it. Front lay front full, tour jete half wolf full a little wonky but gets it around fine. I’m just hypersensitive about that combo for reasons that I won’t mention until she finishes the routine. Double back, hop to lunge. Great. 9.85… I’d have gone higher.
WASHINGTON 49.225, BOISE STATE 49.000, DENVER 48.950, SUU 48.850
Heyyyyy Dawgs. How’s it going. Don’t be surprised if things go downhill a little on vault, but what a start.
ROTATION 2: UW VAULT, DENVER BARS, SUU BEAM, BSU FLOOR
JORGENSEN – SUU: Punch front, switch straddle quarter. BHS LOSO, little lean, holds on. Split back tuck, missed the dismount. 9.775
HOFFA – UW: Well, the stream is spelling her name wrong, so that’s a great start. Huge full, big step back. 9.725
CHESNOK – DU: Denver hasn’t been able to push its scores very high tonight. Full turn with a foot flicker to a Tkachev, handstands borderline, definitely short on the bail. FTDB, on the low side, clean legs with a little hop. 9.85
COPIAK – UW: Little regression on her technique, twisting on with a little shoulder angle, but lots of amplitude and sticks it. 9.8
MCGREGOR – BSU: Double pike, great. One and a half front lay, dances out, video cut away. 9.85
MURAKAMI – SUU: Silivas mount, full turn, BHS LOSO BHS. Split sheep, arm swing, stick on dismount. 9.775
THOMPSON – UW: Huge with a stick. 9.85
BROOKS – UW: Ooooh very interesting. She hasn’t vaulted since week 2. Y half on, tuck off, messy form but solid landing. 9.65.
KARR – DU: Short on first handstand, full turn to Gienger to overshoot nice. Another slightly shabby handstand, good DLO. 9.925 wait what?
MCCLAIN – SUU: Just saw a stick on a one and a half dismount. 9.85
SALAMONE – AFA: Full turn to Gienger, leg flicker. Nice Pak, missed a handstand on HB, FTDB with a hop. 9.8
HEBERT – UCD: BHS BHS LOSO great! Full turn, sissone switch side. One and a half twist with a step.
ESMERIAN – BSU: Whippy on the front lay out of her second pass, Rudi with a scoot back.
BERG – UA: FHS 2/1, solid landing, question on the splits. One and a half front lay is good.
DENVER 98.275, WASHINGTON 98.125, BOISE STATE 98.100, SUU 97.700
Washington’s got the hell event out of the way and can cruise now. Denver is getting no joy out of these judges, but it’s leaving plenty of tenths on the table too. UW is pulling out all the stops and is bringing Evanni Roberson back into the bars rotation after a few weeks out with a foot injury.
ROTATION 3: BOISE STATE VAULT, WASHINGTON BARS, DENVER BEAM, SUU FLOOR
NELSON – UW: Jaeger is close, slides down her forearms to catch it with minimal drama, gorgeous Pak. Hitting handstands, blind full double back stuck. 9.775
NILSON – BSU: Okay full, a little pikey, hop back. 9.7
BROWN – DU: Just saw a switch split, short of splits, gainer full stuck. 9.9
WASHINGTON – UW: Nailing handstands, CH + Gienger + overshoot. FTDB with a bit of leg split and a hop in place. 9.75 WHAT?
BRUDEN – BSU: Twisting on, dynamic in the air, hop back. 9.8
RUIZ – DU: Maybe a check on her acro series? We cut in at an awkward time. Full turn, side aerial to split WAY short, gainer pike underrotated with a hop. 9.8
ROBERSON – UW? SHE’S BAAAACK! Pike Jaeger is great, DLO with a couple of quick steps. 9.7 ok come on now.
SUNDSTROM – DU: Full turn, BHS LOSO a little off but pulls it on with her arms. Random cartwheel. Switch switch half beat, gainer pike and fights for the landing.
GONZALEZ – SUU: Way under on the first pass. Front lay front full is great, Rudi to close.
VASQUEZ – DU: Switch split, Y turn fantastic. Sissone, side aerial gainer full. 9.95
COPIAK – UW: Caught her Jaeger with one arm, down and stays down. Oh no.
MCCLAIN – SUU: One and a half front lay, switch half Popa, missed the rest.
THOMPSON – UW: Pressure on for the rookie. Blind to Jaeger, a little close but keeps going, touch of arch on the bail but keeps going. FTDB with a little hop. Good for her. 9.775
Okay I lost track for a moment because I had to go and have a few feelings about Copiak. Alyssa Ito was great on beam. Tanya Ho was filming her for some reason. UCD is her alma mater so she might have been doing a favor to the coaches there since they’re not swimming in extra personnel.Â
HEBERT – UCD: Double pike, lunge forward but didn’t look badly underrotated. Great landing on the combo pass. Double back, tries to hold the stick and can’t but good routine anyway!
DENVER 147.750, BOISE STATE 146.950, UW 146.850, SUU 146.775
Ooooh this thing is going to be close. UW is still capable of being great on beam, but Boise is regularly great on bars, but the bars judges are assholes today, so who knows what’ll happen.
ROTATION 4: SUU VAULT, BOISE STATE BARS, UW BEAM, DENVER FLOOR
BROOKS – UW: Kickover front BHS great. Front aerial beat, stag to gainer full dismount with a step. 9.775
MEANS – BSU: Tkachev, toe on to bail, missed a handstand, blind full double back stuck. 9.825
RILEY – UW: BHS LOSO, soft knees and off. Ugh. One and a half twist dismount stuck.
KERN – DU: Double back, chest WAY down, I think that’s the end of the routine haha.
MCGREGOR – BSU: Missed a handstand, FTDB with a hop. 9.85
WASHINGTON – UW: BHS LOSO with an extra step, switch side to straddle is gorgeous. Full turn, side aerial tuck back full stuck.
RUIZ – DU: Double pike. Well, that was an enlightening seven seconds of floor. 9.8
NILSON – BSU: CH to Tkachev, loses form a bit under the bar, short on her bail. Shy on another one, DLO stuck. 9.775
NELSON – UW: BHS LOSO beautiful. Will always make me smile that the team calls her Nellie. Full turn, adjustment, sissone to split 3/4. Landed way back on her heels and very easily could have slid off but just smiled through. Split to LOSO, one and a half dismount with a step. 9.775
ROSE – UW: Jump to split, cat leap front aerial BHS so smooth. Full turn, switch to split with an extra step in the middle, dunno if that breaks the connection? Cat leap side aerial back full. 9.85
Saw a large scoot back on Karr’s last pass. 9.875
COPIAK – UW: Full turn, BHS LOSO and lands it on one leg but gets through. Switch half gorgeous, side aerial, one and a half dismount stuck. 9.85
BROWN – DU: One and a half front lay to split, double pike with a little scoot.
DENVER 196.975, BOISE STATE 196.225, WASHINGTON 195.900, SUU 195.350
That was kind of a bummer of a regional. Washington was looking stellar until the Copiak fall on bars and didn’t seem to get their nerve back on beam. Scoring on the last two events didn’t help. Denver will need to clean up its act if it wants to challenge Florida tomorrow – lots of hops and little form things from the Pioneers.
VAULT: Leydin, Means, Karr, Thompson 9.850
BARS: Karr 9.925
BEAM: Vasquez 9.950
FLOOR: Brown 9.950
AA: Brown, Karr 39.525
Live blog by Rebecca Scally
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