Katie Chamberlain

LIVE BLOG: No. 23 Kent State at No. 31 Pittsburgh

What was originally supposed to be a tri meet with George Washington is now down to a dual between two non-conference opponents. Despite the schools being less than a two-hour drive, this is the first time the teams have met in a regular season matchup since 2015.

Pitt is coming off a rough first meet where it counted a fall on bars and floor and will be looking to redeem itself at home. Sixth-year Katrina Coca earned EAGL Co-Specialist of the Week honors for her 9.875 on bars and 9.825 in her collegiate beam debut, so she will definitely be one to watch. Junior Katie Chamberlain also came back from injury to score a 9.875 on bars week one as well.

Kent State is coming off a solid first meet, where it hit 49 on floor and tallied over 194 despite counting a fall on beam. Senior Abby Fletcher scored a 9.875 on floor in that meet, so she will be one to watch there. A pair of sophomores—Rachel DeCavitch and Karlie Franz—bring the difficulty on floor with double Arabians. In addition, freshman Kyndall Gilbert was voted MAC Specialist of the Week and has a big Yurchenko full.

Today is Pitt’s first ever pride meet, and the team is wearing matching shirts with the pride flag. There are also various LGBTQ+ flags hung up on the wall. As is typical during pandemic times, it appears that only families are in attendance today.

Rotation 1: Pitt Vault, Kent State Bars

Ceccarini (Pitt) – missed the vault dues to technical difficulties – 9.625

Amodei (KSU) – good tkatachev, little shy on handstand, great bail, tiny step on double back – 9.75

Miller (Pitt): nearly stuck y full, slight chest down – 9.775

Haxton (KSU): great jaeger to overshoot, slightly shy on hs, low landing on DLO and takes a few steps forward, don’t think her knee touched but it may have – 9.375

Liszewski (Pitt): nearly stuck y full with a small hop in place – 9.775

Trott (KSU): good jaeger to overshoot, hitting hs well, floaty DLO with a step – 9.75

Ward (Pitt): big y full with a hop back. Lots of power! – 9.8

Franz (KSU): good gienger to overshoot, small hop on DLO – 9.8

Coca (Pitt): just a y layout with a step back – 9.375

And Pitt’s only putting 5 on vault, so that’s it for them

Brown (KSU): good tkatachev, good hs on bail, stuck DLO – 9.8

DeCavitch (KSU): good maloney to pak – slightly close catch, stuck DLO! – 9.825

Ianuzzo (KSU): Exh – big tkachev – some form issues, great bail hs, DLO really close to bar with a step back

After 1: Pitt: 48.350, Kent State 48.925

Good start for both teams. Pitt struggling with depth a bit, putting up only five and having a layout as one of those. Winder was listed in the lineup at one point (she’s the one that jammed her knee at the last meet) but was pulled. They’re definitely going to want to have her back. Kent State looked really good on bars. I’m not as familiar with their team, but they definitely impressed me.

Pitt using a UV light to sanitize the equipment between rotations.

Rotation 2: Pitt Bars, Kent State Vault

Klein (KSU): y full, slightly short with a step forward – 9.625

Miller (Pitt): good piked jaeger, great hs on bail, stuck FTDT – 9.8

Chapman (KSU): y full – slightly piked down with a step back – 9.525

Macy (Pitt): falls on piked jaeger, great bail hs, hop on DLO – good finish – 8.9

DeCavitch (KSU): big y full with a large step back – 9.675

Beckwith (Pitt): good gienger, a little close and drags feet on pak but didn’t seem to mess up her rhythm, small hop – 9.5

Gilbert (KSU): BIG y full with a hop back – 9.775

Chamberlain (Pitt): beautiful jaeger, good hs on overshoot, stuck FTDT! – 9.9

Franz (KSU): y full with a small step – 9.65

Coca (Pitt): beautiful jaeger, great hs on bail, small step on FTDT – 9.825

Lindway (KSU): low amplitude on y full and falls on her knees – looked okay though –

Kline (Pitt): huge gienger to bail, little short on hs, huge bound forward on double back – 9.1

After 2: Pitt: 96.525, Kent State 97.175

Kent State is definitely going to need to work on amplitude on some of its vaults, and I have no idea why Fletcher didn’t vault here (she’s in beam and floor though). Pitt rebounded well after the fall but is going to want to clean up some details.

Rotation 3: Pitt Beam, Kent State Floor

Coca (Pitt): good layout stepout to start, falls on series, good full turn, falls on split leap, and step on dismount – 8.225

Gilbert (KSU): beautiful double pike to start, really fun dance, beautiful leaps, front lay front full, and a big double back to close. Great routine! – 9.75

Ceccarini (Pitt): good full turn, great BHS LOSO series, wobble on leap series, good front kickover, step on gainer pike dismount – 9.675

Weinpart (KSU): OOB on double pike, beautiful leaps, great 1.5 to front lay, stuck. double back to close – 9.5

Robatin (Pitt): good kickover to BHS series, little short on 180 on leaps, wobble on Liukin, stuck dismount – 9.6

DeCavitch (KSU): step forward on double Arabian – great to see the difficulty, leaps are good, good double back to close – 9.75

Macy (Pitt): falls on triple series, beautiful leaps, hop on dismount – good recovery after the fall – 8.95

Franz (KSU): STUCK double Arabian – wow!; great leaps, beautiful rudi to LOSO to close. – 9.875

Chamberlain (Pitt): beam debut! great full turn, wobble on triple series, beautiful side aerial, good leap series, step on dismount – 9.7

Fletcher (KSU): good DLO to start, really fun music and dance, beautiful leap series, beautiful 1.5 to front full – 9.9

Beckwith (Pitt): good full turn, beautiful BHS LOSO series, great leap series, hop on dismount. Great close to the rotation – 9.825

Brown (KSU): great double pike to open, beautiful leaps, beautiful front lay to rudi, great double back to close. – 9.825

Miller (Pitt): exh – good split jump tp BHS, falls on BHS LOSO series, good full turn, good front aeriesl, hop on dismount

Richard (KSU): beautiful rudi to LOSO to start, falls on front double full – 9.1

After 3: Pitt: 144.275, Kent State 146.275

Really impressed with Kent State’s floor rotation! Lots of difficulty and just really clean gymnastics. Bit of a rough go for Pitt on beam, but definitely some flashes of greatness in there. Beckwith is really proving to be a solid and consistent beamer for Pitt this year.

Rotation 4: Pitt Floor, Kent State Beam

Henry (KSU): beautiful BHS LOSO, good leaps – slight wobble, stuck gainer full – 9.725

Macy (Pitt): beautiful rudi to start, beautiful leaps, great 1.5 to front lay to close – good redemption routine after a rough go on bars and beam – 9.5 (huh?)

Haxton (KSU): falls on kickover front, good bhs – was supposed to be series, redoes BHS LOSO with a small wobble, good full turn, little shy on 180 on leap series, step on dismount – 8.925

Liszewski (Pitt): beautiful double back to open, great leaps, good 1.5 to front tuck (not sure if that was supposed to be laid out or not) – 9.4

Harker (KSU): good front kickover to BHS, beautiful Liukin – love that skill!, good leaps – little shy of 180, tiny hop on dismount – 9.65

Ceccarini (Pitt): beautiful first pass – so much happens that I can never catch it all, hands down on double back – same mistake she made last week, looks very winded – 9.05

DeCavitch (KSU): good full turn, beautiful BHS LOSO, great front kickover to beat jump, stuck gainer full – 9.8

Beckwith (Pitt): good double back to open, good 1.5 to front lay – 9.675

Klein (KSU): good BHS LOSO, good leaps, stuck gainer full – 9.85

Miller (Pitt): great double back to open, beautiful leaps, good front lay to front full, great double pike to close. – 9.8

Fletcher (KSU): good front aerial, falls on BHS LOSO, slight wobble on leap series, good full turn, small hop on dismount – 9.3

Robatin (Pitt): good double back – slight chest down, good leaps – maybe a hair shy of 180, and fall on last pass – 8.675

Winder (Pitt): exh – good double pike to open, oo this choreography is really fun! falls on front lay to front full, just a back tuck for the last pass – once she gets that down, it should be a big scoring routine.

Final: Pitt: 191.600, Kent State 194.600

Shame about Kent State counting a fall on beam because that was looking to be a really good total. There are definitely flashes of greatness from Pitt, but they’re going to need to work on consistency and cleaning up details.


Live blog by Mary Emma Burton

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