LIVE BLOG: Big 12 Championship

Iowa State hosts Oklahoma, Denver, and West Virginia for the Big 12 Championships this evening! The title will likely go to the Sooners, who have been ranked No. 1 as a team ever since week 3–that’s nine straight weeks. The team is in pursuit of it’s seventh straight Big 12 title, something that no other team has done before. Barring any mistakes, we should see a battle between the Mountaineers and Cyclones for third and fourth place, while the Pioneers are likely to take second. What will likely be more of an exciting race is the individual event and all around titles. While the Sooners are the top team, each of the teams has exciting competitors to watch for. Denver’s Maddie Karr should challenge for the all around title, as will Iowa State’s Haylee Young. Pioneer Kaitlyn Schou’s exquisite beam work puts her among the top in the conference, as does Nikole Addison’s floor. Pioneers Karr and Lynnzee Brown, Cyclones Sophia Steinmeyer and Meaghan Sievers, and Mountaineer Kirah Koshinski all have dynamic 10.0 start value vaults amidst Sooners like Maggie Nichols, Brenna Dowell, and AJ Jackson. Pioneer freshman Emily Glynn has emerged as a bars star for the team amidst upperclassmen and Cyclone Hilary Green is one to watch for on the event.  On beam, Young shines for the Cyclones, while the aforementioned Schou, Karr, and freshman Mia Sundstrom all have solid routines for the Pioneers. Mountaineer Carly Galpin is the only Mountaineer to have a RQS over 9.8 on the event. Young’s signature event is floor, and Karr is one to watch on the event in addition to Addison. Koshinski also has a dynamic floor routine for West Virginia and is the highlight of the event for the team along with Zaakira Muhammad. Look for these races to shape up as the meet goes on!

Intros are underway and the competition is about to begin!

Leo watch! DU in elegant black leos.

OU’s:

https://twitter.com/OU_WGymnastics/status/977635778183483393

Lineups for DU:

Rotation 1: DU VT, WVU UB, ISU BB, OU FX

WVU bars lineup:

OU floor lineup:

Steinmeyer BB: front toss beat jump solid; a little off on her bhs loso series; switch leap split jump secure; stuck 1.5. great finish!

Bernard UB: misses release; back on for bail; giant full double tuck small step; shame about the miss.

Tun UB: nice straddled jaeger; good bail to hs; dlo with a step, but that gets WVU back on track.

Sundstrom VT: 9.775. Chesnok also had a 9.775. They cut away before she actually vaulted.

Schou VT: yfull with a hop, but otherwise good!

Sievers BB: missed beginning; cat leap side aerial, small check; lay full to dismount with a hop in place.

Dowell FX: middle pass is good. didn’t see first. lay lay full solid.

Addison had a 9.85 for her yfull.

Brown VT: y1.5, tiny hop. She sat it in her return to the lineup last weekend, good to see she’s corrected it! 9.875

Jackson FX: huge opening double pike a lil overrotated. more control on second pass. Great to have her back in the lineup! back 1.5 to lay full good to end it!

Karr apparently just stuck a y1.5. Didn’t show it on the feed. 9.95 for her!

Webb FX: fhs double full good to open, maybe a lil leg form on the twist; secure landing on middle pass; tour jete 1/2 split full good, nice extension; fhs rudi super pretty to close! Great routine.

Paz BB: great control on standing loso; stuck lay full. missed most of her routine.

Nichols FX: great control on her double tuck to open; lay full to front loso super unique for NCAA and well controlled! switch ring to tour jete 1/2 great split, her usual toe thing; good double pike to close. Another great routine for OU!

Young BB: nice switch half; apparently had a wobble before they cut to her; nice 1.5 dismount stuck.

DU VT: 49.225
WVU UB: 49.025
ISU BB: 48.775
OU FX: 49.425

Denver opened up the meet with a season-high road score on vault, highlighted by Brown and Karr’s yurchenko 1.5s. WVU’s bars score is pretty in line with how it has been performing on the event throughout the season. While ISU had some struggles on beam, it still managed an upper-48 score on the event. The Sooners were great as usual on floor, and Jackson returned to the lineup after being out for unknown reasons.

Rotation 2: OU VT, DU UB, WVU BB, ISU FX

Kern UB: nice straddled jaeger; good hs on bail; little short of last hs; DLO, just a small hop! great leadoff! 9.8

Russ FX: good opening pass; fhs front full front pike solid; little short on double tuck to close; good leadoff routine. 9.75

Lehrmann VT: good yfull in the air with a hop. 9.8

Sundstrom UB: clear hip to a great tkatchev; nice his on bail; little short on last hs; stuck DLO. Another great bar routine for the Pios. 9.875

Gillette BB: secure loso with some leg form; cat leap split leap back loso good, and unique! back 1.5 dismount stuck. 9.775

Chesnok UB: giant full tkatchev good; best bail of the Pioneers so far with a nice hs; again short on last his; tucked full in, just a small hop and a little low chested. good routine! 9.85

Jackson VT: stuck y1.5. She’s backkkk! 9.95

Glynn UB: nice opening hs to clear hip gienger gorgeous; nice next hs to bail to hs; hits last hs (first of the Pios to do so in this rotation); tucked full in, stuck. That’s their best routine thus far. 9.95

Nichols VT: stuck 1.5, again. Because Maggie things. 9.925

Ledesma FX: controlling her tumbling well; good leaps; double tuck to close good, a little short but covers it well.  9.825

Brown UB: maloney to pak good, just her usual leg form; gorgeous kchs; DLO with a small hop. The Pios are attacking this bars lineup! 9.9

Karr UB: great opening hs to a great giant full gienger straight to bail! last hs a little muscled with a virtually stuck landing–just a slide. 9.9

Paz FX: good double tuck to open, lots of power and well controlled; good switch side; fhs front full front lay solid; popa wolf full, good splits and extension; back 1.5 to loso gorgeous.  9.85

Muhammad BB: lay lay and she’s off; full turn secure; beat jump straddle 3/4 great extension; side aerial lay full stuck; angry beam is fun beam!

OU VT: 49.4
DU UB: 49.475
WVU BB: 48.525
ISU FX: 49.125

After 2: OU 98.825, DU 98.7, ISU 97.9, WVU 97.55

OU again had a great vault rotation, capped by Nichols and Jackson at the back end of the lineup. DU really came out strong again on bars, its 49.475 being a new program record. I didn’t catch much of WVU beam, but from the numbers it looks like a pretty shaky rotation. Iowa State was strong on floor as it usually is, though its only 9.9 came from Haylee Young, the team’s anchor. At the midway point, this meet is much closer than expected, so if OU falters, DU could sneak ahead.

Rotation 3: ISU VT, OU UB, DU BB, WVU FX

Webb UB: beautiful pak; great hs; good shap half; small hop on double front. Great leadoff! 9.9

Addison BB: secure series; little bobble on split leap; rest of leap series good; secure side somi; gainer pike with just a hop in place; that’s how you want to tart beam off! 9.8

Showers UB: missed most of routine but just a hop on ftdt. 9.85

Paz VT: yfull with a sizeable hop. 9.775

Glynn BB: swtich switch straddle good; bhs loso, small check; off on standing loso. I have NEVER seen her hit that. Why is it there??? nice full turn; good landing on gainer pike. 9.25

Steinmeyer: y1.5 witha hop to salute. 9.85

Muhammad FX: powerful double tuck; fun dance; overpowers double pike; missed the rest. 9.775

Brown BB: front aerial good; front toss bhs wolf jump secure; good full turn; switch leap split jump nice extension and control; stuck gainer full. Good recovery for the Pios! 9.825

Sievers VT: good control on fhs pike 1/2. 9.85

Young VT: yfull with a tiny step. good vault! 9.8

Sundstrom BB: feed froze on her leap series but looks secure; bobble on side aerial but covers pretty well; secure full turn; lolol Flo is saying this is Maggie Nichols on bars; check on series but she stays on–she fell on that the past 2 weeks; gainer full, tiny step. 9.775

Karr BB: aerial bhs, so so nice and secure; good full turn; cat leap side somi gorgeous; beat jump straddle 3/4 good; ro 1.5 virtually stuck. Great routine! 9.9

Schou BB: front aerial bhs loso soooo good; sissone, pretty–her lines are gorg! beat jump sheep jump good; bhs gainer full stuck. That’s why she’s anchoring! So so good. 9.925

Koshinksi FX: 1.5 lay good; last pass is a well controlled double pike. Looked like a good routine from what I saw. 9.875

ISU VT: 49.075
OU UB: 49.725
DU BB: 49.2
WVU FX: 49.025

After 3: OU 148.55, DU 147.9, ISU 146.975, WVU 146.575

Iowa State had a solid vault lineup, led per usual by Steinmeyer and Sievers. OU was great on bars as well, setting a new program record on the event. DU recovered from a fall by Glynn in the second spot to post a 49.2, while WVU also recovered nicely on floor. Time for the last rotation!

Rotation 4: WVU VT, ISU UB, OU BB, DU FX

Sundstrom FX: nice double tuck to open; missed her leap series; front lay front full secure; split full wolf jump good; split full good; good leadoff. 9.775

Catour BB: cat leap front aerial secure. that’s all I caught. 9.8

Johnson had a fall to lead off ISU bars.

Showers BB: bobble on full turn; good series; her leap series is so unique! good on dismount. missed the rest. 9.8

Kern FX: she’s fun to watch on floor; nice opening pass; good double tuck; front lay front full good; nice routine. 9.775

Sievers UB: clearhip tkatchev gorg straight to bail; hop in place on dlo. good routine! 9.875

Glynn FX: dbl pike to open with a little landing issue; 1.5 to front tuck well controlled; her leap series was good; double tuck to close, good; another hit routine! 9.775

Lehrmann BB: cat leap switch side, that’s unique! good. secure series; switch leap shush good; stuck gainer full. Great routine. 9.85

Schou FX: fhs double full good; 1.5 to lay also solid; switch ring leap switch side pretty; her lines are gorg; fhs rudi split jump great! Super clean routine. 9.85

N Brown BB: front aerial series good; good leaps; secure on full turn; intel is that she’ll be limited to beam the rest of the yearh; stuck gainer full. Good routine! 9.875

Karr FX: great double pike to open; love the kick in her choreo; 1.5 to lay full with a secure landing; tour jete 1/2 to wolf full good; she’s really performing this! fhs rudi, controls it well. Awesome routine for the Pios. 9.9

Webb BB: bhs loso with a sizeable check but stays on; cat leap front aerial, check; switch leap split jump, nice extension; lay full stuck; she’ll want to improve upon that. 9.7

Addison FX: HUGEEE DLO to open; 1.5 to lay, good on landing; her splits are great; double pike, saves the landing well. Great way to end the rotation. 9.875

Nichols BB: tentative on leap series but doesn’t give much away; 1.5 dismount nearly stuck; that’s all we got to see of that. 9.9

WVU VT: 49.050
ISU UB: 48.675
OU BB: 49.225
DU FX: 49.175

FINAL SCORES: OU 197.775, DU 197.075, ISU 195.65, WVU 195.625

It was a solid conclusion to the meet! The Mountaineers had a solid vault rotation, though not much was shown by Flo. The same viewing comes from ISU, who struggled on bars a bit but still managed to edge out the Mountaineers. OU didn’t have its best beam rotation, but it still managed a hit six for six routines and a score in the low 49s on the event. The Pioneers’ floor lineup built throughout the meet, capped by Karr and Addison with her DLO. Also of note, Karr’s all around total was just .025 below Sooner phenom Nichols. The Sooners took this meet as expected, but DU’s 197.075 will be a great help to the team’s RQS and it is the team’s highest road score.

Individual Standings and Awards:

VT Winner: Karr, Jackson 9.95
UB Winner: Lehrmann, 9.975
BB Winner: Schou, 9.925
FX Winner: Young, Karr, Dowell, Webb, Nichols, 9.9
AA Winner: Nichols, 39.675

GOTY: Nichols
SOTY: Catour
FOTY: Webb and Brown
COTY: Kindler


Live blog by Tara Graeve

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