The Dismount: Week 16

St. Louis got a taste of the classic Cinderella story in the afternoon session as Nebraska upset Alabama to advance to the Super Six with LSU and UCLA. Head coach Dan Kendig talked about an experience with his team earlier this week where alumni and recruits alike sent in videos to the Husker team about what being a Husker meant to them and said that it really made them think about who they’re going to shine for. “When you take it out of your hands and you’re doing it for somebody else, great things can happen,” Kendig said. He also praised beam coach Heather Brink, saying she earned her keep today after the squad put up a season-high total of 49.375.

UCLA qualified in first out of the session over LSU, but Miss Val was never worried about the numbers. “I look at the scores, but they mean nothing to me,” she said. “I may have done that early in my career, but I can’t even remember the last time I really looked at scores.” She went on to say that when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, her life perspective completely flipped and that she vowed to not be concerned about the numbers. “We do our work during the week, and the competitions are time to celebrate all of our hard work,” she said. Her athletes have told her that when she’s not stressed, they’re not stressed, and they can all enjoy the process together.

LSU emphasized after the semifinal that it still has gas left in the tank. Head coach D-D Breaux acknowledged that last year they felt like they put too much into semifinals. “We just felt like we wanted to be a little more laid back—not lax—but not put so much pressure on the kids,” she said. It’s clear that this year the Tigers are consciously trying to peak at the right time. But that’s not to say they didn’t go for it today either. LSU qualified in fourth overall to Super Six, and Edney, Finnegan and Hambrick each made two event podiums, including all three in the all around.

Behind every Cinderella story, though, is at least one team who feels like it fell short. Alabama ousted from the advancing group while Georgia—the would-be Cinderella—got sniped by Nebraska. However, it wasn’t a bad night that caused perennial Super Six qualifiers Alabama to miss. They just didn’t have enough 9.900s. Georgia was able to catch Alabama by repeating many of its stellar performances from regionals, including yet another clutch beam routine from Sabrina Vega. The real accomplishment for Georgia was making it here after a tumultuous season; however, beating Alabama and coming in fourth and seventh overall—less than four tenths away from qualifying to Super Six—is more than anyone expected.

Arkansas, too, should be proud of its accomplishments here, finishing in the top 10 for the first time since 2013. Amanda Wellick went 39.400 in the all around, earning second-team All-American honors, and the Razorbacks put together a solid bars rotation, counting all five scores at 9.8375 or higher. Sophia Carter was also a highlight on floor, with a team-high 9.8625.

Despite some early indications to the contrary, the top three teams in the semifinal, Oklahoma, Florida and Utah, advanced to Super Six. Oklahoma turned in the cleanest performance of the meet but had clear areas of doubt. Head coach KJ Kindler expressed her trepidation about starting on balance beam, as her Sooners had not done that yet this season, which resulted in “a mixture of super aggressive strong routines and a little nerves coming out.” She also said that after they finished beam, they felt better and more free moving forward. “They seemed to really loosen up a lot once that was over,” she said. “This meet is very competitive, and there’s a lot at stake.” The Sooners were the only team in either session to break 198 and only counted two scores below 9.8625, both on beam.

Florida showed shades of a title-contention team but still had areas it could improve upon as well. Head coach Jenny Rowland emphasized that the Gators are making strides, talking about the little details paying off, but also noted where the team struggled. “Not everyone’s going to be perfect every night. Subbing in Rachel Gowey] did not pan out, but that’s alright, you live and learn.” Like their conference-mates LSU, the Gators’ focus today was doing what it took to make it to the next round and “live to compete another day.” Florida did have some excellent moments, though: Alex McMurtry earned a share of the vault title, and Alyssa Baumann took second on floor.

It got a little scary for Utah in places, as they had a few miscues on vault, and then had to count two scores in the 9.700s after a rare fall from MaKenna Merrell-Giles. According to co-head coach Tom Farden, it was a meet of two halves for the Utes, as he was very pleased with the competition on bars and floor but thought they were too tight on vault and “went into survival mode” on beam. He commended his team for not giving up, though. “They came out of the bye and then really did their floor with command and confidence.” He also hailed Mykayla Skinner as a “gutsy competitor” and was proud of her work throughout the season and tonight—she was the all around runner-up and earned a share of the vault title after drilling her Yurchenko double full. Utah was the only team, though, that qualified to Super Six while having to count scores in the 9.700s, one on vault and two on beam. If the Utes want to make a run at the title, those will have to turn into much higher scores.

Hoping to take advantage of Utah’s mistakes, both California and Washington put together about half of what they needed to do to make it happen. If they could have combined Cal’s vault and bars scores with Washington’s beam and floor, they would have come within spitting distance of catching Utah. For Cal, starting on floor didn’t do the Bears any favors, as almost all of their scores got stuck under 9.800, including an out-of-bounds error by Sofie Seilnacht. Though their vault and bars rotations were strong, ending on beam was what killed the upset dream. One of the team’s weaker events, Cal was forced to count a 9.725 and a 9.750. Washington, on the other hand, started strong on floor but fumbled on vault and bars. A scary fall from Joslyn Goings on vault rattled the team. On bars, both Goings and Hailey Burleson, typically strong senior leaders for the Huskies, had major errors, limiting the team’s total to just a 49.000. Though they finished strong on beam, it wasn’t enough to correct earlier mistakes.

There’s always one team at nationals that can’t avoid disaster, and sadly this year, it was Kentucky. After coming off of their bye, the Wildcats started on bars, where they were forced to count a fall after both Katrina Coca and Alex Hyland came off. They came back to beam where they normally excel, but Hyland had her second fall of the night. Floor went off without a hitch, as the Cats were able to count all scores of 9.825 or higher. But on vault, catastrophe struck again as Hyland came up short and had to take a knee on her vault landing. Though they dropped her score, it again limited their total potential. The day was not all bleak for Kentucky though: Sophomore Mollie Korth finished on the podium in the all around and earned All-America honors on vault. Plus, making nationals at all is an accomplishment in and of itself and shouldn’t be forgotten.

Recap by Caroline Medley