It’s rare that we’re treated to this big of a matchup so early in the season, but that’s exactly what we’re getting here at the California Grand Invitational.
Defending champion Oklahoma is looking to start its season strong with a big win here. The Sooners are losing an impactful class, but they always seem to find a way to replenish the missing routines and come out strong. A big question that NCAA gym fans are asking is how well freshman Ragan Smith will transition to college. She has all the makings to be the next big thing for Oklahoma, but her recent injury history is a big question mark.
UCLA is coming into this season with a brand new coaching staff, but with the core of the lineups returning, the Bruins should expect to pick up where they left off. It would not be surprising to see them pull off the win here.
While Oklahoma and UCLA should be battling it out for the top spot, don’t count out Cal. The Golden Bears are known for their stacked team of “ninja level 10s” and could challenge the top two if either has a bad day.
For Stanford, keep a close eye on Chloe Widner. She was a top J.O. gymnast last year and should be an immediate contributor for the Cardinal.
I’m hearing that Olivia Trautman and Madison Kocian won’t be competing tonight.
Rotation 1
Oklahoma: vault, UCLA: bars, Cal: beam, Stanford: floor
Smith (OU) – good y full, slightly short and steps forward
Degouvea (OU) – Y 1.5 with a small hop forward
Having technical difficulties, so I might miss some routines. Please bear with me.
George (Cal) – good front aerial to back tuck to start, solid double wolf turn, very nice leap combination, stuck gainer full. Great routine!
Hoang (Stan) – missed the beginning but great double pike to close
Ross (UCLA) – beautiful maloney, slightly arched on bail but saves it, stuck DLO!
Bryant (Stan) – huge full in to open, really getting into this one, front tuck through to double pike with a slight lunge back, beautiful switch side to popa, Janet Jackson medley for music, and a huge open double tuck to close.
Quinn (Cal) – Wobble on front aerial so missed connection into back HS, slight wobble on full turn, good side somi to beat jump, stuck dismount
Cole (Stan) – great 2.5 to punch front, missed the middle part (sorry), rudi to close – a bit crooked
Brunette (?) (Stan) – missed the beginning, slight chest down on closing double tuck
After 1: Oklahoma: 49.200, UCLA: 49.425, Cal: 48.800, Stanford: 49.150
I missed a bunch of that rotation trying to deal with technical difficulties, but looked to be a solid start for all 4 teams!
Rotation 2
Oklahoma: bars, UCLA: beam, Cal: floor, Stanford: vault
Cole (Stan) – good y full, piked down with a hop back
Thomas (OU) – missed beginning, slight step on dismount
Bryant (Stan) – good y full, slightly short with a step
Degouvea (OU) – College bars debut! good piked jaeger, handstands look great, good pak, hop on full in dismount
Hano (UCLA) – off on BHS layout series, split jump 1/2 is solid, slight hop on 1.5 dismount, good finish
Tai (Stan) – short on y full, hop forward, didn’t get the black she needed
Webb (OU) – missed beginning, but great Van Leeuween, and slight hop on dismount
Brunette (Stan) – y full with a bounce back
Smith (OU) – good ricna, to pak, great handstands and stuck DLO dismount!
Poston stuck dismount, but that’s all I saw. She looked pleased with it though
Nichols (OU) – beautiful ray to pak, beautiful Van Leeuwen, stuck DLO dismount!
Frazier (UCLA) – great split leap series to start, solid front aerial to back tuck, great full turn, solid side aerial to beat jump, and slight step on dismount.
Clausi (Cal) – slight chest down on full in, 1.5 to front full is solid but maybe a bit crooked, and slight slide back on double back
Sakti (UCLA) – missed beginning, beautiful leap series, great full turn, slight wobble on side some but covers well, stuck side aerial to full dismount
Materangelo (Cal) – short on full in and has to take a large step forward, 1.5 to front tuck but looked like it was supposed to be a layout, solid 2.5 to finish
Ross (UCLA) – beautiful BHS LOSO, beautiful ring leap, slight check on full turn but covers well, good front aerial to sissone, stuck side aerial to full dismount
Andres (UCLA) exh – slight wobble on beat jump to straddle 3/4, RO to LOSO series with a wobble, solid gainer LOSO, and slight step on double full dismount
After 2: Oklahoma: 98.750, UCLA: 97.925, Cal: 97.825, Stanford: 97.700
Shame about UCLA having to count a fall, but great rotations for the other 3 teams.
Rotation 3
Oklahoma: beam, UCLA: floor, Cal: vault, Stanford: bars
Lawson (Stan) – great maloney to bail, big step on double back dismount
Jones (Cal) – stuck y full, slightly piked down
Flatley (UCLA) – missed beginning but cut in just in time to see fall on front double full, good 1.5 to front lay to close
Dunn (OU) – slight wobble on triple series, solid split jump to straddle 1/2, punch front full with a step forward
Clausi (Cal) – good y 1.5, some legs and squatty landing
Widner (Stan) – beautiful tkatchev great bail handstand, lovely handstands, large hop back on DLO
Quinn (Cal) – stuck y full
Tratz (UCLA) – short on full in with chest down, good back 1.5 to front full to stag jump, slight chest down on double back
Webb (OU) – good full turn to open, great BHS LOSO series, great front aerial to split jump, a bit off on leap series but covered well, stuck side aerial to lay full dismount
Kramer (UCLA) – just caught the end – great rudi to close
Frazier (UCLA) – great full in, little crooked an double back, great double pike to finish
Smith (OU) – great BHS LOSO series, beautiful side aerial to split jump, swing down solid, slight hop on dismount
Nichols (OU) – slight wobble on front aerial to can’t connect into BHS LOSO, beautiful leap series, great front toss to BHS swing down, and sticks dismount
Ross (UCLA) – whip to huge double tuck, beautiful 1.5 to front layout, and a beautiful double pike to finish
Lashbrooke (UCLA) (exh) – big double back to open, solid 1.5 to front lay, beautiful leaps with lots of amplitude, and a strong double pike to finish
After 3: Oklahoma: 147.975, UCLA: 147.350, Cal: 146.975, Stanford: 146.775
Looks like a solid meet so far for everyone today! Ragan Smith was stunning on beam in her debut. I think she’s going to have a great NCAA career.
Rotation 4
Oklahoma: floor, UCLA: vault, Cal: bars, Stanford: beam
Dennis (UCLA) – stuck y full
George (Cal) – great tkatchev, beautiful bail, stuck full in dismount
Poston (UCLA) – slight chest down and hop back on HS front pike 1/2
Smith (OU) – good double back to open, great front 1.5 to front lay, really interesting to see her with KJ choreography, great wolf jump, slightly short on double pike an takes a lunge forward
Ross (UCLA) – hop forward on y 1.5
Degouvea (OU) – great front double full to open, great front lay to front full, loving this choreography, she has such a presence on floor, great slip jumps, great 1.5 to front full to close
Bordas (Cal) – huge jaeger , stuck double tuck dismount with a college salute
LaPinta (OU) – good triple full to open, good front full to fort lay, and a good double tuck to close
Webb (OU) – another Billie Eilish routine, great front double full to open, nice back 1.5 to front full, and a nice rudi to close
Nichols (OU) – great 1.5 through to double back, nice 1.5 to front LOSO, beautiful leaps, and slight chest down on double pike but covers well
Navarro (Stan) – great triple series, solid full turn, missed the rest but small hop on dismount
Bryant (Stan) exh – great BHS LOSO series, great beat jump to split jump, great punch front, and big step on double tuck dismount
Final: Oklahoma: 197.350, UCLA: 196.575, Cal: 196.200, Stanford: 195.475
Solid start for everyone. UCLA will be disappointed with a counting fall on beam, but there’s plenty of time to improve. Oklahoma looked the most prepared, so it’s not surprising to see the Sooners get the win here.
Thanks for tuning in!
Live blog by Mary Emma Burton
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