Hi, hello, and welcome to this tri-meet!
At the surface, this doesn’t seem like an exciting meet, but when you dig down into it, there’s a lot to be excited about. Freshman Hannah Joyner from Rutgers has an NQS over 9.900 on beam and is a consistent all around competitor for Rutgers. Transfer Michaela Burton has been a rock for Pittsburgh and Abbie Pierson has come into her own at West Virginia.
All three have had relatively inconsistent seasons. Pittsburgh reached a season high 196.000 at Southern Utah on Monday and will want to replicate that performance today. A good performance here will be big for the Panthers, who still have a 192 away score to drop. West Virginia is coming off a double meet weekend; the Mountaineers most recently posted a 196.000 as well. The Mountaineers have excelled on floor so far, while beam has been a rocky event. Rutgers hasn’t found its stride yet. Vault and beam have shown the most promise for the Scarlet Knights. If they can put it all together in one meet, the Scarlet Knights will fare better than they have thus far.
If you’d like to follow along, live stats can be found here and the stream can be found here.
Rotation 1: WVU VT, Pitt UB, RU BB
WVU alum Carly Galpin is one of our commentators!
WVU vault lineup:
Here's a look at today's vault lineup!#HailWV pic.twitter.com/mJXjUsEWMf
— WVU Gymnastics (@WVUGymnastics) March 1, 2020
Rutgers on beam:
We R ready here in Morgantown 👊🏽💥 pic.twitter.com/CVTkdkcciu
— Rutgers Gymnastics (@RUGymnastics) March 1, 2020
Pitt on bars:
https://twitter.com/Pitt_GYM/status/1234192197391613953?s=20
Ki. Yancey (WVU): yfull, tiny hop. good! 9.75
Merwin (WVU): half, small hop but clean in air.
Kaufman (WVU): yfull, good dynamics, small hop.
Waldron (WVU): tiny preflight leg sep, yfull solid landing.
Pierson (WVU): does the 1.5 today, overpowered and a sizable step forward. 9.775
Linnen (WVU): yhalf, leg form and a step. 9.775
Dugan (Pitt): nice bail; good next hs; pretty dlo, small hop. solid leadoff!
Ward (Pitt): Maloney to bail, archy, blind full double back stuck.
Weiss (Pitt): clear hip bail, good dlo. missed the rest.
Floyd (Pitt): pretty Maloney, next hs slightly short, pak, tiny leg sep; nice next hs; double tuck, slide back. Solid.
Burton (Pitt): Maloney to pak, pretty and clean! good next hs, dlo, small hop forward. Great way to close out the rotation. 9.85
Doherty-Herwitz (RU): front aerial side aerial, pretty! very secure so far; split jump, good positions stuck gainer full. 9.825
Huang (RU): lovely split mount. cat leap side aerial, swings leg through, looks like she wanted to connect that. front aerial bhs, big check but stays on; beat jump split 3/4, solid; ro double twist stuck. not sure if she’ll get enough SV with the presumed missed connection. 9.55
McLachlan (RU): sissone split half, very pretty; bhs loso; side aerial, secure; bhs tucked 1.5 stuck. That’s what you want to see after an iffy routine before you. 9.875
Joyner (RU): she has such a calm demeanor! bhs loso, small check; switch switch half, pretty! side aerial lay full stuck. Not her best, but not bad at all.
AFTER 1: RU 49.050, Pitt 48.925, WVU 48.850
A solid start for all three teams. Rutgers showed how good it can be on beam, Pitt reached a season best on bars, and WVU got off to a good but not amazing start on vault.
Rotation 2: WVU UB, Pitt BB, RU FX
my stream is being weird, stand by.
ok, let’s try this again.
Cluchey (WVU): holds the stick on her dismount, but big lean forward and chest down.
Ki. Yancey (WVU): bail hs, some arch, Maloney to pak, leg sep, fine next hs, dlo, hop back. Good!
Hornung (WVU): straddled jaeger, pretty; bail hs good; stuck double tuck. good routine for her! 9.775
Ceccarini (Pitt): bhs loso, secure; switch split jump straddle 1/4, solid; front toss, check; gainer pike stuck. A solid hit. 9.75
Miller (Pitt): switch leap bhs, good; love to see those dance – across combos; bhs loso, good; cat leap front aerial, secure; side aerial full, stuck. great routine!
Burton (Pitt): front aerial beat good; bash loso, good; split jump sheep jump, pretty; stuck lay full. Great routine for her, the Panthers won’t have to count a fall. 9.9
#PITTSBURT. YOU KNOW.@mburton2016 picks up her third score of 9.9 or better this season with a 9.9 on beam!#FuelTheFire | #H2P pic.twitter.com/D6VFBM8Ooe
— Pitt Gymnastics (@Pitt_GYM) March 1, 2020
Farrell (RU): 9.8
Duffield (RU): switch side Popa, fine; fhs rudi, pretty. missed the beginning.
Williams (RU): double tuck, may have gone OOB; whip half front lay, good; which side Popa, pretty good; fhs lay rudi, good. Solid overall. 9.675
Joyner (RU): double pike to open, would like to se more control but not bad by any. means; front full to lay, clean and good landing; withch side straddle half, great extension; 1.5 to lay, good. 9.85
Huang (RU): fhs double full, some knees and legs but secure; rudi to floaty loso, good; leaps are nice and extended; fhs rudi, secure; great way to finish the rotation!
AFTER 2: RU 98.125, Pitt 97.975, WVU 97.825
We’ve got a close one here! Rutgers had a great floor rotation, highlighted by Joyner and Huang. The Scarlet Knights are on 196 pace, which would be huge for this team. Pitt was able to overcome an early fall to go over 49 and WVU had a good bars rotation; the Mountaineers will really want to clean up those landings though.
Rotation 3: RU VT, WVU BB, Pitt FX
Farrell (RU): yfull on tuck, small hop.
Williams (RU): yfull, some preflight and just a hop back.
Huang (RU): 1.5, major preflight leg sep.
Hall (RU): y tuck 1.5, hop forward. pretty good!
Linnen (WVU): front aerial front aerial bhs, secure; standalone cat leap…front full stuck. Good way to leadoff.
Kaufman (WVU): secure front toss and bhs loso; missed her leaps apparently; stuck lay full.
Pierson (WVU): standing tuck to bhs, good; missed something over commentators talking…good routine overall though. 9.875
Hornung (WVU): cat leap front aerial bhs 1 arm, secure. Wow. What a series. splits could be more extended. ro 1.5 stuck. Another good routine for WVU. 9.85
Combs (WVU): front aerial front walkover back tuck, good! split to wolf, solid; front full, tiny hop back. Solid!
Abarca (WVU): cat leap side aerial, secure; side somi, good; apparently she can connect those but chose not to today; bhs loso good; switch split beat fine; ro 1.5, some knees but stuck.
Miller (Pitt): solid first pass, pretty leaps; lay lay full good; solid double pike. Good!
Ward (Pitt): pretty combo pass! with ring switch half, pretty. open double tuck, good landing. Great routine for Pitt.
Petrikis (Pitt): missed beginning; front lay front full good; great extension on leaps; good double tuck to close.
Burton (Pitt): good opening double tuck; pretty leaps; double pike, slightly short and hop step forward. Think I missed something in there.
AFTER 3: Pitt 147.300, RU 147.250, WVU 147.050
Wow. Have yourself a day, Rutgers! Great performance for the Scarlet Knights thus far. Floor scores are trending slightly high so far, but Pitt will take it. WVU’s beam was impressive also; there’s a lot of good to build on there. One more to go! Can the Mountaineers put up a big score on floor?
Rotation 4: Pitt VT, RU UB, WVU FX
Miller (Pitt): full, some preflight leg form, fine landing.
Liszewski (Pitt): yfull preflight leg form and good landing
Petrikis (Pitt): yfull, hop basically in place. Good!
Herbine (Pitt): yhalf, pretty, pulls heels together. Great way for the Panthers to end the meet.
Pitt ends with a 196.500 which is the second-highest score in program history!
Drauss (RU): blind full double back stuck. missed the rest. apparently had a fall. Not a good start for them.
Joyner (RU): straddled jaeger good; nice hs, bail hs good; good next hs; tucked full in, small step. That’s what they needed
Linnen (WVU): rudi to loso, pretty; solid leaps; fhs double full, meh landing.
Combs (WVU): good double pike; great extension on leaps; fhs lay full lay good control and form; clean double tuck to close.
Kaufman (WVU): opening pass good; fhs full lay good landing; love her leaps; nice double tuck to close. Good!
Fontaine (WVU): fhs rudi, some twist form but secure; brb my feed just cut off.
Ok. We back.
Ugh. Just cut off again. Please come back before Pierson’s floor please.
Pierson (WVU): great dlo, first time she did it this season; front lay front full, great; switch side Popa good; double tuck, fine landing chest slightly low. Good way to finish! 9.775
Oh, it was a power outage. Makes sense. Was wondering why they would hold up the meet for the stream.
FINAL: Pitt 196.500, WVU 196.425, RU 195.300
What a meet for Pitt and a great way to end on vault! That’s exactly what they wanted and are capable of. Don’t count the Panthers out, folks. Rutgers’ bars was kind of a hot mess. This was a really good meet for the Scarlet Knights minus bars, but they couldn’t quite pull together a completely hit meet. West Virginia came out strong in the second half. Both beam and floor were great for the Mountaineers and they will certainly take this 196-plus score, but it wasn’t enough to top Pitt today.
Event Winners:
VT: Petrikis 9.900
UB: Burton, Abarca 9.850
BB: Burton 9.900
FX: Cluchey 9.950
AA: Joyner 39.325
nLive blog by Tara Graeve; Like what you see? Consider donating to support our efforts throughout the year! [wpedon id=”13158″]
