Welcome back to live gymnastics! Not only are these teams jumping back in, but they’re going at it full speed with a quad meet. With the blessing of Yale home meets being broadcast on an ESPN platform, it’s time to see these teams in action. I don’t ask questions when the situation benefits gymnastics on TV.
For Brown, West Chester and Yale the teams will be emerging from an incredibly long offseason—we don’t need to address the elephant in the room—and will be itching to come back. Last time around these teams competed under the ECAC umbrella, but today it’ll be the GEC. LIU made its debut last season, and although a little rocky at times, it’s a program that’s packed with surprises. The Sharks have a hefty roster, and sticking it all together is what will be tricky.
Brown had a fairly consistent season in 2020 and hasn’t lost a ton of routines. Instead it’s done nothing but bolster its talent for 2022. Yale didn’t lose or gain too many members, but I don’t see it having any sort of a meltdown with several strong performers returning. It will also be the first season for interim-head coach Andrew Leis. West Chester had some incredible seasons leading up to 2020, with a stacked freshman class on deck for the 2021 season only to have it called off. However, Jessica Meakim returned for a fifth year, and West Chester is ready to roll.
Ready? No one ever is. Let’s go.
Waiting on the ESPN+ to decide it’s time… Warm-ups still warming but plenty of new leos abound.
Titche, the only returning vaulter for Yale, won’t be competing today.
Rotation 1: Yale VT, Brown UB, LIU BB, West Chester FX
Wilson (Yale): Solid tucked fty for her. Vault video angle could provide a better view of amplitude.
Gardener (Brown): Just saw the last bit of bars, with a nice full blind to a smooth tucked double.
Meeks (Yale): Clean layout yurchenko. Ankles and knees glued together.
McFarland (WCU): RO BHS double pike to open, looked nice. Leap series could’ve used a touch more amplitude, but clean otherwise. RO 1.5 to front lay, clean. Closes with a double tuck, overall, clean.
Weiner (Brown): Just a quick shot of her dismount, blind full to tucked double with a near stick.
Folino (LIU): Had a side aerial to lay full beam dismount.
Walker (Yale): Yurchenko layout half with a step forward. 9.775
Potrillo (Brown): Bail to hs, kind of a quick reach to hb, fairly nice double lay dismount. 9.7
Wang (Yale): Offfff, a weird block to a fty and came up short, falling. Second fall for Yale this rotation.
Fanara (WCU): RO BHS double pike, a little bit of a low knee bend on the landing. Switch side to popa bouncy and clean. RO 1.5 to front lay controlled. Closes with a double tuck, definitely thought she was going to land oob but she took a big step forward.
Chia (Yale): Strong fty, which Yale needed. Hopped back.
The only beam clips this entire rotation has been slo-mo replays. Why the beam erasure? Good question. I have complaints.
Qu (Yale): A clean exhibition with a layout yurchenko. Training a fty, which would be gorgeous for Yale.
Contello (Brown): Tkatchev was solid, a little wobbly on some handstands but she’s going for that hit, closes with a smooth double lay and a hop forward.
Dorten (LIU): We have BEAM. Ring jump, wobble, beat jump. BHS LOSO, solid. Cat leap to side aerial. Wobbles. Comes off. Bobbly on the full turn. Split half split, her toe point makes my heart happy. Punch front lay dismount.
Costa (Brown): Judges are chatting before this routine. Because judges. Straddle jaeger, bail to hs, THE FORM *chefs kiss* noooo comes off on the blind full. Finishes with a double tuck.
Scores are MIA.
Kissinger (WCU): FHS rudi to LOSO, I love this pass. RO 1.5 to the choreographed step forward. Leap series a little short on the full split. FHS rudi to stag. Small form issues but nothing too notable.
Juk (LIU): BHS BHS LOSO. Switch leap to leap, a little wobbly. Love this walkover choreo. Full twisting bhs to LAYOUT FULL for a dismount. Swooning. Some balance checks but a unique skill set.
Scores haven’t been given so far on the broadcast.
Meakim (WCU): RO BHS dbl pike, great amplitude. Great leap series with a switch ring. FHS full to front lay is so well controlled. She nails her choreo throughout. FHS rudi to stag, great form. 9.8
Barrington (LIU): Only showed her exhibition dismount, side somi to full dismount. Loving the LIU dismounts.
LIU names to be updated because chaos.
AFTER 1: I sure would like to know, too. FINALLY. WCU 48.15, Brown 48.025, Yale 47.525, LIU 45.95
Yale had a shaky vault rotation, but LIU had some wobbles on beam. Brown was fairly solid on bars with a fairly uncharacteristic mistake from Costa. WCU brought some strong floor routines. I’d say it looks like WCU or Brown, Yale, LIU for standings but don’t hold me to that. Edit: Called it.
Rotation 2: WCU VT, Yale UB, Brown BB, LIU FX
Rotations haven’t started but I love the amount of footage for warmups. Never enough gymnastics on tv. Never.
Bailey (WCU): Y layout, solid.
Aviad (Yale): Tkatchev nice, blind full to double tuck, stepped back.
McFarland (WCU): Tucked fty, form issues.
Wilson (Yale): Tkatchev to bail connection, slow blind full to double tuck but she hit her handstand.
Fred (WCU): FTY, fairly clean form.
Shulze (Brown): Switch leap to split 3/4, a little low on the split. Piked gainer off.
Chia (Yale): Gorgeous form. Clean 1.5 layout dismount.
K. Johnson (WCU): Powerful fty, some form issues, has a hop back.
Toy (Yale): Blind to straddle jaeger, small hop on the landing.
Wang (Yale): Straddle jaeger looks nice, a little wiggly on the bail, ftbd, a little shaky on the landing but overall nice.
Costa (Brown): All we got was the punch front full landing, a bit off to the side.
Walker (Yale): Straddle jaeger clean, solid swing, gorgeous handstands, double lay with a bit of a step forward.
Folino (LIU): Leap series needed a little more amplitude. Bouncy tumbling. Double pike a little low, but overall solid.
Qu (Yale): Exhibition. Her handstands are gorgeous, super clean throughout, big step forward on the upgraded double lay but could be used going forward.
McKeown (Brown): Exhibition. BHS LOSO but comes off. Leg up on the leap series, but really hits her splits. Standing tuck to split jump with a pause. Her flexibility is everything. Aerial to layout full, bounced to the side on the landing.
Jones (LIU): Front double full, slips a little but saves it. RO 1.5 to front lay, controlled. Some form but nice leap series. Rudi, a little off to the side.
Commentators are off on the LIU gymnasts and I’m still learning faces. Will be fixed between rotations. It wouldn’t be a meet without chaos.
Loo (LIU): Opens with a double lay, fairly high, form issues with knees. Switch side popa, good. Front tuck through to a double tuck but puts her hands down.
After 2: Waiting on scores.
Ongoing correction updates for LIU on my end. Sorry for the hiccups, guys. I’ll be going back to make sure the information is correct. We were given event leaders but zero scores yet.
Rotation 3: LIU VT, WCU UB, Yale BB, Brown FX
Kissinger (WCU): straddle jaeger, some knees. Love the twisting dismount, some knees. Small step.
Koopman (LIU): Team line up graphic agrees with the announcers for once. The tucked fty has some wonderful amplitude.
Titche (Yale): BHS LOSO, leg comes up and she comes off the beam. I think off on the front toss. RO 1.5 for a dismount.
Rodriguez (WCU): FTDB dismount with a hop.
Sanchez (LIU): Yurchenko half, step forward. Some form on the legs.
Weiner (Brown): Opens with a double tuck, bounces forward. Leaps had a little form. Lurches forward on second pass, going out of bounds.
Juk (LIU): FTY, a bit to the side but height.
Qu was injured on beam for Yale. TBD if she’ll be replaced on floor.
Coleman (WCU): Straddle jaeger to bail, blind full to double tuck. Great swing.
Walker (Yale): Front aerial to split jump, beautiful choreo. Switch leap split beat series, nice. Side aerial to full, solid.
Kelly (WCU): Gorgeous release, straddle back, some form on the dismount. Hit routine.
Liebdhardt (Brown): Out of bounds on last pass. Big amplitude on the opening double pike on a replay.
Chia (Yale): Side aerial, nice. Switch leap straddle 3/4, hits the position beautifully. Cat leap side aerial to lay full, gorgeous. Looks like she’ll get a 9.875. Our first during rotation score.
Toy (Yale): BHS LOSO, nice. Switch ring wobble but great ring shape. Split jump sheep jump, solid. Wobbly choreo. Side aerial to a stuck lay full. Very clean.
David (Yale): Wobbles on the full turn, leap series solid but a little short, BHS LOSO comes off. Front aerial, saves it, to split jump. Piked gainer off end with a step forward.
Meeks (Yale): Exhibition. BHS LOSO, gorgeous leaps. Side aerial, solid. Piked gainer off the end, absolutely gorgeous.
Walsh (Brown): Rudi, nice. Jump series had nice amplitude. Leap series, okay. Little low. Front lay to front full, controlled. Solid routine.
Xing (Brown): Judges are chatting again. Whip to double tuck, little low on landing but it had height. Switch side to popa, some form but great amplitude. Closes with a double pike, great.
Gardner (Brown): Took last year off, trained solo, back and ready for this year. Judges are chatting ONCE AGAIN. Now is not the time to get caught up, c’mon. Grab a coffee after the meet. RO BHS double pike to open, gorgeous height. Switch leap to jump, great height. Balked, or bailed?, on the second pass, doing just a back layout. Ro 1.5 to front lay, some legs. She delivered a strong routine despite the flubbed pass.
After 3: Scores? I’d love scores. WCU 144.800, Yale 143.300, LIU 142.475, Brown 141.425
Yale struggled on beam, Brown pushed through the constant chats between the judges on floor but had a few missteps. LIU delivered really well on vault, I think the only one without a fall this rotation, based on what was shown. WCU had some solid bar routines. Yale will have an all new lineup on floor today, no returners. WCU has 10.0 starts for every routine on beam today. Without scores, I think we’re looking at similar standings to the first rotation, WCU, Brown, Yale, LIU, although could be LIU, Yale. Yale may be shuffling floor around after Qu was injured. No further word on Qu.
“We’re directly next to the scores table.” Okay, well, share the secrets. (Secrets were not shared until during routines.)
Rotation 4: Brown VT, LIU UB, WCU BB, Yale FX
Miller (LIU): Swings easily, ends with a double lay, some legs with just a small shuffle.
Liebdhardt (Brown): Yurchenko pike, solid, stepped.
Kramer (Brown): Missed the vault but solid landing.
Meeks (Yale): Stepping in for Qu. Opens with a double pike, steps back and a little low but otherwise clean. Front full to front pike, nice. Yale will only be putting up 5 today. Leap series nice, great ring shape. Rudi, some form, but solid.
Someone from Brown balked on vault, but they didn’t give a name. “Might be Bedminster.” See notes two lines down about bars… where Bedminster competes for LIU and not Brown.
Garnder (Brown): Tucked fty, but short and puts her hands down
Bedminster (LIU): Ends with double lay, steps forward.
Meakim (WCU): BHS LOSO, solid. Leap series solid but a little short on the split. RO 1.5, some form with a small step forward.
Wang (Yale): RO 1.5 to front lay, so controlled and clean. Closes with a double tuck but doesn’t put it to her feet. Walked off.
Castellanos (LIU): We only get dismounts. But I’m a sucker for double lays. Pretty clean.
Costa (Brown): FTY, fairly clean.
Fred (WCU): BHS LOSO, comes off. Wobbly on leap series, just short of splits. Front tuck, takes a step back. Gainer full off side.
Juk (LIU): Pak, nice. She has an ease about her, great blind, steps forward on the double tuck dismount.
Chia (Yale): Bouncy first pass, love the Bad Guy floor music. Great leap series, great amplitude. RO 1.5 to front lay, nice. Solid routine, Yale needed this.
Fanara (WCU): BHS LOSO, switch leap straddle quarter some toe form. Front tuck, solid. Split jump to straddle quarter, small hesitations between connections. Punch front lay full.
Titarsolej (LIU): ONLY THE DOUBLE TUCK DISMOUNT. No LIU bar routines for us. Thanks so much.
Toy (Yale): Opens double pike, step back. Great leaps, hits the popa. Front lay to front full, juuuust keeps it inbounds. Rudi, clean. Another much needed routine for Yale.
Sanchez (LIU): Pike jaeger, solid pak, double lay with a big step forward, but solid. And the anchor routine. So that concludes the 1.25 routines we saw on bars for LIU.
Marshall (WCU): solid leaps, some form. BHS LOSO, hits. Side aerial, stutter steps the landing to keep it square. RO 1.5 takes a few steps forward and to the side.
Wilson (Yale): RO 1.5 to front lay and used her spidey senses to keep it in bounds. Switch to switch ring half, nice ring. Camera keeps going in and out of focus for fun. Closes with a double pike and shuffles her feet out of bounds but had great height.
Rodriguez (WCU): Exhibition. Switch leap to split 3/4, solid but a little shaky. BHS LOSO, small step. “Nice round off bhs” these announcers. Side somi, ooooo just doesn’t save it. Side aerial to lay full, small shuffle.
Final: WCU 192.325, LIU 190.825, Yale 190.800, Brown 188.700
Overall, not a bad showing for any team. Each team had its fair share of hiccups, but it’s been a long offseason. LIU came out strong this meet, finishing in second. With such a long gap between competitions, teams didn’t look too rusty. This was a great start to the season.
Vault: Bedminster (LIU) 9.825
Bars: Wang (Yale) 9.825
Beam: Chia (Yale) 9.875
Floor: Bedminster (LIU) 9.825
All around: —
Live Blog by Allison Freeman
Like what you see? Consider donating to support our efforts throughout the year! [wpedon id=”13158″]
