This Bay Area face-off should be an exciting rematch of last year’s regional play in meet where Stanford bested San Jose State. After a solid week one showing that included the highly anticipated debuts from freshmen Anna Roberts, Taralyn Nguyen, and Claire Dean, Stanford is looking to carry that energy into its home opener. San Jose State will open its season here at Maples Pavilion, and is looking to build off its historic 2022 season. The Spartans will be led Jada Mazury and Jaudi Lopes who shine on vault and bars especially. Also watch out for an intense all around battle with both teams likely utilizing three gymnasts in the all around. Roberts, Mazury, Lopez, as well Chloe Widner, Brenna Neault, and Lauren Macpherson, will all be vying for the all-around title. This should be a fun one!
Okay, it looks like touch warm ups are happening now, so we should be getting started soon!
Rotation 1: Stanford VT, San Jose State UB
Chrobok (Stanford): Solid yfull with a big hop back. Not the most dynamic vault we’ll see today. 9.650
Lopes (SJSU): Solid first handstand. Maloney to bail handstand, does a nice job keeping the legs together. Almost arches over the last handstand but saves it. A little late on the giant full. Stuck double tuck with an arm wave. 9.700
Neault (Stanford): Full on, back pike off. Nice leg form in the air, but lands a bit short with her chest down and has to take a hop forward and to the side. 9.625
Weyhmiller (SJSU): Nice first handstand, straddled jaeger in nice. Good pak salto, nice leg from. A little late on the half pirouette. Good final handstand to a stuck double layout with her chest a little down. 9.775
Widner (Stanford): Solid yfull with a medium sized hop back. She got really nice distance on that vault. 9.800
Konieczny (SJSU): Kind of a long wait before she starts. Good first handstand. Straddled jaeger with a bit of leg form. Short handstand afterwards, bail is fine. Nice vertical on the final handstand. FTDT is a little close to the bar with a step backwards. 9.725
Nguyen (Stanford): Dynamic yfull with a hop backwards. Very clean in the air. Oh! Commentator says that she will be upgrading to the double full later in the season, that’ll be big for the Cardinal. 9.725
Macpherson (SJSU): Short first handstand. Tkatcehv with flexed feet. Another short handstand. Nice bail. Good final handstand, giant full into a FTDT with a stick. 9.825
Brunette (Stanford): Solid yfull with a small hop backwards. Nice leg form until the very end of that vault. 9.800
Mazury (SJSU): Solid first handstand, piked jaeger. Nice handstand afterwards. Pak salto with her legs glues together, switch kip. Great final handstand and a stuck double layout. Really nice routine! 9.900
Roberts (Stanford): Gigantic Yurchenko 1.5 with a hop forwards. That vault looked very nice in the air, great leg form. 9.900
Milne (SJSU): Beautiful first handstand that’s held for a second. Maloney to bail with a small leg separation on both. Good pirouette. Double layout with her chest down and a hop forwards. 9.800
Exhibitions
Cato (SJSU): Does straight body handstands, Nice Ray. Pak salto is nice, but her rhythm is a bit off and she struggles on the pirouette. Step on the dismount. Definitely an option, but needs some fine-tuning.
Johnson (SJSU): Short first handstand, Maloney. Kip cast handstand to bail. Nice final handstand, double layout was a little bit close to the bar and a little messy with a step backwards.
After 1: San Jose State 49.025, Stanford 48.875
That was a solid first rotation for both teams! Stanford was pretty hoppy on vault, but the dyanmics and form on most if its vaults was quite good. Neault struggled a bit on her vault, which brought the team total down some. As season progresses if they can find more sticks, and get Nguyen’s vault upgraded, vault should regularly score into the low 49s for Stanford. San Jose State looked good on bars, with Mazury being the real standout. Overall, the handstand work was pretty good, and as the Spartans find more sticks on dismounts, they should be able to score even higher.
Rotation 2: San Jose State VT, Stanford UB
Gentry (SJSU): Yfull with a step forwards and low chest on the landing. 9.525
Dean (Stanford): Great first handstand. Nice amplitude on the Ray, great leg form on the Pak. A little over on the half pirouette. Blind full to double tuck with a step. Nice opening routine. 9.775
Cato (SJSU): Yurchenko full with a hop backwards. Knees looked a little messy throughout the vault. 9.700
Brunette (Stanford): Nice opening handstand. Half pirouette, Deltchev, overshoot. Last handstand is well hit. Double layout with a small leg separation and a step. 9.825
Mazury (SJSU): Yurchenko full on, pike off. Gets solid amplitude, small hop on the landing. 9.800
Neault (Stanford): First handstands is a little short. Maloney to bail is nicely done. Nice half pirouette. Absolutely wonderful giant full, and then is very short on the double tuck and falls on her head/neck. Very odd dismount, and a shame because the giant full was right on top of the bar. 9.000
Macpherson (SJSU): Yfull with a step back. She blocks straight off the table and twists late which is really nice to see. 9.800
Alexeeva (Stanford): Eagle grip into jaeger. Great leg form on the Pak. Blind full into a stuck double tuck. One of her best college routines, great toe point and handstands throughout. 9.875
Kirsch (SJSU): Tucked Yurchenko 1.5. Sky high vault, but can’t control the landing. Huge hop to the side and off the mat. 9.600
Roberts (Stanford): Short first handstand. Nice Pak. Does a toe on to handstand, misses her toes, redoes it and falls. Remounts, nice Van Leeuwen with a small leg separation. Giant full to a stuck double tuck. Good finish. 9.350
Lopes (SJSU): Yurchenko one and half! A new vault for her this season. Some leg form in the air with a crossover step forward. 9.825
Widner (Stanford): Great opening handstand. Tkatchev, another great handstand. Giant full is a little over, directly into a nice bail. Another great handstand, double layout with a hop back. Nice. 9.825
After 2: San Jose State 97.750, Stanford 97.525
Not an ideal rotation for either team. Stanford had to count a fall on bars after falls from Roberts and Neault. Besides those falls though, the Cardinal has some really nice handstand work and toe point throughout that rotation which bodes well for the future. San Jose State will not be thrilled by that vault rotation either with Kirsch having a very uncharacteristic landing error that knocked their rotation scored down some. Lopes debut of her Yurchenko 1.5 was exciting, and that vault will be big for the Spartans this season, who now have three 10.0 start value vaults.
Rotation 3: Stanford BB, San Jose State FX
Dean (Stanford): Nice opening full turn. Side aerial, bhs is solid. Switch half to beat jump broken by a small check in between. Dismounts with a ro, 1.5 with a hop. Solid opening routine. 9.625, thinking they did not give her credit for that dance series.
Kelperis (SJSU): Opens with a back 1.5 to front full, dances out of the landing. Cat leap full to some on the ground choreography. Tour jete full is a little messy. Round off double tuck to finish is nicely controlled. 9.775
Long wait for Onyshko. Looks like the judges are conferring. I’d guess the discrepancy is over the dance series, which I did not think was connected.
Onyshko (Stanford): Front aerial, bhs, bhs with a check. Switch ring with a beat jump. Not the best ring position and the connection was a little tentative, she should get credit though. Gainer pike with a hop backwards. 9.775
Cato (SJSU): Love her opening pose. Front double full to open with a crossover step. Switch ring to switch half, short of split messy landing position the switch half. This low on the ground choreography does a nice job showing her off her toe point. Yfull turn. Front tuck through to a double pike with a larger slide backwards. 9.650
Alexeeva (Stanford): Press handstand mount is gorgeous. Double wolf is well controlled. Bhs loso is right on. Switch half to beat jump. Switch half is quite short of split, specifically the back leg. Front gainer full with a hop backwards. 9.850
Macpherson (SJSU): Nice double pike to open wit ha step backwards. Switch ring to switch side, not the best ring position. Back 1.5 to front lay is well controlled, nice extension in the front lay. Switch half to split on the ground. Double tuck to finish is very high and well controlled. 9.850
Neault (Stanford): Very pretty mount. Bhs loso is very nicely done. Full turn. Front aerial is well controlled. Switch ring, beat jump. Nice head release on the ring position. Dismount with a 1.5 and a small hop. Nice recovery from bars. 9.875
Lopes (SJSU): Great opening full in with a very controlled step. Switch side, popa, popa, leaps were a little messy and indistinct. Front tuck through to a high double tuck, opens a little early and has to step forward. 9.725
Roberts (Stanford): Wolf 1.5 is nicely done. Long pause, L hop to switch half, very short of split with the front leg of the switch half. Bhs loso is beautiful. Side aerial with a large, chest down check. Dismounts with a 1.5 and a hop. Nice routine, a couple of large pauses before skills in there as well though. 9.775
Mazury (SJSU): Front lay to rudi is very clean and controlled. Leaps have nice split but landing positions are not the most precise. Double pike to finish, nice control on the landing, chest might have been down a smidge. Solid set. 9.900
Widner (Stanford): Switch leap, split jump. Great back leg on both splits. Bhs, loso is nicely done. Love the on toe pose she does. Front aerial to split jump, nicely works through the check to keep the connection. Full turn. Bhs, gainer full off the side with a hop. 9.900
Gentry (SJSU): Opens with a double back, very open tuck position, kind of looked like a pike with bent legs. Switch side to popa, flexed feet. Back 1.5 to front lay, nice amplitude. Double pike to finish, land its a little awkwardly but plays it well. 9.700
After 3: Stanford 146.875, San Jose State 146.700
Stanford had a really nice beam rotation and was able to take the lead with a solid 49.175. I was very impressed by their crisp acro series. I could see those switch half positions getting hammered by other judging panels though. Widner’s set was a standout. San Jose State posted a respectable 48.950. The tumbling was mostly good, with a few final pass issues that looked more like not being used to tumbling on hard surfaces than endurance problems. The leaps need some finetuning throughout the lineup, but this event definitely has potential for the Spartans. Watch out for Lopes throughout the season, her full in was great today. Onto the last event!
Rotation 4:
Cato (SJSU): Wolf full is nicely done. Switch leap, split jump. Nice split positions and amplitude. Front aerial, bhs, loso with a chest down wobble. Side aerial to beat jump. Dismounts with a 1.5 and a step. Nice routine. 9.800
Dean (Stanford): Open with a big double pike and takes a bigger step back. She’s selling this choreography quite well.Tour jete half is a little under rotated. Back 1.5 to front full with a controlled step out. Tour jete to popa. Nice routine. 9.900
Lopes (SJSU): Cat leap, switch side. Bhs, bhs, loso right to the end of the beam. Bent legs throughout the series. Side aerial to tuck 1.5 with a hop. 9.800
Brunette (Stanford): Front lay to rudi, controlled step. Leaps are a bit short of split. Big double tuck with a slide back. 9.875
Mazury (SJSU): Smallest of checks on the full turn. Nice side aerial. Bhs loso, works out of it with only a small check. Impressive because her hips werevery crooked. Straddle to straddle 1/2, tries to save it but ends up falling. Dismounts with a 1.5 and a step. 8.950
Neault (Stanford): Opens with a big double pike and a step backwards. Rudi, not the most amplitude. Switch leap, ring full, had a bad angle so couldn’t tell a lot about those split positions. 1.5 to front lay is nicely done. 9.875
Macpherson (SJSU): Switch leap, split jump, good positions. Bhs, bhs, loso is right on, great leg form and extension. Full turn. Beautiful ring kick position as she’s low to the beam. Standing gainer loso with a small check. Dismounts with a stuck 1.5 and a back breaking salute. Nice routine to get the Spartans back on track. 9.850
Nguyen (Stanford): Huge double layout to open, a couple steps out of it. Switch side, popa, well rotated. Finished with a back 2.5 to front pike, excellent control. 9.850
Milne (SJSU): Side aerial, loso is gorgeous. Switch leap, bhs swingdown directly to a beautiful candle pose. Dismounts with a stuck 1.5. Picking up right where she left off last season, great routine. 9.875
Roberts (Stanford): Front layout to rudi, love the amplitude she gets on the rudi. Double tuck with a very controlled step. Switch half, popa are nicely done. Great routine, will be at the end of this lineup for years to come. 9.900
Kirsch (SJSU): Candle mount. Bhs, onodi series, small check and some bent legs. Full turn. Switch leap, split quarter. Short back leg on the switchleap. Bhs, tuck 1.5 with a stick. The tuck 1.5 could use some more amplitude and distance. 9.775
Widner (Stanford): Double layout is short and puts her hands down. Front tuck through to just a layout. I think head coach Tabitha Yim told her before that second pass to just do timers for the rest of the routine to protect her ankles. Switch half to popa is nice. Not an ideal end to the day, but glad she’s not hurt.
FINAL: Stanford 196.100, San Jose State 195.800
Well this regionals rematch lived up to expectations of being a close, high quality meet. Stanford got a 196 while counting a bars fall which speaks volumes to the Cardinals potential for the rest of the season. San Jose State had a nice first showing, coming close to that 196.000 mark. After the beam struggles the Spartans had last season, it was nice to seem them hit three routines after a fall on balance beam. Both teams have work to do, but there is definitely tons of potential for both the Cardinal and the Spartans.
VT: Anna Roberts 9.900
UB: Jada Mazury 9.900
BB: Chloe Widner 9.900
FX: Anna Roberts, Claire Dean, Jada Mazury 9.900
AA: Lauren Macpherson 39.325
READ THIS NEXT: Stanford Flips the Script, Competes With Gratitude
Live blog by Rebecca Williams.
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