This evening session of the Wasatch Classic should be an exciting one pitting two Pac-12 foes California and Oregon State against Iowa and Pittsburgh. The Cal Bears had one of the most impressive starts to the season with the debut of eMjae Frazier leading them to their highest ranking ever at No. 3. Conversely, Oregon State had a season opener that was less than ideal counting a fall on bars and with Jade Carey not breaking 9.900 on any event for the first time in her college career. Iowa had a solid first outing as well highlighted by Linda Zivat’s stuck Tsuk full. Last, but certainly not least, Pitt started its season impressively by nearly cracking 196. Its performance was highlighted freshman Reyna Garvey who notched a massive 9.950 on beam in her debut as well as a 39.150 in the all around.
Tonight’s meet should be close between all three teams, and while Cal is favored, this meet could really go any direction. While vault difficulty will separate these teams some, with Oregon State and Cal having the most with three 10.0 start value vaults, bars execution will likely be a critical test for all teams. If Cal can execute like last week, expect the Bears to comfortably lead this meet. For other teams, getting through bars with 49s will be the goal to keep things close. Let’s get to it!
Introductions are starting now, so probably another 10 minutes until things really get going.
Some early line up notes. Iowa freshman Karina Munoz will be featured on three events this week, and Cal freshman Casey Brown will be making her debut by anchoring vault.
Rotation 1: Cal VT, Iowa UB, Oregon State BB, Pitt FX
Li (VT): Nice stuck yfull with just pretty decent chest position as well.
Masella (UB): Short first handstand, nice jaeger with some foot form. Loose handstand position on the bail. Arches over the high bar handstand and has to reswing. Stuck double layout.
Domingo (BB): Coming in halfway thorugh. Switch split, straddle jump, split 3/4, a little bit of chest position on the last jump. Gainer full is stuck.
Desouza (VT): one and a half with a hop, looked a little to the left.
Hutchison (FX): Fall on the opening double full, will want to drop.
Rojas (UB): nice first handstand. Geinger, messy feet on the bail handstand. FTDT with a hop.
Lauzon (VT): One and a half with a small hop, looked nice in the air
Starting to have some stream issues.
Frazier (VT): double full, much improved from last week. Still some leg form and a step backwards.
Brown (VT): One and a half with a bit of lock-legged landing and a hob backwards
Gonzales (BB): Front aerial to backtuck is solid. nice side aerial, decent position on the switch half. Gainer full off the end of the beam with a small landing correction.
Ewing (FX): sky high double tuck with great control. Back 1.5 to front lay. Double pike with a step forwards. Love the presentation of this routine
McSweeney (UB): Slightly short first hs, piked jaeger with some bent knees to over shoot. FTDT with chest down and a hop.
Dagen (BB): Solid series, small correction on the side aerial. Switch half is okay.
Munoz (UB): nice jaeger, small leg separation on the bail. Great final handstand. Freehip to double layout lands with her chest down and a hop.
Carey (BB): Stream went out completely, tried switching to the BB stream but her routine was over :/
Garvey (FX): Joining midway here, Switch half, wolf full is fine. Front lay, front full and sits it. Not the start Pitt wanted, having to count a fall on floor.
Washington (FX): Nice opening double pike, very controlled step. Tour jete half, wolf full, good position on the tour jete. Front lay, front full, love the flexed foot kick that’s choreographed directly out of that pass. Nice double tuck to finish, excellent chest up landing position!
After 1: Cal 49.450, Oregon State 49.325, Iowa 49.100, Pitt 48.550
Another nice vault rotation from Cal with still some room to improve. Oregon State looked really good on beam, the acro series I saw were quite crisp. Iowa recovered nicely from an early mistake, and Munoz notched a nice 9.875 in the anchor slot. Pitt had some early stumbles, but lots of potential here.
That said, I think bars scores were pretty loose in that rotation, so Cal could put up a massive number in this next rotation. Also something to watch, if Cal wants to pass UCLA in the rankings next week its needs around a 197.700 in this meet.
Rotation 2: Pitt VT, Cal UB, Iowa BB, Oregon State FX
Miller (FX): Nice double pike to open. Switch half, popa are nicely done> Back 1.5, front lay. Good closing double tuck
Desouza (UB): Slightly short first hs, jaeger to overshoot. Loose back in the final handstand. FTDT with two steps backwards.
Ward (VT): Fty with a medium hop backwards.
Ebeling (BB): Bhs loso with a check, another check on the full turn. Split jump, ring jump, beat jump. Not a great ring position. Front aerial, another check. Gainer pike is stuck.
Duke (VT): Fty with a medium hop, nice dynamics
Zuhlke (BB): Fall on her triple series, hit the rest.
Perea (UB): Nice first hs, lovely pak, great hs. Van Leeuwen with legs glued together. Double layout with a hop
Gonzales (FX): Front full, front lay with a slightly uncontrolled step. First set of leaps were fine, nice double pike. Switch ring to switch half, not the most “ring” in that switch ring.
Williams (UB): Maloney to Pak is nice. Good position on the pirouette, great final hs. Double layout with a step.
Letzsch (FX): Double tuck with a small step forward. Switch ring half, sissone. Love the backspin.
Li (UB): Nice Pak, Great Van Leeuwen, stuck dismount. Nice.
Rojas (BB): Well executed series. Small check on the full turn. Front tuck lands pretty low to the beam, but connects to the beat jump well. Split jump, split 3/4, the back leg was a bit low. Gainer full is stuck. Iowa’s rebounding nicely from the fall.
Frazier (UB): Good first hs, catches very close on the piked Tkatchev. The Pak is also off and she had to back hip circle out of it, but keeps it moving. Double layout with a hop. 9.650 is kind of crazy for all the errors that were there.
Dagen (FX): Barely gets the double full around, really nice popa. Double pike with a larger step back.
Kenlin (BB): Great series, drops her chest on her split jump 3/4 but works out of it well. Side aerial to sissone is nice. Small check on the full turn. Gainer full off the side is stuck.
Just saw an awesome routine from Lauzon in the exhibition spot, that should be seeing line up time
Carey (FX): Double twisting double tuck to open with a step back, doesn’t quite keep the front foot down. Switch 1/2 to popa is fine. Front layout through to double pike is great. What we’ve come to expect. 10 for Carey, I didn’t think it was a 10 because of the lack of control on the first pass.
Speaking of exhibition routines, Munoz needs to be in that Iowa beam lineup soon, that routine looked very nice.
After 2: Cal 98.900, Oregon State 98.825, Iowa, 97.950, Pittsburgh 97.325
Oregon State closed the gap between them and Cal led by Carey’s 10.000. Cal was fine on bars, but not as crisp as last week, especially in regards to dismounts. Iowa recoverd nicely from a fall on beam, but didn’t break 49.000. Pitt was okay on vault, but did not have the landing control to score super well with six yfulls.
Rotation 3: Oregon State VT, Pitt UB, Cal BB, Iowa FX
Nick (FX): Front double full is a little crossed legged and lands low. Rudi to a back tuck, I’m not 100% sure that was intentional?
Garcia (VT): stuck yfull, not the most dynamic but nice.
Garvey (UB): Loose back in the first hs, catches very close on the jaeger, short hs after that. Nice bail, good final hs. toe on pike half with a small step.
Williams (BB): Front aerial, split jump. Bhs, loso and a fall. Leaps are fine. Dismounts with a bhs gainer full off the side with a hop.
Gonzales (VT): Yurchenko full on, pike off, lands with chest low and a hop backwards.
Jakab (UB): Maloney to Pak, flexed feet on both. Struggles on the pirouette. Giant full to a double tuck with a step.
Dagen (VT). Yurchenko 1.5, nearly sticks but takes a small step out of it.
Frazier (BB): wobble on a front aerial. Hits the bhs, loso. Lovely switch ring to split jump, love the amplitude. Dismount with a 1.5 with small hop forward
Carey (VT): One of her best double fulls in college, only a very small hop backwards. Oh, another 10 for Jade, would like to watch this again, because I didn’t think it was completely stuck.
Munoz (FX): Great performance quality. Lovely double pike, rally holds the landing before stepping into the lunge. She looks pumped.
Great hit for Li on beam capped off by a stuck dismount.
Henderson (VT): Massive full twisting double tuck to start. Switch side, popa, straddle jump. Slightly missing 180 on some of those. Front tuck through to double tuck is STUCK. Great routine for Henderson!
Kenlin (FX): Good front double full, Switch leap, switch ring half. Back 1.5 to front lay is well controlled. 9.900
Perea (BB): Nice wolf turn. Great front toss to back tuck series. Switch leap split jump was solid. Side somi to back tuck 1.5 is stuck. One of her best routines in college. 9.900
After 3: California 148.150, Oregon State 148.125, Iowa 147.400, Pittsburgh 146.125
Well! Only a quarter tenth separates Oregon State and Cal going into the final rotation. However, Oregon State heads to bars which gave them some troubles last week, while Cal heads to floor. I’d give the advantage to Cal, but we’ll have to see what happens. Also, Iowa is on track for a mid 196 after a massive 49.450 on floor. Pittsburgh scored a solid 48.800 on bars, and Pawlak’s routine was a real highlight.
Rotation 4: Iowa VT, Oregon State UB, Pitt BB, Cal FX
Beeman (UB): Loose back in the opening hs. Catches her jaeger very close but works out of it. Nice Pak. Stalder to double tuck with a hop.
Zuhlke (VT): Her signature vault. Sticks but lands with her chest low
Weaver (UB): Close catch on the geinger, solid bail. Nice gaint full into a double tuck with a college step and salute
Desouza (FX): Rudi to stag jump with nice control. Solid double tuck. Switch side, wolf full, not the most ampltiude. Finishes with a back 1.5, front full
Munoz (VT): Great dynamic yfull with a large hop back
Bird (UB): Bail is a little short of handstand. Very short handstand on the low bar. Tkatchev is not the most dynamic. Arches over a handstand and falls.
Lauzon (FX): Front double full to front tuck is very clean and well controlled. Leaps are lacking a little bit of control. Back 1.5 to front full is stuck. Really nice routine.
Caso (UB): Nice opening hanstand. Maloney to Pak is well done, another good hs. Nice Van Leeuwen. Stalder to double tucks and sits it. Such a shame, becuase before that the routine was very nice. Oregon State will be counting a bar fall again.
Li (FX): Coming in mid routine here. Front full to front lay is very clean. Switch half to wolf full is nice, distinct landing positions.
Weiss (BB): Full turn is nice, bhs loso is solid. Switch leap, straddle quarter. Missing some split on the straddle quarter. Almost falls on the front aerial but saves it. Tucked 1.5 with a hop to dismount.
Frazier (FX): Nice double layout to open, well controlled. Split ring jump. Switch ring to a balked leap. Front tuck through to double tuck. Oh, improves another leap series at the end, good thinking.
Carey (UB): Maloney, Bhardwaj, Van Leeuwen. FTDT is stuck. I think she might have missed her toe on, on the first handstand.
Williams (FX): Front layout, rudi. Has to pike the rudi down a bit but very controlled landing. Nice wolf turn. Switch half, split jump. Switch half was very short of split. Double tuck to finish is a little short and she lands in a deep squat and has to take a step forward.
Well Oregon State took themselves out of it with that bar fall, but still managed a high 196 thanks to two 10’s from Jade Carey. As for Cal, the Bears posted nearly the same score as last week, but I definitely think they gave some away on floor. Iowa put up a solid vault rotation to score a very respectable 196.575, and seeing Munoz on three events was great to see. Lastly, Pitt struggled from the beginning counting a fall on floor and then multiple on beam.
FINAL: California 197.450, Oregon State 196.850, Iowa 196.575, Pittsburgh 193.650
VT: Jade Carey 10.000
UB: Ella Cesario, Andi Li 9.925
BB: Jade Carey, Andi Li 9.925
FX: Jade Carey 10.000
AA: Jade Carey 39.775
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Live blog by Rebecca Williams.
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