Here we go with another Friday meet day! Today, we have a Big 12 conference showdown between Oklahoma and West Virginia where the goal for both teams is to improve NQS standings.
The Sooners are comfortably sitting in first place nationally with an NQS over 198. They’re aiming to replace a 197.925 to improve their NQS, so anything over that number will improve their number. Depth has been the Sooners strong point with multiple athletes having a chance to compete and exhibition with more options waiting in the wings, particularly on beam. Keep an eye out on that event in particular, the Sooners had six hit routines and two exhibitions, so there’s no clear idea who will be on that event tonight. Reigning Big 12 Newcomer of the Week Faith Torrez will be a standout on whichever events she competes tonight.
The Mountaineers are in a precarious position after the first week of NQS rankings. They sit on the bubble with an NQS in the 195’s. However, they can drop their lowest score tonight with anything higher than a 194.800. When I spoke with Head Coach Jason Butts this week, he said his goal for his team was to clean up the little deductions they seem to be picking up on each event to increase their team score. The floor rotation will be a highlight after scoring 49.575 last week; the floor team hasn’t scored below a 49.000 all season and reigning Event Specialist of the Week Ellen Collins capped it off with a 9.900 last week.
Ladies and gentlemen…Olivia Trautman is back. She is on three events tonight, adding back vault.
Rotation 1: OU vault, WVU bars
Sievers: Yurchenko 1.5, had the stick but had to take a step forward. Knee bend in the air. 9.875.
Yancey: beautiful Pak salto, little leg separation on the Shaposh, missed the last handstand, double layout with a tiny hop. 9.750.
Stern: Yurchenko 1.5, beautiful in the air with a tiny hop forward. 9.900.
Combs: mount on low bar, Maloney to Pak salto, caught it right on top of the bar with some knee form issues, last handstand was beautiful, blind full to double tuck, hop back on the landing. 9.675.
Levasseur: Yurchenko 1.5, BEAUTIFUL block with a stick. That’s the best one she’s done all season. and it’s a 10.0!
Leigh: mount on high bar, blind change to straddled Jaeger. Pak salto to low bar, leg separation in the air, beautiful final handstand. Double layout dismount stuck with some leg separation. 9.800.
Trautman: Here she cooooomes. Yurchenko 1.5 and of course, she sticks it. If I’m picky, there was a little knee bend right before the landing, but we’ll see. 9.975.
M. Smith: Clear hip to Tkatchev, lacked the toe point in the air. Missed the final handstand, double layout dismount with a hop. 9.650.
Bowers: Yurchenko 1.5, beautiful height and distance, small hop forward on the landing.
Alban: mount on high bar, Geinger to bail to handstand, missed the final handstand, double layout dismount stuck! 9.850.
Davis: Yurchenko 1.5, underrotated and took several steps back on the landing. Not a lot of distance. Very likely the drop score. 9.600.
Holmes-Hackerd: mount on high bar, blind change to piked Jaeger to bail to the low bar, the height on the release was BEAUTIFUL. Blind full to double tuck with a hop back.
Ramsey (exh): Yurchenko full, beautiful height and distance with a hop back. Piked down touch in the hips.
Bochow (exh): Blind full to straddled Jaeger, beautiful toe point but couldn’t catch the bar and fell. Remounts with a short handstand but beautiful transition to the low bar. Double layout with a small hop back. Good recovery after a rough routine.
After 1: Oklahoma 49.625, West Virginia 48.875
Katherine Levasseur gives the Sooners only their second 10.0 of the season, which is crazy considering how insane this team has been. The vaults were clean and Trautman coming back only strengthens that lineup. West Virginia had a good bars rotation, but the landings were not entirely there. Moving on in this meet, the Mountaineers will have to have clean landings to keep pace.
Rotation 2: WVU vault, OU bars
Yancey: Yurchenko full, flared out at the end, but we didn’t get to see the landing so that’s cool. 9.750.
Sievers: mount on low bar, Maloney to Pak salto, pirouette half is clean, half in half out dismount STUCK. So that’s how this rotation is going to go. 9.925.
Irwin: Yurchenko half, underrotated and had to take a step back. 9.725.
Torrez: mount on low bar, Maloney to Pak salto, caught it close. Double layout dismount, had to hold it but likely considered a college stick. 9.875.
Lewis: Yurchenko full, landed off to the side, step back on the landing. 9.800.
Smith: mount on high bar, Ray release with beautiful toe point. Pak salto was clean with no leg separation, handstands clean throughout, double layout dismount STUCK…with some leg separation. 9.950.
Pierson: Yurchenko full, tons of distance, loose knees in the air, hop back on the landing. 9.825.
Trautman: mount on low bar, Maloney to Pak salto combination is clean with good height, handstands were hit all the way through. Double layout with a stick. Yeah, she’s back back. 9.925.
Wehry: FHS pike half, BIG step back on the landing, but clean in the air with some leg separation on the pike. 9.775.
Bowers: mount over to high bar, blind change to straddled Jaeger, Pak salto caught close but clean form, beautiful final handstand, full twisting double tuck with a low chest and holds onto the landing. 9.900.
Collins: Yurchenko half, landed close to the line, underrotated so she took a step back. 9.675.
Davis: mount over to high bar, Higgins roll to piked Jaeger caught with a little arm bend, the other handstands have looked beautiful, double front with a half, little big of leg form in the air with a stuck landing. 9.950.
Alban (exh): Yurchenko full, low in the air and stuck with a low chest. 9.725.
Johnson (exh): mount over to high bar, short on the first handstand, blind change to piked Jaeger to immediate bail. Over on the final handstand and had to hop off. Remounts and does her double layout with a step forward and low chest. 9.125.
After 2: Oklahoma 99.275, West Virginia 97.750
That’s probably one of the best bars rotation the Sooners have had all season. Their landings were clean and they stuck most of their dismounts, so that’s already a win for KJ Kindler’s bars team. The Mountaineers landings improved slightly on that event and didn’t count a score below a 9.700 so they are heading toward hopefully a good road number. Of note, I am so excited for this floor rotation.
Rotation 3: OU beam, WVU floor
Dunn: beautiful choreography to start. BHS BHS LOSO, nailed it right in the center of the beam. Split leap to straddle half right at 180, bobble on the full turn. Gainer full with a stick. 9.900.
Lewis: First pass is a Rudi to LOSO, clean on that landing. Leap series not quite at 180. Final pass is a double tuck with a low landing, but manages to save it. Good lead off, but won’t be as high as last week’s. 9.700. They really nailed her for that leap series and the low landing.
Trautman: Opens with the full turn and nails it. BHS LOSO with a small balance check at the end of it. Cat leap to switch side, maybe a slight arm wave? Front toss is much cleaner with good height. RO 1.5 dismount with a stick. 9.925.
Pierson: Opens with the double layout E pass, couldn’t keep that front foot down. Leap series had a lot of height. Final pass is front layout to front full, more controlled than the first pass. 9.800.
Bowers: Full turn is clean, BHS LOSO is steady and controlled. Sissone to switch half hits 180. Double twist dismount, soft knees, with a stick. 3/3 stuck dismounts on beam! 9.950.
Yancey: Double pike first pass with a small hop back. Good leap series but might’ve missed 180 on the second leap. Second pass is back 1.5 to front half to stag jump, very cool combination pass! Final pass is a double tuck, clean on the landing. 9.775. Hmmm…I’m interested if they took the leap deduction because other than that, it was a relatively clean routine.
Davis: Loving the Tim McGraw beam music. Steady on the full turn. BHS LOSO with a slight lean to the side. Front aerial is clean as is the leap series. Double twist with a stick, might’ve had soft knees in the air. 9.950. Don’t know if I agree with that.
Leigh: Mountaineers need a big floor routine from Leigh here. First pass is front full to front layout, dancing out of it. Switch side to Popa leap series, hits the position in the air. Final pass is FHS double twist and nails it. 9.825.
Torrez: Wolf jump with clean toe point. Side aerial to LOSO, my favorite series in this lineup. Switch leap to switch half, hits the 180 position in the air. RO 1.5 with a small step forward. A new dismount for her and it’s relatively clean! 9.900.
Holmes-Hackerd: Rudi to back layout to two feet to straddle jump. Fun pass and I’m for it. Leap positions were clean in the air. Final pass is a double pike with a step forward and slight underrotation. 9.800.
Smith: Sooners could drop a 9.900 score if Smith hits. BHS LOSO, deep bend at the waist. I jinxed it, sorry guys. Front aerial is much better now that she’s doing angry beam. Straddle half to BHS swingdown. Full turn with a small lean. BHS to gainer full with a stick. So this is actually the drop score now, my bad. 9.725.
Collins: First pass is Rudi to LOSO, floatly in the air with a clean landing. Loving the personality in this routine. Lacked a little toe point in the leap series. Double tuck with a controlled landing. Great anchor routine for the Mountaineers! 9.850.
Sievers (exh): First time seeing Sievers on beam! Solid on the full turn. BHS LOSO, loses the front foot on the layout but stays on. Front toss to straight jump then beat jump to straddle half, much more composed on the back half of this routine. RO 1.5 stuck landing.
After 3: Oklahoma 148.900, West Virginia 146.800
The Mountaineers streak of 49.000 plus on floor continues (just barely) with a 49.050 on floor. They’ll take a clean rotation with no low scores as they head to beam. Oklahoma is on a crazy pace to score another 198, depending on what happens on floor.
Rotation 4: WVU beam, OU floor
Holmes-Hackerd: Cat leap to front aerial to back tuck, balance check at the end of it and a slight pause between skills. Cat leap to switch leap to back tuck with another small pause. Gainer full with a small lean back. 9.700.
Johnson: Front layout to Rudi first pass is clean. Maybe missed the 180 position on the first leap, the angle was hard to tell. Double tuck final pass with a lunge back. Good comeback routine after a rough bars exhibition. 9.925
Pierson: Standing front tuck to BHS, um wow that’s a fun combo. Standing back layout to split jump to straddle quarter, BHS tucked 1.5 dismount, overrotated and had to take a step forward so she didn’t sit it down. But the difficulty in that routine is amazing. 9.775.
Davis: FHS double twist opener with a step forward. This is really fun choreography! Clean on the leap series and the toe pint was immaculate. RO 1.5 to front full, stepped out of bounds (maybe with both feet?). It’s such a fun routine, I need it to stay in. 9.775.
Yancey: BHS LOSO LOSO and she falls. I gasped watching that fall. Back leg missed the beam on the final layout. Good recovery on the leap series. RO 1.5 twist with a stick. 9.100.
Smith: Double tuck first pass is controlled with a lunge back. Combination pass was nicely done. Switch side to wolf full leap series, looked clean. Short on the landing on the double pike, but doesn’t step forward and lands with a low chest. 9.850.
Combs: Needing a big routine here after a fall. Cat leap to front aerial to back tuck, slight hesitation throughout. Cat leap to switch side, much cleaner. Hop on the dismount. Good routine after a fall. 9.750.
Sievers: First pass is a tucked full-in, solid on the landing. Second pass is front tuck through to double tuck, cleaner landing than the first pass. I really do enjoy this floor music and she’s having a lot of fun performing it. Switch side to straddle full, positions clean in the air. This should be a good number. 9.950.
Leigh: Front aerial to BHS series, floaty and solid throughout. Full turn is clean, balance check after the straddle half. Cat leap to switch half to beat jump is connected cleanly, aerial cartwheel to gainer full dismount with a college stick. 9.850.
Torrez: Double layout first pass, nailed it. Beautiful height on the leap series! Front tuck through to double tuck, held onto the landing at the end. Good routine for the freshman! 9.950.
Wehry: In for Handono here. Switch leap with a pause, likely won’t give her the connection, to BHS LOSO. Balance check on the combination series. Handling the last minute change well. Tucked front full, small step. Drops the fall from Yancey and should improve their NQS. 9.650.
Bowers: Closing it out for the Sooners here who will top 198 again. First pass is a double pike, super high in the air. Front double full to front tuck, best landing of the season on that pass. Don’t be surprised if this is a huge number here. 10.000. Second one of the night for the Sooners.
FINAL: Oklahoma 198.575, West Virginia 195.625
What some might consider a depth meet for the Sooners ends up with two perfect 10s and the Sooners setting an all-time program record and tying their fourth highest floor score all-time. The highlight of the night were the landings for the Sooners and Kindler will be thrilled with that as they head into the Florida dual next weekend. The Mountaineers will drop the 194.800 from their NQS heading into the second meet of their weekend on Sunday and should be thrilled with the comeback on beam after a fall from Yancey.
VT: Katherine Levasseur (OU) – 10.000
UB: Audrey Davis & Ragan Smith (OU) – 9.950
BB: Jordan Bowers & Audrey Davis (OU) – 9.950
FX: Jordan Bowers (OU) – 10.000
AA: Jordan Bowers (OU) – 39.725
READ THIS NEXT: Judge’s Inquiry: Breaking Down One Near-Perfect Routine on Each Event From Week 7
Live blog by Savanna Whitten
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