If you’re not planning on watching this meet live, it’s not too late to change your mind.
Oklahoma, a team already soaring through the season with high scores week after week, set a program record last time out against then No. 39 West Virginia. Katherine Levasseur and Jordan Bowers scored perfect 10’s on vault and floor respectively, only the second and third perfect scores given to a Sooner athlete this season. The Sooners are full of depth, but with this being a marquee matchup, KJ Kindler is going to have her best six out there before heading to Michigan on Monday.
Florida clinched the regular season SEC championship with a win on senior night against Kentucky last time out. Trinity Thomas is still on pace to break the record for most 10.0’s by a gymnast, but the number of opportunities are dwindling. The Gators will want to continue sticking on their landings, particularly on vault, where they’ve been hit and miss throughout the season. Kayla DiCello has been a standout freshman in the SEC this season and will look to continue her consistency against the No. 1 team in the country.
So, wild news as we get into this meet. Florida apparently warmed up interesting lineups, so we could be seeing some new faces? In a No. 1 vs No. 2 matchup? Already a fun start. It is also now 8:04 p.m. and basketball is still on my stream. Why.
Okay, now we’re good.
Rotation 1: OU vault, UF bars
Sievers: Yurchenko 1.5, good block off the table with straight arms, NAILED that landing. 9.950.
Blakely: Missed the first skill, but the Pak salto to the low bar was clean. Beautiful double front dismount with a stick! 9.925.
Stern: Yurchenko 1.5, bent arms on the block, hop forward on the landing. 9.875.
Nguyen: mount on low bar, Maloney with some leg separation, same on the Pak salto, beautiful final handstand, double layout with a college stick. 9.875.
Levasseur: Yurchenko 1.5, beautiful in the air, small hop forward on the landing. 9.900.
DiCello: mount on high bar, Ray release high in the air, Pak salto was beautiful position wise, Van Leeuwen back to high bar, small step on the landing on the dismount. 9.850.
Trautman: Yurchenko 1.5, some soft knees in the air, but the landing was spot on. 10.000. So that’s how this is going to go.
Thomas: I’d love back to back 10s here. Missed part of it because of Trautman’s 10. Releases were good throughout and nailed her double layout. 9.975.
Bowers: Yurchenko 1.5, small hop forward on the landing. 9.875.
Wong: mount on low bar, Maloney to Pak salto, minimal leg separation. Van Leeuwen to a BEAUTIFUL final handstand, double layout with a college stick, but she was leaning back to try to hide it. 9.900.
Davis: Yurchenko 1.5, some leg separation in pre-flight, small hop forward on the landing. 9.850.
McCusker: mount on low bar, arched her back on the first handstand. Maloney to Pak salto combination was clean, Van Leeuwen back to the high bar, stalder to double tuck, bent over at the waist to keep the stick. 9.850.
After 1: Oklahoma 49.600, Florida 49.525
Well, we kicked off the meet with one 10.0 from Trautman and lots of stuck landings throughout. Meaning this is potentially going to go haywire very quickly.
Rotation 2: UF vault, OU bars
Richards: Yurchenko 1.5, good block off the table, staggered feet on the landing, but it was stuck. 9.900.
Sievers: mount on low bar, beautiful first handstand, Maloney to Pak salto, clean in the air. Toe point good through, full twisting double tuck dismount with another stick! 9.925.
Wong: Round off, full on, pike off, the tiniest slide back on the landing. Some leg separation right off the table. 9.950.
Fletcher: mount on high bar, Piked Jaeger release with tons of height, Pak salto is pretty in the air, short on the final handstand, slide back on the dismount. 9.825.
Blakely: Yurchenko 1.5, big hop forward and to the side on the landing. Lots of distance, but won’t score as high as the ones before her. 9.850, what?
Trautman: mount on low bar, Maloney to Pak salto, maybe the tiniest leg separation? Maybe short on the last handstand, double layout stuck! 2/2 on landings for Trautman! 9.900.
DiCello: Yurchenko 1.5, some soft knees in the air, good height, small step forward on the landing. 9.950.
R. Smith: mount on high bar, Ray release, could’ve used a touch more height, Pak salto but was off on the pirouette, double layout, might’ve piked the hips ever so slightly, hop back on the dismount. 9.800.
Thomas: Yurchenko 1.5, lots of distance and height, step forward and slide on the landing. 9.875.
Bowers: Blind change to straddled Jaeger, beautiful Pak salto with no leg separation, slightly off on the pirouette, half in half out, bent torso, stuck with the feet. 9.925.
Nguyen: 1st appearance on vault! Yurchenko supposed to be a 1.5, but that was absolutely terrifying. Looked like her hand slipped on the vault table and she landed on her head. She got back up but holy WOW, that was terrifying. Oh, she actually scored a 0.000.
Davis: Hard to focus back in after that, but here we go. Higgins roll to Jaeger, her usual, Pak salto was clean, double front half was the best it’s been in the air. Could this be it? Nope, 9.950.
After 2: Oklahoma 99.125, Florida 99.050.
That was scary live, but thankfully it appears that Nguyen is okay after miraculously finding a way to keep herself safe after a scary vault. Oklahoma counted four scores 9.900 or better on bars and the gap remains less than a tenth of point as we hit the halfway point.
Rotation 3: OU beam, UF floor
Dunn: BHS BHS LOSO spot on. Beautiful leap positions in the air. Gainer full off the side of the beam, short, sweet and to the point. 9.900.
Clapper: First appearance this season for the fifth-year! Rudi to LOSO, barely stayed in bounds. Switch side to Popa, maybe didn’t quite get the Popa all the way around. Final pass is back 1.5 to front layout, not the cleanest in the air, but she keeps it on her feet. Good opening routine. 9.750.
Trautman: BHS LOSO landed with confidence. Cat leap to switch side, slight correction in the air, front toss is clean. Round off 1.5 dismount with a small hop forward on the landing. 9.825. First sub 9.900 score for Trautman in her short season.
Brubach: First pass is front layout to Rudi, clean in the air. Switch side to Popa leap series, could’ve been slightly more controlled in the air. Double tuck pass was more controlled at the end. 9.850.
Bowers: BHS LOSO, solid in the air. Sissone to switch half, a little unsure, but she kept it on. Round off double twist with a stick, bent at the torso. 9.950.
Baumann: Fun wolf turns to start. Back 1.5 to front full opening pass is clean. Beautiful flexibility on the leap series! Double pike, some leg separation on the round off, big bounce out of bounds. Unfortunate because it was beautiful up until that last pass. 9.725, Clapper’s 9.750 will count.
Davis: Goodness, that mount gets prettier every time I watch it. BHS LOSO, balance correction after the layout. Front aerial is cleaner. Beat jump to split ring jump, beautiful toe point. Double twist dismount stuck! Minus the balance correction after the flight series, solid routine! 9.875
Richards: Double layout first pass, landed on the line but not out! Lifted her front foot though. Her gymnastics has gotten better this season and I’m so happy for her. Final pass is back 1.5 to front full, much better control. 9.900.
Torrez: First event we’ve seen her on tonight! Wolf jump is difficult, but clean! Side aerial to LOSO and she falls. Foot landed on the side of the beam after the side aerial and she couldn’t adjust. Makes this a little more interesting. Beautiful split position in the leap series. Round off double tuck dismount with a step back. 9.350.
Wong: Dos Santos to stag jump, stuck. Beautiful extensions on the leaps. Love this choreography and she makes it look good. Back 1.5 to front full final pass, ends with the gator chomp. Very nicely done! 9.950.
R. Smith: Needs a clean routine here to keep from counting a fall. BHS LOSO, slight lean to the side, but stays on. Front aerial with another lean. Leap series to the BHS swingdown is clean, another lean after the full turn. BHS to gainer full with a stick. Erases the fall from Torrez! 9.925.
Hurd: Front layout to front full opening pass, arabesque out of it. Beautiful position in the leaps throughout. Final pass is a double pike, landed cleanly but out of bounds. Second routine out of bounds for the Gators. 9.700.
After 3: Oklahoma 148.600, Florida 148.225
Well, that was a wild rotation all the way around. Oklahoma’s beam scores weren’t as high as they have been in previous meets while Florida had to count two scores in the 9.700s after some bouncy landings. The gap has been extended, but Florida is heading to arguably its best event, so literally anything could happen.
Rotation 4: UF beam, OU floor
Blakely: Beautiful flight series! Switch leap to switch half to beat jump, beautiful positions on the splits. Gainer full off the side with a stick. 9.950. Alrighty then.
Johnson: Front layout to Rudi first pass, lacked a little position in the air on the first leap. Double tuck underrotated and had to take a step forward. Toes looked a little crunched in on that landing. 9.725.
Lazarri: BHS LOSO LOSO, spot on. Switch leap to split jump, full extension and beautiful 180. Front aerial, controlled in the air. Full turn is clean. Aerial cartwheel to Gainer full, low chest and deep knee bend on the landing, but it was stuck. 9.925.
Davis: Lineup change, in for Smith, and now puts her in the all-around. Front double twist to open, beautiful position on the leap series! Back 1.5 to front full, difficult but nicely done! 9.900.
DiCello: Bent waist on the wolf turn, but she kept it on. Beautiful positions in the leaps! BHS LOSO, lean to the side. Front aerial is nice, small slide on the dismount. 9.850, what are these beam judges on?
Fletcher: Whip to double tuck first pass, she’s capable of a triple twist, fun choreography and music throughout! Front layout to front full, fought to keep it on her feet. 2.5 twist final pass, cleanest landing of the three. 9.850.
Thomas: Final chance for a 10.0 tonight! One handed BHS LOSO, lifted the front foot, so won’t be a 10.0. Another lean after the leap series. BHS swingdown was beautiful. Side aerial to 1.5 twist, kept her feet on the mat. 9.875. Sigh.
Sievers: Tucked full-in, beautiful landing! Second pass is front tuck through to double tuck, good landing on the combo pass! Switch side to straddle full leap series, good flexibility in the leaps. One of her best routines of the season. 9.925
Wong: Beautiful position on that leap series. BHS LOSO, solid landing. Front aerial to beat jump, her landings have been spot on throughout. Double twist dismount, some leg form in the air, hop off to the side. 9.875.
Torrez: Needing a little redemption after her fall on beam. Double layout, spot on on the landing. Leaps weren’t quite at 180, but still nicely connected. Final pass is a front tuck through to double tuck, controlled lunge back. Love that for the freshman after a fall! 9.950.
McCusker: 1st appearance on beam this season! Double wolf turn is beautiful. Beat jump to front aerial and she fell. Stutter step on the landing. BHS LOSO is much cleaner in the air. Switch leap to sissone, correction between the leaps. Gainer full off the side of the beam. Shame because I know everyone was so excited to see her on this event. 9.275.
Bowers: Oklahoma has the win, this is just an encore and she got a 10 last week. Double pike, lots of height, controlled step back. Leaps at 180. Double twist to punch front with a deep landing, HOW did she save that?? 9.675, so Wong wins the all-around!
FINAL: Oklahoma 197.950, Florida 197.700
No. 1 versus No. 2 delivered, but not without a few hiccups. Each team had some bright spots, but the focus going forward will be to clean up the technique and form on certain skills while honing in on those landings to get ready for conference championships.
VT: Olivia Trautman (OU) – 10.000
UB: Trinity Thomas (Florida) – 9.975
BB: Jordan Bowers (OU) & Sloane Blakely (Florida) – 9.950
FX: Leanne Wong (Florida) & Faith Torrez (OU) – 9.950
AA: Leanne Wong (Florida) – 39.675
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Live blog by Savanna Whitten
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