I’m back at Pauley Pavilion! The top two finishers from this evening’s session will face Utah and self-proclaimed underdogs Washington in Saturday’s final.
We’ve already seen one upset this round, with Auburn getting knocked out after having to count two falls on bars in session one; it’s called March Madness for a reason, folks!
Speaking of upsets, UCLA and Missouri are meeting again for the first time since last year’s Raleigh regional final where the upstart Tigers snagged a surprise berth to nationals, leaving the Bruins in 12th place for the second year in a row.
Expect this year to look a little bit different: In addition to having home-court advantage, the Bruins are thriving under first-year head coach Janelle McDonald. They’re ranked fourth heading into this meet and should have no problem advancing to the regional final.
Missouri has poured it on the last few weeks and is expected to move on to the final, but could face substantial pressure from Stanford. The Cardinal dropped in the national rankings after an iffy performance at Pac-12 championships, but are capable of mid-197s when they hit. Also, be sure to keep an eye out for the individual competitors:
- Central Michigan’s Hannah Demers (AA) will be rotating with the Round One winner while her teammate Taylor Pitchell (FX) will be with Stanford along with Sacramento State’s Amber Koeth (BB), BYU’s Sydney Benson (VT), and Anyssa Alvarado (UB)
- BYU’s Kylie Eaquinto (VT) and Elease Rollins (BB) will be rotating with Missouri
The individual qualifier standings (with tie-breakers completed) after session one are listed below in the order with gymnasts from teams that have already been eliminated in bold. :
AA:
| 1. Maile O’Keefe | Utah | 39.550 |
| 2. Karley McClain | SUU | 39.400 |
| 3. Cassie Stevens | Auburn | 39.325 |
VT:
| 1. Jaedyn Rucker | Utah | 10.000 |
| 2. Abby Brenner | Utah | 9.950 |
| 3. Caitlin Kho | SUU | 9.925 |
UB:
| Cristal Isa | Utah | 9.950 |
| Sage Thompson | Utah | 9.950 |
| Cassie Stevens | Auburn | 9.925 |
| Makenna Smith | Utah | 9.925 |
BB:
| 1. Maile O’Keefe | Utah | 10.000 |
| 2. Kennedi Davis | Washington | 9.950 |
| 3. Cristal Isa | Utah | 9.925 |
| 4. Hannah Hagle | Auburn | 9.900 |
FX:
| 1. Abby Paulson | Utah | 9.925 |
| 2. Derrian Gobourne | Auburn | 9.925 |
| 3. Karley McClain | SUU | 9.925 |
You can follow the session here.
Full disclosure, I have a fabulous view of bars and the others are OK as long as no one’s standing in front of me!
Rotation One: Round One Winner vault, Stanford bars, UCLA beam, Missouri floor
Kho (BSU): Big Y full with just a touch of pike-down. 9.750
Loyim (BSU): Didn’t get enough pop on her block and sat the Y half. 9.150
Vulaj (BSU): Strong Y full on pike off. 9.850
Popp (BSU): Missed hers, unfortunately. 9.225
Lopez (BSU): Textbook Y full, stuck. 9.900
Blackson (BSU): STUCK Y 1.5! Well deserved 10.000
DeMers (CMU): Couldn’t see a thing after Blackson’s celebration unfortunately! 9.825
Dean (Stanford): High Tkatchev. Floaty pike to switch kip. Tabitha Yim screaming (in a good way) at her score. 9.875
Brunette (Stanford): Orphan half to Deltchev, pretty close on the regrasp. DLO stuck! 9.850
Neault (Stanford): Clean first handstand to Maloney to Pak, excellent. Crisp half pirouette. High FTDT with a tiny hop back. 9.825
Alexeeva (Stanford): Nice toe on to piked Tkatchev (?). Clean Pak. Tidy full pirouette to double tuck with a hop back. 9.875
Roberts (Stanford): Floaty Pak. Slightly shy on her handstand. VL lost the form. Nice full pirouette to double tuck with a tiny hop back. 9.825
Widner (Stanford): Full pirouette to bail, lovely. DLO with chest forward and a small hop. 9.850
Alvarado (BYU): Ugh, immediately pings off on her Maloney. She’s smiling though. Beautiful VL and DLO with a tiny step. 9.325
Lee (UCLA): Little adjustment on her full turn. Side gainer full, stuck. 9.900
Alipio (UCLA): Front aerial to back tuck, very smooth. Split leap to switch half looked a little shy from my angle. Side aerial, steady. Tucked gainer full, stuck. 9.925
Padurariu (UCLA): Side aerial to bhs with a small adjustment. Split leap, gorgeous. Beat to sheep jump with an extra hop. RO back 1.5 with a small hop forward. 9.800
Chiles (UCLA): Bhs loso with some foot form and a tiny adjustment. Wolf jump, good. Pretty ull turn. Side aerial, agian with some foot form. 9.900
Harris (UCLA): Bhs loso bhs with a touch of foot form. Split jump to full turn, lovely. Couldn’t see her dismount, but the crowd erupted, so I’m assuming it was a stick! 9.975
Malabuyo (UCLA): Excellenmp, bhs loso. Front aerial to beat, no problems. Ring jump looked a touch shy to me, but again, my angle isn’t the best. Bhs side gainer full, stuck. 9.975
Schreiber (Mizzou): Rudi to back layout to split jump, big grin in the air. Fhs front full to front lay, great. 9.875
Kratzer (Mizzou): Lovely double tuck to open, one of the cleanest she’s done this season. Good amplitude and position on her Popa series. Strong fhs front full to front lay. Foot slide on her double pike, but good chest position. 9.775
McCrary (Mizzou): Floaty fhs to Rudi. Switch side to Popa, beautiful extension. Solid double pike to finish. 9.900
Sheremeta (Mizzou): Fhs front double full, gorgeous. Perfect straddle positions. Rudi to loso, so clean and floaty. 9.875
Moore (Mizzou): HUGE DLO, perfectly c? ontrolled and upright. Switch half to Popa series. Front through to double tuck, again perfectly controlled. That was phenomenal (and no, she’s not injured). 9.900
Celestine (Mizzou): Big FTDT right to the edge with a little lean back. Switch full series, maybe a hair underrotated? Fhs front full to front lay, beautifully done. Love the dive forward roll! Sky high double tuck with a minor foot adjustment to finish, quite appropriately to the intro from California Love.
AFTER ONE ROTATION: UCLA 49.675, Missouri 49.375, Stanford 49.275, Boise State 48.725
UCLA has got to be breathing a sigh of relief to not only have beam over and done, but to have banked that score.
Mizzou and Stanford both looked strong. The Tigers are heading to one of their weakest events while the Cardinal are going to one of their strongest events, so this could get interesting next round.
Boise State already counting a fall, but what a way to close out that rotation with the program’s first vault 10!
Rotation Two: Missouri vault, Round One Winner bars, Stanford beam, UCLA floor
McCrary (Mizzou): Y full with a bit of pike down and side-step. 9.750
Schreiber (Mizzou): FABULOUS Y full. Not a ton of amplitude, but completely straight throughout and stuck. 9.900
Davis (Mizzou): Nice height on her Y full, small hop. 9.850
Celestine (Mizzou): HUGE Y 1.5 with just a small hop forward. 9.900
Moore (Mizzou): WOW. Nearly scraped the ceiling on her Y 1.5. College stick, so no 10, but biggest vault of the day by far. 9.900
Burns (Mizzou): Y full a little messy, but a ton of height and distance, small hop. 9.850
Eaquinto (BYU): Beautiful Y full, stuck. 9.800
Little (BSU): Maloney to Pak with some foot form. Final handstand a bit shy. Got hung up on her full pirouette and comes off. Repeats and same mistake. Third time’s the charm. Deep landing, but she lands it. 8.625
Nakayma (BSU): Gorgeous FTDT with a tiny hop. 9.750
Morden (BSU): Blind change to piked Jaeger, beautiful. Bail to handstand, very tight. Missed her dismount in the air, but it was a solid stick. 9.850
McGovern (BSU): Clear hip to Gienger, much better form than yesterday. Gorgeous FTDT, stuck. There is so much fight in these Broncos! 9.850
Blackson (BSU): Bail right to handstand and holds it. Blind change to Khorkina, fantastic. Flawless DLO, drilled the landing. Another 10? I’ve got nothing. 9.900
Lopez (BSU): Blind change to perfect piked Jaeger. Toe on, lovely. Bail to handstand, very tight. Nice final handstand. DLO and another stick. Wow. 9.950
DeMers (CMU): HUGE Tkatchev, awesome turnover. Bail, great. High FTDT, more or less stuck. 9.900
Dean (Stanford): Stuck her RO back 1.5, I think… 9.850
Onyshko (Stanford): Fhs to bhs bhs with some arm bend. Switch ring to beat, solid. Fully turn, good. Stuck piked gainer. 9.875
Alexeeva (Stanford): Bhs loso with a couple of adjustments. Switch half pretty shy, beat jump no problem. Front full dismount a bit under and takes some steps back. 9.775
Neault (Stanford): Bhs loso with a touch of form. Beautiful front aerial. RO back 1.5 with a little shuffle. 9.900
Roberts (Stanford): Crisp side aerial to split jump. RO 1.5, stuck(ish). 9.850
Widner (Stanford): Nice position on her leaps. Bhs loso, super steady. Front aerial to split jump, very nice. Couldn’t see her dismount. 9.925
Koeth (Sac St): I’m excited about this routine! Round-off mount. Bhs loso bhs with so much control and extension. Tick tock, great. Split jump to double ring, rock solid. Cartwheel side gainer full, stuck. Fabulous routine. 9.875
Lee (UCLA): Double pike with chest down, but a strong landing. 9.800
Moors (UCLA): Oh! It said Malabuyo on the lineup sheet. Fhs front double full to front tuck, very nice. Loso, super pretty. Switch half to wolf full, lovely. Fhs Rudi with a small bounce. 9.925
Harris (UCLA): Fantastic FTDT, chest down but a definitive stick. Fabulous double tuck with toes pointed throughout. Popas were great. Back 1.5 to whip half to double stag, just awesome. 9.900
Frazier (UCLA): Front tuck through to bhs bhs double tuck, excellent control. Switch full to Popas, nice position. Just under on her double pike and has to step forward. 9.825
Campbell (UCLA): Fantastic opening FTDT. Switch full to Popa, hung in the air. Fhs front full to front lay, great. Clean double tuck, maybe a little quick on the lunge? Fantastic routine. 9.900
Chiles (UCLA) : Big DLO. Nice control and position on her leaps. Front through to double tuck, chest position looked great today. Clean, high double pike to finish. Awesome!9.950
AFTER TWO ROTATIONS: UCLA 99.175, Missouri 98.775, Stanford 98.675, Boise State 98.025
Awesome rotations from all four teams. Props to Boise State for salvaging a 49.300 after a lead-off fall! Missouri did itself a huge favor on vault: That’s just a hair off their season and program high (and what a time to do it!). They managed to outpace the Cardinal on beam, which is no small feat. Bars is the next big hurdle.
UCLA floor, I mean… What can you say? It’s an absolute party. The Bruins are in the zone, and seem intent on enjoying every second of this.
Rotation Three: UCLA vault, Missouri bars, Round One Winner beam, Stanford floor
Frazier (UCLA): Lovely Y full, more or less stuck. 9.900
Lee (UCLA): Y full solid in the air. with a small bounce back. 9.850
Moors (UCLA): Super strong fhs pike half, touch of knee bend and a minor adjustment. 9.900
Campbell (UCLA): Basically perfect Y full as usual. Yep, 9.950
Harris (UCLA): Y 1.5 landed super deep. 9.900, hmm…
Chiles (UCLA): Minor adjustment on her Y double full but pretty clean in the air. 9.925
Celestine (Mizzou): Some knee bend on the Maloney and Pak. VL looked good. Celestine dismount, fabulous and stuck. 9.825
Schreiber (Mizzou): Super clean Maloney to Pak. NAILED her DLO. Woo, Mizzou is ON! 9.850
Sheremeta (Mizzou): Overarched the first handstand, but reined it it. Excellent blind change to straddled Jaeger to bail. Flyaway Rudi with a small hop. 9.800
Moore (Mizzou): Huge Tkatchev, slightly close on the regrasp. Excellent FTDT, stuck. 9.850
Hu (Mizzou): Gorgeous Church to Pak. Pristine VL. Full pirouette right on top of the bar and sits the double tuck. Helen Hu revenge beam? 9.400
Burns (Mizzou): She’s a former JO bars champ, but is relatively new to this lineup. Good first handstand. Blind change to straddled Jaeger, a little loose. Great bail. Gorgeous final handstand. DLO with some leg sep and a tiny hop back. Clutch! 9.825
Vulaj (BSU): Steady front toss. Back 1.5 that may have been stuck. 9.850
Little (BSU): Front aerial to beat. 9.825
Elkabchi (BSU): Standing loso, good. 9.750
Lopez (BSU): Lovely position on her splits. Front toss, very steady. Side gainer full, stuck. 9.875
Loyim (BSU): Little waver on her full turn. Pretty split leap. Very nice side gainer full with a tiny adjustment on the landing. 9.850
Popp (BSU): Front aerial with a big hip check. Bhs bhs to two-footed layout with a bit of form. Switch half with a leg-up check. 9.750
DeMers (CMU): Split leap to switch side, slight readjustment. Bhs loso and pops off, bummer. Cat leap to front aerial with a hitch. Quick full turn kicked out. Bhs back 1.5. 9.125
Dean (Stanford): Double pike a little loose on the landing. Back 1.5 to front full also a bit loose. Good straddle position. 9.750
Brunette (Stanford): Massive double tuck, kicked out. 9.850
Neault (Stanford): Very pretty fhs Rudi. Back 1.5 didn’t get a ton of pop and had to bend her knees to get the front lay around. 9.825
Nguyen (Stanford): Overcooks her DLO and lands OOB. Back 2.5 to front lay also a touch bouncy and crooked. 9.650
Roberts (Stanford): FTDT, with a little adjustment on the landing. Switch half to switch full, I think? Two people are literally standing right in front of me… Front lay to Rudi, nicely done. 9.875
Widner (Stanford): Fantastic DLO, stuck cold. Front tuck through to double pike, a little bounce back right on the line but didn’t see a flag go up. Switch leap to switch half to Popa, great job. 9.850
Pitchell (CMU): Big double pike with a slide back. Popa series, really great height and extension. Front lay to a crisp front full. And a strong double tuck to close. Nice one. 9.900
AFTER THREE ROTATIONS: UCLA 148.750, Missouri 147.925, Stanford 147. 825, Boise State 147.175
Boise State holding its own after counting that early fall. As we saw last session, you never know what can happen, so…
UCLA with a comfortable buffer, so this is shaping up to be a nail biter between the Tigers and the Cardinal. Missouri has the advantage in theory, but beam is beam. You just never know!
Rotation Four: Stanford vault, UCLA bars, Missouri beam, Round One Winner floor
Dean (Stanford): Very low Y full, pike down and a small step to the side. 9.750
Neault (Stanford): RO full on pike off, nearly stuck. 9.850
Widner (Stanford): Clean Y full. 9.925
Nguyen (Stanford): Tight Y double full with some leg crossing and a large bounce back. 9.850
Roberts (Stanford): Y 1.5 with some form and a little side step. 9.950
Brunette (Stanford): Y 1.5 a bit messy in the air and landed deep, but a stick! 9.875
Benson (BYU): Strong Y full to close out vault. 9.900
Campbell (UCLA): Strong bail. Blind change to front double tuck, little cowboyed and a step forward. 9.850
Lee (UCLA): Some form on her Pak and VL. DLO tight in the air but a big hop forward. 9.800
Padurariu (UCLA): Beautiful first handstand and toe on. Maloney to bail to handstand, great. Perfect final handstand. FTDT, stuck. 9.900
Harris (UCLA): Gorgeous first handstand. Tkatchev, great. Bail right to handstand. Perfect final handstand. Crisp full pirouette to a DLO with a hop forward. 9.875
Frazier (UCLA): Maloney with some arm bend. Pak, good. DLO with a tiny hop back. Nice one. 9.925
Chiles (UCLA): Nice first handstand. Piked Tkatchev to Pak, no problems. In the bars Gienger, great. Nailed her FTDT. 9.975
Lawrence (Mizzou): Full turn with a tiny core adjustment. Side aerial with some foot form and a leg-up check. Lovely front aerial. RO back 1.5 with soft legs but a stick. 9.800
Schaffer (Mizzou): Floaty front aerial, very steady. Bhs loso bhs with a touch of form and lightest adjustment. Switch split to split jump, great. RO back 1.5, stuck. 9.875
Davis (Mizzou): Kicked out full turn, nice. Bhs loso, totally secure and fully extended. Front toss landed upright. Beat to sheep jump with a small hip check. Split jump to bhs side gainer full, stuck. Not a higher gainer in the NCAA. 9.900
Sheremeta (Mizzou): Beat jump, great. Bhs loso, couldn’t be prettier. Full turn with free leg extended, gorgeous. Front aerial to beat to Shushunova, excellent. Front tucked gainer full, stuck. One of her best routines. 9.950
Hu (Mizzou): Lovely Korbut mount. Y full turn with a check. Front aerial to one foot, front aerial; very smooth. Beat to split 3/5, great. Scale in Arabesque, lovely. Bhs side gainer full, stuck. Beautiful routine except for the check. 9.900
Schreiber (Mizzou): Shoulder cartwheel mount, great. Full turn kicked out. Bhs loso loso with a tiny hip check. Switch half with a moderate check. Beat to split 3/4. beat to a stuck side gainer full. That should do it for Mizzou. 9.850
Rollins (BYU): Switch leap to straddle 1/4, beautiful. Front aerial with a little waver to bhs loso with feet and a hip check. Full turn with free leg extended. Bhs side gainer full landed with a lean but a stick. 9.800
Vulaj (BSU): Switch full good position. Clean double tuck to finish. 9.825
Lucas (BSU): Back 1.5 to front lay, nice and clean. 9.750
Loyim (BSU): Double pike with a small front foot slide.
McGovern (BSU): Punch Rudi to loso, super floaty. Switch half to tuck 1.5, very nicely done. Emma Andres is boppin’ along to her music, lol.
Blackson (BSU): fhs front double full to front tuck, really good pop on all three. Big, floaty back 2.5. What a day for her!
Leitch (BSU): Front lay to a bouncy front full. Double tuck slightly underrotated, but a strong routine to finish the Broncos’ season.
DeMers (CMU): Fhs to double twist, a touch crunched on the landing. Fabulous double pike. If you’ve never watched this routine, please do. It’s so. Much. Fun. Fantastic switch full series. Front lay to Rudi, excellent. Shushunova, Thor floor pound, and she bursts into tears. Ugh, what a brilliant finish for her.
FINAL: UCLA 198.275, Missouri 197.400, Stanford 197.275, Boise State 196.225
I haven’t been able to look at the final score sheets to do tie breakers, but as far as I can tell, here are the current individual standings. Individuals whose teams did not advance are in bold:
AA:
- Jordan Chiles UCLA 39.750
- Selena Harris UCLA 49.650
- Chloe Widner Stanford 39.550
VT:
- Blackson Boise State 10.000
- Jordan Rucker Utah 10.000
- Anna Roberts Stanford 9.950
- Abby Brenner Utah 9.950
- Chae Campbell Utah 9.950
UB:
- Jordan Chiles UCLA 9.975
- Emily Lopez Boise State 9.950
- Cristal Isa Boise State 9.950
- Sage Thompson Utah 9.950
BB:
- Maile O’Keefe Utah 10.000
- Selena Harris UCLA 9.975
- Emma Malabuyo UCLA 9.975
- Alisa Sheremeta Missouri 9.950
- Kennedi Davis Washington 9.950
FX:
- Jordan Chiles UCLA 9.950
- Brooklyn Moors UCLA 9.925
- Abby Paulson Utah 9.925
- Derrian Gobourne Auburn 9.925
- Karley McClain SUU 9.925
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Live blog by Claire Billman
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