We have an exciting tri-meet on our hands tonight!
Oklahoma came out of the gates running, and the Sooners haven’t slowed down. In true Oklahoma fashion, the Sooners are ranked No. 1 on every event except vault, where they’re No. 2. That’s all while they’ve been competing four all-arounders consistently, the most the Sooners have consistently fielded in 11 years since they last had four in 2013. That’s all with Danielle Sievers recovering from an injury and being limited to bars so far this season. Jordan Bowers continues to be a force for Oklahoma, leading the four all-arounders in terms of average. Freshman Hannah Scheible has impressed on vault early in her career, all while bringing a fresh 10.0 vault in a front handspring pike half to a group of Yurchenko one and a halfs.
California is arguably the only team that has shown a similar level of refinement and performance quality as Oklahoma thus far this season, propelling it to the No. 2 team in the nation. It’s hard to look around this team and find something not to like. Mya Lauzon has dazzled in the all-around—assuming stability in lineups, we should have quite the all-around showdown between her and Bowers, not to mention the numerous other all-arounders the Sooners and Bears have been competing this season.
Host Arizona State returns home after three straight road meets. The Sun Devils started slow but are slowly building, culminating in a season-high 196.700 last week at Utah. The back half of this meet will be key for the Sun Devils, as they’ve struggled on floor early in the season and struggled on beam at Southern Utah two weeks ago.
Rotation 1: ASU VT, Cal UB, OU FX
Expecting a pretty heavily ASU-focused stream, but will get as many other teams as possible!
Mangahas (ASU): yfull, nice distance and a small hop. Good start for the Sun Devils. 9.8
Davis (OU): just saw her land her front double full. switch half wolf full sissone, nice. Hit her combo pass. And back to vault we go. 9.9
Gregoire (ASU): y1.5 with a couple of shuffle steps backward. 9.825
Lauzon (Cal): slightly short first hs. Maloney to pak, nice. Back to vault for Gregoire. 9.8
Johnson (OU): last minute change for Hawthorne. front lay to…vault camera. OK, we’re back, for now. double tuck, little foot movement on the lunge. Back to vault again. 9.85
Reeves (ASU): We cut to vault but are seeing the runway instead of the vault. 9.775
R. Smith (OU): coming in for her last pass, a nice double pike. 9.95
Scharf (ASU): yfull with good form in the air and stuck. Best landing so far. 9.875
LeVasseur (OU): coming in mid-routine. and promptly cut away. 9.9
Theodorou (ASU): my brain turned to mush on her entry, but looked like a fine landing. 9.825
Frazier (Cal): hit handstand into a nice Maloney to pak and then we cut to vault. 9.95
Torrez (OU): caught the end of her DLO, looked good from what we saw. tour jete half wolf full, good positions. stuck double tuck. Great routine for her! 9.925
A. Smith (ASU): stuck y1.5, but we missed the majority of the vault. OK, here’s a replay. Nice in the air, but was actually kind of a heel raise stick. 9.95
Bowers (OU): front double full punch front, lovely. clean, well controlled double pike. leap combo with nice positions. 9.975
After 1: OU 49.650, Cal 49.525, ASU 49.275
A good start for all teams! One rotation in and the No. 1 vs No. 2 showdown appears to be living up to the hype. ASU vault was solid, while what we saw of Cal and Oklahoma looked good as well.
Rotation 2: OU VT, ASU UB, Cal BB
Reeves (ASU): first cast handstand a tad short. straddled jaeger to bail, some legs. Good final hs. Missed her dismount while typing, but I think it was stuck. 9.7
Li (Cal): coming in mid-routine. Hits her acro series right as we switch over. switch leap split jump beat jump, good splits. We cut from her dismount to show Scheible’s vault. 9.875
Scheible (OU): fhs pike half, hop forward, so there will also be an under rotation deduction. 9.675
Barbanente (ASU): piked jaeger to bail hs, short on the handstand. Hit final hs. dlo, step forward. 9.825
Williams (Cal): front aerial to split jump, lovely. OK, back to bars. Cut back for her dismount, stuck gainer full. 9.9
LeVasseur (OU): y1.5, nice in the air and fights for the stick. 9.875
Samiley (ASU): she’s a treat on bars. slightly short first hs. floaty straddled jaeger to bail, just absolutely gorgeous toe point. stuck dlo, but chest a little low. 9.85
Cesario (Cal): coming in mid-routine. bhs loso, clean and secure. Cut back away from the routine. 9.8
Bowers (OU): y1.5, clean but a sizable step back. 9.8
Mangahas (ASU): good first hs. Blind change piked jaeger to bail, solid. Hit final hs. ftdt, sky high and stuck. 9.85
Frazier (Cal): Just caught the end of her series. split to ring, hit; lay 1.5, stuck but a decently large wobble in place. 9.925
White (ASU): van leeuwen, clean; hit bail; dlo with a step back but clean. Great routine. 9.8
Lauzon (Cal): bhs bhs loso, tiniest shoulder check; switch leap split jump, nice positions. RO double full, stuck. 9.95
Torrez (OU): y1.5 with a step backwards. Vault not doing the Sooners any favors. 9.85
Clark (ASU): nice straddled jaeger; good pak; hitting everything well so far. Textbook final hs. dlo, clean and stuck. ASU’s bars landings are dialed in! 9.9
Perea (Cal): front toss back tuck, hit; switch leap split jump beat jump, nice; side somi to tuck 1.5, super unique dismount and a solid landing. 9.925
After 2: Cal 99.100, OU 98.900, ASU 98.500
We have ourselves a meet, folks! Oklahoma wasn’t as good as we’re used to on vault, with numerous steps and underrotations—the Sooners didn’t have any scores over 9.9 on vault. Cal was stunning on beam, which puts the Golden Bears ahead after 2. Arizona State had a solid bars rotation, also.
Rotation 3: OU UB, ASU BB, Cal FX
Sievers (OU): saw her going in the background but wasn’t in full focus. Looked good, though. 9.95
Lee (ASU): split leap to full turn, secure; bhs bhs loso, rock solid; beat jump sheep jump, good position but a sizable balance check. RO 1.5, small step back. 9.825, feels high…
Williams (Cal): front lay rudi, good; switch leap through to switch ring full, good. Back 1.5 to lay, nice. 9.875
LeVasseur (OU): catching her dismount, a stuck double tuck. 9.95
Reeves (ASU): missed her series. Hits her leaps. front aerial, solid. RO tuck 1.5, stuck. 9.875
Mayhew (Cal): front double full to lay, some crossy legs. Back to beam. 9.9
Mangahas (ASU): full turn, small check; front aerial bhs, secure; leaps are slightly short of 180; front toss, solid; stuck gainer pike.
Frazier (Cal): dlo, some leg form but solid landing. Hit her leaps. Cut away to Scharf on beam. 9.85
Clark (ASU): bhs bhs loso, secure; split jump to double stag, small check with a step back; front aerial, tiny shoulder check; gainer front full, stuck.
Scharf (ASU): tiny check on her series. Hits her side somi. switch leap split jump, good positions and landing. Back 1.5, tiny step back.
Li (Cal): So far, so good. Hits her combo pass. Just cut away to beam. 9.8
Bowers (OU): didn’t see it, but 10 for her. We’ll see if we get any replays.
White (ASU): split jump double stag, lovely. Better landing than her teammate earlier in the lineup. Back 1.5, tiny step back. That’s 6 hits for ASU and the Sun Devils should be happy with that!
Kane (Cal): front full rudi, some leg form but a solid landing; switch side wolf jump, good positions; back 1.5 to lay into a leap I missed, but the landing looked a tad tentative. 9.875
After 3: OU 148.725, Cal 148.525, ASU 147.925
Oklahoma quickly put that vault rotation out of sight, out of mind, and came out on fire on bars, tying the NCAA bars record in the process (49.825). ASU hit beam and put up six solid routines to continue a nice performance so far. Cal matched the Sun Devils’ 49.425 on floor with six clean routines. One rotation to go, and this should be a close one!
Rotation 4: Cal VT, OU BB, ASU FX
Williams (Cal): crunchy yfull. 9.7
Davis (OU): beat jump to ring jump, and we cut to vault. Back to Davis on beam, we see a nice double full dismount. 9.9
Lee (ASU): fhs double full, looked like she twisted into the ground and/or didn’t quite get the rotation around, but she pulls the landing around to cover it up; solid combo pass, missed the details while I was typing; switch ring switch half, could have a better split in the switch half; closes with a front 1.5, solid. 9.775
Cesario (Cal): last minute sub for Brown. clean yfull with a stuck landing. 9.875
Wells (OU): just catching her dismount, a stuck RO 1.5. 9.95
Gregoire (ASU): ftdt, low chest but controlled landing; switch side popa, straddle on the popa not quite 180. fhs rudi loso, nice. Good finish. 9.85
Mayhew (Cal): y1.5, good dynamics with a step back. 9.85
Bowers (OU): again just catching the dismount, a stuck double full with some crossy legs. 9.9
K. Smith (ASU): clean double pike to open; fhs front full front lay, good; Tour jete half popa nice. Closes with a solid double tuck. 9.85
Torrez (OU): just the dismount again, another stick for the Sooners. 9.975
White (ASU): fhs double full, well-controlled. We cut quickly for Silvers’ vault and rejoin the routine. Caught the end of her combo pass, looked good. 9.9
Lauzon (Cal): y1.5, clean in the air with massive distance and a stuck. 9.95
LeVassuer (OU): caught the dismount again, a nice, stuck back full. 9.925
Mangahas (ASU): ftdt, controlled landing; front tuck through to double tuck, a little overrotated with a small lean pack. Triple leap combo, hit. 9.85
Silvers (Cal): y1.5 with a slide step back. 9.825
Scharf (ASU): front tuck through to double tuck, overrotated with a small lean back but minimizes the deductions. back 1.5 to punch front, hit; nails her leaps; double pike to finish, think her chest was a tad low. 9.875
FINAL: OU 198.375, Cal 197.950, ASU 197.250
What a meet! Oklahoma goes well over 198 despite the vault rotation; the Sooners absolutely crushed the back half of the meet. Cal also had a great meet; it’s even more clear the differences between the top 2 teams in the country and the rest of the teams at this point in the season. ASU also put up a strong performance and hit all four events. The potential was clearly there, and the Sun Devils may finally be putting it all together.
VT: Anaya Smith, Mya Lauzon 9.950
UB: Jordan Bowers 10.000
BB: Faith Torrez 9.975
FX: Jordan Bowers 9.975
AA: Jordan Bowers 39.675
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Live blog by Tara Graeve
