As is common in the GEC, these teams are all still figuring things out this season, but none more than William & Mary which has competed just once in the first month of the season. Due in part to the unfortunate weather-related cancellation of Fisk’s MLK invitational, the Tribe hasn’t seen the competition floor in over three weeks. In our one look at William & Mary this year we saw four of the five Tribe freshmen compete, so it’ll be interesting to see how they’ve progressed since then.
Cornell, as ever, has excelled on floor and struggled on bars this season, but beam has shown a lot of potential too. Watch out for freshman Natalia Tehrani’s gorgeous work there. Bridgeport soared in its home opener last weekend, with all around pair Lola Sepulveda and Abigail Kenney pacing the Golden Knights in every meet so far.
Penn, the overwhelming favorite to win this meet, had exactly one week of early-season jitters before it started setting records on a weekly basis like usual. It’s time for the Quakers to start pushing for 196s and climbing the rankings, not because that’s a normal expectation for February but because they’re already better than they were at any point in 2023 and there’s not a lot else left to do. It’s a good problem to have.
Rotation 1: Penn VT Cornell UB Bridgeport BB William & Mary FX
Stone (CU): Gienger to overshoot, a little loose legged, blind full a bit late to double back with a pace back.
McAleavy (UB): BHS LOSO, fall. Side aerial, check, split. 8.8
Penzi (W&M): Double pike, low chest, little hop. Position issues on her straddle leaps. Double back solid. One and a half front lay, not a lot of rise on the layout but landed well.
Song (Penn): FTY, not the highest with some body position but just a little hop on the landing.
Tehrani (CU): Clear hip to Gienger, major leg form on the catch, mistimes the overshoot and can’t hang onto the catch. DLO with a hop forward.
Davies (Penn): Flings her FTY out, hop and a step back.
Sepulveda (UB): Think we missed some of this routine. Cat leap switch side. Kickover front, big check and falls. Kickover front BHS solid. Rudi dismount with a side step. 8.9
Chandler (W&M): Front double full, underrotated by 90 degrees or more, hops around. Front full front tuck landed totally OOB. Rudi, hop back.
Perkins (Penn): Dynamic FTY, pace back.
Gazdak (Penn): Little bit of pike throughout her FTY, small hop.
Ross (UB): Side aerial. fall. Tough rotation for UB. Side aerial swing through round off, chaotic but stays on. Aerial round off, falls again. Split to straddle quarter with great extension, gainer full with some form but stuck.
Burke (W&M): Double tuck, looks slow in the air but landed really well. Tour jete half split full wolf full, nice combo pass to finish.
Kerico (Penn): FTY with a hop in place, chest maybe a little forward.
Barrow (Penn): Nice dynamic FTY, small hop back.
Ngo (W&M): Nice Rudi, switch side Popa wolf full. W&M is getting a lot of leap difficulty and rotating most of it, which is great. Nice one and a half front lay.
Beers (CU): Blind to Jaeger, slightly awkward catch, a bit short on her bail. Shy on a handstand, DLO with a step.
Kenney (UB): Front tuck, check, back tuck. Breaks the connection but stays on the beam. Full turn, cat leap switch half to beat short of split. Double full with a step back.
Costello (W&M): Superior control on her double pike. One and a half front lay is bouncy but just a little. Rudi, low chest but stuck.
Shambo (CU): Maloney shapey, making handstands, FTDB awkward but close to stuck. 9.75
Barry (UB): BHS LOSO, fights to stay on. Switch LOSO is fun, gainer front full good.
Frazier (W&M): Drops her hands on a double back, front full front tuck solid with just a bit of soft knees in the air. One and a half front lay, step back.
Imbarlina (UB): Front aerial front aerial, arm wave in the minute but might just get credit, she kept it moving. BHS tuck one and a half, little hop.
After 1: Penn 48.875, Cornell 48.600, William & Mary 48.475, Bridgeport 45.625
Rough one for Bridgeport, while Penn cruised through vault as expected and Cornell and William & Mary had super resilient rotations. 48.6 on bars for Cornell is a GREAT number.
Rotation 2: William & Mary VT, Penn UB, Cornell BB, Bridgeport FX
Walton (CU): BHS LOSO, solid, split half leap with a great split! Beat to side aerial, awkward but recovers. Beat to straddle 3/4, little check. Stuck the gainer pike. Nice.
Costello (W&M): FTY tucked, low chest and a big step.
AuCoin (UB): Cut in just as she landed her first pass. MarioKart music! Front lay front full, a little bit of knees. Switch side to straddle. One and a half front tuck stuck.
Song (Penn): Toe to Maloney, bits of form, to Pak with leg sep but fluid. FTDB crashed, released too late I think.
Kuper (W&M): Yurchenko half, comes in a bit deep with a big step forward.
Byun (CU): Late add to the lineup apparently. Kickover front, little adjustment, BHS LOSO solid. Switch switch side, bit of foot form but also solid landing. One and a half, pace forward. Nice!!
Huang (W&M): FTY, pike throughout and low chest, step forward.
Coyle (UB): Wolf one and a half, a bit undercooked, Rudi double stag with silly position, switch switch half wolf full. Front full front tuck, step back. One and a half front tuck, deep, steps out okay.
Stone (CU): Round off LOSO with a bit of form but secure with good flight. Full turn, switch split short of positions, cat leap side aerial tentative but avoids a check. One and a half twist, baby hop. Cornell is great today.
Kuebler (W&M): Totally missed her block, I think she missed a hand completely, crashed dramatically but safely.
Ross (UB): Rudi to split OOB. One and a half to front half, great.
Tehrani (CU): BHS LOSO, clean and pretty. Switch to split half. Gainer pike, step back.
I think the commentators can’t see bars because we’re not really getting names or any kind of notification that routines are starting, so apologies for not getting a ton of those! The bars on the quad box are also TINY. Apparently Oniki fell, which will put Penn in range of a surging Cornell.
Ngo (W&M): Yurchenko lay pretty with a step back.
Beers (CU): Cat leap kickover front to beat. BHS LOSO, solid, missing splits on her leaps. Gainer full stuck.
Kenney (UB): Missed her first pass, front lay front full front pike is really nice.
Gazdak (Penn): Tkachev to overshoot, bit of form, stuck dismount.
Burton (CU): Front aerial side aerial, little lean, great extension. Switch split, missed the splits, kickover front. Hop on dismount.
Staruk (UB): Full in, low chest and a side step. Missed the middle pass, front full front pike with a step back.
Paris (Penn): Gorgeous first handstand, Maloney to bail with leg sep throughout. Stalder double tuck stuck.
Kerico (Penn): Just saw a pace on her full in. It’s so hard to tell when these routines are starting!!
Sepulveda (UB): Front through two and a half front tuck STUCK. Leg sep on that but who cares. Nice straddle leap positions, Rudi to LOSO with a bit of form but good landing.
After 2: Cornell 96.950, Penn 96.850, William & Mary 96.600, Bridgeport 94.250
Cornell is staying hot here, while a counted fall on bars set Penn back a bit. Bridgeport floor was a blast as usual, while William & Mary vault, never a strength, was a season high.
Rotation 3:
DeFrancisco (CU): Double tuck, short with a step forward. Wolf full wolf full. Front full front tuck, bad punch and comes in deep on the tuck but stands it up.
Belkoff (Penn): Long time no see! BHS BHS LOSO, form and a bend check but hangs on. One and a half stuck.
Hernandez (UB): FTY close to the table and pikey throughout, step forward.
Laird (W&M): Half turn to Tkachev to overshoot, clean! Blind full double back and aaaalmost hangs onto the stick, ends up taking a little step.
Byun (CU): Double back, clean in the air, little scoot. One and a half front lay good!
Ross (UB): Full on tuck off, low chest but stuck.
Wu (Penn): Full turn, front aerial to beat tentative. BHS LOSO good. Split, lean, to sheep. Stuck gainer pike.
Kenney (UB): Yurchenko half on tuck off, overpowered and falls forward onto her hands.
Whitaker (CU): Front lay to Rudi to messy double stag. Nice Rudi to straddle.
Oniki (Penn): Candle mount is good. Switch switch to split, really solid. BHS LOSO, great. Little check on a cartwheel of all things, side split half is solid, full turn.
Bare (W&M): Great Tkachev to overshoot, blind full double back with a step.
Moylan (CU): Rudi to LOSO, solid. Switch half wolf full. Double pike, never really opens up but lands well.
Sepulveda (UB): FTY, piked throughout with leg sep but stuck!
Blatchford (W&M): Jaeger with flexed feet to overshoot. Blind full double back with a baby hop.
Werlen (Penn): Adjustment on I think an aerial as we switch the screen to full size which is always so hard for me to track, switch split half great. BHS LOSO, lean back and falls.
Staruk (UB): Tsuk full, a bit of pike but stuck. Dang. 9.825
Beers (CU): Front through double pike, great landing. Double tuck, scoot back.
Wozniak (W&M): Couldn’t save a wonky pirouette and falls.
Marr (Penn): BHS LOSO, immaculate. Switch straddle quarter is good. Cat leap side aerial, way off and falls. BHS gainer full with a hop.
Walsh (CU): Front through double tuck, just a little front foot shift. Double pike, great.
Kerico (Penn): Split to split half, BHS LOSO super steady, front tuck with just a little adjustment. One and a half, pace forward.
After 3: Cornell 145.900, William & Mary 145.050, Penn 144.700, Bridgeport 142.600
Cornell isn’t out of the woods yet with this upset effort: Its vault average is about a point below Penn’s average floor, and Penn is at home. Still, Cornell has been better than usual in general today, so why not vault too?
William & Mary probably won’t beat Penn, but beating anyone in this conference is an upset for the Tribe and this looks to be a season high by a large margin even if beam doesn’t go exactly to plan.
Rotation 4: Cornell VT, Bridgeport UB, William & Mary BB, Penn FX
Rothstein (CU): Yurchenko tuck, not sure if that was the plan.
Imbarlina (UB): Big Tkachev, blind full late to double tuck with a step.
Kuper (W&M): Switch to straddle quarter, imperfect positions but steady, BHS LOSO with form, cat leap kickover front to beat. BHS one and a half, step.
Gazdak (Penn): Front through double back, great flight. Double pike, slides around on that landing.
Byun (CU): FHS front tuck, pretty, little step forward.
Hernandez (UB): Toe to Maloney to Pak, solid. DLO close to stuck!
Faulkner (W&M): BHS LOSO, lean. Switch half, short of position with a check. Side aerial good. Switch split nice.
A. Kenefick (Penn): Double pike, landed strong. One and a half front full, good in the air with an awkward cross step.
DeFrancisco (CU): Yurchenko half, little bit of form and a small pace forward.
Beers (CU): FTY, high and comes in just a touch short, little hop forward.
Blatchford (W&M): Check on the full turn, BHS BHS LOSO check but hangs on. Switch to beat split half.
Kerico (Penn): One and a half front tuck, likely an adjustment to the dynamics not going quite how she planned. Strong double back.
Moylan (CU): Yurchenko pike, step back. Personnel issues definitely impacting Cornell on vault.
Just caught the Cat AuCoin FTDLO with a step, so good.
Frazier (W&M): Full turn, good, BHS LOSO steady! Switch split nice, side split half. Kickover front, check. OOne and a half with a tiny foot shift.
Lassiter (Penn): Front lay front tuck full, comes in short with a shuffly step back. Double pike good.
Nokes (UB): Blind, little foot split, to Jaeger to overshoot really good. Some shy handstands here, blind full double back with a little step.
Ngo (W&M): BHS LOSO great, steady through the leaps, misses a foot on her side aerial and takes a big check but hangs on. Gainer full, little hop.
Davies (Penn): Double pike good. Cross step on the front lay front full. Tour jete half Popa. Double tuck, little slide back.
Costello (W&M): BHS LOSO steady, switch, check, split to wolf 3/4.
Tunney (Penn): Can’t win the meet for Penn, looking to improve on a 9.75. Full in, just a small step but not enough to keep her in bounds. One and a half front full, crashes it.
FINAL: Cornell 194.125, Penn 193.750, William & M/ary 192.750, Bridgeport 191.175
Cornell completes the upset even short-handed against Ivy League rival Penn, which looked a little gassed at the end of a double-meet weekend. For William & Mary, this meet blows its previous scores out of the water and raises the expectations for the rest of the season. This isn’t one to remember for Bridgeport, but the Purple Knights do high-risk high-reward gymnastics and falls are bound to happen.
Shout out to Skye Kerico, who is back in the all around this weekend for the first time in over a year and killing it. Career high day for her.
VT: Kerico (Penn), Barrow (Penn), Staruk (Bridgeport) 9.825
UB: Kerico (Penn) 9.85
BB: Kerico (Penn) 9.775
FX: Sepulveda (Bridgeport), Byun (Cornell), Beers (Cornell), Davies (Penn) 9.85
AA: Kerico (Penn) 39.225
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Live blog by Rebecca Scally
