We saw a number of new season-best numbers in week 9, including Kentucky’s program record 198 and a few Big Ten 197s, plus one in the Pac-12. There were some long-awaited 10s, and we saw a reshuffling at the top of the rankings. Regular season conference championships are being decided, too, and the eternal debate about whether those titles matter rages on.
This time of year, a big away meet score can do a lot to rocket a team up the NQS standings, and it feels like every meet counts as we inch closer to conference championships at the end of the month.
Oklahoma Posts Best NQS Ever in Gymnastics
This Sooner squad is in its own tier. On the heels of a double-meet weekend (198.650 at home, 198.300 at Texas Woman’s), Oklahoma is sitting at a historic 198.420 NQS. The number it posted on Sunday is a drop score. Audrey Davis was perfect on bars (more on that below), and Ragan Smith notched her fourth-in-a-row 10 on beam.
It’s worth noting that the Sooners’ three best numbers (program-record 198.675, 198.650, 198.450) all came at home, but that hardly feels relevant when their top away number and fourth-best score (198.375) is a mere tenth behind the top score put up by any other team in the nation.
LSU posted a 198.475 at home on February 2, and California scored a 198.400 at UCLA on February 25. No other team in the NCAA has scored as high as Oklahoma’s fourth-best score. That is almost unbelievable, but the quality of gymnastics is undeniable. The Sooners look unstoppable.
California Overtakes LSU at No. 2, Gators Lurk at No. 4
The race for No. 2 continues between the Tigers and Golden Bears. Cal put up a 198.100 at home to top conference rival Utah—and to take a share of the regular season Pac-12 crown—and it was enough to push the team past LSU for No. 2 despite the Tigers’ 198.325 at home to top Alabama. LSU has yet to score a 198 on the road, which is hampering its NQS.
California and LSU look like the biggest threats to the Sooners’ three-peat hopes, but a steadily-improving Florida is lurking just behind them. The Gators have improved in every meet this season, and a 198.225 on the road at Kentucky was enough to leapfrog Florida over Utah into No. 4, boosting its NQS by 0.165.
Kentucky Drops Dual to Gators, But Secures Program Record 198.100
Kentucky is hungry for another shot at the Final Four. Its program record 198.100 on senior night wasn’t enough to top Florida, but it did boost the Wildcats’ NQS by over a tenth. With 10s from Makenzie Wilson (vault) and Raena Worley (floor), Kentucky is securing itself as a real contender, both for the SEC title if LSU and Florida open the door, and for a deep postseason run.
The Big Ten Afternoon Session Just Got More Interesting
Both Maryland (197.300) and Nebraska (197.125) posted season-first 197s this weekend. Maryland’s was away, at the Yale quad, while Nebraska’s came at home. Both improved in the rankings, with Nebraska jumping from No. 30 to No. 27, and Maryland improving one spot to No. 36: That coveted last-in regionals placement.
Those scores are the best season-highs of any teams in the Big Ten afternoon session, and could pressure Ohio State at Minnesota in the evening. The conference is incredibly competitive this year, with seven of the ten teams having broken the 197 barrier.
Kent State Posts Another 197 in Double Meet Weekend Romp
The Golden Flashes are very good. Even if we choose to ignore their 197.725 from the Tennessee quad, they’ve put up three 196s and now a 197.200. They were the only team that put together a complete hit on Friday at the all Ohio (plus Illinois) quad at Ohio State, and followed up that 196.125 with an excellent meet at home over Eastern Michigan.
The 1-2-3 punch of Dani Fuertez, Heidi Schultz, and Alyssa Guns on floor is undeniable, and sophomore Nastia Rudnitskaya coming into her own has only bolstered the team. The MAC title is shaping up to be (to borrow Olivia Karas’ term) a dog fight between Kent State and Ball State.
Audrey Davis Finally Perfect, On a Score Adjustment?
Fans have been yelling for an Audrey Davis bars 10 for years now. The senior has stacked up endless 9.975s: 11 (plus one 9.9625 at nationals in 2022) on bars to be exact.
She performs some of the most virtuosic gymnastics in the NCAA on the event: extension through her shoulders and toes, amplitude on her piked Jaeger, a seamless swing. All of the pieces that give a bar routine an X factor. The one thing that seems to have held her back is leg separation in her double front dismount.
The leg separation is undeniably a deduction. It is, however, one that seems to be ignored in a lot of routines, and taken from Davis perhaps because the rest of her work is so exquisite that the error stands out especially. Should we give 10s for routines that are not, precisely, perfect? No, probably not. Does Davis’ work look like a 10 compared to other 10s on the event over the four years of her career? Absolutely.
The big question that’s lingering is how this particular score came to be. It was initially a 9.975, both in the live scores and via Oklahoma’s social media. It was changed to a 10 on a “score adjustment”. There is no indication of any kind of review in the final score sheet. That’s weird. Technically only start values can be put to video review, and Davis certainly obviously started from a 10 (plus our resident judge Rhiannon Franck couldn’t think of a single SV change that would boost the 9.950 judge’s score 0.050).
Did a judge just make a mistake and correct herself? Did the flasher flash the wrong number? Did something less savory go down? We don’t know—in part because Texas Woman’s charges a good deal of money for low-quality meet streams—and it’s frankly annoying that Davis’ first 10 is marred by mystery.
Rhode Island Continues Breakout Year
The Anchorwomen are having a truly outstanding season. Program records continue to fall. This week, Rhode Island put up a new best overall number with a 191.175 at the Bridgeport quad. That score included a new program-best floor total and individuals inking themselves in Anchorwoman history.
Standout senior Kelsey Gates continues to lead the way, but she’s not alone: Classmates Emma Tucker and Olivia Keyes are breaking records, too. All three qualified to NCGA finals in 2023—Gates won a share of the floor title—and they are looking to lead their team to the final this year.
The Anchorwomen missed out by just one tenth at the NCGA East regional in 2023. If you’re looking for an edge-of-your-seat story in gymnastics this year, RIC is it.
Washington Breaks 197 to Win Boise State Quad
The Huskies scored their first 197 since February 2023 at Boise State, topping the Broncos, Minnesota, and UC Davis for the win. Washington started the season slowly, and has built to become a consistent mid-196 team. This breakout is the result of putting together big vault and beam numbers in the same meet for the second time this year, coupled with a huge floor rotation. Washington sits in last in the Pac-12, but showing this capability on the road in March is a good sign for the (last-ever) Pac-12 championships at the end of the month.
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Article by Emily Minehart
Arkansas erasure! They’ve shown some of the most consistent, well managed, and incremental growth (which usually indicates that it’s sustainable rather than a fluke) recording their highest ever team score (for the second time this season) and highest ever NQS this weekend. Yes scores are also higher than ever but as someone who has been watching them since 2017 this is the crispest and most built in deduction free their gymnastics has been as team.