Since starting Judge’s Inquiry during the 2023 season, I’ve looked at all of the 10s each year and rated them based on how close the routines came to perfection. But what about the 10s that came before? Are the judges being more liberal with their 10s or is the gymnastics just better? I picked some memorable 10.0s from the 2020 to 2022 NCAA seasons to find out. My only disclaimer is that I assumed all of the gymnasts had their full difficulty and bonus, starting from a 10.0 under the code of points that was valid while they competed. Here’s a reminder of my scoring system:
⭐ This was clearly not a 10.0 routine (but still very good!)
⭐⭐ There was definitely a deduction there, but maybe the judges blinked?
⭐⭐⭐ 10.0 vibes, but not actually perfect
⭐⭐⭐⭐ It was a “college 10”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 100% a perfect routine
Vault
Maggie Nichols, Oklahoma (Jan. 19, 2020)
Shoulder Angle (-0.05)
Early Turn (-0.05)
Nichols had beautiful form in the air and a clearly stuck landing. However, her shoulders were slightly closed on the table, and she started to twist before she finished her block, which is also a deduction. These are rarely taken in NCAA, although I wish judges would use these deductions consistently as it is a great tool to separate the good from the great Yurchenko one and a half twists.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Anastasia Webb, Oklahoma (Feb. 13, 2021)
This looked extremely clean to me. At the time, this level of squat could have been deducted (since it’s more than 45 degrees), but she moves through it quickly—and under 2024 season deductions this is perfectly acceptable.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ona Loper, Minnesota (Feb. 14, 2022)
Lack of control of landing (-0.05)
This was a beautiful vault and also a good example as to why the one-second landing hold deduction now exists. You can see Loper up on her toes fighting for the stick, and she’s not fully in control of her momentum. She also had a tiny bit of leg separation coming off the table, but since I could only see it in slow motion, I didn’t count it against her.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Bars
Lynnzee Brown, Denver (March 20, 2021)
Leg form (-0.05)
Brown competed a beautiful bar set, with a stunning double layout dismount. She had a bit of minor leg separation on all of her low-to-high and high-to-low releases, but most are almost impossible to see from the judges’ side angle, which is different than the camera angle. I was able to catch her leg separation in the Maloney half, which would have been visible from the side angle. However, it was very quick, minor, and easily missed.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mara Titarsolej, LIU (March 6, 2022)
Leg form (-0.05)
Arch (-0.05)
Titarsolej has become one of the best bar workers in the NCAA, and her beautiful lines and handstand positions are one of the reasons why. In this routine, she had a bit of leg separation on her back swing that may or may not have been visible to the judges. However, she did have a visible—yet slight—arch on her final cast handstand that she was able to correct and move through.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Grace McCallum, Utah (Feb. 4, 2022)
Foot form (-0.05)
Arm bend (-0.05)
Foot form (-0.05)
McCallum’s bar routine here seems to be 10.0 quality at first glance, but she does have a couple of minor form breaks that I saw in her routine. Notably, her feet are flexed throughout her dismount, and her toes are crossed on her Maloney half. She also slightly bends her arms on her giants, which is a deduction that no one seems to take.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Beam
Trinity Thomas, Florida (Feb. 14, 2020)
Rhythm (-0.05)
Knee bend (-0.05)
While I wouldn’t break her dance series as she keeps moving, she does hesitate between her switch leap and split leap, which should be a rhythm deduction. For no deduction, the gymnast should move the same way they would on a line on the floor, and she is much more cautious in this leap pass. She also has a knee bend on her front aerial.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Natalie Wojcik, Michigan (Feb. 15, 2021)
Arm bend x2 (-0.05 each)
Foot form x2 (-0.05 each)
This was a smooth, clean routine from Wojcik, with great connections in her leaps and mixed series and a beautiful dismount. I saw a bit of minor form deductions in her flight series that are 99% of the time overlooked or missed with NCAA judging. It’s definitely a college 10 but not quite five stars.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Floor
Gracie Kramer, UCLA (Jan. 31, 2020)
Leg form (-0.05)
Small step on landing (-0.05)
Kramer goes above and beyond with her choreography, theme, and facial expressions in her floor routine. She has great tumbling, but she did have a minor form break in her front double full, as well as a hop backward on her front pike. A controlled step forward is allowed out of a front tumbling pass, but the step backward is a deduction.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Kiya Johnson, LSU (March 5, 2021)
Foot adjustment (-0.05 to -0.1)
Precision of turn (-0.05 to -0.1)
Johnson is known for her powerful tumbling, and she definitely didn’t disappoint in this routine. However, she did have two rather obvious errors that should have been deducted. She clearly overrotated and took a large (uncontrolled) step back on her first landing, including a slide of her front foot. She also over-turned her switch half and underrotated her straddle full, which should have also been deducted.
Rating: ⭐⭐
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Article by Rhiannon Franck
Rhiannon Franck is a former national-rated NAWGJ women’s gymnastics judge with over 15 years of USAG judging experience and nine seasons judging NCAA gymnastics.
