This month, we had 22 perfect 10s—excluding those that will inevitably be scored at regionals—with half occurring at the conference championships. Theoretically, these 10s should be higher rated, as there are four judges on each event at the conference championships rather than the standard two-judge panel we see during the regular season. We’ll see if that theory holds.
Here I’ll break down the deductions I saw when watching the videos in real time, and rank the 10.0 from one to five stars. As a reminder, here’s my rating scale:
⭐ 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
Danie Ferris, Florida (March 14)
Deductions
Leg form (0.05)
Balance on landing (0.05)
For this vault, I only judged the deductions I could see from the side angle view, which would be similar to what the judges could see. She has a bit of leg form in the air that’s noticeable from the side, as well as a slight lean on her landing as she fights to hold onto the stick. It’s important to remember that not all sticks are created equally, and there are still deductions to take even if a gymnast doesn’t move her feet.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Kailin Chio, LSU (March 14)
Deductions
Shoulder angle (0.05)
This feels like a 10.0 most fans have been waiting for all season. Chio is extremely consistent and delivers near-perfect vaults week after week. It’s no wonder she’s one of the top-ranked in the country on the event. Although she has a bit of a shoulder angle, her dynamics, form, and landing make a strong case for a 10.0 when the judges only get one look at the vault.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Selena Harris-Miranda, Florida (March 22)
Deductions
Distance (0.05)
Compared to Harris-Miranda’s 10.0 last month, I thought this vault looked cleaner in the air. She has an uncanny ability to find her landing, but I would consider taking a distance deduction. She gets plenty of height off the vault, but from this angle, you can see her hair is close to hitting the table—and she lands a little closer to it than I would have preferred. She may also be turning a bit early off the table, but I can’t tell from this angle. Either way, the vault is still an “NCAA 10.0.”
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Bars
Ui Soma, Stanford (March 22)
Deductions
Leg separation (0.05)
Body posture on landing (0.05)
Known for regularly holding her cast handstands on bars, Soma has one of the best-executed bar routines in the ACC. Here she had a slight leg separation on her Van Leeuwen that was visible from the side, and her body collapsed forward on her dismount landing. Both deductions are minor and were quickly covered up.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Lali Dekanoidze, North Carolina (March 22)
Deductions
Arm bend (0.05)
Arm Bend (0.05)
Arm bend is a very picky deduction, but I do think judges should be taking it consistently to reward the athletes who keep their arms straight on their giants. For a bent arm deduction to be applicable on bars, it has to be during a “support phase.” So while her arms bend a bit on her toe circles, I wouldn’t deduct for it since she straightens her arms as she shifts her hands on top of the bar into a support. Here, you can see she’s hit her handstand and her arms are still bent, which is why I would deduct. Otherwise, this is a stellar routine from Dekanoidze.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Leanne Wong, Florida (March 22)
Wong absolutely nailed this bar routine. She clearly hit all her handstands, had great leg form throughout, and had a straight, clean double layout dismount with a textbook landing.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Riley McCusker, Florida (March 22)
Deductions
Leg separation (0.05)
While McCusker’s exquisite toe point and extension are some of the best in the NCAA, she sometimes struggles with consistency. In this routine, she was finally able to put all the components together with a beautifully executed routine, helping the Gators earn an NCAA record bars total. While she had a very minor leg separation on her backswing, it may not have been visible from a true side angle.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mara Titarsolej, Missouri (March 22)
In my opinion, Titarsolej has the most beautiful giant full in the NCAA because she finishes and pauses in the handstand. The rest of her routine is just as beautiful and extended, with an attention to detail that undeniably elevates the routine to an extraordinary level.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Beam
Aleah Finnegan, LSU (March 7)
Deductions
Leg bend (0.05)
Balance error (0.05)
Balance error (0.05)
Finnegan’s last beam routine in the PMAC was definitely a great one. However, with some clear balance errors and a built-in deduction on her front aerial, it shouldn’t have been a 10 in my opinion.
Rating: ⭐⭐
Selena Harris-Miranda, Florida (March 14)
While the Gators have definitely received some gifts from their judging panels this season, this routine was not one of them. Harris-Miranda solidly earned her first career beam 10.0 in this performance. She confidently stuck all her skills with great form, good rhythm, and no deductions.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Helen Hu, Missouri (March 14)
Deductions
Balance error (0.05)
Leg bend (0.05)
Leg bend (0.05)
While Hu is capable of doing this routine perfectly and with straight legs on her front aerials, she didn’t quite hit the mark in this routine.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Jade Carey, Oregon State (March 15)
Deductions
Arm bend (0.05)
With all of Carey’s experience at both the elite and NCAA levels, it’s no surprise how she can consistently deliver high-quality routines each week. This routine was exceedingly clean, with just a minor arm bend on her back handspring series.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Grace McCallum, Utah (March 15)
Deductions
Leg form (0.05)
Leg form (0.05)
Leg form (0.05)
Foot form (0.05)
McCallum was rock solid throughout this beam set, but some of her old issues with foot and leg form crept into this routine. The most noticeable was the leg stag on her switch leap and the flexed feet on her dismount. She also bends her leg to help initiate speed into her wolf turn when technically the leg should lift straight off the beam. She may also do this on her double turn, but with the camera zoomed in, it’s hard to tell. Although minor and relatively quick, the deductions are all there and the panel should have picked up on at least one of them.
Rating: ⭐⭐
Gabrielle Stephen, Michigan State (March 22)
Deductions
Posture/alignment in dance elements (0.05)
Leg form (0.05)
Leg form (0.05)
Arm bend (0.05)
(Leg form (0.05)
Legs crossed(0.05)
Balance error (0.05)
If the judges were only looking for balance errors on the beam, then this would be a 10.0 as Stephens nailed all her major elements. She does have some pretty obvious leg form issues in her acro series, as well as a very bent leading leg in her front aerial to two feet. Pointing out the full turn body position is perhaps a bit picky, but the deduction exists in the code, and I know plenty of judges who are sticklers for the “flamingo foot” in a full turn. Stephen also has a pretty clear balance error fighting for the stick on her dismount that should have been taken, even if you ignore all the other issues.
Rating: ⭐
Ciena Alipio, UCLA (March 22)
Deductions
Body posture on landing (0.05)
Alipio completed a beautiful beam routine that would have been a 10 from me if not for the landing position on her dismount. Her chest is quite low, and while she corrects it quickly before her finish, it should have been a deduction.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Floor
Creslyn Brose, Kentucky (March 7)
Deductions
Under rotated (0.05)
Leg bend (0.05)
Brose has great tumbling and choreography in this routine, but her tour jete half here is problematic. Ideally, she should lift a straight leg in the direction of the camera, execute a half turn in the air while swinging the same leg around or back behind her, and execute a split at the half. The second half of the skill is fine, but she essentially does a complete quarter turn on the floor into a split leap half. This could reasonably have been devalued to a B skill, in which case she wouldn’t have had any execution deductions but would receive a compositional deduction of one-tenth for not having dance bonus.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Leanne Wong, Florida (March 14)
Deductions
Pike down (0.05 to 0.1)
Precision of turn, switch half (0.05)
Under rotation, Popa (0.05)
Wong performed a beautiful floor routine, but her double layout essentially has a built-in deduction, as I’ve never seen her do it without whipping her rotation around and piking down the landing. I was surprised to see her jumps were off here. I slowed down the video so it’s easier to see, but she over-turns her switch half and under-turns her Popa, essentially starting the next skill before she’s finished the preceding one.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Jade Carey, Oregon State (March 15)
Carey has consistently clean gymnastics but has previously struggled with precision on her dance pass and controlling her landings. In this routine, she really puts all the components together, with probably the easiest-looking double tuck I’ve seen this year, a clean and well-rotated dance pass, and control on her huge double-double. Although she does adjust her front foot a bit on the landing, her foot doesn’t move or slide, and it appears to be more a function of turning it out in her lunge than not controlling her landing, so I didn’t take off for it.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Jade Carey, Oregon State (March 21)
Deductions
I’m only about 90% sure about this deduction since the camera doesn’t show her feet when she lands her switch leap half. However, based on her hip alignment, it looks like she cheated her Popa a bit by overturning the switch half. Another clue is that while her switch half is centered on the diagonal, her straddle peaks about 25 to 30 degrees past the corner. She may have also had some flexed feet on her double-double, but I can’t be sure with the video resolution or be sure that the judges could see it from a distance given how fast she’s flipping and spinning at the same time.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Brooklyn Moors, UCLA (March 22)
Moors has long had a reputation in both the elite and NCAA gymnastics world of being one of the most artistic dancers on floor, with choreography and expression above and beyond what is required and what most thought was possible for an artistic gymnast. I don’t know of anyone who follows gymnastics who is not excited about Moors finally getting a 10.0, as she’s flirted with perfection all season. This routine brought together her beautiful artistry with clean and precise tumbling and dance.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Jordan Chiles, UCLA (March 22)
Deductions
Pike down (0.05)
Chiles has a built-in deduction with her double layout, as she almost always pikes down to finish. To be fair, it’s very fast and would be hard to see from the opposite side of the floor, so I understand why this deduction is rarely (if ever) taken for both her and others with a similar technique.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Faith Torrez, Oklahoma (March 22)
Deductions
Pike down (0.05)
Similarly to Chiles, Torrez also has a built-in deduction on her double layout. However, compared to her 10.0 in February, she kept her leg up in her hop full and had excellent control of her landings.
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. Outside of gymnastics, Franck works at a university as a nursing professor and loves to travel.
Was Brooklyn not off a bit on her rudi?
Moor’s switch 1/2 was overturned by quite a bit, nearly a full 90 degrees. In other meets this has been much better. The original link has been taken down, but UCLA has provided a video. This view may different than the broadcast, but is from floor level.
https://youtu.be/9LYRE91Khgw?si=zJWqKUQEJ_NEjysT&t=67
first time reading this column – really good stuff
Can you do an analysis of routines that could have been 10s that weren’t?