The action in University City is about to heat up with the first of three rounds kicking off today at 1 p.m. ET with semifinal one!
Michigan State rolls in as the top dog in this session after a massive 198.150 at the Big Ten championships just two weeks ago. The Spartans have a really good shot – like a 99.39% chance – of moving on to semifinal two as they aim for their first-ever national championship appearance. The team definitely has what it takes, showing its strength all season long, but it’ll especially need to nail those beam routines to snag one of the top two spots.
Right behind Michigan State is Kentucky, coming in at No. 9 after finishing sixth at the SEC Championships. The Wildcats didn’t have their best showing at conference, so they’ll be looking to bounce back from the last couple of weeks to grab that second advancing spot – they’re the next likely pick. However, don’t count out Ohio State and Penn State! If both of those teams are on their game, they could definitely sneak in and steal one of those semifinal two spots. Penn State will basically have home-court advantage competing in its own arena, but it’ll need to put up its best performance of the year to make that happen. Similarly, Ohio State will be leaning on its strong all-arounders and athletes who compete on multiple events, especially Tory Vetter, Sidney Washington, and Rylee Guevara. With a season-high of 196.875, the Buckeyes will need to be on point with every single routine to give themselves a chance to move forward.
Rotation 1: VT Kentucky, UB Ohio State, BB Penn State, FX Michigan State
AFTER ONE:
Rotation 2: VT Michigan State, UB Kentucky, BB Ohio State, FX Penn State
AFTER TWO:
Rotation 3: VT Penn State, UB Michigan State, BB Kentucky , FX Ohio State
AFTER THREE:
Rotation 4: VT Ohio State, UB Penn State, BB Michigan State, FX Kentucky
FINAL:
EVENT STANDINGS AFTER ONE SEMIFINAL:
VT:
UB:
BB:
FX:
AA:
FINAL:
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Live blog by Julianna Roland
