We are continuing regional coverage here in Seattle with the second semifinal between Oklahoma, Auburn, Nebraska, and Illinois. Oklahoma comes in as the No. 2 overall seed after being ranked No. 1 the entire regular season, adding extra motivation to prove itself in the postseason (though there is no shortage of motivation after what happened at nationals last year). The Sooners are clear favorites to advance today even if they aren’t at their best.
Auburn is a definite favorite to join Oklahoma in the next round, as its season average is higher than the season highs of both lower-ranked teams, but the Tigers have lost two all-arounders due to injury and are coming off a disappointing sub-196 performance at the SEC championship meet. Nebraska has exceeded that number in its past seven meets so will be ready to pounce if Auburn makes any mistakes. Illinois is also capable of a mid-to-high-196 on a good day but hasn’t reached that number as consistently as Nebraska has.
Since UC Davis did not advance out of the first round yesterday, its three individual qualifiers (Amelia Moneymaker, Keanna Abraham, and Megan Ray) will be competing in this session. I’ll be especially keeping an eye on Abraham and Ray on vault.
This meet can be streamed on ESPN+ and scores can be found on Virtius.
Rotation 1: Auburn VT, Nebraska UB, Illinois BB, Oklahoma FX
Huff (Aub) VT: Y-1.5, some form issues in the air and a small step forward. 9.800
McClelland (Neb) UB: No major issues and stuck her dismount. Good start for Nebraska! 9.850
Saltness (Ill) BB: Slight wobble in between her leaps but it was barely noticeable. Solid BHS LOSO. Big wobble, possibly on her choreo? I’m not sure what that was. Sticks the dismount! 9.700
Davis (OU) FX: Clean tumbling, crowd getting really into her routine. 9.900
Bell (Aub) VT: Big Y-full, tons of amplitude, I think she took a small step but I was blocked by the OU contingent cheering for Davis. 9.825
Burns (Neb) UB: Piked Jaeger is nice, sizeable step back on the dismount. 9.825
King (Ill) BB: Slight wobble after her BHS LOSO. Doesn’t quite get her switch straddle half all the way rotated. Small hop on the dismount. 9.750
Sievers (OU) FX: Double pike landed well. She doesn’t keep her front foot planted on the double tuck but it was still well controlled. 9.950
Schumaker (Aub) VT: Tucked 1.5 with a medium step forward. She looks happy with it! 9.825
Sikon (Neb) UB: Nice Jaeger to bail combo, not sure if she was quite horizontal on the bail. Small step back on the dismount. 9.825
Nataraj (Ill) BB: Large wobble after her leap combo. Overrotates the full turn slightly. Sticks the dismount! 9.775
Mueller (OU) FX: Takes a step forward instead of backward out of the double tuck, but she landed with her chest up. Front lay to Rudi, clean and well-controlled. 9.900
Hubbard (Aub) VT: Y-1.5 with some leg form in the air a medium hop forward. 9.825
Silberman (Neb) UB: Came off the high bar mid-routine, I’m not entirely sure what happened there. She gets back on and does her dismount, a slightly piked DLO with a small step back. 9.300
Cho (Ill) BB: Hits her wolf turn and her acro series. Small hop forward on the dismount. 9.825
Fatta (OU) FX: Front tuck through to 2.5, landed well today. 9.900
Zancan (Aub) VT: Lands super low on her super unique front handspring front pike vault, has to take a large step to prevent the fall. That’s too bad since she usually lands it so well. 9.500
Jencks (Neb) UB: Clean routine, almost sticks her DLO but shuffles back at the last second. 9.850
Coppola (Ill) BB: Big wobble after her side aerial so she reattempts her series, but it happens again. She continues her series anyway even though the connection is clearly broken. Large wobble after her leap series again. Sticks the dismount but this’ll be a score they want to drop. 9.025
Bowers (OU) FX: Front double twist to front tuck, steps backwards out of it so she may have been a little underrotated. Hops to the side slightly after landing her double pike. 9.900
O. Greaves (Aub) VT: Pikey Y-1.5 with a small slide back. She looks happy with it. 9.800
Spence (Neb) UB: Maloney to Pak, got a lot of air on that Pak. Double tuck dismount stuck! Very nice routine. 9.950
Knight (Ill) BB: Candle mount looked good, as did her leap series and acro series. I haven’t seen any wobbles so far. Finally a very slight lean after her full turn, and then she sticks the dismount. Great routine to follow the fall! 9.900
Torrez (OU) FX: Gorgeous DLO to open. Front tuck through to double tuck, great landing. 9.975
Ray (UCD) VT: Yurchenko half-on tuck half off, medium hop back on the landing. Nicely done! 9.775
Moneymaker (UCD) BB: Front toss to BHS with a significant pause in between, I’m not sure that connection will get credited. Beautiful full turn to beat jump, and the split jump to double stag is nice too. Sticks the gainer full dismount. Good routine other than the slow connection, we’ll see what the judges do with that.
AFTER ONE: Oklahoma 49.625, Nebraska 49.300, Auburn 49.075, Illinois 48.950
What a start for Oklahoma, with not a single score below 9.900 and engaging performances all around. I think we would’ve expected to see Auburn with a higher score than 49.075 on vault, but there were no sticks and Zancan’s miss definitely hurt. Nebraska took advantage of Auburn’s miscues to take an early lead for the second qualification spot, finishing strong to drop a mid-rotation fall from Silberman. Illinois dropped a fall of its own and is only 0.125 behind Auburn. We look to have an exciting meet on our hands!
Rotation 2: Oklahoma VT, Auburn UB, Nebraska BB, Illinois FX
Pederson (OU) VT: Y-1.5 with a step forward, good start. 9.800
Boyd (Aub) UB: Maloney to Pak looked nice from my angle. Small hop on the dismount. 9.850
Homecillo (Neb) BB: BHS BHS LOSO, big wobble and then a fall. She wasn’t in the original lineup, not sure what happened to Jencks. The rest of the routine was really nice, including a stuck dismount. 9.050
Joelson (Ill) FX: Double tuck to open, landed well. I definitely have some precision concerns in her leap rotation. Double pike, she doesn’t get a ton of amplitude but she landed it well. 9.800
Torrez (OU) VT: Y-1.5, clean in the air, maybe a touch underrotated and she hops to the side. 9.875
Leonard (Aub) UB: Loses her momentum a bit after her release and then almost goes over on a handstand, but she’s fighting hard. Small step back on the DLO. 9.600
Hall (Neb) BB: Falls on the BHS LOSO, so that’s two falls in a row for Nebraska. She gets back on and has several more large wobbles but gets through the rest of the routine and sticks the dismount. 8.850
Coppola (Ill) FX: Lost some amplitude on the front layout after the back 1.5. 9.725
Wells (OU) VT: Big Y-1.5, takes a medium step forward. No sticks from OU yet. 9.850
Groth (Aub) UB: Big Tkachev, really nice half pirouette after the Pak. Sticks the double tuck, she’s very excited. 9.900
Silberman (Neb) BB: BHS BHS LOSO with a large leg-up wobble but she doesn’t fall. 9.725
King (Ill) FX: Big double tuck, she adjusted her back foot after lunging so that might be a small deduction. 9.850
Fatta (OU) VT: Y-1.5, slightly overpowered and she takes a large step forward. 9.775
Bartman (Aub) UB: Straddled Jaeger, super archy pirouette after the Pak but she muscles through it. Mistimes the release on her double front and lands on her back. She walks away just fine. 8.875
Sikon (Neb) BB: I missed some of her routine while watching Bartman but I didn’t see any major errors and she stuck the dismount. Nebraska needed a hit and she delivered. 9.900, wow!
Ward (Ill) FX: Opens with a big double tuck and lands it well. Some visible leg separation in her twisting on the last pass. 9.800
Mueller (OU) VT: Y-1.5, maybe some slight knee bend in the air and she also takes a step forward. I’d be willing to bet they’ve been instructed not to go for sticks. 9.850
Irvine (Aub) UB: She’s dancing to All Star while waiting to go, relatable. Piked Jaeger to bail, no issues. Sticks the FTDT, she’s thrilled! 9.925
Spence (Neb) BB: Double wolf turn to open. Nice BHS LOSO. Small step forward on the back 1.5 dismount. 9.800
Nock (Ill) FX: A little off balance when she landed her double pike. Some leg separation on her front lay going into her Rudi. 9.825
Bowers (OU) VT: I don’t think she quite got her usual block on the Y-1.5 because she landed it a little squatty. 9.800
O. Greaves (Aub) UB: Super clean form and lines throughout, sticks the FTDT, it looked like she might’ve been a little close to the bar but it clearly didn’t affect her. Great routine! 9.950
McClelland (Neb) BB: A little wild on her double wolf turn, but the BHS LOSO is solid. Tucked 1.5 dismount is stuck. Good routine! 9.850
Cho (Ill) FX: Comes up short on her FTDT, chest is low and she has to lunge forward to avoid falling. Her chest was also a little low on her double tuck but she covered it well and lunged backward. 9.675
Moneymaker (UCD) FX: Moves her plant foot slightly on her opening combo pass, but she is an engaging performer and the crowd is really enjoying this routine. Small foot side after her double tuck, but a good routine overall. 9.875
AFTER TWO: Oklahoma 98.800, Auburn 98.300, Illinois 97.950, Nebraska 97.625
That was not the beam rotation Nebraska wanted and the Huskers have fallen to fourth place behind Auburn and Illinois. 49.175 is not a number we’re used to seeing from OU vault, but it seems that the Sooners are being conservative with landings which is probably a good plan with the relatively low stakes tonight. Auburn ended up counting the Leonard 9.600 but with three 9.9+ scores in the rotation that doesn’t hurt too much, and the Tigers are comfortably in second going to beam. Illinois hit 49.000 but it could’ve been higher with a hit routine from Cho, so there were some points left on the table there.
Rotation 3: Illinois VT, Oklahoma UB, Auburn BB, Nebraska FX
Coppola (Ill) VT: Y-full, piked down and some leg separation on the preflight, but she stuck the landing. 9.775
Sievers (OU) UB: Floaty Maloney to Pak. Almost goes over on a handstand on the high bar but saves is. Nearly sticks the dismount landing but ends up taking a tiny step. 9.850
Ahern (Aub) BB: Acro series looked solid. Slightly squatty on the back 1.5 landing but stuck. 9.850
Jencks (Neb) FX: Front lay to Rudi, she didn’t get much amplitude on the front layout and ended up short of rotation on the Rudi. Lands the double tuck well. Time for a judges’ conference! 9.750
Cho (Ill) VT: Y-full with a small hop back. 9.800
Pederson (OU) UB: Super clean Maloney to Pak, really nice handstand positions throughout. Slightly overrotates her DLO and has to take a step back after an arm swing. 9.825
O. Greaves (Aub) BB: Big bend at the waist wobble after her side aerial but she sticks the gainer pike dismount. 9.625
Baechle (Neb) FX: She had a long wait due to the judges’ conference on the previous routine. Clean landings on her tumbling throughout. 9.800
Muller (Ill) VT: Y-full with a small hop back. 9.750
Fatta (OU) UB: Piekd Tkachev…misses her half pirouette on the low bar and turns it into a full to avoid going over. The rest of the routine was great, stuck DLO. 9.800
Zancan (Aub) BB: I love her mount sequence. Big lean to the side after her BHS LOSO. Some form issues in the air on her 1.5 dismount and she takes a hop back on the landing. 9.800
Gard (Neb) FX: Underrotated the double pike and has to lunge forward out of it. 9.700
King (Ill) VT: Y-1.5, some form issues in the air and she didn’t have a ton of amplitude. Small step to the side on the landing, she seems happy with it. 9.725
Torrez (OU) UB: Really great routine, sticks the DLO. 9.950
Neal (Aub) BB: BHS LOSO LOSO, slight lean at the end but wow! Hop forward on the dismount. 9.850
Homecillo (Neb) FX: Solid tumbling throughout. 9.850
Ward (Ill) VT: Y-1.5, really great, just a small hop forward. 9.850
Davis (OU) UB: Catches her Jaeger a touch close. Lands her dismount with her feet staggered but sticks it. 9.950
Groth (Aub) BB: No issues with her BHS LOSO. Stuck dismount, she seems happy with the routine. 9.900
Spence (Neb) FX: Good chest position and landing on the double pike to open. A little wild on the double wolf turn but she has good precision in her leaps. Front tuck through to double tuck, another good landing. Great routine! 9.850
Joelson (Ill) VT: Handspring front pike half, form issues in the air and lack of amplitude, lands it short and bounds forward to save it. 9.375
Bowers (OU) UB: From my angle it looked like she caught her Jaeger a little close but I’m starting to wonder if it’s just my angle. Sticks the dismount! The group of little OU fans near me is doing the 10 chant, but alas, it’s a 9.950.
McLaughlin (Aub) BB: Very solid acro series. Beautiful extension in her leaps. Gainer pike dismount stuck. 9.925
McClelland (Neb) FX: Front double twist, clean in the air and a good landing. Rudi to LOSO, didn’t keep her front foot firmly planted but otherwise nice. 9.900
Moneymaker (UCD) VT: Y-full, significant hop back. 9.700
Abraham (UCD) FX: McClelland is giving her a pep talk, I love that. Beautiful double layout with a solid landing! I’m not sure her straddle half was fully rotated but this is a really fun routine. Front tuck through to double tuck, great finish! She had all eyes on her, well deserved. 9.900
Gabby McLaughlin has gotten ahold of a TV camera and is recording Cory Tomlinson over on the sideline. Auburn’s having fun!
AFTER THREE: Oklahoma 148.325, Auburn 147.625, Illinois 146.850, Nebraska 146.775
Our top two teams have a significant lead on the chasers, so barring a disaster we should see Oklahoma and Auburn advancing to the next round, especially with Illinois and Nebraska moving to events that are not strengths. However, it’s not over until it’s over.
Rotation 4: Nebraska VT, Illinois UB, Oklahoma BB, Auburn FX
Kuenemann (Neb) VT: Pikey Y-full with a small hop. 9.700
Brown (Ill) UB: Some form issues on her Geinger to bail. Leg separation on her DLO and a small hop. 9.725
Davis (OU) BB: Great routine, no obvious errors. 9.950
Ahern (Aub) FX: Some knee bend on her front full. 9.850
McClelland (Neb) VT: Y-full, good landing position with a small hop back. 9.750
Denning (Ill) UB: Some leg separation on her Maloney, and I thinnk she was short on her last handstand. DLO with a couple small foot movements on the landing. 9.750
Fatta (OU) BB: BHS LOSO, solid. Sticks the dismount with her chest a little low. 9.950
Zancan (Aub) FX: Front tuck through to double pike, her chest was maybe a little low on the landing but it didn’t affect her lunge at all. Excellent wolf 1.5. Good landing on the double tuck. 9.875
Jencks (Neb) VT: Very nice Y-full with the smallest slide backward on the landing. 9.775
Ward (Ill) UB: Nice straddled Jaeger, good position on the bail handstand. Maybe a touch short on the last handstand. Hop forward on the double tuck. 9.750
Pederson (OU) BB: BHS LOSO is right on. Nice side somi. No visible errors in this routine so far, and then she sticks the dismount. 9.950
Bell (Aub) FX: Front double twist to punch front, fantastic. I could watch her perform all day. Good landing on the double pike. 9.900
Hall (Neb) VT: Y-full, slightly piked down but she sticks it and she is THRILLED. 9.825
Cho (Ill) UB: Nice Maloney to Pak. Clean Van Leeuwen. Small slide back on the DLO but otherwise I didn’t see any issues in that routine. 9.825
Bowers (OU) BB: Small leg up wobble on the BHS LOSO. She might’ve moved her foot a tiny bit on the dismount landing but I’m honestly not sure. 9.850
O. Greaves (Aub) FX: Really nice double tuck to open. Chest a little low on the double pike but the landing was solid. 9.850
Sikon (Neb) VT: 9.775
Green (Ill) UB: Off balance on the DLO landing and has to take a sizable step back, otherwise no major issues. 9.825
Wells (OU) BB: Small lean after her BHS LOSO. I didn’t see whether she stuck her dismount but there were lots of cheers. 9.850
McLaughlin (Aub) FX: She’s such an engaging performer! She may. have had some slight leg form on her opening combo pass. Lands the double pike a little low and hops to the side. 9.775
Spence (Neb) VT: Y-1.5, some soft knees in the air and she takes a small hop forward on the landing. 9.775
Knight (Ill) UB: Misses her hand on the bail handstand and kind of falls onto the bar, she doesn’t come off the bar but it completely stops her momentum. 9.175
Torrez (OU) BB: Solid acro series. Maybe a slight lean after her leap series. Sticks the gainer full. 10.000 so I guess I made up that lean!
Groth (Aub) FX: Front double twist, possibly some soft knees in the air but she lands it well. Sticks the Rudi, although she was leaning forward out of it into her choreo. 9.850
Abraham (UCD) VT: Y-1.5, possibly a little low in amplitude but otherwise clean and she takes a small step forward out of it. 9.850
Moneymaker (UCD) UB: Possibly a touch short on her last handstand, and she slides backward ever so slightly on her DLO landing, but clean form throughout, a really nice routine. She looks happy with her all around performance today. 9.850
FINAL: Oklahoma 198.025, Auburn 196.950, Illinois 195.725, Nebraska 195.675
EVENT STANDINGS AFTER TWO SEMIFINALS:
VT: Celestine (Missouri) 9.950
UB: Horton (Missouri)/Spence (Nebraska)/O. Greaves (Auburn)/Torrez (OU)/Davis (OU)/Bowers (OU) 9.950
BB: Hu (Missouri)/Torrez (OU) 10.000
FX: Torrez (OU) 9.975
AA: Faith Torrez (OU) 39.800
READ THIS NEXT: Tracking Individual Nationals Qualification Scenarios
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