We’ve got a tightly contested matchup tonight in Seattle as Illinois takes on Washington, with both teams bringing similar scoring ceilings into the meet.
Illinois is poised to strike early on bars, where it ranks No. 18 nationally under the leadership of Lyden Saltness. Washington will counter on vault, led by Kira Bolden, as the Huskies open the meet on the event where they have the most room to grow. From there, it may be anyone’s meet, with both teams showing comparable strengths through the first month of the season. Illinois’ Chloe Cho has been particularly sharp on the road, hitting 9.900 on half of her routines so far—four of them on bars—where she’s a legitimate 10.0 threat.
For the numbers crowd, this one could come down to the final landing. The teams are separated by just 0.025 in season highs, and both boast multiple gymnasts hovering in the 9.850 range on floor. Freshmen Kennedy Brown and Skylar Ray Dixon could provide Illinois the extra push needed to clear 49.000 on multiple events. For Washington, that spark may come from the high-risk, high-reward routines of junior Mary McDonough, paired with the steady consistency of Lilly Tubbs.
The meet will be streamed on B1G+ and scores can be found on Virtius. Not a B1G+ subscriber? Sign up today for the monthly pass with the code COLLEGEGYM3 for just $10.99/month (regularly $12.99/month).
Rotation 1: Washington VT, Illinois UB
McWilliams (UW): She’s settled into the leadoff role on multiple events quite nicely. big Y full with her legs glued and a strong block, controls her hop backwards. 9.675
Brown (IL): clear hip to Geinger and overshoot right away, small leg sep but keeps her rhythm. close to sticking the DLO, big potential on her routine. 9.675
Tubbs (UW): near stick on her Y full, should easily clear 9.800. she’s able to flare onto and off of the table. I’m eating my words, it goes 9.775
Denning (IL): shootover right to vertical, great form in her giants through to a stuck DLO. 9.750
Lin (UW): UW is drilling clean Y fulls tonight! not as high as Tubbs’, but definitely can with her similar blocking form. 9.725
Dixon (IL): toe hs to Maloney with a sizeable break, but covers it into the bail connection. floats her DLO and has to pike down a smidge. 9.650
Schaffer (UW): Y full, gets more than her share of height, and still has room to keep improving! Some soft knees in the post flight. 9.750
Gow (IL): flings back on her Shaposhnikova and takes a clean fall. hits it on the second try and connects to her bail, then nails her toe hs to toe front half pike dismount. 9.075
Bolden (UW): Y full that we know can become a Y1.5 with more numbers under her belt. very efficient twisting! 9.775, feels low from the angle we’re getting from Big Ten Plus.
Cho (IL): HOLDS her first handstand and floats her Maloney Pak series. Van Leeuwen looks easier to find the bar than her Maloney, and keeps her momentum through to a near-stuck DLO. incredibly patient bars set. 9.775
McDonough (UW): okay this one has to go over 9.800. she pikes a tad in her Y full, but has the strongest block before she begins twisting out of the vaults we’ve seen so far today. 9.825
Saltness (IL): aggressive first kip handstand, right to a strong Ray. accurately measures her Pak and pirouettes over the bar before going back up to the high bar, clean blind full to double tuck. 9.875
AFTER ONE: Washington 48.850, Illinois 48.725
Say what you will about the lack of sticks in the first rotation, but those are deductions gym fans can expect will be gone any week now. Only two gymnasts notched a 9.800+ score, both thanks to maintaining a tight core to initiate twisting: Illinois’ Lyden Saltness, and Washington’s Mary McDonough. Of note, this dual meet is also happening alongside Washington’s GymACT mens’ team hosting the Bay Area Bandits. Never a dull moment at Alaska Airlines Arena today! Between rotations we’re getting snippets of the mens teams at work.
Rotation 2: Illinois VT, Washington UB
Byrne (IL): big strong run, and a compact twist in her Y full. 9.750
McWilliams (UW): a hair short on her first handstand before her blind half, then stomachs her Jaeger. takes some long swings into her bail to horizontal, and seems back in business for her DLO. 8.500
King (IL): wow an even faster Y full than Byrne! The Illini have been putting in noticable work towards getting off the table fast, and I’m excited to see it throughout the lineup. 9.675
Lin (UW): longer wait time than the camera was expecting. starts with a precise handstand for her clear hip Geinger series, then has to take an empty swing with a major form break grabbing very close, but stays on. recovers her speed again for a calm FTDT. 9.150, opening the door for Illinois.
Coppola (IL): slower rotation than her teammates’ Y fulls so far. her post flight started very shoulders heavy, so it had to flare early then pike down to finish the rotation. 9.625
Oppegard (UW): strong handstand work with her mount and bind half to piked Jaeger, again into her bail handstand! the sense of calm UW needs, and carries it to her DLO with a step back. 9.775
Kauffman (IL): closest we’ve seen to a stick today, very patient with her rotation through her Y full — no piking or flaring, just trusting the floor will be there and holding her form. 9.750
McDonough (UW): strong swing into her blind half, then stomachs her Jaeger. Off again trying to not overpower her bail to horizontal. back up again for a blind full and hops off at the half. gets it around to keep her start value up, and sticks the blind full to double tuck for good measure. 7.800
Cho (IL): her Y full looked like it was sped up on the feed’s replay! virtually flawless in the air, small shuffle back. 9.825
Tubbs (UW): before she starts, we get a video of her mom cheering for last week’s bars set. No time like the present to hype up a routine. toe hs Maloney bail hs hits and looks calm, carrying it through to an equally calm stuck DLO. too little too late, but still a great way to change the mood for UW’s bars squad. 9.850
Clancy (IL): 8.850, initially slated for a tucked Y1.5, gets the first half twist around then front drops her vault safely forwards. good decision making at full speed.
Moody (UW): toe hs Maloney Pak with a small break, not giving up any rhythm though. FTDT with a small hop. 9.825
AFTER TWO: Illinois 97.350 Washington 96.100
Three hits and three misses wasn’t what Washington had in mind, and now they’ll be scraping back every tenth they can save in the back half of the meet. Tubbs has been a rock for the Huskies so far, hitting 9.775 and 9.850 on vault and bars respectively. The Illini weren’t at their vault ceiling today, but by virtue of landing five clean 9.950 starts have a formidable lead.
Rotation 3: Washington BB, Illinois FX
Lin (UW): welcome to the leadoff position! moving confidently through her choreography, and nails her lengthy bhs loso series in a “welcome back Kyla Ross” fashion. every movement is deliberate. switch to switch half also solid. she doubles down and stucks her 1.5 dismount. 9.825
Joelson (IL): all smiles with her choreography in front of her home crowd. front tuck through to double tuck, controlled lunge in bounds by a matter of inches. switch side half to wolf full both get precise rotation. double pike takes a lunge out, but keeps it in bounds. 9.700
Oppegard (UW): bhs loso even calmer than Lin’s, wow. switch switch half with a small leg separation at the end. standalone side aerial gets her ready to dismount, and it’s a near-stuck gainer full. 9.725
Brown (IL): if anyone’s ready to keep up the raw power in the Illini floor party after Joelson, it’s the one and only Kennedy Brown. She has a longer than normal wait time before starting. She starts with a whip through to double tuck, and puts as much energy into selling her dance as her tumbling. front full to front layout calmer than last week. switch side half to straddle jump and then a fun headspring to close out her day! 9.750
Navarro (UW): her first competitive routine tonight, and starts it with a bhs bhs loso as if it’s on 1.25x speed. small hop forward on her roundoff 1.5. 9.800
Banks (IL): big fan of how she uses the whole floor for her opening choreo, then books it back again for a punch front double twist. switch full to two wolf jumps, and holds onto the power for her roundoff 1.5 punch layout. 9.775
Moody (UW): bhs loso, plenty high and getting more comfortable with it than the triple series. massive jumps right after! cleeean aerial to split jump. hops forward out of her roundoff 1.5. 9.775
Gow (IL): very dynamic fhs rudi loso to start, great work slowing down the loso out of a speedy entry. switch full split full tuck full blends into her choreo. closes with a post-season ready fhs double full, and then the feed lags as if to exaggerate her controlled lunge. 9.850
Tubbs (UW): front aerial to bhs loso, not scared of the end of the beam at all. masks a check on her split 3/4 gracefully. holds the stick on her gainer pike. 9.825
Cho (IL): massive full in to start, ankles glued throughout. switch, switch half to wolf full all seem to float up to her rib height. front tuck through to double tuck, and avoids the OOB deduction by stepping back without touching her heel to the ground. 9.825
Hallinan (UW): front toss to back tuck, no doubt gets her connection. switch to split, keeps her shoulders high and back throughout. front aerial to a comically high beat jump. sticks her 1.5 dismount, and today’s dismount is throwing a football then becoming the goalpost. 9.800
King (IL): gorgeous double tuck, and goes nice and high on her switch side half and Popa but not quite parallel to the floor in her split angles. roundoff 1.5 to a flat front layout.
AFTER THREE: Illinois 146.250, Washington 145.125
Six hits for each team, and looking calm on both sides of the dual meet. Within the Huskies’ four routines to hit 9.800+ we saw a mix of beam styles ranging from Deiah Moody’s knack for staying squared, to Lana Navarro’s speed and Chelsea Hallinan’s playful nature. Likewise at floor we saw plenty of angles of attack, with standout routines coming from front twister Piper Gow and anchor Eden King.
Rotation 4: Illinois BB, Washington FX
Kauffman (IL): makes light work out of her mount sequence, and her front aerial to loso series. switch to split also confident. bhs and sticks(?) her 1.5. 9.775
Hallinan (UW): clean through her first pass, same energy on floor as we saw from her on beam. roundoff double tuck as her second, as she puts on a controlled landing clinic. split leap to switch ring half, and a fun illusion turn hidden in her closing choreo. 9.850
Byrne (IL): candle with her legs glued. bhs loso takes a step back, but doesn’t have the energy of a balance check. fun sheep jump. roundoff double twist with the tiniest of shuffles. 9.700
Schaffer (UW): big front double twist, slight knee bend in order to find a squared landing. roundoff 2.5 twist comes next, and we’re treated to a split screen of Jeffrey Langenstein during Schaffer’s roundoff 1.5 to front layout. 9.800
Coppola (IL): aerial to roundoff, ultimately off on the roundoff. switch to split and beat jump as if the series fall never happened. aerial roundoff just as calm. closes with a stuck roundoff 1.5. she went with a risky composition with all four acro skills going over the side. 9.100
Lin (UW): squeaky clean front double full. whips over her roudoff 1.5 to layout, but is then able to hold her landing. switch half to Popa are both clean en route to her third pass, it’s an equally clean to her first pass fhs rudi. 9.850
Clancy (IL): off on her aerial, seeming to move quicker than she needs to. bhs loso looks like a whole new athlete, plenty of height and takes her time to land. switch to straddle half both get nice height. textbook stuck roundoff 1.5 to finish. 9.125
McWilliams (UW): she has her whole team dancing on the side. punch rudi losoand back to dancing as if she didn’t even tumble. switch side, straddle, shushunova. nails her double pike to finish her day. massive 9.925!
Saltness (IL): she’s had a long wait following bars. bhs loso with a small adjustment. cat leap to switch side again with a small shift. split full seems to get 7/8ths of the way around, but it doesn’t affect her unique front gainer full dismount at all. 9.600
McDonough (UW): ready to redeem herself from bars. fhs rudi to back tuck, keeping it in bounds but definitely not as planned. switch to tj half and Popa all get well past 180. closes with a fhs front double twist and a big smile. 9.750
Cho (IL): long wait after Saltness picks up a start value discrepancy conference, but not to worry as she’s comfortable in the five spot all day. bhs loso with her signature precise finishing position. switch to switch half and a beat jump. holds the stick on her 1.5 after almost lifting all ten toes and putting her weight into her heels. 9.850
Bolden (UW): full in, chest down but controlled feet. a little soft in her bhs — tightening that up will make the full in more comfortable. switch half wolf full looking smooth, as does her roundoff 1.5 to front full. 9.850
FINAL: Illinois 194.475, Washington 194.400
Nailbiter as predicted yesterday, but not at all what the picture was looking like at the halfway point once the meet was underway. I give Washington big credit for rallying the way they did, throwing down twelve hits across beam and floor including McWilliams’ 9.925 on the latter. Illinois stayed punctuated by Cho (and her heart emotes), but ultimately let beam in the fourth slip close to Washington’s floor rally.
The Illini upcoming test is another road meet at Nebraska next Sunday, while Washington travels to face Ohio State one day earlier.
VT: Mary McDonough (Washington) & Chloe Cho (Illinois): 9.825
UB: Lyden Saltness (Illinois): 9.875
BB: Chloe Cho (Illinois): 9.850
FX: Caitlin McWilliams (Washington): 9.925
AA: Chloe Cho (Illinois) 39.275
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Live blog by Peri Goodman
