It’s hard to imagine Oklahoma losing this meet. Or, honestly, basically any other meet. A potential injury to Dani Sievers, while sad, was completely absorbed in preseason by revelations like Ragan Smith’s bafflingly good Yurchenko one and a half. Transfer Soraya Hawthorne’s landings look better than ever before, while freshman Hannah Scheible looks ready to go on every event. The hardest part for Oklahoma is picking lineups.
Michigan, in transition after the graduation of the class that took it to the pinnacle of the sport, will be loading heavily into Sierra Brooks and Gabby Wilson. Veterans like Carly Bauman and Jacey Vore will be taking on increased roles, but there will also be lineup spots that Michigan has to experiment in order to fill. Kentucky, following a strong year, will likely be depending on its fifth year seniors for a lot of routines, but has some flashy newcomers too. Rising Michigan State just gets deeper and deeper with another great freshman class ready to debut. There are tons of possibilities here, but Gabi Ortiz, a late commitment switch from Pittsburgh, looks perhaps the strongest.
Rotation 1: Oklahoma VT Kentucky UB Michigan State BB Michigan FX
Rodriguez (UK): Tkachev good! Bail, finding handstands, DLO almost stuck… baby hop.
Davis (OU): One and a half, little leg sep, hop straight forward. 9.85
Kalefe (MSU): Full turn a little overturned. BHS BHS LOSO great. Switch… fumble… tuck full to split short of split. Has a leap series. Gainer full stuck.
Guggino (UM): Front lay through double pike, fun but big slide back. Front lay to Rudi, landed cross legged with chest a little low.
Scheible (OU): Pike half S T U C K. Welcome to college gymnastics Hannah Scheible.
Harkness (MSU): BHS LOSO, nice and steady. Switch switch, smidge shy of positions. Cat leap side aerial tuck one and a half with a hop.
Mulligan (UM): Front through double back, bounce OOB, flexed feet and cowboyed on the double back. Switch side straddle Shushunova with lukewarm positions. Double pike, chest a bit low and shuffle to lunge.
Procasky (UK): Maloney to Pak, very slight awkwardness on the catch, essentially nothing. DLO piked down but stuck.
Bowers (OU): One and a half, hop straight forward.
We just got the double tuck for Nikki Smith.
Bauman (UM): Front double full, nice control. Iffy leap positions, really nice one and a half front lay. The Michigan choreo is not the hottest.
Torrez (OU): One and a half, landed a little heavily, hop straight forward.
Brooks (UM): Full in, really more half in half out, chest maybe a little low. Good leap amplitude. Double back to finish.
Garcia (MSU): BHS LOSO, fall.
Worley (UK): Clear hip to Tkachev, so much air, nice Pak. We got a D-D groan of delight over her handstand positions. FTDB stuck dead. 9.975 yeahhhhh
Wilson (UM): Gorgeous FTDB. switch side straddle. Rudi, lunge couldn’t have been any more controlled.
Stephen (MSU): Two foot front aerial, gorgeous. Great full turn. BHS LOSO looked off and she just chose not to wobble. Beat straddle half, good. Double full, big hop back but this is still the routine that MSU needed.
After 1: Oklahoma 49.350, Kentucky 49.350, Michigan 49.050, Michigan State 48.800
Little bit of beam jitters from MSU but heading to a strength now they’ll be able to get comfy. Kentucky did the most on bars highlighted by a 9.925 in the exhibition… disrespect Cadence Gormley at your peril.
Rotation 2: Michigan VT Oklahoma UB Kentucky UB Michigan State FX
Thaxton (UM): FTY, doesn’t seem to line up the landing, comes in short with low chest and a step forward. 9.65
Rodriguez (UK): Super steady triple series. Side somi, great. Stuck one and a half twist.
LeVasseur (OU): Toe to Tkachev great, bail, maybe an inch shy on the high bar handstand, blind full double tuck stuck. Not a lot to take there. 9.925
Beaufait (MSU): Front double full looks good. Really good control on her combo pass, Rudi to finish. D-D saw a front foot wiggle, I didn’t. Really steady start for the Spartans on their pet event.
Fletcher (OU): Pike Jaeger great, iffy handstand, Pak with great swing. Little bits of feet as we usually see from her. Arched a HB handstand, FTDB stuck.
Mulligan (UM): Little leg sep on one and a half, comes in deep, step forward with deep knee bend. Jess and D-D both go “Squatted it!!”
Bunn (UK): Little check on her triple series, double full dismount with a pogo stick hop.
Torrez (OU): Ray good, nice high Pak. DLO drilled. Maaaaybe a touch of knees on the DLO but I’m really searching for what to take on a routine like that. 9.95
Morrison (UM): One and a half, hop back. I’m not sure if she was meaningfully short or if that was just jitters.
Patterson (UK): BHS LOSO so airy. Front aerial, little short, fights for it. Split, chest down, falls, what just happened? I’m confused. Cat leap switch side. Drilled gainer pike.
Smith (OU): Ray to Pak, nice clean catches, swims a little to find the vertical in her low bar pirouette but again really nitpicking. Maybe the tiniest scoot back on her double layout. Probably not. Oklahoma is Oklahomaing.
Harkness (MSU): Full in, awkward step out, front through double back with low chest and a scoot.
Raena Worley nailed beam obviously.
Davis (OU): High and clean on the Jaeger, her usual, dismount is as rotated as she’s ever going to get it with just a tiny hop in place. D-D was hoping that they wouldn’t see it but they did, 9.9
Magnelli (UK): BHS LOSO LOSO with soft knees but super aggressively landed. Switch straddle quarter so airy. I missed what skill but good sized bend check there. Full turn.
Bowers (OU): Pike Jaeger so high it’s almost close but no real issues with the catch, FTDB chest a little low with a tiny step forward.
Schulte (MSU): Full in, too much boing, substantial scoot. Switch half Popa straddle. Again a little overpowered double back.
Great bars ex with a stuck dismount for Dani Sievers. Can’t wait to see her back.
After 2: Oklahoma 98.975, Kentucky 98.450, Michigan 97.925, Michigan State 97.650
Oklahoma hit the gas in that rotation. Beam continues to take no prisoners, will OU break the streak of tough beam rotations?
Rotation 3: MSU VT Michigan UB Oklahoma BB Kentucky FX
Morrison (UM): Great Gienger, clear hip short to bail, missed a handstand, DLO baby hop.
Tucker (MSU): One and a half, super straight but lock legged, big step back.
Davis (OU): BHS LOSO, little soft in the knees. Front aerial to scale, love that combo. Iffy ring as usual, double full stuck.
Ortiz (MSU): Bouncing back from a … interesting time on floor. One and a half, great pop off the table, slightly deep with a hop.
Wells (OU): Excited for this one. Switch leg side aerial WOW. Switch to standing switch, some tiny details but nothing drastic. BHS LOSO solid. One and a half twist with a baby hop forward.
Zabrowski (UM): Missed a handstand, Jaeger a bit low, hit feet on the Pak. DLO shuffly.
Magnelli (UK): Rudi LOSO. Some soft knees, no landing issues. Switch side Popa shuffle.
Bowers (OU): BHS LOSO so clean. Switch switch half great. Double full, chest maybe a touch low but not drastic.
Kellerman (MSU): Pike half stuck. She has exactly one clubmate in NCAA and it’s Hannah Scheible who stuck her pike half in the first rotation. Look at you go, All American Flames. 10 WHAT OH MY GOD
I missed A bunch of routines being amped about that.
Smith (MSU): One and a half, lock legged, step back. 9.8
LeVasseur (OU): BHS LOSO solid, switch straddle quarter with one slightly flexed foot, front aerial, gorgeous penche. BHS gainer full, hop back.
Sierra Brooks doing her normal on bars, hop back.
Smith (OU): BHS LOSO easy. Front aerial, walks out a little. BHS gainer full drilled.
Worley (UK): We missed the full in but Jess said it was good. Front full front lay, no problem. D-D is trying to make “let’s Worley this” into a phrase, which I imagine is kind of like trying to make fetch happen. Steady last pass. 9.875
It’s Meilin Sullivan in the ex on beam. All the cool kids love Meilin Sullivan.
After 3: Oklahoma 148.450, Kentucky 147.500, Michigan 147.275, Michigan State 146.850
Rotation 4: Kentucky VT, Michigan State UB, Michigan BB, Oklahoma FX
Rodriguez (UK): Stuck FTY, slight chest down but lots of height.
Schulte (MSU): Maloney, pings off the high bar. 9.325
Mulligan (UM): Full turn, cat leap front aerial BHS steady. Decent positions on her leap series. Just a little uncertain through all the transition work. Side aerial, BHS tuck 3/2 dismount a little crazy in the air with a pace forward. Nice.
Davis (OU): Front double full comes in deep, twisting into the ground with a cross step.
Patterson (UK): Pike half, kicks out a little late and comes in with her weight behind her feet, takes a big step back.
Zsarmani (UK): Maloney to Gienger between the bars, bit of foot form, DLO stuck I think. Mike Rowe was in the way and commentators are calling him out for it.
Vore (UM): BHS LOSO, bend check and falls. Full turn. One and a half dismount with a step back.
Stephen (MSU): Toe to Maloney with bent knees to bail, slightly over on a HB handstand, FTDB step.
Wilson (UM): BHS LOSO with soft knees and a little lean. Standing switch x2, flexed feet on both.
Kellerman (MSU): Jaeger caught a bit wonky, leg split, DLO with a step forward.
Morrison (UM): BHS LOSO, awkward and steps her back leg forward. Split switch half, short of both splits and a medium check. Full turn, check. Cut away.
Didn’t see enough to write about it but Kat LeVasseur’s floor looked great and it’s just so nice to see her fit and killing it on four events.
Smith (MSU): Maloney to Pak, nailing handstands, DLO drilled. Wow.
Bauman (UM): BHS LOSO… leg up check. Not a great day for UM. Sissone to switch half to beat, iffy splits. Hop on the gainer pike and I can’t overstate how unimpressed D-D sounds.
Torrez (OU): She’s been kicking ass today. DLO, hop to lunge, maybe not supreme control but probably good enough. Tour jete half wolf full rotated, nailed the double back.
Harkness (MSU): Toe to Gienger, so clean, nailed the bail. When she is on there is nothing to take. FTDB, mat throws her back just a touch but I call that a stick.
Bowers (OU): One and a half front tuck. Solid.
FINAL: Oklahoma 197.850, Kentucky 196.775, Michigan State 196.300, Michigan 195.875
VT: Kellerman 10
UB: Worley 9.975
BB: Torrez/Smith 9.950
FX: Bowers 9.925
AA: Torrez/Worley 39.625
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Live blog by Rebecca Scally
