If you’re not on the West Coast, you’re in for some Big Ten gymnastics after dark (thanks, conference realignment). Michiganders—if you’re still awake, kudos to you! Double kudos if you make it through the whole meet.
Both teams have had slower-than-expected starts to their seasons. Washington is struggling to fill the gap left by Skylar Killough-Wilhelm’s departure and seems to be short on routines. Last week, the Huskies were only able to field five gymnasts on vault at Rutgers. Michigan, meanwhile, started the season with a rough performance in Denver but has steadily improved its scores each week. The departure of key seniors left holes in the lineup, as expected, and the Wolverines have had to rely on new faces stepping up, including a talented freshman class. Injuries have complicated the situation, but Michigan is gradually finding its footing. Freshman Jahzara Ranger has competed in the all-around at every meet so far, while fellow freshman Sophie Parenti has become a regular on three events.
Both teams will be looking to find more consistency as they settle into the season. This should be an intriguing matchup!
Rotation 1: Washington VT, Michigan UB
It’s very sports of the hockey game before this meet to go to a shootout (hockey fans know this all too well, too), but the Fox Sports app/website has us covered until the game concludes.
Innes (Washington): yfull, little bit of a pike down and some leg sep. Gets the stick but lands off-center on the line. 9.8
Parenti (Michigan): muscles her first hs. toe Maloney to pak, leg sep. very short on her last hs. dlo, step forward. A hit to start for Michigan. 9.775, ok so this is how scores are going to go.
McWilliams (Washington): yfull, preflight leg sep and pike down. Decent hop back. 9.725
Lana Navarro isn’t competing all her events today due to injury. Looks like she’s still slated on beam.
Jordan (Michigan): Fights for her first hs. straddled jaeger nice, arches her handstand a tad but doesn’t go over. Hits her bail. Double tuck dismount stuck. 9.825
Scores are slow but I will update this blog as they come in! Sounds like technical issues on-site.
Lin (Washington): yfull, preflight leg sep, pikes down and lands with her chest low, but stuck. 9.65
Diaz (Michigan): Hits her handstand into a toe Maloney to bail hs, solid. Final hs good. DLO, has to take a step forward but nice in the air. 9.8
Bolden (Washington): yfull, best dynamics. Tiny bit of leg sep and a large hop back. You can tell she’s capable of a 1.5, but they’re easing her back after injury. 9.7
Vore (Michigan): nice first hs. straddled tkatchev good. bail hs, hit. short on her final hs. DLO with a step forward. Another solid routine for the Wolverines. 9.775
Mouyenga (Washington): yfull, massive leg separation in the entry and takes a step back. 9.7
Bauman (Michigan): Hit first hs. blind change straddled jaeger to bail, ends up hitting the “is this supposed to be to handstand or not” position. Double front with a tiny shuffle step. 9.85
McDonough (Washington): yfull, the cleanest in the air of the bunch. Hops back on the landing. 9.85
Ranger (Michigan): good first hs. Ray with flexed feet. Hits her next handstand and transitions to low with a bail hs. DLO with a step back. 9.825
Sanger (Michigan, exh): Hist first hs. Too far away from the bar on her piked jaeger and can’t complete the catch. Pak, pings off the bar again. Just not her day so far. Finishes with a DLO, step forward. 8.4
AFTER 1: Michigan 49.100, Washington 48.750
Michigan with a good start on bars, and Washington put up 6 solid vaults but couldn’t find the landings.
Rotation 2: Michigan VT, Washington UB
Jordan (Michigan): Stuck yfull, low chest. Little bit of preflight leg sep. 9.775
Oppegard (Washington): nice first hs. blind change straddled jaeger good. Hits her bail hs. Solid final hs into a dlo with a slide back. 9.775
Ranger (Michigan): y1.5 with some form in the air and a step forward. 9.825
McDonough (Washington): catches her straddled jaeger close and can’t pull the bail around. Short final hs. double tuck with a hop forward. Washington will want to drop this one. 9.05
Mulligan (Michigan): y1.5, leg sep in the air and lands off to the side with a step forward. 9.775
McWilliams (Washington): Straddled jaeger to bail hit. A tad short on her final hs. DLO, hop back. 9.675
Davis (Michigan): yfull, tiny leg sep on the entry and takes a step back. 9.725
Lin (Washington): Good first hs. Clear hip to Gienger, can’t hold onto the bar. Washington counting a fall now. bail, loose legs. Hit final hs into a ftdt, takes a step forward and low chest. 8.525
Thaxton (Michigan): yfull with leg sep preflight and takes a hop back. 9.825
Taking the judges a bit of time to figure out Lin’s score.
Russon (Washington): short first hs. straddle jaeger to bail, nice. Tiniest bit short on her final hs. DLO with a tiny hop back. 9.85
Diaz (Michigan): sticks her y1.5, her chest wavers a bit to hold the stick. Tiniest bit of form in the air, but easily the best vault of the rotation. 9.9
Mouyenga (Washington): Pak. Short handstand. Van leeuwen, significant leg sep. Short final hs. Blind change with loose legs into a double tuck, lands with her chest low and a step back. 9.675
Kirchner (Michigan, exh): yhalf, leg separation on the entry and a hop forward. 9.725
Bolden (Washington, exh): hit first hs. tole to Maloney to pak, small leg sep. Short final hs. Does a double tuck instead of a DLO, so I don’t think she’ll start out of a 10.
AFTER 2: Michigan 98.200, Washington 96.775
Michigan matches its bar total on vault. The Wolverines couldn’t find their landings on vault, but ended up putting up a solid rotation overall. Washington struggled on bars and ended up counting a fall; Russon was the highlight of the lineup.
Rotation 3: Washington BB, Michigan FX
Innes (Washington): Balance check on her full turn. Front aerial slight check to bhs. cat leap to side aerial hit. Switch to straddle 1/4 slightly tentative between. RO 1.5 dismount with a hop forward. 9.75
Looks like they just scratched Navarro. Hopefully playing it safe with her injury and this likely not being a great score.
Parenti (Michigan): Double pike, controlled landing, chest potentially a tad low but nothing major. Does a tuck full in her leap series which you don’t see every day. Back 1.5 to front half, supposed to be a full. Might not start from a 10 because of that. 9.6
Oppegard (Washington): bhs loso, secure. Switch to switch half to beat, short of 180 on the second leap. Hits her full turn. Secure side aerial. Stuck gainer full but piked it down. 9.775
Mulligan (Michigan): front through to a double tuck, controlled, chest a tad low. Switch side half to popa (I think). Double pike, nails it. 9.775
Russon (Washington): front aerial bhs bhs, secure. Switch to ring jump, good. Back 1.5, tiniest bit of crossed legs and a small hop forward. 9.85
Diaz (Michigan): Front double full, large-ish step forward and takes another step that she tries to cover up with dance. Rudi to LOSO, kind of looked like she missed the punch but you wouldn’t know it from the execution of the LOSO. 9.825
McDonough (Washington): Bhs loso, secure, tiniest bit of knees on the bhs entry. Cat leap to side aerial, rock solid. Switch leap, small wobble. Redoes it and nails it this time, goes directly into a split jump. Got on her full turn. RO double twist, low chest but holds on to the stick. 9.8
Bauman (Michigan): Opening front double full, dances right out of it like it’s easy. Triple leap combination with good positions. Back 1.5 to lay nice. Beautiful switch leap to close out her routine. 9.85
Hallinan (Washington): front toss small check to back tuck, small check. Switch to split jump, great positions. Tiniest shoulder lean on her full turn. Hit front aerial to beat. RO 1.5, tiny leg form but stuck. 9.85
Hold up with floor judges as there seems to be confusion about lineup order. Michigan changed its order last minute before the rotation.
Ranger (Michigan): DLO, slightly low landing but controlled. I missed her leaps but she hit them. Front lay into a double tuck, front foot slides. Fun to see a front lay into that pass instead of the usual tuck. 9.775
Lin (Washington): Small shoulder lean on her full turn. Bhs loso, comes off. Landed with her toes literally on the edge of the beam. Switch to switch half to beat, slow connections and short of 180 on the half. RO 1.5 with a step to the side. Washington had 5 hits before her, so this score will be the drop. 9.125
Floor scores are slow to come in, they’re having technical difficulties.
Boozer (Michigan): opens with a switch ring full. double tuck, good work to control the landing. another switch ring into a leap I definitely zoned out on. Back 1.5 to lay, controlled.
Another long wait from the judges.
Davis (Michigan, exh): Hits her front lay to rudi. Switch half wolf full wolf full, she overcooks the rotation on the last one. Low chest but stuck double pike and takes a controlled step for good measure.
AFTER 3: Michigan 147.275, Washington 145.800
A nice bounce back from Washington on beam and its first 49+ of the night. Hopefully Navarro is ok moving forward, but that was a solid lineup especially given the last-minute changes. Michigan also hit 6 floor routines, unsure of the overall scores but we’re moving on regardless.
Rotation 4: Michigan BB, Washington FX
Parenti (Michigan): Bhs loso, the tiniest lean. Switch leap to split, secure. She’s really embraced the leadoff role as a freshman. Front aerial small check to split jump, another check. They should break that but they probably won’t. RO 1.5 stuck. 9.775
McWilliams (Washington): Rudi to loso, some crossy legs, secure landing. Switch side half straddle straddle, good positions, would like a more defined toe point. Solid double pike to close. 9.85
Boozer (Michigan): Hitch kick front aerial, small lean. Switch leap to switch split, hit. Secure bhs loso. Stuck gainer full. 9.9
Oppegard (Washington): Rudi to straddle, lots of power and lunges out of it. I missed half of her combo pass due to person standing in front of the camera. Switch ring half, not the best position. Switch ring into switch half, short of 180. 9.65
Mulligan (Michigan): Small lean on her full turn. Cat leap front aerial bhs, tiniest knee form on the bhs. Hits her leap combination. Side aerial, check with a small bend at the hip. Gainer tuck full with a step back. 9.775
Russon (Washington): First pass is a double pike, good control. fhs front lay front full into a ring kick, nice. triple leap series that got worse on the positions on each leap. 9.8
Vore (Michigan): bhs loso, her hips looked off but her landing was fine. Good front toss. Straddle to straddle 3/4 to beat, nice. Stuck RO 1.5. 9.9
Bolden (Washington): double pike, small foot slide. front lay front full, some knees in the air. Switch half wolf full, short of 180 and overrotates the wolf. 9.6
Ranger (Michigan): Bhs loso, small lean. Switch to split, she looked off but covered it up. Front toss hit. Takes a large step and another small step out of her double tuck. 9.725
McDonough (Washington): FHS Rudi LOSO, looked weird in the air but she pulled it around well. I was typing and missed her full leaps. Closing fhs into double full, nice. 9.9
Bauman (Michigan): Secure turn. Bhs loso, rock solid. Split to straddle 3/4 to sissone, lean, but tries to cover it up. Hit side somi. Stuck gainer full. Good way for Michigan to close the meet. 9.9
Innes (Washington): front double full to front pike, tiny bit of leg form but controlled landing. leap that I missed into a Popa, good. Back 1.5 to lay good. Ends with a Rudi to an arched jump. 9.9
Davis (Michigan, exh): Bhs loso, the tiniest lean. Cat leap to side aerial, small check. full turn, overturns and leans to the side. Leaps are slightly short of 180. Stuck gainer full. 9.75
FINAL: Michigan 196.525, Washington 194.900
A solid end to the meet from both teams. Impressed with how Washington closed the back half of this meet after a rough start; the Huskies end with a season-best 194.900. Michigan ended the meet on a good note as well, going 6 for 6 on beam with alternating scores in the 9.7s and 9.9.
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