It’s “late regular season random non-conference meet barrage” time of year, and this one is super weird. Fun, right?
There are two fairly compelling duals here. The difference between N.C. State and Penn State is even less than you’d imagine based on the rankings. The Wolfpack is still counting one difficult road score (which it can drop today!) but has scored 196-plus four times this season already. Penn State’s best days are very comparable, powered by a bars lineup in cruise control in the region of 49.200. I’m also excited for the all around battle between Drew Grantham and Lauren Bridgens, both of whom can go 39.400 or higher on a good day.
Cornell has had a nightmare season, but it’s capable of much more, and that potential started to show last week at Ivy Classic. The Big Red might not be capable of its top marks from the last few years, but it should still be able to crack 193 on a good week. Towson is in the same universe of scores but is far more consistent, due mostly to having a very reliable vault lineup. The Tigers are the definite favorite, but it’s not a done deal.
Rotation 1: Penn State vault, NC State bars, Cornell beam, Towson floor
Bladon (PSU): Soft elbows on the table and piked down on her FTY, hop back. 9.65
Allen (PSU): Pretty good dynamics on FTY, little hop back but clearly much more technical than Bladon’s. 9.75
Bridgens (PSU): Powerful FTY, little hop in place and her chest is in front of her. 9.85
Rushlow (PSU): FTY with just a touch of pike and a little hop back. 9.85
Bonsall (PSU): Solid FTY, a little less amplitude than the last few and a midsize hop. 9.775
Chinnery (PSU): Solid FTY with a little hop. 9.825
Shepard (NCSU): She did a Jaeger and a good dismount and I didn’t write about it because I literally thought it was touch. 9.825
Grantham (NCSU): Double layout with a little hop forward. 9.65
Robinson (NCSU): Blind full with crunchy feet to double back. We’re on a streak of only getting dismounts. 9.825
Cox (NCSU): Nice Tkachev, very open straddle, good bail to toe shoot. FTDLO great with a little step back. WOW. 9.825
Brooker (NCSU): Toe to Maloney to bail to toe shoot, DLO stuck. Little handstand and feet things but she basically did the Kyla routine and nailed it. 9.825
Lund (CU): Something to split 3/4, that’s all we saw of that routine! 9.55
Patient (CU): Full turn, a little off axis, front handspring and a big bend check. FHS, another check and falls. In trouble now. Gainer pike with a step. 8.575
DeMeo (CU): Full turn, front aerial BHS slow but steady. Cat leap kickover front and second guesses the placement of one foot but gets through. Punch Rudi with a hop to the side. 9.1
Murphy (CU): BHS LOSO, lean check, hangs on. Hitch kick switch side is great, full turn, I think side aerial to beat. Punch front full with a hop. 9.7
Herczeg (CU): Front aerial BHS is GREAT. Full turn, switch straddle quarter, front tuck to wolf to tuck jump. I love the tuck jump there, feels so retro. Punch front full with a hop forward. GREAT routine. 9.75
Watson (CU): BHS LOSO with serious leg form and jumps off. Switch split 3/4, mini arabesque turn like Kyla Ross with a little check. Cat leap front aerial, bend check and falls again, teammates are way too near her moving a mat and I heard someone say “sorry!!” Gainer full piked down badly with chest down and a step.
Wesoly (TU): Front lay front full, bent her knees down a bit. Cut away. Switch switch half pretty good, split full wolf full. 9.55
Temkov (TU): Good leaps, double back and rebounds majorly OOB. 9.625
Lubarsky (TU): Front double full, gets a face full of ponytail. BHS BHS LOSO on the floor probably tells you what you need to know about her back acro preferences. 9.6
Stewart (TU): Front lay front full, tour jete half split full. Nice double pike, sets back a little but lands it fine. Switch half Popa not quite rotated but likely close enough.
Borkowski (TU): Double back really good, switch side Popa with a little hop. Front lay front full a little pikey, double pike. Solid. 9.675
Casper (TU): Suspect a first pass OOB since we cut over to her wandering around looking a little disoriented. Front lay front full, double back a little low and a definite OOB there. 9.775 what lol
After 1: NCSU 49.125, PSU 49.050, TU 48.225, CU 46.675
Very solid start for both Penn State and NC State, still looking like a close battle between those two. Cornell pretty much gave up there with two two-fall beam routines. Not much way to come back from that.
Rotation 2: Towson vault, Penn State bars, NC State beam, Cornell floor
Hurst (TU): FHS front pike, underrotated, big stagger step backwards and narrowly avoids sitting it. 9.275
Bolen (TU): Pretty FTY and stuck! 9.775
Gamble (TU): LOVELY Yurchenko arabian with a hop forward. 9.8
Wesoly (TU): Solid FTY, body position a little crunchy. 9.62
Verdeflor (PSU): Bail, great handstands, blind to half with leg separation to double back with a hop back. 9.8
Chinnery (PSU): Joining halfway again, blind full with crazy feet to double back, hop back. 9.8
Rushlow (PSU): We saw pretty much one random giant of this one.
Bridgens (PSU): Maloney to bail to toe shoot, blind full double back stuck, WOW her very very best routine. 10 chants. 9.925 is honestly lower than I’d have gone.
McCracken (PSU): Toe on to Tkachev, good counter, nice bail. PSU is a sneaky great bars team. Iffy handstand, blind to half to double back and holds it for a second before jumping to salute. 9.775
Bonsall (PSU): Maloney to Pak, great. split her legs on a half turn on the LB. Shy on a handstand I think, double lay low with a hop forward.
Beucler (NCSU): Cat leap switch side, pretty, BHS gainer full stuck. 9.825
Shepard (NCSU): L turn, bend check. Was that an aerial round off?? Beat to straddle 1/2, little arm swing, gainer full with a hop. 9.725
Foland (NCSU): Kick front BHS BHS, so beautiful. Full turn a little tentative, front aerial.
Kent (NCSU): BHS LOSO, switch to pike jump. Front tuck absolutely nailed.
Nelson (NCSU): Front aerial LOSO, little foot shuffle, smiles when she knows she’s got it. Switch straddle quarter. 9.85
Negrete (NCSU): Full turn, front aerial BHS is a beauty. She has a wrist guard on one wrist, switch switch half beat jump. Straddle half. 9.925!!
DeMeo (CU): Front double full, cross step, wolf full wolf full. Rudi to split with a little hop.
Smith (CU): Two and a half with a BEAUTY of a landing. Switch half tour jete full split full or something like that, I blinked. She’s got a Desiderio hip wrap. Front lay front full, beautiful open positions, Cornell mega-floor at its best here. Wolf jump step directly into turn I LOVE it, Rudi to wolf. DANG. 9.725 is too low.
Henry (CU): Double pike a little overrotated, scoot back, front lay front full with a big step out. 9.675
After 2: NC State 98.325, Penn State 98.200, Towson 96.750, Cornell 94.850
Cornell keeps running off the mats on vault. Got two good Yurchenko arabians from Donna Webster and Amy Shen, and I love Izzy Herczeg’s Tsuk pike Arabian so much.
Gamble (TU): Toe to Maloney to bail, foot and leg separation issues throughout. 9.625
Wesoly (TU): Blind full double back stuck. 9.775
Romagnano (PSU): Full turn, BHS LOSO, little leg up but gets it back. Cat leap switch half beat. Side aerial tuck back full off line and leans to hold the landing. 9.75
Verdeflor (PSU): Front aerial low, slooooow arm swing into her BHS. Split to ring, side somi tuck back full stuck. 9.8
Bastardi (PSU): Full turn. Kickover front BHS, switch split, side aerial back full good. 9.875
Bridgens (PSU): Having a great day so far. Hitch kick kickover front a little low but steady, missed the back foot on her side aerial and re-placed it without drama, BHS LOSO good. One and a half twist with a tiny step. 9.85
Rushlow (PSU): Beat to split 3/4 great, BHS LOSO with an extra step and a little hip break. Switch split, side aerial great, full turn. One and a half underrotated and with a big hop. 9.65
McCracken (PSU): Wolf turn, front aerial BHS very good. Split double stag. Cat leap front aerial. BHS gainer full stuck. 9.9
Kent (NCSU): Double back, looked like a front lay front lay. 9.725
Shepard (NCSU): Double pike is so lovely, good leaps. Front lay front full and looks a bit surprised by the landing but not bad. 9.8
Grantham (NCSU): Double back, great, kick out and scoots back a tiny bit. Front lay front full, good but looks a little surprised and steps back. 9.9
After 3: NC State 147.450, Penn State 147.375, Towson 144.900, Cornell 142.625
Advantage NC State going to the fourth rotation but compared to home floor, not enough to not be sweating over. Towson and Cornell are at a point where they will definitely be able to replace their lowest NQS score, but they won’t be thrilled with the total.
Rotation 4: NC State vault, Cornell bars, Towson beam, Penn State floor
Shepard (NCSU): FTY, a little piked down and a hop in place.
Beucler (NCSU): Pikey throughout on her FTY.
Negrete (NCSU): Pretty FTY with a hop back.
Kent (CU): Pike Jaeger, a bit of form but hit, overshoot. Blind full double back with a hop.
Smith (CU): Bail, great open hips, her positions are so lovely. Blind to Rudi dismount PLANTED. Love to see it.
Weitz (TU): Switch LOSO split, that’s pretty much all we got of that.
(TU): Switch side with a position issue, BHS LOSO. Split straddle half. Side aerial and fell.
Vitoff (TU): BHS BHS LOSO, tentative but hit, switch split.
Hurst (TU): Full turn, she’s got this lovely smug smile that says “I know how good I am.” BHS LOSO nailed, switch switch with a leg up but works out of it. Front aerial split, little check.
Allen (PSU): Double pike I think?? with seriously questionable body positions. Chills in the corner for like ten seconds before her second pass, which is a front through double back and badly overrotated. 9.775
McCracken (PSU): Two and a half, shuffly lunge out. One and a half front lay really good. Switch half wolf full wolf full. Rudi good.
Bonsall (PSU): Double back great, whip half front full, big bounce out of her leap pass that they might pretend was choreography. Double pike good.
Astarita (PSU): Open double back, think I missed the second pass, switch side Popa. Double pike, almost stuck.
Bridgens (PSU): Double back, front full front lay. Hard to follow that one with a bunch of camera cuts but it looked good.
FINAL: Penn State 196.375, NC State 195.850, Towson 193.175, Cornell 190.750
Vault issues for NC State, including a layout in the lineup, added up to mean that the Wolfpack couldn’t keep pace with Penn State in the final rotation. But it was a great meet for both teams, and one that NC State will be very happy to add to its NQS. Cornell toughed out a really good bars rotation at the end there, a season high by quite a lot.
VT – Lauren Bridgens, Cassidy Rushlow (PSU) 9.850
UB – Lauren Bridgens (PSU) 9.925
BB – Chloe Negrete (NCSU) 9.925
FX – Melissa Astarita (PSU) 9.925
AA – Lauren Bridgens (PSU) 39.475
Live blog by Rebecca Scally.
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