Pac-12 Championship Session One

Recap

Full Results Utah: 197.725 California: 197.375 UCLA: 196.725 Arizona State: 196.375
Oregon State: 195.625 Arizona: 195.400 Stanford: 195.175 Washington: 194.400
VT: Wright 9.950 UB: Frazier, Isa, O’Keefe 9.950 BB: Isa, O’Keefe, Paulson 9.950 FX: Bryant, Campbell, George, O’Keefe, Rucker, Soloski, Tratz 9.950 AA: O’Keefe 39.700

The Big Storyline: While none of the first session teams were able to finish amongst the top half of the conference, the session was a close battle between three teams. Oregon State overcame a tough bar rotation to finish atop the pack in fifth place and edge out Arizona who was relatively consistent across the board with just a few mishaps making the difference. Stanford finished above a team for the first time all season to take seventh overall while Washington struggled on beam to finish eighth. Stanford’s Kyla Bryant tied for the floor title for the afternoon session’s lone event-winning routine.

Postseason Implications: Oregon State and Arizona were both able to score well enough to lock themselves into regionals while Stanford and Washington will not attend as teams. Chloe Widner is expected to qualify as an individual competitor for the Cardinal, and the Huskies should be represented by a handful of gymnasts as well.

Conference Awards

  • Gymnast of the Year: Maile O’Keefe (Utah)
  • Event Specialist of the Year: Alexia Burch (Utah)
  • Freshman of the Year: Chase Campbell (UCLA)
  • Coaches of the Year: Justin Howell and Elisabeth Crandall-Howell (California)

Preview

  • No. 24 Oregon State | 196.419 NQS |196.550 season high
  • No. 37 Arizona | 195.700 NQS | 196.075 season high
  • No. 41 Washington | 195.419 NQS | 196.525 season high
  • No. 55 Stanford | 165.836 NQS | 194.025 season high

If you can only watch one meet, here’s why it should be this one… While none of these four teams will likely win the championship out of the early session, there will be plenty at stake with regionals berths on the line. Oregon State is a lock for regionals but needs to avoid a clunker to remain out of having to compete in one of the play-in duals. Arizona and Washington are currently both on the wrong side of the regionals bubble, but with good scores both have the potential to slide up and qualify. Stanford will likely be competing in its last meet as a team and will be looking to finish on a high note and advance a few gymnasts on to regionals as individuals.

If this is one of many meets you’ll be watching, don’t miss this… Vault and floor have been Oregon State’s go-to events this year, with Madi Dagen’s Yurchenko one and a half and Kaitlyn Yanish’s floor routine as the must-watch pieces of gymnastics. Washington has also been coming on strong on those two events, so keep an eye on Amara Cunningham on floor for the Huskies as she’s hit 9.950 the past two meets. Kyla Bryant was Stanford’s star last year and has been under the radar in 2021 with the Cardinal’s very late start to the season. Watch for her as Stanford’s anchor on most events, along with Arizona’s Jessica Castles who has been one of the better freshmen in the Pac-12 this season.

What’s the bigger picture to keep an eye on? While both Arizona and Washington will need help from other teams to qualify for regionals, both will be shooting for scores in the mid-195s or higher to improve their NQS. Both teams have broken into the 196s this season, and those may be the scores necessary to sneak their teams into the postseason.

By the Numbers

Past Champions

  • UCLA: 19 titles, last won in 2019
  • Oregon State: 6 titles, last won in 2013
  • Stanford: 5 titles, last won in 2008
  • Utah: 3 titles, last won in 2017

Records Watch

  • Team: 198.400 (UCLA, 2019)
  • Vault: 49.675 (Utah, 2015)
  • Bars: 49.675 (Oregon State, 2013)
  • Beam: 49.650 (Stanford, 2004)
  • Floor: 49.775 (UCLA, 2019)
  • All Around: 39.825 (Richardson, UCLA, 2004)
  • Vault: 10.000 (Anna Basaldua, Arizona, 1992)
  • Bars: 10.000 (Megan Fenton, UCLA, 1993)
  • Beam: 10.000 (Kyla Ross, UCLA, 2017)
  • Floor: 10.000 (Tina Brinkman, Arizona State, 1992)

Last Time Out

At the 2019 Pac-12 championship meet, UCLA posted a huge 198.400 to take the team title, followed by Utah’s giant 198.025 for second and Oregon State’s 196.600 for third. Bruin Kyla Ross was the star of the meet, posting 10.0s on bars and floor en route to winning both events and the all around. UCLA teammate Katelyn Ohashi and Utah’s MyKayla Skinner matched Ross’ perfect mark on floor to share the event title, with Ohashi also taking the beam title and Skinner tying for the vault title with Bruin Felicia Hano.

*Special thanks to Drew Porche for all of the Records Watch data provided in this preview.

The event is finished.

Date

Mar 20 2021
Expired!

Time

Eastern Time
2:00 pm - 4:30 pm

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