Is anyone else having premonitions of a big scoring weekend? (I mean even more than usual, snarkypants.) Nearly all of the top teams are either at home or visiting a high scoring venue. I think we can all assume that the judges at the Georgia/Florida meet will be viewing the 197.850 from two weeks ago as a challenge.
Georgia is coming off a strong home meet led by Kat Ding’s emergence as a national all-around threat with a 39.550. Of particular importance for the Gym Dogs over the next two weeks will be solidifying those beam and floor lineups. Will Moffat, Breazeal, and Box stay in? When will Earls be back? Is Chelsea Davis going in on those events?
As we’ve been saying for two years now, Florida is crazy talented. They have a team that is absolutely capable of hitting that 198 mark given the scoring this year. What remains to be seen is whether Rhonda’s master plan will work and finally get them showing their best gymnastics at championships. Of possible issue is Mackenzie Caquatto’s status. Do they need to get her on more events? Is there time?
As for live blogs, I’ll be providing various nonsense about Stanford/Utah, a meet where both teams could really use a big score. Stanford has to work on moving up into the top 12 (a mid-196 or more should help the cause), and Utah has to mentally recover from some low scores away. Momentum is no longer on their side.
I’ll also be following UCLA’s meet against Arizona State on Sunday. UCLA has lineup spots up for grabs and needs to get out of the 9.7 territory in the first and second spots. Peszek and Larson’s statuses (and Val’s selection of hairstyle) will be key.