The elites are here. I hope you’re not ready for it because I’m not either. The season after the Olympics is always a weird one featuring a heterogeneous mix of elite veterans hanging onto a series of broken limbs while they wait for NCAA or the sweet release of retirement who are bumping up against new seniors trying to prove that their talent is more interesting than that of the people we’ve already forgotten.

Four years ago, this is the event where a little pink-adorned Jordyn Wieber brought her Amanar to the world stage and beat Olympic team member Bridget Sloan. USAG was going for a similar dynamic this year by inviting the stick-around Olympian, this time Kyla Ross, to compete against the preordained star of the quad, Katelyn Ohashi. (That is, after Elizabeth Price pulled out.) Ross then also pulled out with a heel injury that did not prevent her from doing podium training, and she has been replaced by a muscle named Simone Biles who sports a Maroneyesque Yurchenko 2.5. Both can contend for the World team this year, but that is a premature conversation until we know who is going to pretend to compete this year and who isn’t even going to bother.

This competition will send a very important message:

Dear Everyone over the Age of 16,

You have been forgotten. You are elderly wrecks. Go sit in a rocking chair or dance with some stars or something. It’s time to meet the new crop.

Because this extravaganza is so well thought out every year, the competition will begin online here at 11:30 ET/8:30 PT with the first two rotations from the men and will switch to NBC at 1:00 ET/10:00 PT for the final three rotations from each gender. I know. I don’t either.
Start list

Our camera is fixed on a blurry image of the intro video being shown on the arena vision. Should we let them know they are already underperforming NCAA broadcasts?

Now the annual parade of the pop songs/flags. Just to make the tone of the competition clear, the US gets two flags and every other nation gets one. 

Seitz, Ferrari, and Teramoto are our veterans for the women. Everyone else is a first or second year senior. I approve of Maegan Chant already because her name is a sentence. Maegan, Chant. Let’s talk about this PA announcer’s pronunciation of “Ferrari” and “Italy.” Yeah, you’re Italian.

Dalton and Leyva get the biggest cheers for being recognizable and excellent.

Shannon and Jon Horton doing the web commentary. It tells you exactly how seriously everyone takes this competition that they couldn’t even wheel out a Daggett for the web stream. “The theme of ‘a new quad.'” That’s not a theme, that’s just a time period.

Rotation 1:
Sasaki opens floor with a double double tuck with a hop, sticks his double front. Very low on his front double pike and may have touched, so this will be a low score. Fall on dismount. Rough, rough routine. They could add some arena music during men’s floor, couldn’t they? It’s so static otherwise. 13.800.

Verniaiev also falls – his coming on a double double layout. Part of the story that rarely gets mentioned during the NBC broadcast each year is that this meet comes at a horrible time of year when people aren’t prepared. That’s part of the reason no one attends/looks very good. 14.333.

Jon mentions that he doesn’t want to talk about himself, then talks about how amazing his 2008 bar routine was. Actually, he hasn’t been bad so far, though.

Thomas from GBR – I love watching tall (not tall, tall for gymnastics) men working on the floor because the line is so excellent – Thomas, Shatilov – a few breaks here and there but his form is stronger than the others so far. He looks farther along and more prepared. 15.400. Execution scores are going high, which surprises all of no one.

Giraldo Lopez opens with a nice floaty double arabians, has a little lack of control on one pass and again on the dismount which will hurt his score, but he hit. 14.133.

Now we get the annual pretending about how prestigious this competition is – vamping during the mid-rotation warmup.

Ishikawa for Japan. I’ve never seen him before either, Jon. Good height on his tumbling, he has a little bit of bow legs which make his leg form look weaker than it is, a few hops on landings, but he has a Japanese level of precision. 14.866.

Danell now on floor, pretty low on his layout double double and OOB, arabian double layout is also very low. Shannon wants people to try Mannas in their living room. As if that’s a thing that people do. The two flat passes will hurt his score, and he just completely balked a pass and ran through. What? Danell, what? Just gets his DLO around. That was rough to watch and bizarre. 12.800.

Nguyen mounts with an excellent double double tuck, totally bounces out of a double full. Jon is more worried about his shorts than his routine. We all were. His routine would have been excellent if the landings had been a bit more secure.

Dalton finishes the rotation – he bounces out of his double arabian piked, but otherwise he had the most precise tumbling in both the landings and the form. Very strong job. I’m glad they can do only one Thomas skill now. 15.700.

Yes Shannon, they should add some music to men’s floor. Just background music. It lacks interest without that. We saw one camera angle during this event. One. I’m so glad they allotted those eleven dollars to the poor people who had to put together this broadcast.

Rotation 2:
Jon and Shannon are talking about babies. It’s good that Jon is identifying these skills for us. American fans so rarely get skill identification because of NBC. Verniaiev starts well with one little break early on horse. 15.033.

Thomas has a big break on a travel and a few leg breaks overall but he gets through it. Jon talking about how people did a good job on pommels is a little funny because getting through the routine upright is a good job for Jon. He’s proud of everyone who finishes. 14.033.

Giraldo Lopez has good contained form, had to muscle up a few things and had a leg break on a forward travel, but it was fine.

Danell has the flu, is the update we have received. Jon refers to “some junk still in his system.” I’m really missing our NBC trio because Jon and Shannon are just sort of there and unremarkable. They’re not saying preposterously hyperbolic and eye roll inducing. It’s a real shame for all of us who have come to expect that level of excellence. Ishikawa has excellent form throughout his horse routine. Extremely clean. 14.533. Not a ton of difficulty.

Something is happening with Macready and the Harlem Shake. This is everything I hate about everyone’s behavior. Stop wobbling. Is this fun? Is this what fun is? The worst. I don’t want to think about it anymore because of all the trauma.

Leyva working rather sluggishly again on horse, several leg breaks on his circles, pushes up the dismount, but he gets through it. 14.566.

Nguyen was going well until the dismount when he fell over and didn’t really finish the dismount and stepped. That’s a shame. He had a little bit of hip form in most places as well, so he will get hit on execution.13.033 – looks like they didn’t give him a dismount, perhaps? Dalton follows by Horton-ing through his sloppy routine.

We’ve finished the first two rotations for the men, and now the women will arrive to warm up on vault while the men move to rings. After two rotations, Thomas leads but barely. It should be an interesting final few rotations, especially since Leyva and Nguyen have fallen behind after early messes.

Rotation 3:
Seitz opens with a perfectly acceptable DTY, low landing with some staggered legs. Are they going to completely alternate routines, because this is going to take rather forever?

 Thomas sticks his full twisting DLO off rings, which should help him stay toward the front. Ohashi to vault now,pretty good DTY for her on a vault she has struggled with. Shannon expects her to upgrade to a 2.5. You do? She got good distance and landed with a fair bit of control. 14.900 for Ohashi. Really clean routine for Giraldo Lopez follows on rings with another stuck landing.

When Jon Horton calls someone tiny, you know she’s tiny. Is he over five feet? How much over? Teramoto does a Y1.5 with some tucking right away on the block. OK vault.14.000. Everyone’s execution on vault is in the high 8s or low 9s. Little separation so far. Sorry, my NCAA narrative is spilling over into elite.

Cool to see the v sits from Ishikawa on rings, wibbly wobbly burgers on his handstands and some big stepping on the dismount. That will be a lower score.

Excited to see Biles on vault now, Jon mentions her training a triple, great form on her 2.5, but she has been more contained on the landing before, big hop forward. Still gets a 9.433 execution score. I’m not yet used to the 2.5 being 6.3 difficulty instead of 6.5, but it is a good change. The problem is that the code also lowered the value of the top handspring and roundoff half vaults, which reduces the point. 15.733 for Biles.

Leyva gets through his rings, not quite as secure in the holds and handstands as he can be, and a step on the dismount. He’s getting through it after the bizarreness on floor.

Chant to go on vault now for Canada, this is NCAA recruiting catnip right now. Handspring layout half, which is unusual for a Canadian, a little piked but they’ll probably give her credit for the vault. A little stiff on landing. Fine vault. Good line, though, that’s already obvious. 14.133.

Nguyen begins with excellent, secure, contained work, good swings, like many of them so far he has a bit of wobbling and wonkiness in his holds, but strong routine.

Ferrari still rocking the lack of shoulders, if we can call that rocking, which I don’t. Y1.5 with some bent knees and a hop forward. Has her style changed throughout the years, Shannon? Dalton shows excellent strength on rings, I wasn’t super happy with the length of some of his holds, but otherwise it was good.

Moors to vault now, did anyone else lose the broadcast? Oh well. Missed that one.14.900 for her DTY. Same as Ohashi. We’ll finish vault with Jupp of GBR, who is a new one. Yfull with little distance and a hop in place. I would say British vaulting but her yurchenko form wasn’t terrible. Who was the last British woman to do a strong Yurchenko vault?

Verniaev doesn’t have the strength of some of the other competitors, which shows in some of the hold positions, rough dismount with a very low landing and possibly a knee brushing.

Switching to NBC now. Do we dare hope for more than one camera having to zoom across the arean to see the events?

Rotation 4:
Simone Biles with a hefty lead after the first event, which is as it should be. Bars has never been the strength, but she has upped the difficulty and worked on the execution there, so this performance will be telling. Also watch for Ohashi’s form in her Lgrip pirouetting, which will largely dictate her score.

Al’s here. Let the competition really begin. How patriotic are their leotards, Al? Does the floor music represent their international heritage, and is that relevant? I’ve missed you, Trautwig.

Our intro surprises no one by invoking the 2012 team. Their legacy will open every broadcast for the next four years.”The most important annual international event in American gymnastics.” This is what I’ve missed from you, NBC. Nastia is here instead of Elfi, and she has become quite good as a commentator lately.

Biles on bars now, Tim calls a Wieler kip “Jordyn Wieber’s move,” Biles gets through her routine quite well. She has form breaks, a handstand here and there, a leg separation on her Shaposh, but a near stick on the dismount. She hit it. It’s the weakness, but it’s not a Raisman/Maroney weakness. 14.800 with 8.700 execution.

Leyva vaulting with excellent form and just a step back. The execution score should be quite strong, especially because it is men’s vaulting. He breaks 15. It’s not a difficult vault for him, so the execution should be that good. 

Seriously, NBC is continuing with the color-coded shapes system? Didn’t they get enough negative feedback from me about that? It doesn’t make anything easier to understand. Al: “We’ll be trying to figure out what these scores mean.” The title of his autobiography?

Nguyen does the same vault as Leyva, slightly more ragged with a step forward instead of back. A tenth lower on execution than Leyva.

Ferrari on bars, Hits her l pirouettering into a pretty nice jarger, the shoot back to high bar was a little rough, lock legs on landing but just a minor step.

They’re really trying to push the importance of this event once again. It kick starts everything, you know. Moors has a nice shaposh half, hits the jaeger, a little late on her toe full, just a minor hop on her original dismount. Got through it pretty well.  

Dalton vaulting the Tsuk triple, very nice form, small hop forward. Good vault. Sasaki attempts the double front half but wasn’t close to securing that landing and puts his hands down.

Jupp on bars – pretty clean form on this bars routine, nice line, far away on her jaeger but she caught it, missing a few of these handstands and finishing the pirouetting late, but another fine hit. Not a ton of British gymnasts do NCAA, but the coaches should get on people like Jupp and Tunney because they could be excellent.

Verniaiev does the same vault as Sasaki but finishes it much earlier and lands quite well.

Are they still trying to pretend like there was something untoward about having the money for the protest at the Olympics? Those are the rules. You have to pay for the protest. They weren’t bribing anyone, Al.

Of all the people on bars, we’re skipping Seitz? The most interesting one? Thomas couldn’t complete his double front and has a fall as well.

Oh, poor Bross. They’ve just whited her name out of the WOGA narrative. Now it’s Carly, Nastia, Katelyn. Ohashi looked pretty strong until her L pirouetting which was so late and had the leg separations and will get destroyed by any international judging panel. A few breaks otherwise and a hop on the dismount, but she got through it.

Because of the deductions on bars, Ohashi scored under Biles and is well behind right now. Seitz in third just back of Ohashi, and Moors in fourth. Dalton has a minor lead over Verniaiev, but they have a large margin over the rest.

Rotation 5:
The women are on to beam and the men go to Pbars. A retrospective on the sights and sounds of the post Olympic tour. Aly tells us that she and Gabby are best friends. Nastia’s asking her least favorite question, when are you coming back? Normal, fake, post-Olympic answers. Gabby gives a specific date to return training – May, Aly talks about DWTS. Does anyone else think that Dancing with the Stars has always sounded like a euphemism for death? Oh, she’s dancing with the stars now. . .

They held Leyva for quite a while on PB so they could finish the interview. Not the cleanliness in the legs and the handstands and the everything that we have come to expect. I like that he’s doing a double front now, but he barely got that around.

Moors on beam, looking very secure through the punch front and side aerial, not a ton of connections in this rooutine, so she’ll lose a bit on difficulty but very secure through it all. They’re talking about eliminating fake connections as if it is a bad thing. That’s a very good thing. Fine double pike with just a step back. Good job. 14.000.

Nguyen starts nearly as sloppily as Leyva but he pulls it together and gets precise and contained as the routine goes. Dalton follows and has a number of breaks as well in his skills, leg separations and missing handstands, sticks the double pike dismount, but it will be difficult to recover from the beginning. Verniaiev has an opening here. 

Jupp apparently showed quite strong difficulty on beam (6.3) but we did not see the routine. She has the highest beam score so far.

Ohashi to beam now, opens with a strong arabian to split – pretty strong in her layout full series, just a minor wobble and it perhaps looked a little less piked than it has in the past. Wobble on the sheep jump. Am I going to get tired of the walkover walkover series? I love it now, and I don’t want to be sick of it. Step forward on the double pike. Didn’t get all of her connections, but of course she didn’t. 15.333 with a 6.8 D score.

Dalton ended up getting a higher score than I expect on pbars, American Cup, Verniaiev still has a bit of an opening here but is also incurring breaks on pbars, and has done amazingly well to hang on twice in this routine, but it will be an exceptionally low score. Thomas was rather sluggish in his routine through every skill, but he endured it without the major breaks we have seen from many others. 

Biles to beam – pretty significant wobble on the walkover, secure through the punch front. Was totally short on her bhs to layout series and came off – never had a chance once she landed that layout. That’s a shame. She finishes that tuck full dismount so early, but a hop back.

Ohashi now has a lead of over a point going into the final event while Dalton has extended his lead significantly over Verniaiev. It’s always difficult when a competition becomes the person who hits four events wins. Unfortunately, that is often the case at this event because of the field and timing. It feels like a flat, lackluster event because no one is pushing each other.

Rotation 6:
Did we even see Maegan Chant on the NBC broadcast? They pretended Chant and Teramoto didn’t exist. Leyva on hbar, like many of this events today, he just looked a little off from the beginning. It seemed like he was pushing through and showing his usually impressive gymnastics, comes off on the layout tkathev, competition to forget for him, fall in the dismount. Bad day.

Ohashi, Biles, and Dalton are all in the second group of this rotation, so expect them to get a lot of commercials in during the first group. Routine – commercial – routine – commercial.

Giraldo doesn’t have the difficult of some of the others in this routine, and he is having mistake after mistake until a fall on the dismount. Two rough bar routines to start this rotation.

Jupp on floor now, Tim is talking up her choreography, which seems just sort of regular elite to me. She moves well, though. Good double arabian, short on the tuck full landing and bounces awkwardly, her dance elements are pretty close, good clean routine, and I do appreciate the lack of significant pausing before tumbling. I’d definitely want to see her in NCAA. Someone get on the phone.

Rough day for Thomas today, but I hope he can pull it together on his last event.Wonderful height on his release skills, over on a handstand and takes an extra swing, no one is hitting. American Cup. Very low on the dismount.

“It’s a showdown of the two Americans.” Um yes. It’s American Cup. Isn’t that the whole plan. 

We’ve finally decided that Seitz exists, a little low on the pike full and just stays in bounds, floppy legs in her twisting skills, falls out of the triple turn slightly, bounces back out of the double pike, not quite in form at this point in the year, finishes with a good double back, though.

Al’s not happy with the choreography. Neither am I, but it’s hardly surprising or different than the others we see. Verniaiev has some leg and bent arms early in her bar routine, good straddle position on his releases, but just a few too many breaks with pauses and leg form. Just holds onto the stick on the dismount.

This is a much better orutien for Ohashi than her last one, love combinations that get more difficult on the second pass like a 1.5 to front double. She’s secure in the landing of all this tumbling, just a minor step that will get deducted (after the first instance now), but it’s not major. Hit routine. She’ll be the winner. Fine day and four hit routines, which she needed.

Tim has dediced that Biles is the most powerful gymnast he’s ever seen. Don’t accuse him of overstatement. Biles may very well be on that pro track, but you know Sarah Patterson’s eyes turn houndstooth every time she sees her. They’re right that she is tremendously powerful, but she is incurring major deductions bouncing out of these landings. This is a good choreographic strategy: move exceptionally quickly so that no one notices your movements are all arms. Another huge stumble back, and another bounce out of the 2.5 dismount. The landings are a little Dos Santos in that she will get hugely deducted for all of them in spite of the power.

Dalton to finish now, and really does just have to finish to win, like Ohashi, he has shown breaks but is farther along in his training and more consistent than anyone else on the day. Great routine, once again the cleanest gymnastics of the day.

Biles goes 14.000, so Ohashi will win by a point and a half. Moors still to finish on floor, and I’m eager to see this routine. Great tuck full to start, she has very confident landings and nice twisting form, and those two things don’t often go together. Great routine, love it. Go to UCLA.

Last routine of the competition is Nguyen on bar, once again not the cleanliness we’ve come to expect from him, but he hits and that’s our American Cup.

Final Scores – Women:
1. Ohashi – 59.199
2. Biles – 57.666
3. Moors – 57.066
4. Seitz – 56.698
5. Ferrari – 56.098
6. Jupp – 55.665
7. Teramoto – 54.266
8. Chant – 51.399

Ohashi is getting more comfortable in these interviews. We’ve seen much more nerves from usual first-year seniors. Good for her.

Final Scores – Men: 
1. Dalton – 89.398
2. Verniaiev – 87.298
3. Nguyen – 87.031
4. Ishikawa – 86.531
5. Thomas – 85.831
6. Leyva – 85.265
7. Sasaki – 83.232
8. Giraldo Lopez – 82.298

Friday – 3/1/13
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [14] Minnesota @ [2] Florida Scores
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – Ball State @ [19] Kent State
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – Nastia’s Pink Leotard Jamboree Scores
8:00 ET/5:00 PT – [1] Oklahoma @ Texas Woman’s Scores Video
8:00 ET/5:00 PT – [7] Georgia @ [5] LSU Scores
8:00 ET/5:00 PT – [23] Maryland @ [11] Auburn Scores Video(all access)
8:00 ET/5:00 PT – Missouri, Centenary, Lindenwood @ [25] Arkansas Scores
8:30 ET/5:30 PT – [6] UCLA @ [4] Alabama Scores Video(free)
9:00 ET/6:00 PT – [8] Utah, NC State @ BYU Scores
10:00 ET/7:00 PT – [9] Oregon State, Cal @ [12] Stanford

Today’s action features eight of the top ten teams and ten of the top twelve, so basically today is all you’ve ever needed.

No Noel Couch in the lineup for Georgia against LSU. Persinger in on vault, Breazeal in on beam, and Earls back in on floor.

Still waiting for Florida’s meet to get going, but at the Nastiastravaganza, Oregon State verbal Katyianna McMillan already has a 9.900 on vault. Can they fly her to Stanford in the next few hours?

It’s senior night for Florida already. How does this happen so quickly. There will be plenty of time later and going into next season to discuss how much Florida will miss the likes of King, Dickerson, and Stageberg, but it will be a lot. The team will be less sturdy and more reliant on often-injured gymnasts next year.

Florida starts vault with a Shisler 9.800 and a Stageberg 9.775. Rhonda mentioned stopping with the lineup experimentation in the above video, but this is not the top, ideal vault lineup. Even without Johnson, I would have Wang and Macko in over those two if possible. Although, I don’t at all begrudge resting Macko on vault as much as possible. Sloan follows with a 9.900, then King with a 9.850. Dickerson and Hunter can still bring the rotation into “great” territory, but this is a little average by Florida’s home standards so far.

Dickerson 9.925. Is it time for Hunter’s 10, this being the last regular season home meet of the season? 9.975. When will it happen? I can’t remember someone getting so many 9.975s on the same event. I see a fairly good chance of a 10 at Utah for her because she’ll be going on vault after Wilson. If Wilson sticks for a 10, Hunter would have to get a 10 as well for a stick.

So Florida manages a perfectly strong 49.450 on vault. We know how high those last few can go and how vault scoring has been going around the country, so a score under 49.500 becomes fine instead of excellent. Those first two scores didn’t add anything, which stunted the potential massiveness.

At the Nastia Cup, future LSU gymnast Ashleigh Gnat matched McMillan’s 9.900 on vault. Just what LSU needs, another vaulter. Future Alabama gymnast Mack Brannan got a 9.500 on floor.

Florida had Dali Lemezan vault exhibition for senior night. Confession: I forgot she was still on the team. I thought she had graduated. It’s a shame for these perfectly fine 9.825ers Florida has because we will never see them.

The scores are finally working for Florida. Minnesota went 48.975 on bars. Lineups are out for UCLA/Alabama. No Gutierrez as we already knew. Clark has moved all the way to 5th up on vault. UCLA has Courtney and Wong in on floor and no Bynum. Upgrade. Still Pritchett on vault, but what is the other option?

Florida starts on bars with a 9.775 from Dickerson, which is unusually contained for Florida’s home scoring. Next two are 9.900s for BDG and King. Nice to see King getting going on bars. 9.950 for Hunter. These are more the scores I was expecting for Florida tonight in the last regular-season home meet. They should be back on secure 198 pace after this event.

Florida finishes with measly little 9.950 for Sloan and 9.975 for Macko. These are the kinds of scores everyone expected for Florida on bars, but we also expected Johnson to be a big part of that. 49.675. Bah! I called a home 49.700 this year in the season previews and we haven’t seen it yet. So close!

Minnesota is going very well on vault, their best event by far, which should help them toward that necessary 196. Mable and Covers with 9.925s. 49.425 on vault, just a quater tenth back of Florida on that event.

The time of the seven million meets is upon us. Georgia/LSU and Oklahoma/TWU (along with Auburn and Arkansas) are getting underway now, and then UCLA/Alabama will follow in 30 minutes (meaning 47 minutes).

No Sarie Morrison on vault tonight for LSU. Florida starts beam with a Stageberg 9.875. That smells improvement-y to me. Is anyone listening to the Georgia/LSU meet with news about Couch? Two 9.9s to start for LSU on vault. This is where we are.

Oklahoma getting underway against TWU right now.
Clark on bars – handstands looked strong, shuffle on the landing of the double back. It’s a safely composed routine, but she did well. 9.825.
Scaman – good jaeger, maybe a little short on one handstand, hop back on tuck full. 9.825
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Sloan 9.975 on beam. Nothing under 9.900 so far for her.
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Kmieciak – nice tkatchev – maybe a little close – hard to tell – muscles up after shoot to high bar but it’s fine, large-ish hop forward on tuck full. Fine, but they’re not quite on with these dismounts. 9.850.
Brewer – good high tkatchev, strong DLO as well with perhaps a small step – strongest routine for Oklahoma – efficient and clean. 9.875.
Olson – a little short on first handstand, good deltchev and straddle back, step back on DLO full. Only notable deductions came at the very beginning and very end.  9.900.
Spears – good jaeger, excellent, clean in the handstands, larger step forward on the double arabian. A strong rotation for Oklahoma, not quite as strong as last week, certainly won’t score as well, and they missed it a bit on the landings. 9.875.
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Georgia drops a 9.425 from Jay on bars, but counts a couple 9.825s. 9.900s from Rogers and Davis. Fine scores but they can both be better 49.250. Georgia needed a better score on this event. LSU gets a 9.9 parade for 49.500 on vault. Pretty big lead since both teams were competing on their strength. Georgia should make it up on the next event, though.
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Florida goes massive on the beam this week, nothing under a 9.850, 49.600. Slim outside shot at reaching Oklahoma’s number from last week, but a 198 is doable if not extremely likely. Oklahoma, you have your assignment, and you are currently well under that pace.
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49.100 for Auburn on vault. They can be better than that.
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Oklahoma goes 49.325 on bars. Vault soon to start for the Sooners.
Brewer on vault – Yfull that needed a bit more oomph, but the big deduction was the massive bounce back. Not her best by a long way. 9.725.
Mooring – Very nice yhalf – perhaps a small hop in place but minor, a little off to the side, excellent vault overall. 9.850.
Kmieciak – Similarly low landing to last week but with a hop forward this time. OK but deductions to be taken. 9.825.
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Georgia not getting the scores on vault other than Davis’s 9.900. LSU trying to recover froma Jordan leadoff fall.
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Kanewa – A yfull that looked good in the air and finished early but had another massive bounce back like Brewer. They’re not hitting these vaults. 9.850 – I don’t see that what with the massive bounce back.

Lost the feed from TWU, but I was about to switch over to the Alabama feed anyway, so it’s fine. Apparently I missed a lot because Brie Olson just got a 9.975 on vault. I saw her stick the warmup. Scaman follows with 9.900. 49.400 on vault – mid-197 pace after two. 
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Newsflash: Up is down. LSU just got a 49.300 on bars and Georgia got a 49.200 on vault. This is absolutely not what Georgia needed from the good events. Let’s have an honest discussion about Jay’s facial expression now that LSU has outscored Georgia on bars again. 
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Florida will want to drop the 9.600 from Shisler leading off floor. Stageberg goes 9.900. That will do it. 9.925 from Sloan. The Oklahoma score is still within reach if this continues.
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Zamarripa will be anchoring every event for UCLA. Didn’t Val have a problem with that early in the season?

Rotation 1:

Williams – AL – VT – good high yfull with one step back. Nice.  
Courtney leading off bars now – small step on tuck full dismount.
Beers – AL – VT – slightly low with a hop in place. Good.
Larson – UCLA – UB -good first hs, hits bail, misses handstand majorly, low tkatchev, hop in place on DLO. It was a strong routine in places but she will get knocked for that handstand.
Jacob – AL – VT – Went for the 1.5 – crazy legs, fine landing but maybe she should stick to the full? They don’t need her doing a 1.5 with not the best form. 9.775.
Francis – UCLA – UB – Why is she third? Good shaposh, hits bail, late blind full and a step on dismount. They’re not hitting that well so far.
Sims – AL – VT -Good height on yfull, nice chest up on landing, major step back. Just OK overall. 9.800.
Wong – UCLA – UB – good handstands, lovely jaeger, a bit floppy in the bail hs, DLO to her knees. You could see that coming in her giants. I don’t know why, you just could. Bad so far for UCLA.
Clark – AL – VT – That’s an awful lot of screaming, I thought there was a hop in that yfull but they’re acting like it was a stick.
DeJesus – UCLA – UB – must hit this routine, sticks tuck full. 9.850.
Milliner – AL – VT – Usual 1.5, this time with a step back. Strong but she needs to be sticking for 9.950s come the postseason.
Zam – UCLA – UB – Everything she has ever done is heaven. I didn’t think the handstands were quite as crisp this time, but it’s a high standard. Maybe a little tight going after a fall. Sticks DLO with a coy little slide into the salute. 9.900 

Alabama goes 49.275 on vault, which is fine, but they need to be doing better. This rotiation missed Gutierrez. They likely would have been into the 49.4s with her in the lineup. The landings still need some work. UCLA was off on bars and is pretty lucky to escape with a score over 49 and a deficit of just over two tenths. Even Zam didn’t score as well as she needs to be. I wonder what the reasoning was with putting Francis third.

After 1: Alabama 49.275, UCLA 49.050
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So, Florida gets the 49.700. It was just on floor. Can I still say I called it? Didn’t see the meet, but it’s pretty clear that this score was going to be just a touch higher than Oklahoma’s last week if the performance at all justified it. Low 198 is the new 197. Become accustomed to this. I’m not sure if I am. Also, Minnesota broke 197. This is what is happening and should tell us a lot about this meet.
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LSU is getting through beam, but they’re fighting it all the way. This is the opening Georgia needed, but they will also have to get through Brittany Rogers’s floor score. They really do have only six competitors on this event (when Couch is in), so injuries are not an option.
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Oklahoma will be attempting to overcome a mistake from Spears on floor, but that looks likely. Mid-high 9.8s from everyone else so far.
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In a bit of a strange situation this season, we’re now going into the worst events for both UCLA and Alabama. The Bruins have no depth on this event, and Alabama has a little handstand trench in the middle of this lineup. They really hit Larson for that bad handstand in her routine, so let’s see what happens to the Tide. 

McDonald – UCLA – VT – Why do you buffer during the vault but never afterward?
Sledge – AL – UB – wonderful gienger as always, the final handstand was slightly muscled but that’s all I see in this routine. Stuck DLO.
Pritchett – UCLA – VT – Exactly the same 9.700 action as always.
Alexin – AL – UB – Sticks double back dismount, and the team goes wild. Fine routine. 
[Scene missing. Sorry about this. Saw Kim Jacob do one average handstand.]
Baer – UCLA – VT – pretty high yfull, her usual overall but with a controlled hop back. The landing can be better. 9.900. So, it’s nice to be on the road, I guess?
Clark – AL – UB – a little floppy legs in her shaposh, but the handstands looked a little nicer. Not sure what happened here, 9.725.
Courtney – UCLA – VT – They need something big to capitalize on what’s happening with Alabama. She fought for the stick on that yfull like no other. She’ll lose some for the bend and fight, but it was a good vault and should be a helpful score.
DeMeo – AL – UB -Overbalances her very first handstand and has to come off. They’ll be counting the 9.725 from Clark now. Another fall. Rough days. She’s usually the top non-Sledge, Priess worker. Now it’s up to Pries to make this a positive rotation.
Zam – UCLA – VT – 9.950. Missed, but I think we can assume.
Priess – AL – UB – the tkatchev into the pak has wonderful rhtyhm and power as always, everything looked strong until the dismount, which she still hasn’t worked out. Low with a big lunge forward. The lead will be all but gone after this.

Scores are a little wonky right now because they think Demeo got a 9.865 instead of an 8.650. Alabama goes just 49.000 on bars while UCLA goes 49.350 on vault. From what I saw of that rotation, which was admittedly little, Alabama still isn’t getting those crisp handstands and is missing the score from Sledge in the first position. I thought the routine could have been 9.900, but that’s what happens as a leadoff. It’s a good score for UCLA on vault, but it masks the problems in the early positions. Having Courtney hitting that landing is major though, and Baer has improved this season even if I think that 9.900 was too high.

After 2: UCLA 49.400, Alabama 49.275 
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Georgia got through floor, where the highest score was Tanella’s 9.875 again and trimmed most of LSU’s lead away after the Tigers had to count three scores under 9.800 on the beam. I would be anyone’s game going into the final rotation, but LSU is going to floor and Georgia is going to beam.

Oklahoma remains on mid 197 pace after dropping the fall from Spears on floor. Surprisingly, the Sooners have started with two scores under 9.8 on beam.
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Milliner – AL – BB – secure so far in the early going, a little wobble on the loso series, hop back on double full. Good start.
(This “You’re a winner” graphic makes me laugh. I only use that expression sarcastically. I didn’t know it was a serious thing sometimes. I’m not the audience for these meets, a lesson I learned long ago.)
McDonald – UCLA – FX – slightly low on the double pike mount, but it was her usual solid work, loso out of middle pass goes right up to the edge but stays in, potential deduction in that switch ring but it was hard to tell, a little bit of ragged legs on some of her twisting, but a strong routine.
Clark – AL – BB – swtich split is good, switch ring is just okay in the ring shape and there’s a minor wobble, another very slight correction out of the loso series, does well to avoid shwoing a wobble on the front – waves her arms and pretends it was choreo, step forward on 1.5. A little iffy but overall they’ll take it.
Bynum – UCLA – FX – She’s back in on floor. I thought Wong was going. What is this? Low double pike but secure, major stumble back on front layout front full, very low again on the double back but she hit this week, so that’s something.
Williams – AL – BB – solid punch front, big break on the loso series that it seemed like she didn’t have to take, should have stuck her 1.5 – it was so high – and basically did but corrected a little.
DeJesus – UCLA – FX – extremely low double pike mount with a large step forward – what is happening? – exactly the same on the double back. Won’t be a big score.
DeMeo – AL – BB – strong mount and walkover, hits loso series, there’s not a ton of amplitude in the skills on the beam, but she’s hitting them well, low on the double pike with a larger step forward.
Prtichett – UCLA – FX – The Bruins basically need three straight 9.9s to salvage anything from this event. A little bounce back on the tuck full, which is uncharacteristic, but it was quite small, gets the double pike around – similar slight lack of control – but by far the best routien for UCLA.
Jacob – AL – BB -very strong in the two layouts, excellent barani, hop forward on 1.5. Very strong routine.
Courtney – UCLA – FX – sticks double arabian very well – I was worried about that with her coming back into the lineup, good choice of middle pass with her ending in loso, strong double pike to finish – ever so slightly low, but very secure on every landing and should score quite well.
Priess – AL – BB – good walkover to swingdown, very precise, good leap series, controlled in the L turn, sticks gainer full, very strong routine. Very strong.
Zam – UCLA – FX – They decided to have her show the DLO, and she takes a fall. I kind of can’t believe Val would have her do that when the team has three lower scores they need to drop. That’s what you do when you’re fine counting the other five scores. They basically threw away a good score there. To be clear, I like the upgrade in theory, but this wasn’t the time.

After 3: Alabama 147.625, UCLA 147.225
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In other worlds, Georgia got through beam, including having to put Breazeal in for Couch, for 49.225. LSU still won because of a stronger floor rotation – 49.375. Final score: LSU 197.050, Georgia 196.825. Georgia will take this, but they had no standout events in this meet. Everything was just fine, which when added together can still make a high 196. LSU will still need to work out this beam issue because it is a major concern. I was wrong about the team that won beam winning the meet. Sigh.

Oklahoma had a fall from Olson on beam so had to count two 9.7s for the lowest rotation score of the day. That’s the second time that has happened for Oklahoma in the last several weeks. The Sooners finish with a 197.275, which is good but feels like a 194 after last week.
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Let’s see what UCLA can muster coming off that bad floor rotation. Courtney was very strong and Pritchett was usual, but nothing else was worth keeping in the memory banks about that rotation. It begs the question, where were Francis and Wong? I’m not saying they would be magical, but where were they. The decision to have Zam do the DLO will be talked about. It clearly shows that the result and the score are less important than prepping the team for the postseason routine composition, which is probably as it should be, but UCLA has just one road meet left and will still have a blah road score that still needs to go away.

Baer – BB – UCLA – comes off on her side somi. This meet is a total leap backward to two weeks ago. I wasn’t sure it would be amazing, but I thought it would be better than this.
Priess – FX – AL -good double back and completely clean through the whole routine. A little low on the double back dismount, but that’s all. That’s the kind of routine you want leading off.
Wong – UCLA  – BB -minor correction on her walkover into bhs, secure dance elements, hop to the side on the 1.5,. Good routine and good recovery from the leadoff.
Frost – FX – AL – DLO is very low with a step forward, otherwise hits realtively cleanly. It’s not as strong as Priess’s routine, so she’s probably the one who should come out if Gutierrez can come back.
DeJesus – UCLA – BB – excellent walkover to bhs loso combination with a very slight correction on the loso, front toss is excellent, odd little wobble after full turn, step on tuck 1.5.
DeMeo – FX – AL – strong double arabian and a minor slide out of the 2.5 dismount. Good difficulty in this routine, she’s way more excited about it than I was, but that usually happens.
Larson – UCLA – BB – lovely mount, notable wobble on her ring jump, the walkovers to bhs was absolutely lovely. Love that combination but probably won’t if it becomes an elite trend this quad, minor hop on gainer pike. A few little things but a good routine.
Jacob – FX – AL – secure pike full but she Noel Couches her legs a little bit. perfect landing on the double pike, similar strong in her dismount, expect that to score exceptionally well because it was right on. She’s such an efficient little gymnast.
Francis – UCLA – BB – wonderful flexibility and excellent walkover to bhs, sticks her layout full series, great routine for Danusia. They’ve picked up the quality in this rotation after the beginning.
Beers – FX – AL – Good DLO to start, much stronger than Frost’s, secure layout to layout full, now I see why she’s going fifth over Jacob. I was wondering about that. Honestly, I still think Jacob should be anchoring. Never mind what I said about getting it. Fall on the double back dismount. I jinxed that one.
Zam – UCLA – BB – must hit to salvage the meet, you wouldn’t want anyone else on the team in this position, wobble on onodi – why has that become a thing she does? – good bhs loso series, didn’t quite go for her switch split, had to do it again to get her dance series, weird. Steps on double full. Probably her worst beam routine of the year, but she hit it so they won’t have to count a fall.
Milliner – FX – AL – really strong double arabian, just a tad underrotated and had to adjust with her foot, otherwise she hit well. Not as strong as Jacob’s routine, but it will be a big score and will bring Alabama somewhere near 197, which didn’t look likely after bars. 9.950, which I don’t really see.

Final Score: Alabama 197.075, UCLA 196.375
Step back for UCLA at this meet – a lot of tight gymnastics and no improvement in the lineups. Every time it seemed like some momentum was being made, it would stall. On the last two events, this happened because of Zamarripa’s routines, which is very surprising. This lower 196 doesn’t do anything at this point in the season and will be disappointing. The performance wasn’t quite as bad as the one at Oregon State, but UCLA is one of the top teams that is farthest away from the form it will need to show in just a few weeks’ time.

Alabama is getting there. There’s not really much to be concerned about on the three leg events. They could use Gutierrez on vault, but it wouldn’t be a catastrophe without her. Bars is a problem now, and I wonder what the solution is. I don’t see those middle routines going much higher than the lowish 9.8s, so the main thing Alabama needs is for Priess to work out that dismount so that she can be the saving routine and keep the score up.

Here’s the rundown of the day:
Florida 198.425, Minnesota 197.175
Kent State 196.250, Ball State 192.100
Nastia Cup: Alex McMurtry 38.450
Oklahoma 197.275, TWU 195.300
LSU 197.050, Georgia 196.825
Auburn 196.825, Maryland 195.300
Arkansas 196.500, Missouri 194.300
Alabama 197.075, UCLA 196.375

Utah is currently in progress, trying to finish out a low 197 on the bars.
Scores are flying like crazy in the first rotation of Stanford and Oregon State.

Utah finishes with a 197.125.