Priessman collegiate debut on floor, falls for 9.200
No routines from Ruby Harrold
2.
Oklahoma
197.750
Nichols introduces herself with casual 39.725
Nichols 9.975 on UB the highest score of the weekend
Lowest score on bars is 9.900
Dowell returns to OU with 9.9s on VT and UB, 9.750 on FX
3.
Florida
197.100
Baker debuts as FX anchor, delighting millions
Hundley competes AA for 39.375, reduced acro difficulty
Boren nearly sticks Y1.5 for 9.950
Gowey falls on college debut on UB because life
4.
Alabama
196.700
Falls to Oklahoma but records rare 196 of opening weekend
Winston AA 39.500, upsets Oklahoma beam with 9.950 event win
Desch makes collegiate debut on VT (9.800) and FX (9.650)
5.
Utah
196.625
Utah solid in opener, landing errors on VT, FX drop tenths
Skinner debuts with 39.550 AA, DTY, tucked double double
Merrell adds AA for 39.425
6.
Missouri
196.225
Missouri surprises for 6th with 196.225
Score is consistent with last season’s home avg, 196.095
Morgan Porter suspended for first meet
Freshman Tucker debuts in AA with 39.175
7.
Denver
195.875
Karr establishes herself as new McGee with 39.500 AA
Ogden debuts with 9.8s on UB, BB
Addison adds BB, Ross adds FX to both compete AA
8.
UCLA
195.700
Drama BB and unready FX undermine potential 197
Kocian debuts with AA 39.425, 9.875 on UB, FX
Ross debuts with 9.875s on VT, UB
No 10.0 vaults
Two massive saves, two SV problems make BB usual amount of crazy
9.
Oregon State
195.575
Upsets Auburn in season opener
Shows two 1.5s on VT from McMillan and Dessaints
Aufiero returns with 9.850 on UB
Gill debuts with hit VT, FX, falls on UB for 8.850
10.
George Washington
195.550
Identical lineups to last season come through with top-10 score
CDA 9.875 on VT, DeMoura 9.875 on FX lead team
11.
Michigan
195.525
Michigan counts a bars fall to drop into the 195s
Was just .125 behind Utah on remaining events
Shchennikova debuts on UB, falls on cast 1/2 for 9.025
Zaziski does AA in Michigan debut, falls on UB, FX
Karas returns on three events, not full difficulty
12.
Arkansas
195.350
Five VTs, but otherwise Arkansas fills lineups w/ realistic sets
Hailey Garner debuts with team-best scores on UB, BB
McGlone downgraded to 50% pee pants on BB for 9.800
Wellick (duh) leads AA (duh) with 39.300
13.
Auburn
195.275
Falls to Oregon State at home after meet of 9.7s
Freshman Day leads team on VT, UB
Engler returns on UB and BB (9.775, 8.800)
Milliet debuts in AA and shows Omelianchik VT (9.600)
14.
Kentucky
195.075
Korth debuts AA for 39.075 win
Just one event each for Waltz (BB) and Kwan (VT)
Hyland 9.875 on BB leads team
15.
NC State
194.925
Knight challenges Florida’s AAers with 39.350
Counting BB fall takes NC State out of 195s
Everyone on this team is from two families, like a cult
16.
Northern Illinois
194.825
Northern Illinois?!
Prentice leads team with 9.875 FX, 9.850 BB
But…Northern Illinois?!
17.
Minnesota
194.725
9.900 from Abernathy on FX leads team scores
Everyone misses Mable and Nordquist on BB for 48.025
Ivy Lu (remember the name) does UB for 9.775
18.
Penn State
194.625
Garcia scores 9.950 on UB to lead everyone and everything
Tsang leads team on other three and in AA with 39.350
No Kiera Brown
19.
West Virginia
194.400
Koshinski 9.925 on VT, Gillette 9.900 on BB lead team
Counting fall on FX takes away a 195
20.
Ohio State
194.375
Mattern continues to lead with team-best VT, UB, FX, AA
Aepli debuts on VT, UB, FX
21.
BYU
194.225
Hawes (nee Wilde) and Westergard go 9.900 on UB for 49.225 rotation
The Who’s New vs. Who Just Got Married w/ New Last Name game
Hortman leads AA with 38.975
22.
Illinois
194.200
Leduc competes just one event, BB for 9.875
Horth returns on three pieces: VT, UB, BB
Counting 8.675 on bars destroys meet score
22.
Iowa
194.200
Sullivan competes AA in debut for 38.900
Kaji 9.875 on UB leads team
Counting two falls on UB takes score down into 194s
24.
Michigan State
194.175
Canadian Ella Douglas competes AA, leads BB, FX scores
Everyone misses Lisa Burt
No routines from Lagoski
25.
Arizona
194.025
Catastrophic BB takes score down close to 193s
Leydin debuts with 9.650 on VT, FX
Swanson leads VT with 9.850
Oklahoma and LSU proved by far the farthest along at this point in the season and, some crazy home scoring notwithstanding, have jumped out ahead of the rest of the pack. It’s not over yet. These things will even out as the slower starters round into shape, but Oklahoma and LSU were the stars of the weekend.
Florida, Alabama, and Utah won’t frame these meets, but it’s the first week of January and they did what was necessary to look like viable contenders. UCLA and Michigan will be able to play the “the silver lining is we’re still ranked pretty well even though we had bad meets and will do better soon” game.
Missouri established itself as the upstart team of the first weekend with a 196 even without Porter, though I’d caution patience until we see what happens at away meets. Maddie Karr is already the favorite new toy, having pulled Denver through to a solid season start. And then there’s Marla Hooch. And by Marla Hooch, I mean Georgia.
Balance beam situation of the week WINNER: Georgia
Who else could it be? The once, present, and future champion. Coming off the shocking triumph of hitting beam in Super Six last year, Georgia said, “Back to garbage!” and managed to hit 1.3 beam routines against LSU, doing a swan dive off Niagara Falls at every available layout stepout. Dickson, Broussard, and Schick all fell on their layout stepout series, and Vega went all Disney-on-Ice on hers. Babalis doesn’t have a layout stepout series, so she opted to stumble backward into a swamp on her double tuck dismount. Sydney Snead hit for 9.800, receiving seven diamond tiaras and a shower of doubloons for being the queen of all things.
Georgia’s final beam total was 47.225 for a 193.600 meet score, the team’s lowest since 1999.
RUNNER-UP: UCLA
Georgia’s horror spared UCLA, who didn’t actually fall from the beam (somehow) but reminded us that it’s never boring when it comes to the Bruins. Ever. It’s always a show. I guess UCLA thinks beam is too easy (have you seen your Februaries?), so they need to handicap themselves by having Kyla try to connect out of a switch ring to fulfill her leap combination requirement, which just seems to be inviting problems for exactly no reason, and then having Peng do that damn pi-layout and Ohashi do the layout 1/1. Both Peng and Ohashi managed ridiculous, laudable saves, but saves that cover up the untenable position this lineup is currently in with regard to difficulty.
Non-famous stars of the week Gymnasts without name brands from lower-ranked schools who scored above 9.900
Kirah Koshinski, West Virginia, Vault – 9.925 Koshinski stuck a 1.5 to rank 4th nationally on vault.
Sabrina Garcia, Penn State, Bars – 9.950 Garcia stuck a floated DLO dismount to rank 2nd on bars.
Madeleine Huber, Missouri, Bars – 9.925 A toe-pointy Jaeger and her own stuck DLO earned Huber the #3 ranking
