Live Blog

Super Six Live Blog

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The final day has arrived, the day we crown a champion. We entered nationals weekend with Oklahoma and LSU, and it’s still Oklahoma and LSU (with a soupcon of Florida thrown in if they keep competing like that ridic vault rotation during the semifinal). The big question now is whether the LSU we met in the semifinal is going to show up again and make a real challenge against Oklahoma.

Here’s the rotation order:
Rotation 1 – UCLA vault, Alabama bars, Florida beam, Utah floor
Rotation 2 – Utah vault, Oklahoma bars, Alabama beam, LSU floor
Rotation 3 – LSU vault, UCLA bars, Oklahoma beam, Florida floor
Rotation 4 – Florida vault, Utah bars, UCLA beam, Alabama floor
Rotation 5 – Alabama vault, LSU bars, Utah beam, Oklahoma floor
Rotation 6 – Oklahoma vault, Florida bars, LSU beam, UCLA floor

Warmups are currently underway. We’re heading into the second rotation now. There’s not so much lineup suspense since we saw all of these teams yesterday, but I’ll let you know if something abnormal happens.

(“Abnormal for gymnastics, or abnormal for ordinary people?” you say here.)

Utah had Rowe do a little bit on vault but it looked like she may not be going?

As is typical, the warmup period day-of is 87% dancing, 11% practicing celebrating, 1% gymnastics, and 1%…bowling I think Florida?

Alex McMurtry basically has to warm up floor covered in couch cushions because her back is so not-even-having-a-back.

Rowe is in Utah’s released lineup for vault, so perhaps just taking it easy for the warmup. Alabama also has McNeer back in the third spot on beam, as originally announced yesterday before the swap.

UCLA also has Meraz in the floor lineup instead of Ross today. We’ll see if it lasts. Meraz is also in the beam lineup instead of Mossett. Mossett’s knee heavily taped.

Warmup is over, so we’ll be in a waiting period before intros now.

Intros beginning. Appropriate amount of flamethrowers. Understated, not Glasgow, but a good solid amount. Classy flamethrowers.

Rotation 1 – UCLA vault, Alabama bars, Florida beam, Utah floor

Here we go.

Baker – BB – hits series, major issue is a check on the split 1/2 but nothing else, sticks dismount.

Brannan – UB – catches jaeger, a little ebnt elbows – angle on the bail – slow gfinal handstand but hit vertically – small hop DLO

Roberts finishes 1.5 to layout to stag on floor, looked fine. 9.850s up for Baker. 9.825 for Brannan.

Mahoney a little short on a handstand and on her dismount, hop forward.

McLaughlin hits side aerial well – hop back gainer full.

Stumble backward from Reinstadler on opening floor pass, stays in but a coupel steps. Three judges went 9.850. Oh dear.

McNeer – UB – nice tkatchev – a little floppy in the bail – short final handstand – great stick on DLO.

hop forward 1.5 from Hall for UCLA.

Hundley – BB – secure loso with knee form – hits switch side – tight full turn but gets it – side aerial to full – not a super clean routine in form but secure.

Jetter falls on tkatcehv –

Lewis bounces back and OOB on floor. So…9.850? Chest way down final pass –

Kyla sticks full. Well, one Bruin showed up tonight.

Winston major hesitation on the low bar, has to improvise and recast with a very short handstand. Alabama will have to count the score. Not good news.

Gowey sticks gainer full.

Preston – VT – very short full with a lunge forward. She hasn’t been happy with her vaults all weekend and won’t be happy with that.

Merrell – OOB on piked full in – they already have a 9.6 from Lewis and cannot afford that.

One judge went 9.850 for Winston, which is criminal. No. What did you even watch? Nothing? Others are int he 9.4s and 9.5s that I’ve seen.

Saw the end from Gowey but missed a fall. 9.225. The end looked pretty….?

Boren – hits kickover front – secure loso series – very solid in this routine – she’s calm – one very small wave on the gainer loso is all – hits –

Bailey also has to take an extra swing on bars – a smaller error than Winston’s but Alabama imploded early – hop forward full out –

Utah counting a 9.6 on floor.

Rowe – FX – solid double pike – feet on split leap – secure second pass, a little ragged in leg form –

McMurtry – BB – excellent high kickover front – check on loso series – switch to hip circle – high 2/1 hop in place.

Florida endures beam.

49.000 for UCLA
48.8875 for Alabama and it could have been worse. Three mistakes in that rotation.

Skinner – FX – double double, Keeps front foot down – close your mouth please, MyKayla, we are not a codfish – not to 180 on split leap – 1.5 through to 2/1, smallest little bounce – small slide on tuck full as well, but best of the rotation by about 1000%. Still gets three 9.950s.

Florida 49.300
Utah 49.0625
UCLA 49.000
Alabama 48.8875

Florida did the job by getting through beam with a pretty reasonable score, but the other three did nothing to help their upset bids. Oklahoma and LSU will not be worried by anything that happened in that first rotation. They’ll enter the meet now.

Rotation 2 – Utah on vault, Oklahoma on bars, Alabama on beam, LSU on floor

And yes, Dana Duckworth is wearing a cape. Because of course she is. DD is wearing Tiger #34B.

Ewing – FX – small slide forward on front 2/1 but keeps back foot down – front full to layout – step back on double pike, stumbles around to try to keep herself in bounds but couldn’t save it in the end. OOB.

Capps – UB – good full position and usual tkatchev – just a touch of angle in the air on that bail – maybe a little tight starting the meet but only a little on that last handstand – sticks tuck full, good start.

Roberts a little short on her full with a step forward.

Catour – UB – strong Ray – solid bail as well – muscles up final hs a tad – sticks the DLO, just a small lean to keep the stick.

Zamardi – FX – bounce forward on double arabian but stays in – a bounce/stumble on her double pike

Breaking news: Aja Sims can leap –

Dowell – UB – great Ray – precise hs – a little angle on bail – better final hs it appeared from this angle – PERFECT double layout dismount – great shape and stuck –

Utah not getting the landings on vault.

It’s a fall from McNeer on beam. She looked off from the start.

Hambrick – FX – DLO, usual second salto but controls it, small bounce – great leaps, extended and completely finished – slide back on double pike – better, but LSU not as good as yesterday on floor.

Great extension from Lehrmann on her jaeger – sticks tuck full – tremendous routine – befitting a national champ, so little to take.

Skinner’s DTY – a bit larger on the bounce back than she has been lately –

Small amount of bent elbows from Wofford on her jaeger – angle on the bail and short final hadnstand – another great tuck full, but not her most precise on the bars. Scores have still been exactly what Oklahoma wants.

Large check for Desch on beam and a fall. Alabama counting a beam fall now. NOT Alabama’s day, nearly from the start.

Finnegan – GORGEOUS opening pass to 2.5, just I can’t even – very secure double tuck as well, you could say a little deep? just very very little – strong double pike – that’s more like it for LSU.

Nichols – UB – strong Ray – lovely pak to toe to toe shap, nailed – I see one handstand but nothing else, stuck DLO. Oklahoma is here.

9.9500 for Nichols. Advantage OU. LSU needs at LEAST 9.925 from Kelley and Gnat now.

Kelley – FX – good DLo, chest a touch low but only a touch – nails open full in, pretty much ideal – split leap, usual but gets the tuck jump around completely – front tuck through to double back, with a slide, dances out to avoid anything more than a slide.

YOU GUYS. MCKENNA KELLEY IS MARY LOU’S DAUGHTER.

Kelley gets three 9.950s and three 9.850s. 9.950 though? LEAPS DON’T EXIST.

Gnat – FX – fab DLO as always, did bounce just a touch – 2.5 to front tuck, strong and excellent – short on double pike with a lunge forward – WHAT – very un-Gnat. Basically the weakest double pike she’s done in maybe three years.

DEAD that a judge went 9.950 for that. DEAD.

After 2:
Utah 98.1250
Alabama 97.5125
Oklahoma 49.5875
LSU 49.3250
Florida 49.3000
UCLA 49.0000

Advantage Oklahoma after one event. I thought that Oklahoma bars rotation was actually a little weaker than yesterday’s, but still excellent and crisp. Lehrmann, you guys. LSU struggled at the beginning of that floor lineup, and I would say Finnegan is really the onely one who truly shone. Kelley was also solid, but Gnat missed a landing short, which is ridiculous, and we had some landing and OOB issues at the beginning. They need to pick up some ground on their best event now, but can’t vault with the idea of making up tenths. That’s where weak landings come from.

Really disappointed in how weak Alabama’s performance has been. Already eliminated themselves from contention a third of the way through the meet.

LSU got a usable score out of floor, but not as big as they would have hoped/expected, and after Utah’s opening OOBs, the curse of starting on floor in Super Six (for teams that aren’t Alabama) continues.

Rotation 3 – LSU vault, UCLA bars – Oklahoma beam, Florida floor

Hop back from Finnegan on vault – McLaughlin lands a touch short on front 2/1 but no biggie – split leap could be a little more split – better rudi landing – 1.5 to layout, very crisp.

Meraz falls on Ray. Jones hits beam –

Large stumble backward from Hambirck on her 1.5 – multiple steps. Shame. She was struggling more than yesterday during warmups as well.

Lerhmann – BB – pretty full turn – hits aerial – small adjustment on switch side – secure loso series – straddle 1/4, good – step on 1.5

Slocum had a couple very small slides landing two of her passes. Honest hits bars, one short handstand

Ewing – VT – two small steps back, a usable score but not as strong as her semifinal vault. Theme so far.

Catour – BB – second half – hits switch side – clean aerial, small adjustment – sticks gainer pike

Harrold – VT – awesome 1.5. She’s here today, one of her best this season, small step forward and some knees –

Hundley slides on whip double tuck – lunge forward out of second pass – nice leap amplitude on that straddle jump – secure, lowish double pike.

Edney – VT – a little short with a step back as well. So many of them performed better in the semi on these first two events.

I also see you, floor judge who gave Hundley 9.900.

Kocian – UB – stalder shap to pak, clean – usual leg breaks and a very short final handstand, weird, but makes it up by FINALLY sticking that dismount. 9.9375 is because Kocian and because stick. I guess.

Gnat – VT – bounce back on DTY, but better than yesterday.

McMurtry – FX – usual 3/1 – sticks front full second pass – a little indistinct on that wolf jump 1/1 landing, but it won’t be taken – strong high double tuck.

Ross very clean on bars, small step on DLO. Should be a strong total as well.

One judge gives McMurtry a 10. Four 9.950s and a 9.900. I’m with the 9.900 judge because of course I am, but it was a very strong routine.

Nichols – BB – aerial to beat jump, excellent – secure loso series, better than yesterday – great split jump – sticks double tuck – (no punch front today?) – superior routine, very little to take.

Boren hitting her usual floor routine, nails double tuck. Should be a strong score.

Peng was fantastic on bars until DLO, lands short and a lunge forward into salute.

Nichols gets a 10 on beam. Told you very little to take. First Super Six 10 since Zamarripa on vault I believe. (that’s right about Dabritz as well!)

Capps – BB – lovely loso series, even better than usual – full turn, smooth – great aerial to scale, nailed – switch to straddle 1/4, maybe the smallest of adjustments on that, maybe – sticks gainer full – excellent. One 10 for Capps. The rest 9.950s.

Baker – FX – strong Dos Santos – almost sticks the double tuck, thought she had but ends up a with a little bounce – fantastic final pass. Yes.

One 10 for Baker. Mostly 9.900s. Clearly, the floor judges are passing the crack because it’s a different one each time.

Oklahoma 99.2875
Florida 98.8000
LSU 98.6250
UCLA 98.4375
Utah 98.1250
Alabama 97.5125

LSU wasn’t poor on either vault or floor, but they did not perform nearly as well as yesterday on either and need a comeback on the remaining events. The judges have proven willingness to go into the 9.9s there. Kind of a lot. So it could happen. Strong start for Florida, but they’ll still need to vault as well as they did yesterday here.

Rotation 4 – Florida vault, Utah bars, UCLA beam, Alabama floor

Hundley – VT – good stick on her full – some legs and not the distance of others, but pretty much her peak full –

Skinner has a small handstand arch on her bail – a touch short on final hs – sticks dismount –

Alexander – VT – small hop back on full –

Gerber – BB – good wolf (I mean, relative…) – aerialt o split jump, clean, hits 180 – check on loso series –

reinstadtler a little short on early handstands, better later – hop forward on dismount.

Baker – VT – strong 1.5, hop back, some knees, but minor errors both.

Merrell hits deltchev well, one of her better ones on the season – muscles up final hs, small hop on double tuck, but solid overall –

Boren lands very short on 1.5 – a stumble back with a couple steps, just like Hambrick. Uncharacteristic for Boren.

UCLA deciding that Mossett has one more beam routine in those legs after all, and it pays off with a hit.

Slocum a hop back on vault but not too too big. She stuck hers in the warmup and it was tremendous.

McMurtry – VT – small hop on the DTY this time, but otherwise as fantastic as always. But, Florida needed to vault as well as yesterday and did not –

Baely Rowe awfully clean on bars, one of her stronger sets.

Kocian – BBB – aerial to sheep, small adjustment out of sheep but good shapes – hits loso series – tentative on full turn, I’d call that a check – switch and split, strong – bounce back on 2/1. I’d call Kocians beam work this year fragile, and that one fit the theme. One judge still went 9.9. K.

In better news for Alabama, Ktie Bailey’s double arabian was excellent –

Kari Lee short on final bars handstand and just barely stands up her dismount with a couple lunges back.

Ross – BB – nails loso series, elite career style – large check on switch ring and does not connect to beat – aerial, clean – switch to split to get her leaps, split a little eh – side aerial to stuck full. One judge goes 9.900.

Good one from Aja Sims. Her opening double pike was quite secure.

Peng – BB – magical flares – leaps, pristine and perfection – nails bhs layout – very controlled on the double turn as well! – side aerial to an alllllmost stuck full. A little slide. Now we don’t have to complain about a Peng bonus! That deserves all the bonus. OK, well maybe we complain a little. Another 10. She didn’t really stick that dismount, but on the beam, there was nothing to take.

Winston – FX – excellent doulbe lay – maybe a little slide on second pass but not much if any, nails double tuck. Where was this routine quality two rotations ago?

Ohashi – BB – aerial to bhs, secure and smooth – a pragmatic choice enforced by injury but one that will get the scores – hits her leaps – comfortable full turn – bhs loso to stuck full. Another completely secure set. Very little to take again. The Bruins were a little eh, but Peng and Ohashi were far from eh.

Only one judge goes 10 for this one. 9.950s from the rest. Used them up on Peng?

After 3:
Florida 148.1625
UCLA – 147.9250
Utah 147.4375
Alabama 146.8375
Oklahoma 99.2875
LSU 98.6250

UCLA will be very happy with the way this meet is going. Florida gave up a little too much ground with that vault rotation. 49.3s is still strong, but like LSU, it’s a “wish it had been yesterday’s rotation” situation.

Rotation 5 – Alabama vault, LSU bars, Utah beam, Oklahoma floor

Childers – VT – near stick, just a lean, good full

Zamardi – UB – one shortish hs early – solid on shap and pak – step forward double front – good, but not her most precise in the hs

Jones – FX – 2.5 to punch front comfortable – 15 to layout, just a small bounce in place – some feet and bounciness on leaps, down to choreo – solid double pike. 9.900s are a little enthusiastic for that, but that’s what landing control will do for you.

Strong vault from armbrecht

Hambrick – UB – excellent opening hs to Ray – giant full a little rushed, great vertical in her bail – hop back tuck full.

Hop back from Winston on vault, great amplitude

Merrell with a check on an aerial –

Brown – FX – just a bounce in place on the front 2/1 – strong second – her side-long loso continues to be what dreams are made of – excellent rudi, stuck, legs together.

Harrold – UB – toe shap 1/2 good – one arches hs but saved it – close catch on jaeger – step back double front – good – a couple places to take.

Edney – UB – hindorff to fingertips but good catch – clean bail – one shortish hs – step back DLO. Again, good but not perfect, and that’s where they’re losing out to Oklahoma tonight.

hop forward for Guerrero on 1.5.

Dowell – FX – a little short landing her double front but does well to save it into a stag – much better on the leaps than she was earlier in the season – solid landings overall on remaining passes.

Finnegan – gorgeous on the Rayu and bail – shoot up to high – good DLO – a thing here and there, but Finnegan delivers another event –

McNeer 15 with a hop forward. Her last routine, and this is when the tears begin. And now everyone on the team is crying.

Priessman tkatche vto bail – her usual, where you’re like “how are you hitting this but you are” leg break on the pak and a hop back on the DLO. They haven’t stuck these dismounts and needed to.

Capps – FX – does the DLO and it’s excellent, chest up and landing secure – I’m going to miss her floors – is it OK if I start Keely McNeering now? – 1.5 to layout, stuck – controls rudi. Excellent floor.

Baely Rowe falls on her loso series on beam.

Nichols – FX – strong landing on piked full in – keeps front foot down on 2/1 – switch ring to split leap full, showing people how to hit 180 – small slide back on double pike, but another big hit. One 10, the rest 9.950. Honestly fine with 9.950 for that one.

McNatt – BB – check on sheep jump – leg up wobble on aerial – redoing the skill, gets the connection this time. Check on y spin – chalk blow – sticks dismount very well –

Jackson – FX – open full in and bounces out of it again today like yesterday – front full, dances a little – excellent amplitude on straddle – opens out of her double pike, you know like you do – small slide. Still gets a bunch of 9.950s. Like, is bouncing out of a pass not even a thing now? Or just we love her choreography so much that deductions don’t exist? OK.

After 5:
Utah 196.5875
Alabama 196.0000
Oklahoma 148.9000
Florida 148.1625
LSU 148.0125
UCLA 147.9250

Oklahoma. The end. With a lead of over 7 tenths heading to the final rotation over the closest contender. Oklahoma barely even has to be meh.

Rotation 6 – Oklahoma vault, Florida bars, LSU beam, UCLA floor

We though this rotation was going to be the big fight between Oklahoma and LSU didn’t we?

Boren – UB – good tkatchev and following hs – leg break in the bail – one short hs hop forward on DLO

Only the smallest bounce in place on the Marks vault. Remember that time I though Lehrmann should be in the lineup over her? Ooops.

Good thing ESPN is showing Macadaeg on beam, otherwise we wouldn’t know what to do – good switch leaps – hits loso series, stuck gainer full. Macadaeg things.

Capps a hop back on vault and a touch off line, not as strong as yesterday.

Chant falls on tkatchev.

DeGouveia – VT – hop forward on 1.5 – good direction – some knees.

Gowey – Ub – good Ray – clean pak – a little short on half turn on low – sticks DLO, strong routine –

Hambrick hitting beam, maybe one check – sticks 2/1

Small hop forward fro Dowell on vault. Good 1.5.

Ohashi lands final double pike quite short with a lunge forward.

Baker – UB – good ray – clean bail, legs together and vertical – hop back on double front but hit

Jackson – VT – very good 1.5, quite a small hop on landing – excellent height and direction. It’s a 9.950 too.

Ewing sticks 1.5 with a lean after another beam hit.

Nichols – VT – sticks a 1.5. Pretty excellent way to clinch the championship – and if they gave Jackson 9.950…….Only two 10s. The rest 9.950s. Only two 10s. Like a loser.

Hundley clean on bars until a final short handstand – leans to hold stick on tuck full.

Oklahoma done and made entirely of tears.

Scores going ridic on pretty much all the events right now. The judges are tooooo excited.

Cipra finishes strong double pike.

McMurtry – Ub – great Ray, one of her good ones – clean bail, very precise – sticks tuck full – excellent routine. Will be another big score.

EVERYONE gives a 10 to McMurtry because McMurtry feelings. Edney gets all the 9.950s even though, leap? That straddle?

It’s almost like the beam judges aren’t even aware that the meet is already over and are trying to make themselves the story anyway.

Finnegan – BB – good loso series – switch to switch 1/2 – hits side somi – please do gymnastics for the rest of my life – side aerial to stuck full. Well, if you were giving out the 9.950s like candy already… 10s from some of the judges. 9.975 total.

Kocian – FX – front 2/1, a little under this time but not bad – finishes with a good double pike, chest down.

Gnat – BB – nailing her acro – switch to straddle 1/4 good – switch side, secure – hits loso series – hop back 2/1. Excellent.

Ross – FX – excellent double tuck – only the smallest lside on the a double pike – switch side to straddle, better than whatever she did yesterday… – struggles on final pass, just gets it around –

Scratch that about Mossett! Good! I thought we were one routine farther than we were. Mossett still to go to finish the meet.

LSU uses Gnat’s 9.950 to move just ahead of Florida after 49.725 on beam (the beam scores today, you guys…….) and the fans are celebrating that like it was a title.

Mossett – FX – appropriate final routine to be the only one going to finish the meet – fitting – whip to double tuck – strong landing – the OU team is really getting into Mossett’s routine, which is easy to do when you’ve just won – phenomenal leaps – smallest slide on double pike, but great.

Oklahoma getting trophy now – they’re kind of happy. But just a little. A touch.

FINAL:
1. Oklahoma 198.3875 (record)
2. LSU 197.7375
3. Florida 197.7000
4. UCLA 197.2625
5. Utah 196.5875
6. Alabama 196.000

Damn, I almost got the placement of the top six right in my preseason rankings. I just had Alabama ahead of Utah.

Teams finishing 1, 3, and 4 will be pretty happy with their performances. UCLA wasn’t really ever going to do better than 4th until they get some vaults. Florida started extremely well, and will rue not vaulting as well as yesterday, but still a very strong meet. No one was going to catch Oklahoma the way Oklahoma competed tonight. LSU could have come the closest, but they didn’t get the vault and floor landings from yesterday.

Honestly, biggest surprise to me was Alabama’s implosion.

Oklahoma was just ridiculous tonight. Their best meet of the season, and they’ve had some good ones.

Trophy presentations now. Or well, little buttons? Or whatever the fifth and sixth teams get? Thank you for your service?

Nice moments between the UCLA fans and the Oklahoma team. They’re like, “We get each other.”

The top four teams get mini-trophies. No buttons or whatever.

Oh goody, now we’re all covered in confetti. Imagine how much this thrills me.

McKenzie Wofford dropped the trophy. We see you.

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156 thoughts on “Super Six Live Blog”

  1. Going to go ahead and say thank you for everything you do! Constantly updating us probably takes away from your own experience of watching it but we all appreciate you so much!

  3. Thanks Spencer for your great in-person coverage! Is UCLA’s Hallie Mossett warming up on beam and on floor? In an interview last night Miss Val said that Mossett’s hip is really f’d up. (And Mossett fell on beam.)

    Miss Val also said that she (Miss Val) almost vomited before beam semi’s. So Spencer, if you happen to have your barf bag from your flight to Saint Louis, then you might offer it to Miss Val. Thanks.

    1. In regards to Mossett, her hip pain is an ongoing problem for her. Going back to elite/JO and a car accident she was in before college.

      1. Thanks PennyB!

        Miss Val is known for last minute line-up changes too, so this could be interesting.

  4. Prediction before anything happens:
    1. LSU (Because why not, it would be a surprise + they broke 198 yesterday)
    2. Oklahoma (This would make everything more interesting wouldn’t it?)
    3. Florida (With the way UCLA and Utah have looked recently
    4. Utah (?? They seem to do better when they’re up against UCLA… sometimes… it really depends.)
    5. UCLA (THEY COULD BE FOURTH OR EVEN THIRD TOO)
    6. Alabama (If everyone else hits their best Alabama would be 6th anyway)

    I basically guessed on everything. You could switch 3-6 in any order and 1-2, because honestly, LSU has been on fire lately. I HONESTLY DON’T KNOW. If I’m 100% wrong you can all say I told you so.

    1. Kudos to Madison for sticking the neck out before the meet.

      My gut tells me that LSU already peaked last night and in no way reaches anywhere near that level two nights in a row.

      Nearly everyone is only looking at LSU and Oklahoma to win, but I’m predicting an (anonymous! lol) upset…

      Neither LSU nor Oklahoma will win.

      7

      1. Just watch… Alabama or Utah is going to win just because everyone seems to be placing both of them out of it before the competition event begins…

  5. I’m Australian, I have absolutely no business being this emotionally invested in university’s sports teams on the other side of the world but spencer has turned me into a convert. Go LSU!

    1. If you’re Australian, then root for Australian Stella Savvidou who is a fine bars worker for UCLA. Her cast handstands are exemplary and Kyla Ross reported that she has seen Stella hold a handstand on bars perfectly for over 20(?!) seconds during a gym workout.

      Here is a cropped photo of Stella wearing tonight’s Super Six UCLA leo:
      https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9fYZn_UMAAkLDk.jpg

      1. Or, you know, root for LSU.

        Not everyone has to cheer for UCLA — I feel like the commentators are 90% UCLA fans this year. It’s starting to get annoying. APPRECIATE OTHER TEAMS, too!

  7. Does anyone have a link to a stream for tonight? I don’t have access to ESPNU. Thanks!

  8. Thirty minutes to go! Also a non-american here! UCLA all the way thanks to Spencer. I sent my husband to the movies yesterday so I could scream without issues to the TV during semifinals I. Not so lucky today but he bought me my favorite carrot cake so I can survive this Super Six.

  10. Someone should post six separate comments as Anonymous (or under six different user names would be even better) before the meet listing each team as the winner, and whichever team wins…just point to the particular comment that listed the “correct” winner and say “See, I was right!” 😉

    1. Or I could just do that as Mary 🙂 It seems like we have multiple people named Mary commenting on this blog.

  11. I hope LSU recreates last night. I’m mainly a UCLA girl, but I don’t think they have a shot in hell, so I’m a tiger fan tonight. Would be so special for their program.

    2. I get using Nadia for the voiceover, but I think they should have chosen a former NCAA star.

  15. Gee, who would have EVER predicted that UCLA’s vault score would not be National Championship caliber? 😉

    Oh well. maybe next year.

    1. It actually annoys me how little UCLA seems to care about vaulting. Like it is 1/4 of the score. That’s pretty much how their vaults have looked all year. Not that I expected much but it’s like they don’t even care.

      1. I’m honestly angry that they could only put up ONE 10 start with the roster they have

      2. I completely agree that they should’ve pushed harder to get more 10.0 SV vaults this year. The fact that they only have 1 10.0 SV vault in the Super Six is rather ridiculous. However, the one little caveat I will give them is that the NCAA just downgraded the FTY last year, and most (if not all) of the athletes who are currently on UCLA’s team were recruited before then. I’ll be interested to see how UCLA is on vault several years from now when their athletes will have been recruited after the downgrade of the FTY.

      3. Yeah, after the half way point I realized UCLA was phoning it in on VT. Line, there are more VTs than the 1 1/2 that are out of 10. And it’s not like they are huge stickers on their fulls either.

      4. I basically completely echo what Mary said – I do find UCLA’s vaulting really disappointing; not only should they have more difficulty, but if you’re going to be doing FTY, you REALLY need to focus on sticking, and I’ve honestly never seen them do that all season.

        That said, seeing as NCAA differs from elite in that a team is built several years in advance, I actually think it would be fair if they were to announce any changes to the code of points, say, 2 years ahead of time so that teams had a little time to make necessary preparations. I guess it’s mostly relevant for a vault lineup, but still, I’m not sure what the harm would be? Anyone have other thoughts on that?

  16. So the other teams seem to be content to stay out of it and let Oklahoma and LSU battle it out.

  17. So sad to see 3 large errors so far. I really just want to see everybody have their best meet of the season and then see what happens.

  21. The race for 3rd should be interesting though… UCLA has already done their weakest event so maybe could battle it out with flordia. Not sure about utah since floor is usually a high scoring event for them *sigh*

  26. Did the scores for OU on bars seem a bit tight? Brenna’s set was especially technically perfect, I would go 9.95+ for her. I realize the team score was super high, but I just hope the bars judges keep this standard throughout the meet. (Yeah, right)

    1. I think the judges in general have been tight so far, not just on bars. I also hope it will hold throughout the whole meet.

  27. I was so pulling for LSU. And this will not be exciting if OU runs away with it. (Kind of like the US in elite.) I mean it’ll be nice to see some good gymnastics, but I really wanted it to be close and LSU really make it a nail biter.

  28. Really guys? This is the Super Six. Well, yesterday didn’t suck….
    Florida could make it interesting for 2nd.

  29. Honestly, this meet got boring real quick. I’m sure if you’re an OU fan then this is fun but it’s not that interesting when there’s no competition. But I’m happy for Maggie.

      1. It was fun seeing the fight for second though! I wanted Florida to win 2nd but I think the result was correct

  32. I know it’s not technically over but I’m still heartbroken for LSU. I hope they can finish out strong.

    1. They definitely peaked on the wrong night, unfortunately for them. OU had a so-so meet yesterday (for them) and got out of all the misses then.

  33. Okay, I saw Maggie slide on her dismount but I was also watching another split screen panel too… It wasn’t a real stick, I saw the replay… I definitely don’t agree with that 10, but whatever.

  35. I can’t watch Kocian miss every handstand on bars and break 9.9 anymore. Any other team and that routine doesn’t break 9.8. So…glad that’s over. Is she being judged on her Olympic routine or the one they actually watched? Also love how they never break out the stupid handstand protractor thing for her. Commentators just act like she never missed.

    1. Yes, thank you! She was short on nearly every handstand and scored a 9.9375.

      Kocian has gotten away with short handstands all year, but it seems like the UB judges at Nationals are judging strictly on the dismount. They seem to be “forgiving” short handstands.

      1. They seem to be forgiving short handstands for any gymnast who is casting straight to handstand instead of straddling up, so far as I can tell. (Except Ebee Price. They don’t forgive her for it) I understand that it’s harder, but at first I was wondering why gymnast did it because they are sooooo much more likely to miss their handstand, and is it worth that much more? But then I saw that the judges didn’t take off for it, and figured that oh, that’s why. 😛

    1. Definitely. I’m not a UCLA/Miss Val fan, but she choose the perfect white jumpsuit for Super Six. It looks amazing and won’t show the chalk marks when she hugs gymnasts.

  38. The fight between Florida, LSU and UCLA for 2nd and 3rd is real.
    I would normally say UCLA has no chance going into floor, but after yesterday’s scores, it seems anything can happen.

  39. I’m happy to see Peng go out (assuming her petition for a 6th year is rejected) on such a strong routine. You can debate whether that was truly a 10.0, but you can’t debate that she did a very nice routine. Good for her!

      1. I don’t think that it will or it won’t. I merely commented on this post with the possibility that this is her last routine. If it isn’t, then I’m very happy for her and for NCAA gymnastics. She does beautiful routines that include skills that aren’t often used in NCAA gymnastics.

  42. The UCLA vault situation–while frustrating–is very explainable. Cipra, Hano, Preston all injured at start of the season. Kyla coming back from injury and Madison competing tho holding out for surgery.Glenns went out right before season started. And I know that other teams are dealing with injury too, but this is throughout the roster. A by-product of having the elite-level gymnasts. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been super disappointed too. But it is understandable.

    1. Like I said earlier, I also think that it is partly attributable to the fact that most of these athletes were recruited before the NCAA downgraded the FTY. Think of how well Ross, Preston, and Kocian would have scored if their vaults would have been worth 10.0. I think the real test for UCLA will be when all of their athletes were recruited knowing that the FTY was downgraded.

      Note: I don’t think this completely absolves UCLA of responsibility for the lack of 10.0 vaults. So a team with 9 former international elites can only put up 1 10.0 SV vault in the Super Six? I think they can do better.

      1. Agreed! Kyla, Kocian and Preston mainly get deducted on their landings on vault. While they are totally capable of more (or where in the past) you have to acknowledge what some of them are competing with. Kocian has a partial tear in her rotator cuff since trials. Its insane how well she is doing.

      2. Kocian, Hano, and Ross are more than capable of vaulting more than FTY, regardless of when they were recruited. They all competed more than that in the elite level. I understand that they were injured this year but that’s not an excuse for coming years. They should all start from a 10.

      3. I completely agree that it isn’t an excuse for future years. All of them have had a DTY before, so they really need to upgrade in the coming years. However, as far as this year is concerned, I’m willing to give them a bit of slack considering Kocian is coming off the Olympics with an injury, Hano was injured the majority of the season, and Ross has grown a few inches since she last did a DTY. However, a few years from now Kocian and Hano will have recovered, and they will have recruited their athletes knowing that they needed more than a FTY. It doesn’t completely excuse their not great vault lineup this year, but I think that we should hold off on totally tearing them to shreds.

      4. Recruiting athletes before the FTY was downgraded makes no difference. The FTY has been devalued for two years now, so Ross and Kocian came into UCLA knowing for over a full year that the FTY would start out of a 9.95. Not to mention that all schools are dealing with the same thing and yet Florida, OU, and LSU are able to churn out 10.0 SV for several athletes. Plus, UCLA should be able to nail those FTY. Had they hit their vaults, even with a lower start value, they would have done much better this year.

        I don’t get the excuses for UCLA. Oh, they’re injured/travel woes/recruitment issues . . . it’s a bit nuts. UCLA just hasn’t competed like a championship level team for several years, even with exceptional talent and several former Olympians/World Championship team members both for the U.S. and other countries.

    2. Yes, but injuries seem to be an issue with UCLA every single year. I think they need to take a hard look at their strength and conditioning program.

      Having gymnasts injured happens to every team, but having the sheer number of athletes UCLA does (they have to be one of the largest teams) and barely being able to scrape together a vault line-up should not be happening. Not to mention the athletes they do have are extremely inconsistent on vault (and floor).

      1. Agreeing with you on that point. Utah is literally coworkers 25 percent of their team. They only have 12 and are down 3. Tough year for them. Amazing that they did as well as they did. Next year

      2. Agree with Jj here! Utah pulled off some great VTs nearly all season with barely enough to make a team. It’s incredible how well they did with what they had. And I just look at it and go, ok, UCLA, step it up. Not that I’m a Utah fan at all, and I really want to love UCLA, but they just never seem to deliver. Like, you have the goods. And whether they’re injured or not, other than VT, they’ve gotten the scores, just not all at once. They can actually do it.

    3. @Anonymous I completely agree that UCLA should be able to do a lot better on vault than they are. I haven’t actually gone through and counted, but I’d guess that they have more international elites than any other NCAA team, so it’s ridiculous that they only competed one 10.0 SV vault tonight. The only thing I’m trying to point out is that some of their major contributors (Ross, Kocian, Lee, Ohashi, etc.) were recruited before the FTY was downgraded. For those athletes, injuries, growth, and natural aptitude have played a role in the whether they competed vault and whether their vaults have been 10.0 vaults. I’ll be interested to see what UCLA’s vaults will be several years from now when their athletes will have been recruited knowing full well that a FTY wasn’t going to cut it. I still think UCLA could have put up a much better vault lineup than they did, I’m just not ready to attribute it 100% to poor training. If you compare the elite career of say, Maggie Nichols, to Kocian or Ross, it’s clear that in elite Nichols was better at vault than Kocian or Ross. Neither Kocian nor Ross ever had an Amanar, but Nichols did. Again, this doesn’t excuse the rough performance of UCLA. If they’re going to do FTYs on vault, they should be sticking more often. I just mean to say that it isn’t fair to say we expected Ross, Kocian, Lee, and Ohashi to be competing harder vaults when they committed before harder vaults were required for a 10.0 SV.

      As far as Ross knowing for a full year that the FTY was downgraded, it has also been stated that she is not capable of doing her DTY anymore now that she has grown. It’s a similar situation with Kocian; she knows that the FTY is downgraded, but her body is also pretty broken from Olympic training. Again, I still think that UCLA should have worked a lot more with Ross to get some sort of 10.0 SV vault, but it’s not really fair to just say “You’ve known for a year that a FTY was 9.95, so go back to your DTY,” when she has also grown a few inches in that time.

      1. No one is saying Ross should go to a DTY. In fact, no one is really putting this on Ross or Kocian. They were the steady competitors for UCLA on vault this season. UCLA has like a thousand girls on their team and yet they couldn’t put together 6 consistent vaults. I’m not even looking for 10.0 SVs, just 6 solid 9.95SV vaults.

        But if you are going to excuse UCLA for their subpar vault due to “not knowing the downgraded SV upon recruitment,” you then have to provide that same excuse to every other school in country. It’s not like UCLA was placed at a disadvantage. Every school is in the exact same boat; thus, I’m not understanding how that could be a possible excuse for UCLA. Plus, athletes know the code can change every year. There was discussion about downgrading the FTY for years before the coaches actually did it; thus, the athletes likely knew it was a possibility.

        Also, this isn’t really an athlete issue. This is a coaching issue. Vault and floor should be much better overall at UCLA than they are.

        People need to quit excusing UCLA for these issues. UCLA fans constantly point out shortcomings of other teams, yet when it’s UCLA, there’s always an excuse. They underperformed on vault this year. Period. No excuses. Use it as motivation to get better next season.

      2. AMEN ^^^ (anonymous above) and I am a UCLA fan. Vault was atrocious this year. No excuses. Every week made me angry. It is a coaching problem that they can’t stick their vaults week in and week out. If you’re putting out 5 9.95 vaults then they better score 9.875 or above consistently. No one improved at all over the course of the season.

        I thought floor did improve finally, at the end, but they definitely need more conditioning at the start of the season.

  44. Oklahoma with 13 9.9+ scores going into their final rotation… what’s the record?

  45. How did I miss until now that OU got a 49.7 on beam?!
    I disagree with you guys – though there isn’t any competition for 1st, OU is running away with it, and I find their performance exciting

  46. I feel for LSU, but they seem to be following the same trajectory of Oklahoma and Florida — have several great seasons that end with “close but not quite” finishes at NCAAs and then eventually break through to win. I’m sad it won’t happen for Gnat because she has been one of my favorites to watch over the last four years, but LSU will win a title soon.

    Also, with the talent on UCLAs roster, if they don’t win a title within the next three years, something is seriously wrong.

  47. Glad they are happy and hugging but would love to see a few floor routines instead. We saw one and a half balance beam routines and get Jovian on a half screen.

    1. I would love to see an overhaul of the way gymnastics is broadcast in general (NCAA and elite). While it’s nice to see people hugging and getting drinks of water, I’d much rather see people performing routines.

      1. I would like to see NCAA Nationals follow with the PAC 12 championship method — gymnasts go one at a time. It wouldn’t add that much time to the broadcast, because there would be no scoring delays (no dead airtime waiting for scores).

  48. 2016:
    1. Oklahoma
    2. LSU
    3. Alabama
    4. Florida
    5. UCLA
    6. Georgia

    2017:
    1. Oklahoma
    2. LSU
    3. Florida
    4. UCLA
    5. Utah
    6. Alabama

    2017 vs 2016: Oklahoma repeats in 1st, LSU remains 2nd, Florida moves up from 4 to 3, UCLA moves up from 5 to 4, Alabama drops from 3 to 6.

    1. 2018:
      1. OU: Who will replace Capps, Jackson, and Co.? They have a ton of talent and their form and technique is the best in NCAA. I don’t expect them to drop a lot and they could certainly repeat, but I doubt they’ll be as dominant next year as they were this year.

      2. LSU: Losing Gnat, Ewing, and Zamardi will be tough. How do they replace them, especially Gnat? I wonder if we’ll see more of Macadaeg. She used to compete AA and could be useful in other events. Finnegan and Hambrick will lead this team and they’ll be back in the Super Six.

      3. Florida: They only lose Claire Boyce, who retired early this year. They’ll be back and they’ll be really really good. I wouldn’t be surprised if they win it in 2018 (assuming both McMurtry and Baker can stay healthy).

      4. UCLA: They keep their best routines. Ross, Kocian, Ohashi will all be stars again. If Lee returns, their core remains intact. The issue is going to be whether their athletes can actually stay healthy (answer is likely no). They also need to up their game on vault and floor.

      5. Utah: They only lose Baely Rowe and gain Schwab, Tessen, and hopefully a healthy Kari Lee back. I think Utah will only be stronger next year. Get ready for a year of Skinner “hate” in these comments.

      6. Alabama: Alabama is losing a solid senior class. I suspect they’ll take another step back; however, you can never count out Bama at Nationals.

      Teams I think will challenge these top six: Georgia (they’ll be much stronger next year — also the coaches should pace Snead like Florida does with McMurtry), Nebraska, and Kentucky

      1. Oklahoma still has Jackson next year, she’s a junior- but I do agree how are they going to replace capps. Florida I think is going to be much better next year, they’ll be getting Alyssa Bauman

      2. Oh, you’re right! I forgot Jackson is only a junior. That makes me happy. I love her floor and vault.

        So, OU loses Capps, Wofford, and Jones — all excellent athletes, but they still have the talent for a three peat.

      3. For LSU, I think we’ll see Edney in the AA every week and she’s a gem. And I think Harrold will be better next year, when she’s had some time to rest and hasn’t come straight from the Olympics.

      4. Oklahoma:
        – Jackson is a junior, they will still have her next year, so they need to replace:
        Capps – aa.
        Wofford – bars
        Jones – Beam and floor lead off
        I just looked at the four recruits for next year, and am not familiar with them. I have come to trust that KJ will recruit the “ninja L10’s”, and also be able to work with the team she has to coach them into excellence. Remember what Spencer said about Capps and bars?
        I think they will maintain the same level of excellence next year.

        LSU:
        I hope we will see more of Macadeg next year! It will depend on how healthy she is, I think beam is the only event her body can handle. Also – I want to see her anchor, as that spot needs to be filled.
        Agreed, Hambrick and Finnegan will lead the team. Finnegan especially has come on strong here at the end of the season. Along with Edney, who I expect will be a regular in the aa.
        Honestly, they have so much depth and play with their lineups so much, the only event I’m concerned for them is bars where they have less depth.

        Florida:
        I don’t see them in the running for a title next year, but yeah, they are on the rise. I also expect Gowey to step up her game next year. The transition has seemed hard for her this year.

        UCLA:
        I keep wanting them to recruit at least a couple of healthy L10 stars, who I thought would be less injury proned. Then the Glens came in, looked to be big contributors, and both got injured. Having them both healthy next year I think will be the biggest addition to the squad.

        Alabama:
        I think they did quite well this year given the injuries they were facing. They have Bailie and Peyton coming in next year, hopefully well rested and recovered from injuries and ready to shine.

      5. For UCLA – besides the Glenn twins, they do have Nia Dennis coming in, former elite turned level 10 who is doing really well at level 10 (qualified first in her region to JO nationals). Plus I think Macy Toronjo has a lot more in her than we’ve seen. She had basically no preseason because of her sudden blindness illness.

      6. I’d expect Jade DeGouveia to be doing more next year. She was great on floor this year when she competed. I also think KJ will do her damnedest to turn AJ into a beamer, and maybe Brenna too? I’d love to see Brenna doing AA. There’s also Brehanna Showers, who I think had mono this year?

      7. I think Jade Degouveia is gonna be a big star. A little more recovery time and training and she could step into an all arounder spot.

  49. Oklahoma obviously the best team all season and the best team tonight, we’ll deserved win. While Florida has been the third best team most of the season I really believe they were the second best this evening, unfortunate that the score does not reflect that.

  50. Feel asleep and missed most of the least two rotations. Woke up slightly surprised to LSU able to pull ahead because I always expect slightly messy bars (idk why, I just do), but everything else is about right. Utah finally getting scores that match. Oh geez. Bowling just started.

    1. There are actually stands with fans at the NCAA bowling championship. I’ve never seen such a thing in my life. Plus, it’s Nebraska (Big Ten, Div. 1) against McKendree University (LITERALLY NO IDEA, but definitely not Div. 1). WHAT IS THIS MESS? Just replay the gymnastics championships, ESPN.

      2. Right?! Or show some good or goodish routines they didn’t show. They all talk up the AA coverage and apparatus feeds, but I find it impossible to follow anything. There’s just either too much or one thing and, wait, what did everyone else do?!

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