Monthly Archives: January 2018

Rankings

National Team Rankings – February 2018

How It Works
Taking into account all scores recorded at competitions in the last six months, each nation is given a team total based on how its best-scoring group of five senior gymnasts would do in a hypothetical 3-up, 3-count team final.

Each individual’s best scores may come from any official competition (they need not all be from the same meet), and whichever group of five gymnasts would produce the highest score is the one selected.

Countries that have not shown enough senior routines in the last six months to fill a 3-up, 3-count team on each event are not included.

Rankings will be updated on or around the first of each month, and scores will expire after six months in order to provide the most up-to-date snapshot of where nations are at the current moment. The current rankings include only scores from August 2017–January 2018.

Leaving the rankings this month were Belarus and Bulgaria, temporarily without enough scores on each event in the last six months to put together a team.

Last month’s ranking is in parentheses. Continue reading National Team Rankings – February 2018 →

Polls

Best Routine of Week 4 Poll

34 Comments

Your instructions
1. Vote for the best routine
2. Don’t get upset when this inevitably devolves into a twitter popularity contest. It’s not that important.

Criteria
1. Only routines scoring 9.950+ will be included in the poll
2. There must be video available of that routine so that the voters can, you know, watch it.
3. Each gymnast may appear only once per week. The higher score (or my discretion in the event of a tie) is used.

1st 2nd 3rd
Week 1 Price (STAN) – UB Lee (UCLA) – UB Finnegan (LSU) – UB
Week 2 Crouse (NEB) – VT Price (STAN) – VT Gowey (FL) – BB
Week 3 Glenn (UCLA) – BB Ramler (MIN) – BB Hambrick (LSU) – FX

We had 27 scores of 9.950+ in week 4, which is too many to include in a manageable poll (I’m not having a rage stroke, you’re having a rage stroke…), so this week’s poll includes only the available 9.975s and 10s.

1. Maggie Nichols (Oklahoma) – Vault

2. Elizabeth Price (Stanford) – Bars

3. Peng Peng Lee (UCLA) – Beam

4. Alex McMurtry (Florida) – Beam

5. Alyssa Baumann (Florida) – Beam

6. Sophia Carter (Arkansas) – Beam

7. Kyla Ross (UCLA) – Beam

FLO Link

Or, Deanna has you covered with the important parts at 0:29

8. Kennedy Baker (Florida) – Floor

9. Myia Hambrick (LSU) – Floor

FLO Link

10. Toni-Ann Williams (Cal) – Floor

Rankings

Week 4 Rankings

8 Comments

1. Oklahoma Sooners

Average: 197.733
Previous ranking: 1

Oklahoma remains #1 and extends its lead over #2 LSU after scoring 198.125 in an away loss to Florida. The result will sting. It’s the Sooners’ first loss since January 2016 and comes in a meet where they’ll have justification for feeling cheated out of a win by the crazy judging (though it must be said that Oklahoma received a fair few gifts of its own en route to breaking the 198 barrier). Feel free to ignore the scores because they were meaningless nonsense, but the performance is nonetheless one Oklahoma will accept for a January meet even though the strain of being without Natalie Brown—and now Jade Degouveia with plantar fasciitis—does show.

2. LSU Tigers

Average: 197.306
Previous ranking: 2

LSU retains its #2 ranking and increases its season average after scoring 197.375 at Metroplex, a score about on par with what the Tigers have been doing all month. It will be difficult, however, to see past the loss. It’s the team’s first loss of the season, coming against a school it was expected to beat too. The primary difference-maker in the loss was beam, where LSU dropped multiple tenths to a currently unstoppable UCLA lineup. A few 9.7s on floor didn’t help either, but getting Desiderio into the floor six is still a victory for the future prospects of the lineup, even if the 9.7 this week wasn’t ideal.

3. Utah Utes

Average: 197.244
Previous ranking: 3

Utah also retains its ranking position by recording a season-high 197.550 in a road victory over Arizona. The most encouraging part of the performance was beam, where a couple of the previously struggling(ish) members of the lineup showed season-best routines by about a billion tenths, making that six look much more competitive than it had in recent weeks. Utah will also be buoyed by the performances of Merrell-Giles and Lee, who were able to carry the load with 9.9s, showing that the team doesn’t have to be a one-Skinner show and can succeed even when she is not at her very best.

4. UCLA Bruins

Average: 197.094
Previous ranking: 4

UCLA stays in 4th but will be absolutely flying after heading to Metroplex and defeating the favored LSU. That 197.625 is the third-highest score in the country so far this year (behind the OU/Florida crack festival), also ranking as the team’s highest road score since 2010 Super Six and highest January score since 2004. (“Thank you, Metroplex. Sincerely, everyone who has ever competed there.”) The most significant accomplishment, however, was outscoring LSU on vault and floor, which few would have seen coming as recently as November and starts to make a real argument for UCLA’s top-3 competitiveness this year. Continue reading Week 4 Rankings →

Live Blog

Friday Live Blog – January 26, 2018

124 Comments
Friday, January 26 Scores Stream
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [1] Oklahoma @ [5] Florida LINK SEC+
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [11] Georgia @ [10] Arkansas LINK SECN
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – North Carolina, Yale, Ursinus @ Towson LINK FREE
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – SEMO @ Penn LINK
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – UW-Whitewater, Hamline @ Winona State FREE
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – Gustavus Adolphus @ UW-Stout LINK FREE
7:30 ET/4:30 PT – TWU @ [25] Iowa State LINK ISU($)
8:00 ET/5:00 PT – [3] Utah @ [21] Arizona LINK P12N
8:30 ET/5:30 PT – [17] Missouri @ [7] Alabama SEC+
8:30 ET/5:30 PT – [6] Kentucky @ [16] Auburn LINK SECN
9:00 ET/6:00 PT – [9] Boise State @ Southern Utah LINK FREE
9:00 ET/6:00 PT – Air Force @ [22] BYU LINK FREE
10:00 ET/7:00 PT – [24] West Virginia, Illinois-Chicago @ UC Davis LINK FREE
10:00 ET/7:00 PT – Sacramento State @ San Jose State LINK FREE
10:00 ET/7:00 PT – Lindenwood, UW-Eau Claire @ Seattle Pacific LINK FREE

Let’s go! We’ve got some potentially ludicrous meets to be getting on with, and I can’t wait.

#1 Oklahoma @ #5 Florida

#11 Georgia @ #10 Arkansas

No Degouveia today for Oklahoma. No Baker on beam for Florida.

Georgia and Arkansas will get going a little before Florida and Oklahoma.

Yamzon – VT – Ark – nice distance on her full, a bounce back, not the most height we’ll see but solid dynamics.

Johnson – UB – UGA – nice first hs – clear hip to usual legs on Gienger – short hs, fine bail – she’s working on those handstands – DLO, overflips and has to lunge back. The dismount is usually the strength but not this time. Continue reading Friday Live Blog – January 26, 2018 →