The junior women’s field has remained shockingly intact, the withdrawal of Ui Soma the only real development since the release of the initial roster (the seniors are another story, but we’ll get to that later).

Stream
Scores

Your viewing strategy for the first rotation should be basically…BEAM, with occasional side eye to the favorites when they go on vault and floor.

Opening with a game of Who’s The Shortest? The winner is all of them.

When you trip walking onto the podium but are also the best gymnast in the competition.

Moving to warm up for first event now. Various crowd shots of Jay and KJ showing good recruiting face.

ROTATION 1

Wong – VT – good DTY, not the strongest she can go – a hop back and some very little foot crossing at the end. 14.600. How she scored only a half tenth lower than Classic is beyond me.

Alipio – UB – stalder full, lovely – toe shap to Pak – toes poiinted very well – toe shap 1/2 – inbar – toe 1/2 and goes the wrong way with 30000 correction swings – toe 1/2 to piked jaeger, falls. Damn. She’s SO pretty on bars that I’ve been hoping she would be able to show that for a hit score this summer.

Lee – VT – back to the DTY for this one, good – a little staggered in her landing with a small hop back, leg form at the end.

Finnegan had a similar vault to Wong, with a hop back, and got the same score.

Jeffrey – VT – full, piking throughout, medium hop back

It’s 11.250 for Jung-Ruivivar on beam because we can’t have nice things.

Harris – FX – full in, a little forward on landing and a bounce – back 1.5 to front full to stag, controlled, knees – wolf 2+ – double pike, bounce back, same on double tuck

Tatum catches a little close on piked Jaeger but fine. DLO dismount with a little hop

Barros struggled her way around on a DTY on vault.

Gravier – BB – aerial with a small check – bhs loso, secure with some feet – punch front, solid – back tuck, normal – switch to split jump, good extension on split jump – 2/1 dismount with step.

Blakely – UB – inbar to full to piked tkatchev to Pak, good combo – shap – some forward giant work – toe full to FTDT dismount, good.

Morris on FX fell on a wolf turn, putting her hand down behind her, so we’ll see if that’s actually given as a fall or not –

Bowers – BB – has a similar issue on beam, having to put her hand down on the beam to save a wolf turn at the beginning – bhs loso loso series and a fall. Dear. Front handspring to front tuck, small check but hit – aerial to split to straddle, high but looks a litlte rattled – switch ring – bhs bhs double pike, step

Chio – FX – double pike, pretty secure – nice quick twisting on her 3/1 with a bounce back – split leap 1/1, good – 2.5 to front pike to stag, also secure, good form – switch ring a little low in front leg – double tuck, takes it right to the end but stays in. I believe she’s the youngest in the meet and has a ton of potential. She’ll be a junior for another three years.

German – UB – stalder full, pretty late – toe shap 1/2, good – toe – stalder 1/2 – piked jaeger, nice and high – bail, hit with some feet – DLO with a bounce up, good shape on DLO in the air. Presumably the plan will be to start connecting some of those individual skills, but some nice work.

Dean – BB – bhs loso loso, secure but feet – aerial, short but saves it with a check – straddle to split to back tuck – side aerial to switch to switch 1/2, will probably get combo, switch 1/2 was short – check on a Side America – 2.5, large lunge to the side

DiCello – FX – DLO, good shape, hop back – front 2/1, high, leg form – switch ring, split ring 1/1 – wolf 3.37 – wolf 1.7 – 1.5 rhrough to 2.5, nice control, once again some leg crossing – double tuck, small hop. Good opening hit.

After 1, our vaulters are leading, no surprise. Wong and Finnegan are out in front with their DTYs, then Lee. A big 14.00 from McClain on beam is keeping her up with the leaders.

DiCello down at 12.850 for floor, a couple tenths lower than her nationals routine.
Beam was not kind to most. Bowers is down in 20th.

ROTATION 2

Greaves – FX – good control on full in – front tuck through to 2.5 to stag, very well controlled as well, just a little bit of legs – popa – switch ring and switch leap 1/1 – double pike, small step back – switch 1/2, good – double tuck, small slide back. Good work.

Morris with hop back on full on VT

Tatum – BB – Side America is fine – switch to sissone – side aerial to bhs with leg form – punch front, secure – straight full Side America actually goes well – 2/1, hop in place, some legs. She’s doing well so far.

Gravier – FX – double pike, oh the music you guys – wolf 2.25 – whip to double tuck, lunge back – switch ring – switch 1/2 – THE CHANDELIER IS FALLING – IT FELL ON THE PIANO – 2.5, leans to control landing well – front full to stag – THE PIANO TEACHER IS DRUNK AND MADE OF GHOSTS – nice passes as well. A good one for her.

DiCello – VT – bigggg height on her DTY – small hop back – pretty good legs –

Blakely – BB – a little stiff in loso series but sevure – aeial to split to split 1/2 – front tuck, – switch to switch 1/2 to back tuck, switch 1/2 was switch halfy, and the connection probably won’t be given – nice side aerial, good extension – double tuck, lovvvveeely tight tuck position.

Big hit for Sunisa Lee on bars for 14.800. That will give her quite a margin.

Bowers – FX – DLO, a little short with a step forward – open full in, awesome look, just a little forward with a hop – switch ring and split ring 1/1 – triple turn, falls out early – front 2/1, nice – wolf double – strong double pike, small shuffle – more comfortable than Classic

Lippeatt – UB – immediate fall on Ricna attempt – inbar – Pak with legs – wielfer 1/2, really rests against the bar there – toe shoot, Chinese style because she’s so tiny – FTDT with lunge forward

German – BB – aerial, small check – side aerial, hit – full turn – double tuck, solid, small hop in place.

McClain – FX – 1.5 to front full, lunge forward – wolf turn single – 2.5 to front tuck, somehow managed to get that front tuck around after overcooking the 2.5 – 2/1 with lunge –

Rosen – BB – bhs loso loso, very solid, some feet – full turn with check – side aerial – switch – switch 1/2 shouldn’t get credit – aerial with a check and some knees – split to sissone – onodi, only a small check – double pike, hit, bounce back

Barros – UB – toe Shap, good – to Pak, strong – inabr full, pretty late – toe shap 1/2, straddled it at the end – piked jaeger, hit, some feet – DLO 1/1 is pretty good, little bounce back

Alipio – BB – aerial to split jump to sissone, nice toes – bhs bhs layout, not the highest layout but nice extension in those bhs – swithc to switch 1/2 – side aerial to loso, small check – switch side – good on her Side America, how it should look – 2.5 dismount with crossover step and some leg crossing –

Jung-Ruivivar – FX – memmel turn is good – switch ring – split ring is a little two-part but good as far as split ring leaps go – 1.5 to front full, quite a bit of arch over – switch 1/2 is lovely – double tuck, slightly forward with step.

The dance elements are of course the highlight. And no limping off this time

Sunisa Lee moves into the lead after two events because of her giant 14.800 on bars, but Wong is right there after her own 14.350. They have a billion point lead at this stage. DiCello is third, and Bowers hasn’t yet been able to make up ground after the beam problem. Rather, Blakely is in 4th after two successful sets.

Here’s the Sunisa Lee 14.800.

ROTATION 3

Gravier – VT – clean full with lunge back – nromal, good

Morris – UB – inbar to inbar half to piked jaeger, nice and efficient – pak – toe shoot – inbar 1/1 to FTDT, good little routine.

Yeah, I didn’t want to see the leader’s beam routine anyway. That’s cool.

Lee dismounts beam with bhs bhs 2/1 with a hop back. She won at Classic with a layout, so that should help?

Bowers – VT – Oof, really forward on her DTY with a lunge forward, but she got it around. Somehow.

Chio – UB – piked jaeger – stalder to bail, clean – toe shoot – clear hip to giant full to DLO, stuck. Nice. They have TWO coaches spotting bars so Cassie doesn’t have to go completely insane this time.

German – FX – big DLO, small slide, good – split jump 1/1 a little short – full=in, also well done, chest up, slide back – switch – switch 1/2 – 1.5 to front full, a little slide – split leap 1/1 is better – double tuck, big boucne back, too much power

Butler – UB – stalder 1/1 to toe shap to clear hip 1/2, pretty short of vertical – piked jager is good – attempted Ricna is way too far and falls

Rosen on floor, finishes with double pike – popa – double tuck with a little slide.

Greaves with just a little step on her full.

DiCello – UB – toe full to toe shap to Pak, really strong – toe shap 1/2, good legs together – clear hip – giant 12 to piked jaeger, fingertips but got it – FTDT, stuck. Excellent routine.

Barros – BB – wolf double, good – switch to sissone, a little tight – bhs loso, large break but saves it well – aerial, secure – switch 1/2, well short – Side America with a wobble – side aerial, hit – bhs bhs double pike, pulls way in and sits it

Tatum – FX – full in, nice chest up, small hop – 2.5 to front pike, solid – split jump 1/1 a little crooked – switch ring was good – front 2/1 to front tuck, a hop back – switch 1/2 is shortish of 180 – double tuck, secure, chest down

Wong – BB – side somi with a check – aerial to split jump, smooth, some knees in aerial – major leg crossing in dismount, with a step

Finnegan – BB – switch ring, with a little step – bhs los loso series, very good – side aerial to bhs, no trouble – aerial, solid – split jump to straddle – 2/1 with hop back. So she can beam.

Anyone else feel like Bowers is surprisingly low in the rankings? She had the fall on beam and the low vault, but…17th…?

Anyway, Sunisa Lee has the highest score on both bars and beam so far, and is using that to pad her lead. Wong is comfortably in 2nd after three hits in her first three routines, and DiCello is third. Notably, DiCello has already done floor (today’s low-scoring event), while Lee and Wong still have to go there. Those three are quite a bit ahead of the pack, but Blakely, McClain, and Finnegan continue to lead the challenging group. Tatum is currently 9th. Expect her to move up since she still gets to vault, her best event.

ROTATION 4

German – VT – good high full, hop back

Bowers – UB – toe full to toe shap to Pak to toe shap 1/2, well hit, some leg breaks on  couple skills – hits her feet on the bar on her 1.5 turn but keeps it going into jaeger – FTDT, college stick. Good save after clipping but it will hurt her E score quite a bit. The 1.5 ended up being very late this time. Not her day. 13.150. That’s basically the equivalent of another fall.

Alipio – VT – good distance on full, small slide back

Tatum – VT – nice big DTY as usual, a little under-rotated this time but only slightly, step, good direction

McClain – UB – toe on to inbar to inbar 1/2 to piked jaeger, nice – pak is floppy but well caught – toe Shap to stalder 1/2 – FTDT with step back – another really strong routine. Great toes and extension.

Stuck double pike on beam for Butler.

Barros – FX – double arabian, deep but pulled it out – double pike, a couple bounces back, just does stay in – double tuck, small hop – switch 1/1 – wolf turn double was close but maybe a little under the second turn – 2/1, small hop

DiCello – BB – bhs loso loso with a leg-up chack – aerial to split ring jump, broken connection – Side America is short of 180 but solid – 2/1 dismount with hop back

Jung-Ruivivar – UB – nice toe full to pak, but she peels off horrifyingly on a SHap 1/2 and looks like she landed on her shoulder –

Wong – FX – double arabian to stag, good, small cowboy – 3/1, stuck, perfect – switch ring – split full, a little slidey on landing – double pike, hop back – doubel L turn was very strong – if only this music didn’t add a traffic cop at the end – good 2.5, small hop

Neault – BB – aerial to split ring jump, low front leg, same on switch ring – double tuck, hop back

Greaves – UB – arches a full turn but pulls it out into FTDT dismount with large lunge forward

Finnegan – FX – very nice split jump 1/1 – double arabian, and sits it down – the good news is it was actually perfect in the air, just landed a bit short, with the combination of her foot slipping out, so she could never save it – 2.5 to front layout, lands OOB – 1/2 to rudi is perfect – 2/1, small movement on landing.

Harris finishes beam with double pike, lunge back

Lee – FX – water dripping in this floor music – DLO, strong, control – open full in, a little deep landing but also secure – switch ring – split leap full, great extension – double L turn to double turn – back 1.5 to front full, a little hop – wolf turn 2.75, probably shouldn’t get triple credit, then goes a again and doesn’t get the double around and has to support herself against the floor – double tuck. It was going actually perfectly until the dire wolf turns, and we’ll see what they do with that.

Competition is done. We’re just waiting on Lee’s floor score for the final results.

Floor puts Lee behind Wong.

After the first day:

1. Wong – 56.400
2. Lee – 55.900
3. DiCello – 55.250
4. Blakely 54.800
5. McClain – 54.500
6. Greaves – 53.400
7. Tatum – 53.050

Leanne Wong continues to nail it, but it is surprisingly that she was able to beat a hit meet from Lee. She did it mostly on the strength of floor, which got a 13.850 that leads the rest of the field on floor by a casual 900 centuries.

The real upset of the day was the struggles from Jordan Bowers (a fall on beam, a leg clip on bars) but still surprised to see her all the way down in 17th. The equivalent of two falls for Bowers, I would have guessed would still put her around…9th-10th?

It’s significant because even if Bowers is excellent the way she can be on day 2, she probably won’t be able to make up all this ground to get into the national team spots. She should be on the national team because she’s good enough, but that would then require a discretionary spot. An extra spot in that top 6 automatic NT looks to be open for Blakely, McClain, and Greaves.

The way things are going right now, Wong probably has to miss on the second day to give up the title. She’s being E rewarded, which is a good thing. Her E on floor was 8.550, and the next highest in the whole competition was 8.100.