| Saturday, February 16 | Scores | Stream |
| 1:00 ET/10:00 PT – Cortland @ Brockport | FREE | |
| 2:00 ET/11:00 PT – Rutgers @ Michigan State | LINK | BTN+ FLO |
| 4:00 ET/1:00 PT – [8] Michigan @ [24] Penn State | LINK | FREE |
| 4:00 ET/1:00 PT – [17] Nebraska @ [22] Ohio State | LINK | BTN+ FLO |
| 4:00 ET/1:00 PT – North Carolina @ NC State | LINK | ACC+ |
| 5:30 ET/2:30 PT – [25] Arizona @ [3] UCLA | LINK | P12N |
| 7:00 ET/4:00 PT – Illinois @ Iowa | LINK | BTN |
| 8:00 ET/5:00 PT – Illinois State @ [6] Denver | LINK | DU($) |
The Big Ten action today gives us a lot to hang onto. For instance, Nebraska’s vault. Where do we go from here with that six 1.5s thing? Michigan is actually all the way down in 12th in the in-progress RQS rankings after yesterday’s action, getting passed up by teams like Boise State and Minnesota, and could use a road score.
Michigan State has broken the 195 barrier in defeating Rutgers, which had to count a fall on beam for a sub-48 total there.
Intros underway at Michigan/Penn State. Penn State’s team has been forced to dress in some sort of one-color futuristic “bad child at Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory” jumpsuit for the intros, anticipating our future enslavement.
Touch warmups now underway at both meets.
Astarita – VT – PSU – quite short on full, just did get it to her feet, deep landing with a large lunge forward
Near stick on first Y1/2 for OSU, step forward into salute.
Mariani falls on her opening tkatchev for Michigan
Hargrove hits UB for Nebraska, bounce forward on double tuck. 9.750
Abanto – VT – OSU – y1/2, nice and high, step forward. 9.725
Bonsall – VT – PSU – bounce back on full, OK, some form
MVC – UB – Nebraska – 1/2 turn to piked jaeger, some knees, to overshoot – not quite there on some verticals, but a solid hit, hop forward on double tuck
Maxim – UB – Michigan – tight first hs and some loose back on toe on – hits tkatchev – bail vertical is pretty good but will get some cast hs position deductions, final one is better vertical but loose back – gorgeous DLO with a stick, that was the highlight. 9.800
De Jesus hits bars for Nebraska, big double arabian dismount with a little hop. Some close catching on release transitions and a couple form breaks
Aepli _ VT – OSU – nearly gets her stick, hop in place and a little forward in the chest position, some knees in the air
Crouse – UB – Nebraska – weiler 1/2 and goes over the wrong way, has to change direction and recast for a major deduction – excellent gienger, good legs together – FTDT, stuck
Strong hit for Farley on bars for Michigan, stuck double front. 9.875
Bridgens – VT – PSU – good full, must better dynamics, bounce back. 9.825
Karas – UB – Michigan – good first hs – toe on to toe shap, legs right together – a little rushed on bail position but solid enough, one issue hs – DLO, stuck, another excellent one. 9.850
Houchin – UB – Neb – good tkatchev – fantastic bail, great position and toes – hitting her casts – DLO, just a bit of legs and a small step back. The rotation highlight by far. 9.875
Hinterberger way short on vault for OSU with her full. Deep landing, possible hand down.
Chung – UB – Neb – 1/2 turn to jaeger, crooked in the air but caught – straddled pak but hit – toe circle step up to high – well short hs – DLO, straddle positon but good stick. 9.675
Brenner – UB – Michigan – 1/2 turn to big jaeger – bail, a bit short of vertical – rushing a couple of htese handstands – big DLO with a near-stick hop in place. 9.800
After 1: OSU 48.925, Nebraska 48.825
Wojcik – UB – Michigan – hecht mount, good, strong first hs – toe 1/2 to jaeger, clean – bail is a bit stronger, just a little floppy in the air – excellent final cast hs – DLO, flung that one out a bit and has to come in deep on the landing with a lunge forward, was gearing up for a big score before that, but should be at least .150 on dismount. Still gets 9.850, which is a bit high there.
After 1: Michigan 49.175, PSU 48.900
No monstrous events but no standouts in the first rotation for any of the four teams here. Nebraska had the mistake from Crouse on a routine they needed to count because Chung isn’t going to get out of the 9.6s for a hit, which she did here. Michigan did well to drop that opening fall, but no one was quite as crisp in the hs positions as they were last week.
Rotation 2
Heiskell _ VT – Michigan – full – better landing posiition than last week, chest up, hop back
MVC – VT – Nebraska – pulls out the stick on her opening 1.5 – some significant knees and a deep position but a big hit.
Allen hits UB for PSU – some hs positions – big DLO but overcooks it with a large lunge back
Maxim – VT – Michigan – good distance on her Tsuk 1/2, step forward.
Dujakovich – VT – Nebraska – short on her 1.5 with a fall – so going for all the 1.5s again, one fall so far.
Abanto sticks double tuck off bars.
DeJesus – VT – 1.5, hits it, a bit deeper than she has been the last couple weeks with a hop back
Stone – UB – OSU – 1/2 turn to hit jaeger to overshoot, a bit of pike position in that overshoot – one hs – giant full to double tuck, good form on double tuck, stuck
Crouse – VT – Nebraska – nailed her 1.5, stuck landing, great form, will be a giant score. 9.875 even a little tight for that
Fall from Bonsall on bars for PSU in the third position.
Brenner – VT – Michigan – larger lunge forward on her 1.5 this time, more than a tenth – a bit of knees, great power, distance, and direction as always
Fall from Aepli on bars for OSU.
Karas – VT – Michigan – brings out her 1.5 and sticks it. Some knees, but an excellent vault. Methinks that one won’t score 9.775 again
Just a full from Nebraska in the 6th position from Quinn today to get them through with a hit rotation rather than count a fall again this week.
Lost the stream for PSU/Michigan there, so couldn’t tell you what happened with Wojcik in the 6th position on vault, unfortunately. But it was 9.950.
Gagliardi going on bars for OSU in the final position with that excellent Yezhova, and a stuck DLO. Glad to see them working through that routine to get her into the lineup because she has some excellent qualities there.
After 2: Ohio State 98.000, Nebraska 97.975
Ohio State has to count a 9.625 on bars but gets big scores in the final three positions to go over 49 and maintain the lead on Nebraska. Nebraska went for five 1.5s and hit four of them this week, putting up a Yfull in the final position to get a hit so it’s a 49.150.
After 2: Michigan 98.575, Penn State 97.125
Big news for Michigan’s vault is Karas pulling out the 1.5 and sticking, providing a major upgrade there. Penn State had a bit of a nightmare on bars to fall well off the pace. They didn’t even get big scores from Bridgens and Garcia, who typically deliver them.
Here‘s Wojcik’s 9.950. I mean, it’s a stronger vault than any of the vaults that have received 10s so far this year. Probably not her strongest stick of the year. I would put it second or third on the Wojcik vault standings. Message from NCAA judges: “Be more Olympian.”
Rotation 3
Lowe leading off BB for OSU, a balance check on her series, 1.5 with a hop. “She’s just volunteering as tribute.” LOL.
Johnston – FX – Neb – double pike, some chest down, slide back – 1/2 to front full, a little bit of body position, solid control on landing – a little short on split position, popa was better – double tuck, solid. 9.800
Stone – BB – OSU – bhs loso series, large break with a bend at the hips, good extension – cat leap to switch side, well short of split position there – 2.5 dismount with a step forward
Orel – FX – Neb – hit double pike first pass – double tuck, a bit chest forward with a step – switch side to popa, popa pretty short, rushed around – 1.5 to 1/2 to stag, nice height in 1.5, a bit lower in the 1/2
Funk – FX – Michigan – double pike, right on, secure landing – front full to layout, some loose body position – solid punch rudi, good control overall on those passes
Aepli – BB – OSU – leg-up check on series, comes off on kickover front, so they’ll have to count Stone’s score in the 9.6s.
De Jesus – FX – Neb – 3/1, pretty well around, controlled, just some corkscrew legs – 1.5 to front layout stepout with that run out that drives me crazy because it’s a lack of control. I’d take a major landing deduction there. Good power on double pike, bounce back.
Osman – FX – Michigan – full-in, strong – good chest up – front tuck through to double pike, chest well up, bounce back out of it – punch rudi, solid height again but a larger bounce back out of it. She’s improving TONS on floor.
Interesting that Penn State has Hosek into the third position on beam now instead of usual anchor spot.
Schwei – FX – Neb – big full in, nice power as always, slide back – front lay to a super clean rudi, nice twisting form, controlled landing – switch 1/2 to wolf jump full, a bit of back leg – front lay to front full, controlled step – excellent work
Ohio State gets a necessary hit on beam from Swartzentruber after already counting two 9.6s so far in this beam rotation.
Hassel – FX – Neb – front 2/1 – solid twisting position, just a bit of lack of control – 1.5 to front tuck, was off on her punch on the 1.5, had to adjust to do a front tuck, landing in a super deep squat, major deduction – nice rudi to straddle, just a bit of travel
Michigan dealing with a fall from brenner in the third position on floor now.
McLean – FX – Michigan -second pass is front lay to front full, solid control – finishes with her high double pike, just a little bounce
Crouse – FX – Nebraska – front 2/1 to layout, pretty – switch 1/2 to popa – 1.5 to 1/2 to stretch jump (stretch jump is SO IN this season, all the cool kids are doing it), travels back a bit – lovely rudi to loso. A hit they needed. 9.950
After 3: Nebraska 147.275, Ohio State 146.675
Wojcik – FX – Michigan – double pike, better control this week, hips moving back just a little – split leap full to wolf full, good finish positions and clear split shape shown – front 2/1 to layout, stuck landing – rudi to straddle, a little bounce on landing. Big hit.
Karas – FX – Michigan – double arabian, just does control that step out and keep the back foot down- switch 1/2 to wolf jump full, love the rise into the wolf, higher than her switch – secure middle pass – double pike with a bounce back out, does keep it in bounds, but that landing will be the largest deduction of the set
After 3: Michigan 147.725, PSU 145.900
It started slowly for Michigan on bars, but this should become a very usable road score with a hit beam. Nebraska should be able to pull out a solid 196 here, but it won’t be a huge number.
I think Curtis for Nebraska on beam was lowering into a squat wolf turn style and then kind of started to wobble and thought better and moved back out of it, and I wish that were every wolf turn.
We’re also just a few minutes out from the start of UCLA/Arizona.
By the way, I’m sorry, but if you’re going to do an LGBTQ meet, you have to say the words. Otherwise I’m not crediting the skill. “Promoting unity and inclusion” is a milquetoast, meaningless, nothing cop out.
Hargrove – BB – Nebraska – nice loso series, a little check just walking on the beam – aerial to beat jump, pretty – split jump to sheep is nice and high but a major break on the sheep jump, large leg-up wobble – OOOUCH, clipped her foot on the beam on her gainer pike dismount, falls.
Crouse – BB – Nebraska – aerial to bhs series, pretty quick, good form as expected – switch to straddle 1/4, hit – kickover front with an arm wave – gainer pike full dismount with a little hop
UCLA and Arizona begins
This looks like a good crowd, but you can’t say “capacity crowd” when there’s literally an entirely empty tier.
OHASHI IN THE AA??? Twist.
Rotation 1
Ohashi – VT – UCLA – big height on her full, nice potential there, large bounce back. 9.775
Hendrickson – UB – a bit short on first hs – pretty jaeger, good toes, connected to overshoot – just some hs to take – DLO, some legs and a lunge back. 9.775
Hano – VT – UCLA – one of her better 1.5s ever. Really strong. Just a small adjustment on landing and a bit deep in landing. Will score well. 9.900
Swanson – UB – AZ – short first hs – giant full to tkatchev, hit – pak is solid, small leg break and some feet – Sam and I are not having these casts – DLO, piking down, hop back. 9.750
Wright – VT – UCLA – lunge forward on her 1.5, a bit bigger than her usual step, and the knees. 9.875
Kane – UB – AZ – 1/2 turn to jaeger, hit, good form on jaeger – 1/2 turn to straddle back, the 1/2 turn will get deduction destroyed – double front dismount, step. 9.775
Dennis – VT – UCLA – an awkward landing on her full this time – chest lean and a little hop, some knees in the air as well. 9.775
Leydin – UB – AZ – toe on to pak, straddle position there – 1/2 turn to khorkina, highlight of the routine – giant full late to double tuck, step. Same handstands to take on this one.
Ross – VT- UCLA – sticks her 1.5 again this week, and this one looked better than last week in the landing position, where the chest was a little back, this one higher up. Really strong.
10.000 for Ross. Less of a problem with this one. At least for now.
Spencer – UB – AZ – Ray, hit, close catch with some elbows – bail, clean, good vertical position – short final cast hs – DLO, bounce back. Cleaner overall than the first four. 9.800
Tratz – VT – UCLA – her big full, sticks the landing, just comes in deep with a knee bend and a bit of low chest. So still a couple things to take there.
Berg – UB – AZ – short first hs – 1/2 turn to huge piked jaeger to overshoot, strong amplitude – better final cast hs – FTDT, high and stuck, highlight of the rotation.
After 1: UCLA 49.425, Arizona 49.100
UCLA a pretty UCLA vault rotation, half bouncy or awkward landings and half excellent vaults. Kyla goes 10. Tratz and Hano pretty solid. Arizona close on bars, but the handstands are still breaking down the scores. Bars scores trending pretty high there, so it could get interesting when UCLA shows up.
FINAL: Nebraska 196.400, Ohio State 195.750
Not a huge score for Nebraska, but they’ll definitely take it as a road number. Ohio State recovers from some lower recent scores but not the 196s they were getting last month.
FINAL: Michigan 197.075, Penn State 194.750
Michigan needed another 197 today and got it. Bars and floor could both have been better, but vault showed improvements and beam finished cleanly.
Rotation 2
Kane – VT – AZ – Y tuck full, chest down, step to the side. 9.475
Dennis – UB – UCLA – toe shap, a bit of leg break in backswing – hits vertical bail hs, a little floppy in the air – excellent final cast hs – DLO, stuck landing. Very good. NECESSARY in this lineup. 9.900
Parks – VT – AZ – yfull, solid hit, medium hop back, some feet and knees in the air. 9.825
Frazier – UB – UCLA – toe shap,to excellent pak, some stronger legs together rhythm than Dennis, a little back shape – good shap 1/2 – DLO, stuck landing, a bit of legs apart in the air. Another really good hit. 9.950
Both very strong hits, but scores trending worryingly high.
Leung – VT – AZ – hop back on full, bit of a pike throughout.
Hano – UB – UCLA – didn’t Jim tell us that Ohashi was doing bars? No? short first hs – better Ray – high overshoot posiition, a bit of legs – she’s missed a couple cast handstands – giant full to double tuck, stuck. A better hit, but quite a few vertical deductions.
9.875 is too close to the other scores.
Cowles – VT – AZ – a bit farther on the bounce back on her full – some pike hips. 9.750
Flatley – UB – UCLA – higgins to jaeger, lovely toes – toe on to bail, a bit rushed there, some hip angle – a couple orderline cast hs, one def short – DLO, stuck, perfect dismount. 9.900
Swanson – VT – AZ – best height on her full and the smallest hop, just a little hop back and some pike position
“Twisting early off the table” is to Sam Peszek as “toes going into leap elements on floor” is to KJC.
Kocian – UB – stalders hap to pak, good legs today – 1/2 turn on low, quite vertical – smooth final cast hs, a bit borderline, I’d say short – FTDT, stuck. Another pretty routine. Not a 10 for me. We’ll see.
9.900. Impressed by their reasonableness. That’s like an accurate score.
Leydin – VT – AZ – tries to upgrade to the 1.5 but sits it down
Ross – UB – shap to bail to overshoot, super clean as always – nailed final cast hs – DLO, sticks the landing. Let’s see…
9.975 for Ross. No Lichey moment today.
Giving her a 9.950 instead of a 10 just to be a pill is a total me move.
After 2: UCLA 99.050, Arizona 97.725
Arizona had to count the 9.475 for the tuck full there after Leydin fell on the 1.5. A really strong bars rotation for UCLA there. Scores high for my taste of course, but clearly their best bars work of the year.
Rotation 3
G Glenn – BB – UCLA – bhs loso series, super clean extension – aerial to split jump, lovely – switch to another split jump, her leap ability is her highlight because she actually hits them – bhs gainer full, stuck. Great start. 9.875
Freidin – FX – AZ – closeup of a butt check over her first leap, fun – controlled double tuck, chest down – split leap 1/1 and can’t get off the floor for her popa attempt, doesn’t get it around or close to 180 and kind of stumbles on the landing as well – front lay to front full, a bit of loose legs in layout. 9.675
Nguyen – BB – UCLA – switch to split, hit well – aerial to loso combination, it’s still slow for my taste but she kept moving and will get it – hits her side position jump – front layout full, stuck. Another strong one. 9.825
Swanson – FX – AZ – front tuck through to 2.5, a bit of a lunge out but keeps it in bounds – double tuck, super secure landing – 2/1 to front tuck, a bit of adjustment on landing and some legs, but a countable hit. 9.800
Kocian – BB – UCLA – bhs loso “thinking about jumping through my feet” Ow? – very solid series – aerial to split, holds it well into combination despite coming in a little short – slightly overturns her full turn – switch to split – 2/1, bounce back. 9.800
Parks – FX – AZ – wolf jump 1.5, gets it around clearly – front layout to rudi, controlled step – switch to stag jump, not so high on that stag, a little afterthoughty – front lay to front full, control, some knees. 9.800
Flatley – BB – UCLA – aerial to loso series, super quick in combination, leg-up check on landing that she tries to cover – side aerial, super clean – L turn, leg held up well – switch and falls, off line and tried to save it with a leg-up wobble but it took her off balance – stuck 1.5
Cowles – FX – AZ – double tuck, chest up, small slide – balance check in the corner – front lay to front full, a bit too soft in the lay – switch ring to split leap full – 2.5 final pass, good control, some legs. Solidly done.
Ross – BB – UCLA – bhs loso series, very smooth, very solid – aerial to sissone, smooth – holds the full turn well and moves through it, nice choreo – switch to split jump with a little lean – side aerial to full, stuck. Strong one. Excellent.
Beam judges are like, “So glad one of us gave her bars a 9.950 so we don’t have to ignore that lean and give this a 10.”
9.925
Leydin – FX – AZ – front tuck through to double tuck, a bit of legs, good control – hitting her split positions – double pike, a bit of a bounce, good chest position. 9.900. The entire UCLA floor rotation just got 10s.
Ohashi – BB – UCLA – bhs bhs layout 2 feet, large break this time with a lean and a leg-up wobble – switch to split, hit – aerial with a check – bhs loso full, stuck. 9.800. Shout out to the judge who only took .1 on that giant wobble on the layout.
Berg – FX – AZ – front 2/1, a bit of a slide forward – 1.5 to layout, hit, not super high – rudi to split jump, hit, some ragged shape. 9.900
After 3: UCLA 148.275, Arizona 146.950
UCLA pretty blah on beam again, which is weird because it should be their best event by 80 miles. Mistakes from Flatley and Ohashi, a few wobbles elsewhere. Arizona goes 49.225 on floor to match UCLA’s beam number. Still an outside shot at a 196 with a big beam routine.
UCLA would need 49.725 on floor to hit a 198 here, and I would not be that surprised if it happens.
Rotation 4
Leydin – BB – AZ – wolf turn full, some arm waving – solid leap landings, a bit of back leg – bhs loos series, nice amplitude – side somi, small lean – pike jump to back tuck, holds it well, chest down but nice absorbing control – 1.5 with a lunge. 9.675
Frazier – FX – UCLA – full in, chest up, has obviously enough power for it – but a bounce back – whip through to double tuck, really secure landing. I like her in the leadoff spot for UCLA because it’s not the cleanest or most secure landing, but it’s big and impressive can snatch a high number and bump everyone else up. Double pike, solid.
Like that. 9.925. Now you have to go higher for the people who don’t have an obvious out of control error on their first passes.
Leung – BB – AZ – bhs loso, secure series, nice form – switch to switch combination, a struggle with a check, and will get deducted for not hitting split on second one – cat leap to side aerial, strong – 1.5 with a hop.
Kramer – FX – UCLA – front 2/1 to front pike, hit, keeps back foot down well on front pike, not her smoothest front pike but nothing obvious to take, 1.5 to layout, lovely, very secure landing – switch side to popa – rudi to extension jump. Nice. 9.925
Davis – BB – AZ – falls on bhs bhs loso series. Will have to count Leydin’s 9.675 now. Second fall on kickover front.
Ross – FX – UCLA – whip to double tuck, good, chest up – 1.5 to layout, also controlled on landing – switch 1/2 to popa, nice positions, she’s having quite the little day isn’t she. This is going to be the high AA score of the whole season the way things have been going – double pike, a little slide and chest, strong showing.
9.950 with a 10/9.900 split. So she got at least one 10 on three events.
Freidin – BB – AZ – loso series, hit, a bit of knees – switch to beat – fall on side aerial. It’s all coming apart now.
Dennis – FX – UCLA – piked full in, out of control on landing with two lunges back and a possible OOB. That looked out to me but we see no flag. Let’s see. front full to layout, stuck, very strong second pass – leap positions high and easy for her – double tuck, also controlled on the step back, chest up. Shame about first pass.
Did get docked for OOB for 9.750. Shout out to the judge who went 9.900 before the OOB.
Cowles – BB – AZ – aerial to beat, smooth – bhs loso series, good, smallest lean – switch to split, hit – gainer front layout full dismount, stuck
Hano – FX – UCLA – DLO, good control on landing – front full to 1/2 to run, a little low on the 1/2, has the control overall – split leap full to wolf jump full, around well, hitting positions – double pike, lunge back, keeps this one in bounds
9.950 OH COOL FUN.
Hendrickson – BB – AZ – beat jump to split jump 3/4, a bit of back leg – bhs loso series, very secure, some feet – solid full turn – hits side aerial – switch to split 1/4, a bit of back leg there – gainer full, stuck.
Ohashi – FX – UCLA – split leg DLO, comes in a hair deep this time with a little adjustment – middle pass combination is as secure as always – switch ring to switch 1/2, smooth positions – 1.5 to 1/2 to drop split. Great routine. Not her very best first pass. Let’s see.
Oh look. A 10. I think that’s her third-best floor of the season for me.
FINAL: UCLA 198.025, Arizona 194.975
It fell apart on beam for AZ. UCLA with a few good rotations, bars was the highlight in this one. The best early-lineup routines of the season. Some nice moments in the second 1/2 of vault. Floor was normal, fine, good, solid, which of course means 49.750.
Anyone know the Ohio State/Nebraska live scores password? I checked OSU’s Twitter and didn’t see it listed.
I didn’t need a password for their live scores
It’s no longer asking me for a password either. How strange.
Nice to see a lot of support on both sides in the PSU vs. UM meet. Better atmosphere than in many other meets where it is nearly dead silent (outside of their teammates) for the away team.
I’m going to be really salty if Wojcik doesn’t get regular season All-American on vault.
As someone who doesn’t watch a lot of Big 10 it is so clear how much lower they are scored for similar routines very quickly…..
Why are you only comparing them to SEC? PAC 12 and Big 12 have equally high scores. I mean no SEC gymnast has a 10 yet this year.
Yep, the SEC has been showing some restraint this year. Not perfect, but the face Trinity hasn’t received a 10 at HOME yet is shocking and then no other UF gymnast hasn’t either.
Though both UF and LSU have made errors on key routines this year which may have contributed to their restraint. Kentucky home judging is a bit more cracky than they traditionally have been in the past.
Now UGA home scoring is the worst when it comes to crack scoring in the SEC this year.
Am I the only one who the feed would just keep stopping (I have internet issues/everything else works). Sucks. After many refreshes and reboots of my computer, I give up!
I meant to say I have NO internet issues lol
Same!
I also gave up because the feed had issues literally every 3 minutes. It’s not my device(s) or my internet.
Fantastic quality feed for the Arizona @ UCLA Meet for those without Pac-12 network. http://oklivetv.com/pac-12-network-live/
omg thank you so much!
If you are looking for something none geoblocked, you can check out the pac 12 youtube live stream! For me in Europe it means watching in the middle of the night, but they often have replays during the afternoon (afternoon in europe)
What deductions did I miss in McLean’s floor?
I’d like to know too!
One judge gave her a 9.85, another a 9.7. Weird.
Idk 9.95 seems right to me for Wojciks vault. Her vault a few weeks ago was a 10 but we can’t just be giving retroactive scores
agreed. great stick but the leg separation when she is going over the vault is a worthy deduction.
Amen Spencer. Either you go all in, or just don’t.
According to their Twitter, it looks like UCLA is putting Tratz up last on vault, I’m assuming for score-building purposes. I don’t really understand this. To me, score building should be used for people who have very small form errors that tend to get deducted earlier in the lineup or have simple but clean routines that don’t score super high earlier in the lineup. Tratz tends to incur deductions primarily due to large bounces back on the landing. I don’t see how putting her later in the lineup is going to minimize those deductions.
Okay, never mind. That makes a lot of sense to put her last since they didn’t know whether she’d do the full or the 1.5.
They don’t need to do that – inflated scores anyway
UM, Arizona is way more into this LGBTQ/Inclusion thing than the home UCLA with rainbow face tattoos? And I love their leos.
Should we read into the those Arizona gymnasts without the rainbow tattoo don’t support LGBTQ?
I haven’t seen anyone within the face sticker. Some have it further back between the corner of the eye and hairline.
Yes, I take back the remark about no one wearing it. I had a bad view originally. Everyone has them 🙂
I was thinking the same thing!
Outside of handing out colored pom-poms, what exactly makes this a Pride meet? UCLA has normal leos, normal warm-ups, no rainbow ribbons in the hair, etc. Arizona at least has the face tattoos.
Are they donating proceeds of tickets to a cause or is this seriously just some kind of PR grab?
I wonder if they’re doing something later in the meet? They put way too much publicity on this just for pom poms…
I would be shocked, just absolutely shocked, if UCLA did something for PR reasons.
Well on Bruin Banter this week Marg F. talked about how her floor routine is a tribute to her LGBTQA friends back in New York.
What happened to Ohashi doing AA? She’s not listed on bars.
I’m wondering if it was a PAC 12 network mistake. The UCLA twitter didn’t have her in bars in the lineup posted before the meet.
Is Walker going to be the next UCLA head coach with Lane and Wieber as assistants? I would think Wieber could potentially get some looks by other programs, as well.
*Waller — sorry!
I really, really hope so
I would assume that’s the plan as they groom Wieber to eventually take over in a few years.
Why would Waller retire so early? He’s not that old. It would be odd for him to take a head coaching role only for a couple years and then hand it off to Jordyn.
My only question is can he keep his club gym while being a head NCAA coach? I’m wondering if there is an NCAA policy against it. I know football coaches can’t formally coach high school kids — they can host clinics, but even that is regulated.
I could see Bev Plocki retiring sometime soon at Michigan. After her husband’s health scare and the recent, um, controversies at Michigan, I could see her not staying too much longer. Michigan would likely look at Elise Ray or Jordyn Wieber — and if it’s Ray, I could see Jordyn going to Washington, especially if Waller is the head coach.
Jordyn isn’t qualified or ready to be a head coach at this point and should have more seasoning as a PAID assistant coach (I understand she is just a volunteer coach right now – is she in grad school going for a Masters?)
At least in my opinion the coach should have some actually experience and several years proving themselves before being handed a prime gig at a major school. I don’t even think Jordyn is read to run a Div 2 or 3 program but I’d rather see her do that (there’s more to being an NCAA head coach then leading the floor team) for a few years and work her way up.
I don’t count CKC at Georgia because that situation is unique and I would bet good money on the fact a certain former head coach there had hand-picked CKC about 10 years ago to take over but the admin wasn’t ready so they needed to fill in a few years until the age gap between coach and gymnasts was a bit wider. JMO
I can see Bev retiring quietly (Sarah P and Greg M) after the season, but likely one of the assistants would take over there like at Alabama and Utah.
I expect DD to be the LSU head coach for eternity though. 🙂 She actually appears to be getting younger these days.
I think Wieber needs a few years for recruiting and compliance reasons — coaching is more than interaction with gymnasts. She also didn’t compete NCAA, which I think puts her at a slight disadvantage compared to CKC, Elise Ray, Tabitha Yim, or Sarah Shire. I could see Wieber being an assistant under Waller and then getting hired at another school as a head coach after a few years. Some school will be willing to give her a shot and it very well could be a Michigan or Washington looking for a new coach in 3-4 years or so.
Is it a big deal whether she’s paid or volunteering? My understanding is that NCAA only allows 3 paid coaches so to stay with her team, she has to technically volunteer while doing speaking or sponsorship gigs on the side. But even based on Miss Val’s comments in this meet alone, she’s treated as a full-time coach with huge responsibilities and decision-making power.
Well with one high-profile exception most volunteer coaches use the experience to eventually gain a paid assistant position followed by a head coaching position at a smaller school (Michigan, Washington wouldn’t qualify for this; more like Lindenwood, Texas Women’s or Alaska).
*** Volunteer coaches where a spouse is an assistant don’t really fit in to this either since they are basically there due to their significant other.
I really love Maddi Leydin for using Aussie music for her floor routine, she’s representing her home country well
This team really has some great choreo and music. Loving them!
Fuck these beam judges
Lost it at “tramp work” to be fair I’m two cosmos in at this point of the meet!
OKAY. This is why its hard for me to like UCLA. Yes, all the big teams, especially OU and UF get the benefit of the double in scoring ALL the time- but on routines that are good, not great. But UCLA has home judges that ignore mistakes- out of bounds, giant wobbles on beam, form breaks on bars- just zero deductions for them. Can’t stand it- makes it SO hard to like this team. They can win on their own and they’re good on their own- they don’t need the judges to help them.
Then don’t watch you seacow. Btw these aren’t home judges
Completely unnecessary. We can all have opinions without calling each other names.
The meet is at UCLA. So the judges are “home judges” for UCLA.
LaQuita routinely posts the most hateful comments on this blog. I wish Spencer could ban certain users.
LaQuita, thank you for always posting such lovely comments. I reference them all when teaching my children about inappropriate, rude internet behavior.
literally this. ucla was the team that I started out rooting for when I started watching ncaa(bc of kyla and madison like a lot of people) but I can’t stand ucla anymore. this ridiculous and unfair scoring just makes it impossible for me to Iike ucla which is a shame cuz they have some amazing gymnasts.
YES! UCLA get the the same, if not more, scoring leniency as the other big teams yet it is their fans (mainly on twitter) who are constantly complaining about the scoring of OU and UF.
I am so worried that UCLA is going to get so many ‘Carol’ scores to win the Championship because its Miss Val’s year despite UF and OU looking better than them.
Assuming they all make NCAAs and Four on the floor, If UCLA, Florida and Oklahoma are all on, theyll be neck and neck throughout the meet. It’s not that UCLA is worse than Florida or Oklahoma, it’s that they are less consistent as a team. My only concern is that the “Val’s Final Bow” publicity will be enough to give her one last championship, even if another team ends up being better on the day. like Madison is part of another “Final” team. I like Val and I like UCLA but I hate how Val, whether or not she intended to, has turned this season into the Miss Val show.
I love whining about scores with best NCAA fans but this meet really hasn’t been offensive to me. A lot of realistic scores…. I expect floor to go crazy though.
I’m having trouble feeling like ANYTHING today is over scored at UCLA after that Georgia meet yesterday, which was an actual joke and basically essentially cheating.
Outside of Vega’s 9.975, I didn’t think any of Georgia’s scores were that crazy. And quite honestly Frazier’s 9.925 seemed more of an overscore on floor with that first pass than Vega’s 9.975.
Dickson got a fancy low (but not low enough) score which ended up counting after a fall – that’s what makes it worse because her score actually affected the final outcome.
Not that the over score was OK because it would affect the AA standings and perhaps keep her above other gymnasts who didn’t make a glaring error and could have moved ahead of her is she was scored correctly. But since NCAA is about the TEAM this is less offensive.
Her 9.625 on beam? You can’t really get much lower than that for a beam routine with one large break. Heck Ohashi had a huge balance check and went 9.8.
Don’t blame the girls for the judging, slag. Don’t root for them if you don’t want to
Nice. Appreciate the language. Sorry for having an opinion (that other people agree with). Notice I said they were good and didn’t need the judges to inflate their scores.
This was almost a legitimate comment and then you were insulting.
I don’t see much offensive scoring going on at this UCLA meet….. One can always find deductions but nothing out of the ordinary or extreme….
It seems like bars and floor judges gave anything that didn’t have a huge error a 9.9+. Routines that would go 9.85 for another school go 9.925 for UCLA. UCLA was great, but that wasn’t a 198 to me.
Which school though? Seems like Michigan is the lone standout among schools that are typically in the top dozen-ish.
IMO some of UCLA’s gymnasts really do have such excellent execution and form that if they hit, they should be in the 9.9s. For example, I’m ok with Ross’s vault scoring (I’d also be ok with it a bit lower) because her form in the air is really outstanding.
But not ALL of them have great execution – and yet most get scored as though they do :(.
Agree. I think that most scores were reasonable at UCLA today- but Ohashi’s beam? 9.8 with two major errors? She looked so disappointed after her routine and to see a 9.8 posted must have been like “what??” even to her. It’s reminiscent of when she went OOB and not getting a deduction.
And food for thought? Adding 0.05 to every score on each event is an entire point increase overall. So little inflations and “benefit of the doubt”s do matter, even for the top teams.
Floor got outta hand tho….
So UCLA did nothing to make this a pride or inclusion meet. I give props to Arizona and Taylor Spears for actually doing something for theme.
Shame on UCLA for using this as a publicity stunt to try to get people in the seats and gain more “PR”. Disrespectful. I hope someone in the media calls out UCLA for this stunt.
While they did not wear the rainbow flag colors, what other teams has made the effort do an inclusion meet? Have you seen UCLA have new leotards other than post season? You’re truly just nitpicking.
UNC had one last year that was awesome.
UCLA did nothing besides saying this an inclusion meet.
Also, other programs have been doing pink out meets for years and they get really into them. Money generally goes to local charities and cancer survivors are invited and introduced. UCLA could have done more (or really anything). It’s not a theme meet if there’s nothing related to theme.
Wright’s vault, Hano’s bars and floor were cray; secondarily Dennis and Frazier on floor and Ohashi on beam. Otherwise scores were sane and a few actually came up lower than I expected.
I’m sorry – but they deserve 49.75 for floor. They are that much better than everyone else. You can nitpick but at end of day, I think most audiences would wanna watch them over any other team.
This isn’t a game show. Shouldn’t be “bc the audience likes them.” This is a sport. Sports have rules.
DUH. Obviously. I think it is obvious they have the difficulty and skills and as Spencer put it, it was a normal day for them. A normal day for them is 49.75.
49.75… I do believe Spencer was being sarcastic….
BUT It is a sports event not a Broadway Show – It’s great that it’s entertaining but in the end the Judging needs to be accurate and fair. There were so many overscores it is absurd. Wright vault at 9.875 with large step and other issues; Hano Bars, Frazier FX at 9.925 with obvious errors; I would LOVE TO SEE OHASHI STICK A LANDING or at least only pop up once – NOT A 10. Maybe they need to change the judging to a figure skating mode with 2 sets of scores – tech. and showmanship. Then at least there could be even ground
Nope.
Nope
“They deserve the scores.”
Riiiiiiiight.
NOPE
Nope
Spencer should do a direct comparison of UCLA’s 49.750 floor vs. Florida’s 49.725 floor this week and see how they match up and what the scores would’ve been if scored more strictly.
I thought Florida’s road floor score at Alabama was about as fancy as UCLA’s home floor scoring this time.
Yep.
While I don’t want to be presumptuous, I think Spencer was being a bit sarcastic. A ”normal day” shouldn’t score 49.7+. But, it was just a normal day and the scores were outrageous.
Bottom line, if you think UCLA was scored accurately today, you are obliviously biases.
Every team is overscored. You are basing comments on how the rules are written. I am basing comments on the reality of these judges are scoring across the country. If you don’t think UCLA is comparable with Oklahoma and is pushing to be #1 on floor, then you are obliviously biased. Of course Spencer was being sarcastic, but he wasn’t about the “normal day”. And a normal day for UCLA is at the top of the pack on FLOOR. (I never commented on other events). Period.
Counter arguing that “every team is over scored” as a defense to UCLA being over scored still means UCLA is overscored.
Ohashi’s first pass- you think there’s no deduction there?
One judge giving Dennis a 9.9 for an out of control landing. You think all those steps were only .1?
Again. Biased.
Every team (with the exception of the mighty 3) get a bit over scored but not to the level or frequency of the protected 3 schools at the top. I actually paid Flogym their outrageous fee this month (and I feel used and dirty for doing so) to watch a few other meets. I watched LSU and Utah at their quad. a few minor score bumps but nothing like what I watched today. Skinner had a small slide and received the usual.1 deduction. S. Wright lunged forward and had other form issues and gets a 9.875. That’s a joke. Missy R was beautiful on bars and gets a 9.925 a good score and Hano gets a 9.9 for that! Watch finegan and compare scores. Also Wojciks vault is beautiful and has never received a 10. Skinner on floor – no 10; Finegan – no 10 – There is no way to say that “all schools” get the same overscores. It does not happen. This year it is out of control for UCLA, FLA and OK – beyond anything in the past.
OK, one more time, since you have reading comprehension issues. I am basing my comments on the reality of the scoring, not on a fantasy world where the COP is followed to perfection (DUH it isn’t). I acknowledge once again (repeatedly now) that there are deductions that weren’t taken. But what matters MOST is the team rankings. And that is where the score is appropriate. Reply or not, I’m not going to be checking or replying further.
Thanks for clarifying. I originally didn’t understand, but now that you wrote in all caps I understand perfectly.
Wait… To this “49.75” person:
First you are saying that 49.75 is a realistic score, then you’re saying that scores don’t matter and its only rankings that matter, then you criticize the other’s person’s reading comprehension skills?
Your logic is about as crazy as the judges scoring.
Regardless of whatever random criticism given, the scores do matter. A lot. They determine who gets seeded where in post season (and for lower tier teams, if they even get to compete in post season). For UCLA it probably doesn’t matter since they’re at a level where even an off competition will allow them to advance past regionals, but for every team outside of the top 3, whether or not they win a random duel meet counts for nothing if they can’t get the scores they need.
I would also add that scores matter for regular season All-American awards. While fans likely don’t care about them, athletes do. So the teams that receive generous scoring every single week are at a large advantage.
All I’m saying is that genuinely I think if Maggie Nichols had two big wobbles on beam, she wouldn’t have ended up with a 9.8. And if she went out of bounds, she’d get deducted.
Are all of the big teams overscored and given the benefit of the doubt? Yes. I think we can all agree on that.
But does the judging with UCLA go beyond even that with judges turning a blind eye and not even deducting? Absolutely.
Feel free to respectfully disagree.
I’m not sure I’m ready to fully disagree with you just yet. But, as a note, I was in attendance at the Jan. 21 UCLA meet and the line judge did not signal the OOB. I see that incident less as the judges willfully ignoring an OOB and more as the fault of the line judge because it wasn’t one of those super clear, foot completely OOB. So the scoring judges went by the line judge’s call. Was it wrong? Yep. But it’s on the line judge, not the scoring judges. And, frankly, I see a lot of comments on this blog that mention this incident without also being specific that the line judge didn’t raise the flag.
I was also at this afternoon’s UCLA meet. Katelyn did, in fact, register some surprise/disbelief at her beam score. No idea if that came across the feed (guessing it didn’t).
Here’s a question for you, though, mlb (with some preamble). I watched the Florida meet last night on video. I watched UCLA’s meet live. (And, I suppose, I should watch the video of the UCLA meet when it’s available, and I will.) My first instinct, though, having watched Florida’s floor and UCLA’s floor, is that UCLA’s was the better rotation. Florida got a 49.725 for what Spencer also called a “normal” day. Do you also have a problem with Florida’s floor score this week?
I don’t agree with your example at allllll. Maggie Nichols is phenomenal but I think is she as overscored as any of the top gymnasts, maybe more as she benefits from ideal lineup placement on all four. I think she’d have had a 9.85 for Ohashi‘s 9.8 routine.
I actually think Oklahoma is a very close contender for most overscored team.
Mina- yes I do think they were overscored as well, and I think that this week UCLA had the better rotation between the two. (And to clarify the OOB- the line judge is a judge, and I think she was so captivated by the routine she missed it and didn’t raise the flag- not willfully helping, but not actually doing the job either.)
To be fair, Nichols feet touched the ground on her bars transition week one at Arkansas. You could literally see the marks in the chalk on the mat under the low bar. There was no deduction at all. Sometimes mistakes happen and judges do miss things.
No one who watches college gymnastics is actually judging based on the COP because we KNOW it isn’t applied as written. Just looking at it in the scorescape, UCLA gets scored unfairly. Of course, all of the Big Three get crack scoring (though in my eyes UCLA is the worst of even them, but they’re definitely all fighting pretty hard.) But to say the 49.75 is in line with the scoring Utah’s gotten this season? Bama? LSU? Michigan? No, it’s just the Big Three who make a context where that scoring makes sense.
Yes I think it’s fair. UCLA is about .05-.1 better than those schools on every routine. They have no deductions on leaps and dance. That’s a huge difference.
Finnegan got .025 higher against Mizzou than Marz got against U of A. Marz had an obvious landing error on her first pass, Finnegan had none. Finnegan’s leaps are excellent. Finnegan has better extension in her tumbling. Marz was in leadoff and Finnegan was at the end of the lineup (shouldn’t dictate scoring, but it does). You can’t convince me she (and other great gymnasts) wouldn’t be getting higher scores in a UCLA leotard. I’d even put Trin in that category, and she’s at FLORIDA.
First off, I would like to apologize for my name calling and bashing. It is completely below me and I’ve have been taught better to speak well. I offer an olive branch where we NCAA gym fans can get along, not take things so personally and enjoy this very short season.
I’m watching the UCLA meet late. Does anyone know why the Arizona athletes have “17” written on their upper backs?
Also: looks like Denver must be having a good meet! Well-scored, anyway.
Oh – Parkland. They explained. I hadn’t put it together.
Just a small point about Ohashi’s beam: I’ve seen two people comment that she had two big errors, but I disagree. She had one very large error and one small one. The bobble on the front aerial was not a large error. Sure, she didn’t connect it to her dismount series like she normally does, but she doesn’t need to for bonus or composition requirements, so there should be no deduction for failing to connect the aerial to the rest of the series. The bobble itself was small and worthy of a 0.05 deduction. I think there’s often a bias in knowing an athlete’s routines and thinking that if the athlete doesn’t do a connection she normally does she should be deducted, but that’s improper judging. The judges are supposed to evaluate the routine the athlete actually did, not the one they hypothesize that she intended to do. To be clear, I certainly agree that she was overscored for that routine. 9.8 is far too high for that near fall on her series. But I disagree that the check on the aerial was a large break deserving of a large deduction.
Lol at people raging at a team for scores that happen with literally every (D1) team and ultimately don’t even matter that much. Is it just cool to hate in UCLA now? Go eat a snickers
it does matter tho? crazy unfair over scoring can change rankings for regionals. plus it changes individual rankings too when gymnasts on certain teams go 9.95 every week even when they don’t deserve it while better gymnasts on different teams are low balled comparatively
So wrong, Michigan and Utah have not been over scored this year almost the opposite. Macy Roberts has yet to hit a 9.9 for a great floor routine and Solosky is every bit as entertaining as Ohashi and doesn’t crack the big scores. Don’t lump teams 4 – 12 in with 1 to 3, not even close.
None of the UCLA scoring seemed as egregiously inaccurate as Georgia’s on Friday. Plus the bad scoring in the Georgia-Kentucky meet really affected the final outcome, whereas I feel like often it’s bad on both sides so it kind of evens out. That meet really made me mad.
If you want to see a good example of home meet judging, watch Illinois @ Iowa. These judges deduct for Illi pretty accurately, but forget how to do that with Iowa.