Friday Live Blog – February 22, 2019

Friday, February 22 Scores Stream
6:00 ET/3:00 PT – Southern Connecticut v. West Chester
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [7] Georgia @ [3] Florida LINK SECN
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [9] Alabama @ [13] Kentucky LINK SEC+
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – Big Five ([15] Nebraska, [24] Penn State, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State) LINK FLO
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – New Hampshire @ North Carolina LINK ACC+
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – West Virginia, Ball State @ Pittsburgh LINK ACC+
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – Western Michigan, William & Mary @ NC State LINK ACC+
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – Bowling Green @ Central Michigan LINK CMU($)
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – Kent State, Eastern Michigan, Towson @ George Washington LINK FREE
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – Bridgeport, Ursinus @ Temple LINK
7:30 ET/4:30 PT – UW-Stout @ UW-La Crosse LC($)
8:00 ET/5:00 PT – Hamline @ Gustavus Adolphus LINK FREE
8:30 ET/5:30 PT – [5] LSU @ [21] Arkansas LINK SECN
9:00 ET/6:00 PT – [12] Oregon State @ [20] Arizona State LINK FREE
9:00 ET/6:00 PT – [17] BYU @ Southern Utah LINK FREE
9:00 ET/6:00 PT – Alaska @ Utah State LINK FREE
10:00 ET/7:00 PT – San Jose State @ UC Davis LINK FREE
10:00 ET/7:00 PT – Sacramento State @ Seattle Pacific LINK FREE

It’s a busy start to the day with two SEC meets and the Big Five competition all going simultaneously. Good thing you’ve got 7 eyes. Alabama/Kentucky is under-the-radar serious because Kentucky’s last two scores have been better than Alabama’s season high, and Alabama is not going to be able to stick around in the SEC top 4 without some 197s dropping immediately.

Also this happened. And I’m screaming. The Carol Address shall go down in history and will definitely work problem solved.

“It has come to our attention” is my favorite part. HMM HOW DID YOUR SPY NETWORK FIGURE THAT ONE OUT. My second favorite part is news of the invention of television. My third favorite part is that apparently the scores should start being better because people can see you, not because of like…professionalism or accuracy or fairness or anything.

Anthem time at Big Five.

Florida/Georgia starting and Alabama/Kentucky starting.

Rotation 1

Chant – VT – UF – Tsuk full, a bit of a crazy landing with a raised leg-up behind her, some chest down and piking throughout. 9.775

Roberts – UB – UGA – toe  to toe shap, godo legs, to bail, a bit of loose back but nice vertical – solid hs on high – DLO, step back, a pit of whipping. Good. 9.825

Hit from Giancroce for Alabama on bars. Bounce back on dismount.

Reed – VT – UF – Y1.5 great distance, step forward, medium size – some deep legs  – strong form in the air. 9.875 still.

Schild – UB – UGA – a sbit rished first hs – toe on to Ray, hit, a tad close, good extension – high Pak, again just a little bit of legs – strong final cast hs – DLO, a bit short with a bounce forward, at least a full tenth on that bounce. 9.775

Graber hits Gienger on bars for Alabama, some leg break, the rest clean.

Baumann – VT – UF – 1.5 just did get it to her feet – had some crazy legs in the air, came in pretty deep but saved it with a lunge back. Won’t be a great score though. Still 9.800

Snead – UB – UGA – clear hip to tkatchev, hit, not the biggest but super clean – bail is lovely, good hs and legs together – hitting hs – DLO, pikes it down a bit to find the stick and does.

Strong controlled landing from Davis (UK) on her full on vault.

Schoenherr – VT – UF – best 1.5 of the lineup so far – just a bit of a hop – some better legs, just separates a little at the end. 9.850

Al-Hameed – UB – UGA – hits her gaint full to tkatchev well – holds her bail position at vertical really well despite a little bent elbows – short cast on hs – giant full, good finish position, into stuck double tuck. Strong

Boren – VT – UF – pretty good 1.5, a small slide back, but looked a bit better in the form than it was early in the season. Still some elgs. 9.925

Stuart – VT – UK – gooood 1.5, step to the side.

Dickson – UB – UGA – falls on her Ray, so big.

Kylie Dickson going simultaneously for Alabama on bars – really nice Tkatchev and sticks her dismount this week. Strong.

Thomas – VT – UF – Y1.5 – still can’t get the landing, a large bound forward and to the side, still her great form. 9.825

Gaskins – UB – Bama – nice shap to pak, just a bit of legs on the pak, 1/2 turn on low bar, a bit of an arch position there – finishes DLO, holds the stickw ith some feet.

Oakley – UB – UGA _ great first hs – toe on higgins to piked jaeger, great release, a little late on higgins – hits a solid Pak – nice verticals overall – finishes FTDT, stuck. Strong routine. Well. 9.950

After 1: Kentucky 49.225, Alabama 49.200

After 1: Georgia 49.300, Florida 49.275

Surprise here is Georgia moving ahead of Florida after 1 rotation. Georgia had the fall but got hits from the rest. Scores willing to go big for Oakley, so we’ll see what happens to Florida. Florida brought out six 10.0 starts on vault and hit all of them, though the landings still aren’t there to get the scores, which were still pretty charitable.

Nebraska opened vault with a full this week, not a 1.5. Hit. MVC did her 1.5 in the second position, hit with lunge.

Rotation 2

Magee – VT – UGA – hit full, a hop but not as much as we’ve seen – good layout shape. 9.775

Desch lands short on her VT for Alabama, lunge forward

Boren – UB – UF – hit tkatchev, a little close? – clear hip to bail, clean legs together as always – rushed the final cast HS – DLO dismount, small shuffle. 9.850

Ward – VT – UGA – Tsuk 1/1 – good job, bounce back, stronger layout position than Chant had, chest up better. 9.825

Hundley – UB – UF – toe Shap to pak, caught her pak pretty close, muscles out of it but will be a deduction, saves it well – Shap 1/2, good – FTDT, holds the stick.

Lots of bounces on the 1.5s for Nebraska but they’re hitting.

Vega – VT – UGA – bounce back on her full – a bit of legs as usual in the air

Schoenherr – UB – UF – big jaeger, a bit of feet, great height – one iffy handstand – legs together well on bail – misses final cast hs – fab double front 1/2 out dismount, stuck.

Quinn misses her 1.5 in the 6th position for Nebraska, but they had five hits before.

Dickson – VT – Omel – hop forward, not to big on the hop – a bit of the knee tuck that we expect – still probably a tenth on landing.

Skaggs – UB – UF – tkatchev with good counte r- pak, with a bit of a leg break – DLO, good stick.

Olsen – VT – Bama – DTY – nicely hit – a bit of a bounce back this time and the legs to take, but not too much, chest up, just a minor bounce back. Really should finally get a score for that one.

Lukacs – VT – DTY – back to back DTYs here, nice hit – good height – a little under rotated coming in with a bounce back and some chest position. Olsen’s was stronger, so interested to compare scores.

Olsen gets 9.800, Lukacs gets 9.900.

Thomas – UB – UF – toe Shap, great height – clear hip, nailed – pak, just a bit of legs – great hs – toe Shap 1/2, solid – DLO, stuck. Wonderful routine. A casual 9.975. I wouldn’t have gone 10 for that one.

Snead – VT – UGA – hop on her 1.5 –

Chant – UB – UF – tkatchev, hit, some feet – clear hip to bail, not bad, solid – small arch in final cast hs – DLO, a bit pikey and a hop back

AFTER 2: Kentucky 98.525, Alabama 98.325

#JusticeForShallon

If we’re complaining about any DTY getting underscored relative to others, it’s Shallon’s. Yeah she had knees, but so do the others. And this one was better.

AFTER 2: Florida 98.675, Georgia 98.650

Florida regains the lead with a 49.400 on bars. Georgia goes 49.350. Safe to say none of the judges at Florida checked their emails before this meet.

It was 49.050 on vault for Nebraska. Tied with Iowa after one event.

Rotation 3

Stuart – BB – UK – switch to double stag, secure – bhs loso, a bit of feet but very comfortably landed – hit first routine.

Shea Mahoney is down and crying for Alabama. She will not compete on FX.

Desch – FX – Bama – bounce back on double pike, nice height – 1.5 to 1/2 to split to front tuck, comfortably done – double tuck, stuck landing, some chest down –

Skaggs – BB – UF – hits double wolf, just a bit of topsy turvy arms – switch to split, gorgeous – bhs loso series, huge break, major bend at the hips, saves it but will need to drop this score – cat leap to side aerial to full, stuck. The rest great. 9.625

Jeremy’s shirt is the top-scoring routine for Florida tonight.

Perez-Lugones – FX – UGA – back in the lineup this week – double pike, clean in the air, secure landing – 1.5 to layout, controlled step – switch side to popa, fairly crooked on switch side – double tuck, controlled step, chest up. WORLDS better than her performances early in the year. 9.850

Tia Kiaku subbing for Mahoney on floor.

Hundley – BB – UF – aerial to sissone, usual solid, a little low back leg on sissone – bhs loso series, solid and hit – switch side, good position – 1.5, stuck. Her usual. 9.925. OK cool

Baumann – FX – UGA – double pike, a small slide abd a bit of knees in the air – double tuck, pretty large bounce back this time – switch ring to switch side – doubel L turn, a bit low for elite purposes but fine – 1.5 to layout with a dance out – 9.775

Boren – BB – UF – kickover front, solid and secure – bhs loso series, no trouble – switch to straddle, hit – standing bhs with a check/arm wave – overturns her full turn to make it 1.25 – gainer full, stuck -9.900

9.9s for EVERYONE!

Snead – FX – UGA – double pike, clean, smallest little bounce – wolf jump full to popa, a little low in wolf position, popa was great – rudi to shush, excellent – switch to cat leap – whip through to double tuck, very secure, just some chest down. Good.

Thomas – BB – UF – switch 1/2 to beat jump, perfect – one-arm bhs to loso, nice, squeezes to avoiud arm wave – aerial to wolf, excellent – 2/1, bounce back. Lovely. 9.900

Dukes – BB – UK – need a hit here after a low score from Korth – series great – aerial to split, hit – good routine – step on dismount –

Lukacs – FX – UGA – DLO, good control, not bad on the chest position – wolf hop full to popa, they’ve improved that, this was a solid position – whip to 1.5 to layout, stuck, just a bit of knees – switch side to popa – double pike, solid. Probably her best of the year. 9.900

Baumann – BB – UF – bhs loso and falls. They’ll have to count the Skaggs score now – Switch and switch 1/2 are excellent – Still gets 9.400

Hyland -0 BB – UK – switch to split, gorgeous – cat leap to aerial, small lean correction – bhs bhs loso, arm wave and lean – got the hit they needed.

Dickson – FX – UGA – double arabian – landed a bit short with a shuffle/stumble back to save – 1.5 to layout, a little flatter than usual this time – switch and popa are well very done – double pike, small slide back. Not her strongest. Still gets 9.825

Clapper – BB – UF – bhs loso loso, hits the series, a little softer knees and wriggles in the breeze a bit – switch to split, hit – side aerial to full, a bit short with a hop. 9.825

After 3: Kentucky 147.800, Alabama 147.575

Alabama loses another touch after a hit floor rotation but everyone had some landing issues.

Vega – FX – UGA – double pike, solid and clean, control – 1.5 to layout, short landing on the layout, still tries to go into a leap but kind of low with a shuffle- switch ring to split full – split 1.5 – double tuck, little bounce

Florida just 49.175 on beam after counting the Skaggs score.

Georgia had a bit of a problem from Dickson on floor but several of them with impressive showings, so the score will be high.

Has there even been a meet at Florida where the live scores successfully worked through the entirety?

Rotation 4

Klopfer – BB – Bama – wolf single, slow but secure – aerial to bhs series, works through it pretty quickly – finishes side aerial to full, stuck.

Snead – BB – UGA – hits her three series comfortably – switch to straddle, the usual low back leg on switch – front tuck, nailed – 2/1, landed short with a hop forward. Hit. 9.875 is pretty high.

Schoenherr – FX – UF – double pike, drops right into the landing, nciely doen – split leap full to wolf full, excellent positions there, high and around – 1.5 to layout, a bitter low on that layout with a dance out – rudi with an insane bounce back, large deduction – was going exceptionally well until that. 9.750

Dickson – BB – UGA – aerial to straddle 1/4, a bit slow in combination there – bhs loso series, larger break with a leg-up wobble – switch to split, nice positions – bhs 1.5 dismount, stuck, but some things to take there. 9.850 With a large leg-up wobble and another check.

Hundley – FX – UF – whip to double tuck, hit, bit of a slide – double pike, another minor slide, this one clearer – 1.5 to layout, dance out. Some slides to take there and an amplitude deduction if they want. 9.875. Yeah, not subtle on any of these scores.

Magee – BB – UGA – straddle to straddle 1/2, really nice – bhs loso, hit, a bit of a lean bend – switch to switch half, hit positions, a little low on amplitude – side aerial to full, a bit low there with a couple small steps back. 9.825. Yeah, I don’t get any of these scores.

Reed – FX – UF – big DLO, great chest up position, controls her step back to keep it in bounds – switch 1/2 to wolf full, a bit short of split for me on that switch 1/2 – front lay to rudi, great layout shape, controlled lunge – double pike with a bit of a bounce. 9.925

Really smooth series from Armbrecht on beam for Alabama, but they’re continuing to lose ground on Kentucky in this last rotation.

Oakley – BB – UGA – cool attempt at a mount sequence with her wolf turn in between, though there was a check in it – loso series, pretty in the air – arm wave – aerial, another check, leg-up this time – split to split ring, exceptional positions – gainer full, stuck. 9.875. I mean three checks in there.

Boren – FX – UF – DLO, perfect, nailed landing – 1.5 to layout, controls the step out pretty well – switch 1/2 to wolf jump 1/1, I’d like to see more elevation in that switch 1/2 position – double tuck, chest up, hit. That was a strong one, and they scores have been going high, so let’s watch. 9.925. Saner than I thought it would be –

Baumann – BB – UGA – side aerial to loso, leg-up break – wolf hop to switch side with an arm wave correction – 2/1, just a little under rotated with a step back. 9.925. WHY NOT. That’s probably the weirdest score of the day.

Korth – FX – UK – super control on her full in, chest down but very well landed – rudi to a floaty loso – double pike with a bounce. That will give Kentucky the win.

Thomas – FX – UF – DLO, high and excellent as usual, a bit of a slide – front full to layout, super floaty layout, excellent layout positions – split leap 1.5, perfectly around, great – double pike with a bounce. Nice one. Two deductions you probably have to take, not much else.

9.975 is COMEDY high.

Vega – BB – UGA – split leap jump – switch to split ring – hit – aerial to split, lovely rise in that split, excellent – bhs loso series, smooth and strong – side aerial to full, stuck. Really good one.

Baumann – FX – UF – double tuck, a little deep with a slide back – 1.5 to front full, a little steppy and some knees – switch 1/2 to popa, perfection – double pike, stuck, good chest up there. I mean, that one obviously wasn’t a 9.925, but the scores have been fictional for both teams all rotation and meet so let’s wait and see like a fun game…

9.825. They actually ave her a real score.

FINAL: Georgia 197.450, Florida 197.375

A big upset win for Georgia there. Neither team had a great day, regardless of what the scores try to tell us, but we saw a Florida team that had to count a large error on beam and did not have the landings on vault again. Georgia hit what it needed to do and has a magical ability to get home scoring even on the road.

Meanwhile…

FINAL: Kentucky 197.200, Alabama 196.650

It’s more of the same for Alabama. Yes, they didn’t get nearly the charitable scoring that the Georgia/Florida meet had, but they also were hopping all over the place on floor and had some landing issues across the board. The big concern is Mahoney at this point because they NEED her.

Now it’s time for LSU and Arkansas. WHO’S CHECKED THEIR EMAIL?!?!

Rotation 1

Yamzon – VT – Ark – full but a large bounce back – chest up fine. 9.725

Dean – UB – LSU – short first hs – hits Ray with some foot form – toe on to bail, closer to vertical on that bail this week – muscles up final hs but gets it pretty close to vertical – DLO, the usual straddle and some knees to come in short with a hop

Burton – VT – Ark – hits her full, bounce back, piked shape in the second 1/2, not a lot of distance. Important that she has developed a usable full for them.

Durante – UB – LSU – 1/2 turn to high jaeger, catches a little close great height – good hs afterward – pak, a bit of legs apart – 1/2 turn on low, a tocuh short – getting her verticals though – FTDT, stuck. Nice.

Shaffer – VT – Ark – Y1/2 – pace forward on her vault this time, but she has nothing else to take – probably a full tenth pace forward, but she has the distance and the form

Harrold – Ub – LSU – hit her zuchold but on toe 1/2 turn on high bar she went over the wrong way, recast, leg break deduction, major error – jaeger, a bit close – sticks double front this week of course but a major deduction. 9.675

Hambrick – VT – Ark – sticks her 1.5, very nicely done – just a bit of knees and a lower sit in absorbing the landing. Strong. 9.900

Edney – UB – LSU – hits hindorff – bail, very strong vertical position – solid final hs position – DLO – basically sticks it – her usual good one –

McGlone – VT – Ark – huge distance on her full, tries to sell the stick like a winner of best supporting actress, with a hop forward into her salute – 9.825

Ferrer – UB – LSU – 1/2 to to jaeger, hit – bail, a bit crooked on catch – some feet to take here and there – hits final cast hs – DLO, hop back. Better than last week. 9.850

Elswick – VT – Ark – huge 1.5, step forward, a bit of knees – did have the step but will also get rewarded for the superior dynamics there.

Finnegan – UB – LSU – Ray, strong as always – toe on, a little elbows – hits bail – the handstands this week are a little tighter than her usual position – DLO, perfect, stuck. 9.925

Penn State and Iowa both on track to be ahead of Nebraska at Big Five.

After 1: LSU 49.225, Arkansas 49.175

LSU will be relieved to get out of that rotation with the lead after having two low scores in the rotation. Finnegan of course the highlight. Arkansas a strong showing in the first rotation with two solid hits on the 1.5s, desperately needed in that lineup.

Rotation 2

Finnegan – VT – LSU – gorgeous full as always, a small slide back this time – big height this week – 9.850

Yamzon – Ub – ARk – small leg break on clear hip – tkatchev, hit but low – bail, a little floppy in the hips in teh air – good vertical – larger arch on cast hs on high bar but pulls it back – DLO 1/1, holds the stick with a little lean. 9.775

Harrold – VT – LSU – 1.5 – hits it, step back, medium sized – some knees, pretty much her usual. 9.825

Carter – UB – Ark – short first hs – 1/2 turn to jaeger, hit, some wlobes – a bit short on these hs – bail, legs together, small hip angle – final cast hs a bit closer – giant full, good maintaining vertical position – double tuck – close to bar, nearly holds stick

Kelley – VT – LSU – handspring pike 1/2, step back and chest position, solid. Should be another entry in the 9.8s. 9.850

Hambrick – UB – Ark – 1/2 turn really rushed through – piked jaeger to overshoot, hit well – goes over on her cast hadnstand on high – has to improvise a 1/2 turn, major deduction – FTDT, stuck of course

Cannamela – VT – LSU – nice powerful full, gets her stick, good hold, just a bit of piking and chest. 9.825 a bit tight.

Garner – UB – Ark – giant full to PERFECT gienger into overshoot – nice – very short cast hs on high – giant full to double tuck with a step forward. Gienger the highlight.

Edwards – VT – LSU – one of her better ones, small step to the side – a bit of knees, should be a solid score. 9.875

Shaffer – UB – Ark – good first hs – toe to toe shap, legs together- clean on her bail – hits final cast hs well – DLO, small hop. Really nice routine.

Edney – VT – LSU – 1.5 – one of her better vaults as well – nearly stuck it, just a little scoot-step back and the knees to take. 9.900

Laird – UB – off on her tkatchev – so that means they’re counting the 9.450 from Hambrick.

After 2: LSU 98.525, Arkansas 97.800

That LSU vault rotation was scored very sensibly. I barely know what to do with myself. Arkansas now dropped below 196 pace because of counting that low score.

Rotation 3

Yamzon – BB – Ark – cat leap to switch side 1/4, super secure – bhs bhs loso with a leg-up check – kickover front, very scure – gainer full, just does kind of hold the stick? – 9.800

Harrld – FX – LSU – front 2/1, keeps her step forward in bounds, some knees, a little shot horizontally – double pike, nice form and toes in teh air, controlled landing – switch ring to switch 1/2 – 1.5 to layout, a bit low in that layout with a lunge out. OK. 9.800

Hambrick – BB – Ark – bhs loso with a lean correction – stag hop to switch 1/2, hit – Alicia is very perplexed by this stag jump – side aerial, secure – straddle jump 3/4, hit as well – gainer full, stuck. Strong after the early check. 9.850

Desiderio – FX – LSU – DLO, steps OOB but there was no flag – chest down a bit with a hop – front tuck through to double tuck, deep position on landing but pulls it out – switch ring to split, very good positions – double pike, nailed landing, just some soft knees. 9.850.

Oh judges, you were doing so well earlier.

Elswick – BB – Ark – wolf jump to split 3/4, short of 180 position – bhs loso, secure and very clean in the leg extension, nice – beat to aerial. 2/1 with a hop back. 9.850.

Iowa with a huge 196.450 to win this Big Five. Nebraska second with 195.900.

Campbell – FX – LSU – 2.5 with a bounce forward, keeps it in bounds but a large bounce – double tuck, nice chest up and open shape, controls landing – switch 1/2 to popa, excellent positions – 1.5 to layout, a little low on layout after big 1.5, controlled landing. 9.875

Carter – BB – Ark – split to sheep, nice leg positions and toes pointed, not a ton of closure on sheep – bhs loso series with a bit of a lean – aerial with a pause – side aerial to full, stuck. 9.900

Edney – FX – LSU – double arabian, a little short with a step back, still not quite there on that pass but not a big deduction – 1.5 to layout, solid – switch ring to split full attempt, VERY short of split – double tuck, comes in short with a larger lunge forward. Not really there on floor this season so far. 9.650

Derrick – BB – Ark – bhs loso series, hit, good extended legs – full turn with peng leg finish – kickover front, stpe forward – split to split 3/4, well short of split on the 3/4 and fairly slow in combination – gainer full, stuck. 9.825 is very high there.

Finnegan – FX – LSU – 1.5 through to 2.5, very strong control on the 2.5 landing this week – double tuck, drops right into it, toes pointed, nice – switch ring to switch 1/2, lovely – double pike, stuck, excellent routine. 9.950

Burton – BB – Ark – aerial with a large break, large leg-up wobble and several swims, so that will be the drop score in this rotation. A few other little checks – stuck gainer full

Kelley – FX – LSU – DLO, good, controlled landing, chest well down, below hip level – front lay to front full, good control – split leap full to tuck jump, well short of split on the split leap – double tuck, short with a step forward, probably a tenth there. 9.750. OK, judges, you are forgiven. That was a reasonable score for a routine I thought would go a lot higher.

After 3: LSU 147.750, Arkansas 147.025

I really do think LSU needs to put Finnegan after Kelley. When Finnegan goes before Kelley, Kelley’s form and landing positions pale in comparison and she’s more likely to get hit for every little thing. Put her first, then the judges go crazy for the difficulty, and then they see Finnegan and are like, “Oh. 10.”

LSU is upset about the Kelley score. They’re like, “DON’T YOU KNOW THIS IS THE SEC?!?!?!” Potentially didn’t give her the dance combination.

Rotation 4

Desiderio – BB – LSU – aerial to split, good – bhs loso series, secure – switch to switch 1/2, switch leap is quite nice, switch 1/2 is short – cat leap the gainer full, holds the stick with a little absorb, good. 9.875

Yamzon – FX – Ark – double tuck, chest up, little slide – double pike, a bit stronger control on that one – front lay to front full, a bit of a dance out, solid showing

Dean – BB – LSU – full turn, hit – side aerial to bhs with a little check – switch to split 1/4, some back leg on those leaps – aerial, solid – side aerial to full, stuck. A second hit. 9.875 is high for those leaps.

Hambrick – FX – Ark – double tuck, nice chest up position, just does keep that front foot down – front lay to front full with a little dance out, some loose position on lay – double pike, stuck landing, some chest position. Good one. 9.850

Durante – BB – LSU – aerial to beat, smooth – bhs loso series, secure, nice extension – switch to split 1/4, fine positions, a little slow in combination – side aerial to full dismount, off line but stuck. Better than the first two routines, so we’ll see how these beam scores are going. 9.875. Not the same as the previous ones.

Elswick – FX – Ark – double arabian, very deep landing with a lunge forward but gets through it – double tuck, solid landing, some chest position – split leap 1/1 to wolf, a bit low in wolf position – front 1/1 to pike, dance out. 9.850

Edney – BB – LSU _ aerial to split, solid – bhs loso, solid – switch to straddle 1/4, some position deductions there – kickover front with a check, surprising as that’s usually her most solid part – 1.5 stuck. 9.850

McGlone – FX – Ark – DLO, controlled step back, a bit of a pike down in the second salto – double tuck, bounce back – hitting her split and straddle positions pretty well – front full to lay. 9.875. They can get back to 196 with this rotation here.

Campbell – BB – LSU – bhs loso series, pretty, extension is there – full turn, just overturned a tad – aerial to sissone, nice – switch to switch 1/2, strong positions but a balance check – 2/1, stuck. Pretty. 9.900

Shaffer – FX – Ark – double arabian, hits with a step to the side, just does keep it in bounds, a few position deductions in there – double tuck, bounce – lovely extension in leap positions – 1.5 to a front tuck final pass, really struggles to get that front tuck around, just barely does, super deep landing.

Finnegan – BB – LSU – wolf turn, good – major error on loso series but that was the MOST AMAZING save – large break, legs slipping and sliding all over the place, possible hand down on the beam – side somi, hit – stuck dismount.

Carter – FX – Ark – double tuck, slide back – 1.5 to front full, nice twisting shape, pretty pass – double pike final pass, a little step back but mostly good control. 9.950. OK guys, we get it, you started drinking.

FINAL: LSU 197.125, Arkansas 196.375

LSU won’t be particularly pleased with a low 197, even though it does the job of amping up the RQS. A little bit some more conservative scoring (i.e., actually trying), a little bit an off day, counting a semi-miss on bars, a few landing problems on floor, and the like. Arkansas had bars trouble but hit three pretty solid events and started to reap the benefit of being at home in the second half of the meet.

In other news, BYU stuck in the 48s through two events. Oregon State and Arizona State is TIGHT going to the final rotation, OSU leading by .075 but going to beam.

Alabama had two beam scores raised and ended with 196.800.

87 thoughts on “Friday Live Blog – February 22, 2019”

  1. Florida’s got a judge named Helena and a judge named Nelena today! That’s neat.

  2. BWAHAHAHHAA!! I too am living for that email. The very fact that they even have to raise it with judges in itself is horrifyingly laughable.

    Dear Judges – you had ONE job.

  3. Does anyone else remember Carol as being the one who tried to crack down on scoring 15 years ago? (after the 2002-04 era – one year i think something like 28 gymnasts scored 39.8 or better).

    1. I went back and checked my old spreadsheet from 2004: 21 scores of 39.8 or higher, from 13 different gymnasts. Here are the summary lines from 2004-2002 (working backwards):

      2004: 21 (Antolin (3), Kelly (3), Richardson (2), Pritchard (2), Vituj (2), Foley (2), McDonald, Wing, Burkholder, Byrd, Germaine, Rice, Ray)

      2003: 9 (Simpson (4), Willis (2), Burkholder, Kelly, Richardson)

      2002: 7 (Dantzscher (2), Kulikowski (2), Pickens, Ray, Fritzinger)

      Then:
      2005: 3 (Maloney, T. Schwikert, Burkholder)
      2006: 2 (Kelly, Kupets)
      2007: 0
      2008: 2 (Postell, Claire-Kearney)

      and after that I stopped paying attention for a while because it wasn’t so crazy any more. I posted the spreadsheet data a fair bit to do my little part to highlight the insanity!

  4. Anybody else really uncomfortable with the whole Carol thing? If I were her I would be horrified at how my name was being used

    1. I think there’s multiple regular NCAA judges named Carol, so horrified might be a bit over the top.

      Personally I think the joke/reference has more than run its course, but people seem to find it increasingly funny every time.

    2. Yes I am more than over the joke. I’m all for calling out bad judging but I don’t love that it is based on a real person.

      1. The thing is, it IS based on a real person, and her track record of grossly over scoring.
        And, if she is horrified, I’d hope she’d be horrified right into taking the necessary deductions and evaluating routines realistically.

  5. Typo – make that 18, not 28. It might have been 28 scores, not 18 individuals, but there were quite a few who, while great gymnasts, were not the ones you’d expect to see if those scores were appropriately rare.

    1. I got curious, so I looked back over Spencer’s Hall of 10s the other day. In 2003 three there were more than 80 10s, and there were over 90 in 2004. That is absolutely wild.

  6. I figured she’d just decided not to be the one trying to hold back the tides. NCAA gym scores seem to have an ebb & flow to them & eventually the backlash will result in a reset. Get used to more 9.7s for awhile when it happens, though. The high scores start flying when the average score trends too far upwards.

  7. Florida usually gets lumped together with UCLA & OU when Carol scoring is brought up but so far this season…

    8 – number of UCLA routines scored 10
    10 – number of UCLA routines scored 9.975

    4 – number of OU routines scored 10
    13 – number of OU routines scored 9.975

    ZERO – number of UF routines scored 10
    6 – number of UF routines scored 9.975 (with 4 of those coming on the road)

    1. I agree that OU and UCLA tend to get more rewarded in their showstopper routines than Florida. However, I think Florida hangs right with them for crack scoring in the 1-4 gymnasts in the lineup (and when the big routines have noticeable errors which would keep them out of the 9.95+ range). I do think they have the least cracky scoring of the Big Three, though, which I don’t think people really acknowledge (probably because of their legacy of crack.)

    2. OU was also without Maggie in one complete meet (4 possible 10s gone), and hasn’t competed vault/floor in the past several meets (more possible 10s to put them closer to UCLA’s totals).

      Considering Maggie almost always scores 39.800+ she’s the reason for the discrepancy between UCLA and OU in distribution of 10s and 9.975s. (Dowell also missed the Denver meet).

  8. I wonder if Trinity wouldn’t be better off trying a DTY since she has too much power to control the landing on the 1.5.

    1. Didn’t she just do a 1.5 in elite? That’d be something if she upgraded in college! (Though of course she’s still elite because she’s a queen.)

      1. She’s only competed a 1.5 in Elite, but since she is still an active Elite, I don’t think it would be unusual for her to upgrade. She’s also still only 17. I don’t think she’s even reached her full potential in power yet.

    2. I was wondering this myself. They always say she has too much power, which is why she can’t stick the 1.5…so maybe go for the double? I’m relatively new to the world of NCAA gym, so maybe there is a specific reason they don’t want to do this that I’m unaware of?

  9. I’m 99.50% sure (so a perfect ten) that by Knowledgeable Professionals, it means SPENCER. Spencer got the judges told off!

  10. Shallon Olsen’s 9.8 is complete bullshit in comparison to these other vaults. It’s not perfect, but it’s clearly better than a lot of these 9.9+s. Someone did not read the email!

    1. I think the UF gymnasium wifi is broken because the judges obviously haven’t received their email today based on the scores. 🙂

    2. I completely agree! Other athletes for other teams are also getting lower scores than some athletes, but Shallon is getting hosed on a whole different level. I feel like a lot of her vaults would’ve gone a full tenth higher if she went to a different school/were a different athlete.

    3. I really feel like shes been shafted all season on vault. If i was Shallon, i’d just do a full. Keep my DTY tucked away for worlds and bust out an amanar in Tokyo.
      I realize she isn’t perfect, but hers should be higher.

  11. Hmm. I wouldn’t have been mad if Trinity had gotten a 10 for that bar routine. Gorgeous.

  12. Did having 5 teams break the Elevate meet scoring? It seemed to work fine the first rotation but now that Penn State has entered after a bye in Rotation 1 it has capitulated after the first bars score for Nebraska was posted…

  13. I was not expecting this Florida Georgia meet to give me such sweaty hands!! Did anyone think it would be close?

    1. Scores are totally outta control! I feel like we had 8 different sets of judges in the meet, nothing was consistent.

      1. This is the thing that has been really bugging me this year. The scores have been trending up for the last several seasons, so that part is nothing new, but I feel like this year we’ve seen quite a few meets where the routines were not ranked correctly. That’s a bigger problem than score inflation in my book.

  14. Am I the only one who feels like Georgia on beam is getting more Florida home floor scoring than Florida on floor? (This is not to say the Florida judging is conservative, just comparatively.)

    1. Yes. Same. Scores high across the board, but UGA was getting literally impossible scores on beam. Weird scoring like this is especially annoying at such a close meet.

  15. I mean, the G and F meet scoring was nuts, I am excited for Georgia. They have had a rough few years and it’s great to see them hit routines.

  16. The scoring of Trinity has confused me this season. She has done multiple bars routines that absolutely would’ve been 10s if done by other athletes, but she’s never gotten a 10. On the other hand, she’s had multiple floor routines that have been scored extremely charitably. It’s so strange.

    1. Trinity’s DLO is IMO not the greatest way to end a bar routine – it’s so often whippy, sort of asymmetric in shape, and looks borderline out of control, even though she often sticks it. I have a hard time getting excited about 10s for her on bars just because she leaves me with that right at the end.

      Not saying the scoring for Thomas on UB isn’t out of wack compared to other athletes, but like, it’s easier for me to justify giving Ross a 10 on bars when her last skill is so textbook. And I think just Lehrmann and Kocian are the other 10s on UB so far this season?

  17. How can they give Ruby Harold a 9.675 for her bars? Can someone explain? I thought it should be 9.5 or 9.6.

  18. one judge went 9.8 for finnegan…what???
    besides that (and maybe a few other routines) scoring is actually very realistic at arkansas/lsu

    1. I’d like to see the judges try and justify a single deduction from Finnegan’s vault. I’m so sick of them scoring lineup order.

  19. WHERE IS FINNEGAN’S 10???? There were no deductions. So rude to give her a 9.95.

    1. they need to move her to the sixth spot, because after giving kennedi a 9.65 its hard to go straight to a 10. i don’t get it because sarah consistently puts up 10 worthy routines, so she should be the anchor, not mckenna. I can’t help but think its because she’s MARY LOU RETTONS DAUGHTER and her injury and stuff.

      1. If McKenna is getting a “she’s Mary Lou’s daughter” scoring bump then LSU really needs to put her routine up fifth on floor to wow the judges with her power to maybe throw the 10s.

        Then put Finnigan up in the anchor/sixth slot with her perfect lines and form, which is better than McKenna’s, forcing the judges to throw back-to-back 10s.

    2. When she stuck the double pike cold, I thought they must give it to her! It’s just arbitrary unwillingness to throw a 10. They aren’t taking legit deductions because there are none to take.

      1. It’s so irritating. I feel like Sarah is constantly underscored. She is one of, if not THE most consistent athlete in the NCAA. There are no form deductions with her. I guess she should paint UCLA on her leo to get a 10.

    3. it’s so frustrating to watch! i’d seriously love to see where those judges possibly took a deduction. if you only give finnegan a 9.95 for that routine you can’t justify giving more than 9.9 for another routine. absolutely no deductions in that floor routine

      1. Sarah has always been so underscored on floor. Last year she was scoring the same if not lower than Myia Hambrick even though Sarah had no form deductions, whereas Myia had piking in her DLO, for example.

  20. Sarah Finnegan could do nothing more than a forward roll on floor and I’d still think she deserved a 10.

  21. I hope DD sees sense and puts sarah in the anchor next week after Kelley’s 9.75. WE MAY SEE A 10 SOON

    1. I’d put Finnegan last in most of those lineups but especially FX – like Spencer says, putting her before the gymnasts who are more dynamic but have worse form highlights their form errors, and doesn’t do anything to capitalize on her precise form.

  22. I also feel like Kelley got less deductions when she did the full-in vs the double lay.

  23. I really feel like Reagan Campbell is so underrated. She is so beautiful on beam, great difficulty, form, extension, and better flow and choreography than most gymnasts in ncaa yet isn’t getting rewarded with her scores

    1. I agree re Campbell. I hope over the next couple years she becomes the new Finnegan, who also had a bit of a slow start to her NCAA career. (I realize she probably won’t become as amazing as Finnegan, but at least in that direction and continues to get added to more lineups)

  24. Sophia Carter is lovely on floor but how can you give her the same score as Finnegan???

  25. Still thinking about UF v UGA- Which score of the night was more cracky – Alyssa Baumann on vault or Rachel Baumann on beam?

    1. Ooooo that’s a tough one… I think they were equally questionable, but maybe beam, that whole rotation was questionable!

  26. I just looked at the Florida judge list – the Carol judging tonight is not the same one that I remember from 2004 – but I do remember people throwing Carol Ihde’s name out earlier this year as a high scorer, and I remember thinking that was a bit surprising, as I remembered the name from an attempt to crack down back then. I can’t find contemporaneous notes to confirm, but that’s the Carol I thought I remembered from before.

    So, anyway, my apologies if I’m confusing my Carols!

    (the info is no longer at the live scoring url above: I found at this final stats link instead: https://floridagators.com/documents/2019/2/22//index.html

  27. While the scores were a little wacky for the georgia florida meet, georgia was the clear stronger team tonight. they are doing headed for a peak perfomance at the right time, while florida is doing what they always do, peak way too early. they used to have a major problem with that and it’s happening again. georgia used to be expert peakers, and it’s happening again. i’m a florida fan, but georgia deserved that one.

  28. Spencer mentioned the close ASU/OSU meet going into the last rotation, and it ended just as good: OSU 196.65, ASU 196.625!

    OSU had a clunker routine on three events, but otherwise good rotations so they weren’t an issue. However, one of the Dagens (I think, it was one of the blonde ones anyway) seemed to injure herself on floor (but not a removing from the floor situation).

    ASU had easily their best meet of the year. Some of their bigger routines weren’t as crisp as possible, but they were solid all the way through and didn’t have the clunker rotation they’ve tended to have so far.

  29. I think what gets Trinity on Bars is her pak, it’s kinda archy and her legs are apart, every time I watch her routine I’m like: ooh pretty- yikes, that pak- ooh pretty. On vault it’s just the landing, same with beam. Her landings are still bouncy on floor so I’m not sure why she scores so high there. But once she starts sticking her landings on every event…I don’t see how anyone can beat her…her form is gorgeous!

  30. It will be interesting to see the scores at the UCLA/Utah meet. Utah home scoring has been reasonable if not a bit low. Hopefully it can be contested fairly.

  31. I really hope UCLA can defeat Utah WITH FAIR AND REASONABLE SCORING FOR BOTH TEAMS.
    I’m super, super tired of hearing Utah whining about UCLA being overscored, but I can’t really say that they’re unjustified in doing so. I *think* UCLA is a significantly better team than Utah this year, but we can’t really know that when their scores seem so goofy.

  32. I came to check if RQS was up and then read through all these comments. I caught the SEC double header on Friday and have to say scoring was just goofy in Gainesville but the last two routines- Hundley and Vega were spot on with those scores. If you didn’t watch pull Vega’s routine- she was clutch. But her score (and possibly Snead’s) was literally the only accurate score of that beam rotation. I’m also not sure why Boren’s floor score wasn’t the highest of the lot. That was a great routine and better than Reed to my eye.I felt like Thomas should have had two deductions- on the last pass she had a minor slide and her front foot cam up- that alone should have negated the 10.0 the one judge threw. I might have been fine with Lukacs going higher on floor but I thought Dickson’s was high and Vega’s just had a lot of small deductions the whole way through. The first two events were a little high but not as goofy as FX or Beam.

    The LSU-Arkansas meet hasn’t seemed to draw much comment beyond Finnegan and lack of score differentiation. I actually thought Arkansas had better floor routines/choreo on the whole. I wonder how much of that is McCool. If Arkansas ever has a hot night and some luck I think they will be right there with the Bama, UGA, and UK on beam and FX but will be a little behind on Vault.

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