Saturday, March 2	Scores	Stream
1:00 ET/10:00 PT – West Chester @ Ursinus
3:00 ET/12:00 PT – North Carolina @ William & Mary	LINK	FREE
4:00 ET/1:00 PT – [9] Michigan @ [5] Utah	LINK	P12N
4:00 ET/1:00 PT – [21] Arizona State, Yale, Cornell @ Penn State	LINK	FREE
4:00 ET/1:00 PT – [24] West Virginia, Temple @ [23] Ohio State	LINK	BTN+ FLO
5:00 ET/2:00 PT – Pittsburgh @ [11] Minnesota	LINK	BTN+ FLO
5:00 ET/2:00 PT – UW-Oshkosh @ UW-Whitewater
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [25] NC State, Rutgers, Brown @ New Hampshire	LINK	FREE
8:00 ET/5:00 PT – Southern Utah @ [18] Nebraska	LINK	FREE

Who’s ready for some more gymnastics? No one? Too bad. Here you go.

Michigan lineups as expected, only change from last week is Mariani leading off vault again instead of Heiskell.

Profiling senior MMG. And the floor highlight for her was that wonky layout pass from last week for some reason. Of all the skills. It would be very out of historical character if we don’t see MMG get a 10 today.

Ready.

Rotation 1

Lee – VT – Utah – excellent full, her good one, a clean stick. Totally nailed it. Great layout position. 9.925. I mean, it was great, but I don’t think you can go perfect for that.

Mariani – UB – Michigan – good first hs – clear hgip to very high tkatchev – one tight hs – pretty solid on bail hs – finishes FTDT, stuck. Good one. 9.850

Roberts – VT – Utah – nearly gets the stick on hers – small scoot – good power, has more distance than Lee (one of the reasons you can’t go perfect for that Lee one). 9.875

Maxim – UB – Michigan – toe on to tkatchev, solidly hit – good second hs – bail, just a hair crooked by nice toes and legs together – pretty solid hs positions – DLO, stuck. Good start for Michigan again. 9.825

Burch – VT – Utah – also nearly gets a stick on her full, smallest step – more form to take on the block than the first two, which can takes the score a little lower, still a good one. 9.800

Farley – UB – Michigan – good first hs – piked jaeger, nice height there – bail, a little short of vertical – nice positions and toes on hs – 1/2 turn into double front, bounce forward. 9.775. Large range there.

MMG – VT – Utah – Y1.5 – alllmost gets the stick on her 1.5, but I’d say saluted forward out of it a little too quickly with that lean in salute. The little bit of knees that will typically be taken as well. Gets the 9.950

Karas – UB – Michigan – toe on to toe shap to bail, legs right together throughout, very nice – good cast hs positions – DLO, stuck landing. Excellent routine. 9.925

Skinner – VT – Utah – DTY – almost has the stick this week as well – just a little scoot back – that little hip piking – form was fine overall. 9.950

Brenner – UB – Michigan – jaeger, caught, some closeness with elbows, nice position on the bail – solid final cast hs position – DLO, small hop back, pikes it a little in the air. 9.775

Tessen – VT – Utah – Y1.5 – deep landing again this week with a lunge back and to the side, so that should be the drop score. They had five good ones before that. 9.750

Wojcik – UB – Michigan – toe 1/2 (some back) to piked jaeger, high and well done – keeps legs together on bail, a little angle in the air coming in – nice final hs – DLO, a bit whipped out with a step back. 9.825

After 1: Utah 49.500, Michigan 49.200

The score Utah was looking for on vault for a strong performance with five people performing basically postseason level landings. Michigan 49.200 on bars is not bad, not as crisp in the landings as last week, some angle positions, but a solid hit rotation. Every Michigan gymnast has her legs totally pasted together on the bail without that little “I can get away with it” leg separation, which I appreciate.

So cool story, I had a power outage right before the second rotation started. Presumably Carol didn’t want me to see the scores she’s about to throw out, so she called in a favor from some of her demon friends. But we’re back up now.

Rotation 2

Mariani – VT – Michigan – great stick on her full, won’t score quite as high as Lee’s stick because she has a little less distance and a little more soft knees, but a great one. 9.900 a little high for me there, but they also went fairly high for Utah.

Lee – UB – Utah – hit first hs – hige piked jaeger to overshoot, solid amplitude – short final cast hs – 1/ into front giant 1/1 to double tuck, pinged off on double tuck and a fairly sizeable lunge back. 9.800

Maxim – VT – Michigan – one of her strong Tsuk 1/2s, just a little step on landing, nice body position in the air, just a separation on the block though. 9.825

Tessen – UB – Utah – lovely jaeger – nice vertical hs – hits vertical on bail as well, a little loose back – FTDT, hop back, but a solid one. 9.875

Brenner – VT – Michigan – Y 1.5, pretty good one, small hop forward to get herself in line – a knee form deduction to take. 9.825. These scores for 10.0 starts more conservative by far than we saw for Utah.

MMG – UB – Utah – good first hs – her big high deltchev – bail, still coming up a bit short of vertical on that one – FTDT, didn’t get much height but pulled it around with a stick. 9.925

McLean – VT – Michigan – still going with the full – sticks it, very well done, great distance, some knees. 9.900

Reinstadtler – UB – Utah – toe 1/2 to jaeger, great height – nice hs – bail, small leg break and a little short of vertical – FTDT with a bit of crazy legs, sticks well 9.925

Karas – VT – Michigan – Y1.5 – big sticcccckk? on her 1.5, nearly held it under control, just a little step back in salute – probably credit for the stick or close to it – a bit of knees – 9.875 is comparatively low? These vault scores are…weird?

Skinner – UB – Utah – big Ray, some elbows on catch – bail, legs togther – right final cast hs postion – FTDT, stuck. A couple more things than usual on the bars themselves, but the way things are going probably a big score. 9.925

Wojcik – VT – Michigan – a full tenth hop forward on her 1.5 this time, her usual strong form in the air – a bit of legs on block. 9.825

Burch won’t do bars. Dula out for the meet. Utah 49.450 on bars.

After 2: Utah 98.950, Michigan 98.525

Utah with another pretty solid bars rotation. Everyone had some things, but no one had anything major. Michigan had some really strong vaults in there, especially the fulls, to get up to 49.325, but the evaluation seemed rather…different. Like on judge only went .05 higher for Wojcik than for Tessen…

Rotation 3

Lee – BB – Utah – full turn – bhs loso series, super smooth, pretty extension – switch to straddle 1/4, secure – beat to side aerial to full, small hop in place. A little rhythm, not much else, super clean. 9.900

Funk – FX – Michigan – double pike, large bounce/stumble back out, keeps it in bounds – front full to front lay, a bit arched in layout – switch side to popa is excellent, above 180 – punch rudi, keeps that front foot down. OK but the first pass will cost. 9.775

Burch – BB – Utah – full turn, a tad of hesitation there – bhs loso series, secure, a bit of feet form – double stag – cat leap to aerial, smoothly landed – split jump to straddle 1/4 – gainer full, stuck. A really secure one for her. Some more form things than Lee, so I wouldn’t go as high, but solid.

9.900. This is showing the potential benefit of the strategy of putting Lee first. If the judges are there for her, she lifts everyone else. The thing is, you don’t expect them to go that high for Lee in the first spot normally.

Osman – FX – Michigan – full in, really solid, good chest up raise – switch side to popa, a little indistinct in switch side landing position – front tuck through to double pike, also secure – front rudi, small slide back. Her best floor. 9.900

Soloski – BB – Utah – aerial to bhs, pretty smoothly connected this time – hitchkick – switch 1/2, still some foot position things, it’s not quite there in extension – switch with a balance check – punch front full with step forward. 9.725

Large range. Interesting. Maybe question over leap combination? Not sure.

Brenner – FX – Michigan – full in, also showed her control on the landing, some chest position – 2.5 to front tuck, controlled step – a bit of legs – switch side and popa, good – double pike, controlled once again, great landings. Majority od deductions will be for those little leg position things. 9.875

Randall – BB – Utah – bhs loso series, good, maybe smallest shiver – beat to sheep jump, legs pretty far apart in sheep – switch to split, strong positions –  Rulfova is strong this week – 2/1, fairly large lunge back, full tenth lunge on that one, so won’t be a huge score but a usable one. 9.850. So we’re back to going high again.

McLean – FX – Michigan – round off double tuck with a bounce back – front lay to front full with a bit of a dance out, GREAT amplitude and position on front layout as always – split leap full to popa, good positions, a little travel – double pike, super secure landing, a bit of feet. Strong. Scores willing to go high so far on floor.

9.825. Odd range there too, and inconsistent with the rest of the rotation scores.

MMG – BB – Utah – switch to split, hit – bhs bhs loso series, right on – aerial, solid – full turn walks out of it – 1.5, lands a bit short with a step back. 9.850

Wojcik – FX – Michigan – double pike, super solid – front 2/1 to front pike, exceptionally solid – rudi to straddle, one of her very strong floor routines, great control on landings

Skinner – BB – Utah – bhs loso, the usual knee deduction, almost a wobble but not – side aerial to sissone, a little tight in position but secure – full turn with arm wave adjustment – switch to straddle – double tuck, stuck, excellent finish, perfect dismount. A couple things in the middle.

Amanda doesn’t know how the judges see corkscrew knees on a back handspring in real time. Because they have eyes maybe? That are open? Sometimes at least?

9.850, with a 9.900/9.800 split. Eeeenteresting.

If you’re a Utah fan coming here and going WTFFFFFF, I feel you, but here’s where that comes from. The judges have to take .050 at least for knee form on the back handspring layout stepout acrobatic series at the beginning of her routine, and probably should take .050 for the back handspring and an additional .050 for the layout stepout, but college judging isn’t typically that attentive. Skinner also had a possible balance adjustment on her layout stepout (I wouldn’t dock for that one but you could) – she did have a balance check on her full turn, so you have to take .050 for that, and then there are some positions like the sissone out of her aerial cartwheel that aren’t quite as extended in the rising of the back leg as the ideal would be, the position is cut off a little bit in that bam-bam Skinner beam way. So that’s the kind of thing a judge is seeing that would lead them to go 9.800 for that routine. The problem being they weren’t that attentive for most others in the lineup.

Karas – FX – Michigan – double arabian, small amount of legs apart, a little step out but controls it pretty well – switch 1/2 to wolf jump 1/1 – 1.5 to half, a little bounce – double pike, good power on everything, a little slide adjustment on a couple passes

Another big score for Utah on beam as they chase 198. If the history of senior day floor scores are any indication, they can get there, even though they need 49.700.

After 3: Utah 148.300, Michigan 148.000

Utah off the 198 pace a bit after beam, but still a mostly solid rotation, with more really variable evaluation that doesn’t seem to track from routine to routine. Michigan with a big 49.425 on floor for what was a solid rotation overall, so brace yourself for what’s going to happen to the scores in the next one.

Farley – BB – Michigan – bhs loso loso, good security, a bit of feet – switch to split, solid positions – 1.5 turn, smooth – side aerial to split, also quite secure – gainer pike and does well to hold the stick even in her college salute. Nice. 9.925 is pretty high for me for that one first up. It was great, but we’re getting fancy this rotation.

Roberts – FX – Utah – front lay to rudi, excellent as always, extremely clean and high, great position in the air – double pike, strong control – switch side to popa, a bit short of position in those leaps – 1.5 to layout, comes in a little short on that layout but holds it. Another good routine.

9.925. It’s home floor and senior day scoring, but not too too crazy because it was very strong.

Osman – BB – Michigan – bhs loso series, smallllest lean – punch front with an arm wave correction – split jump to wolf jump full, a little pause in between so watch that in the scores if they don’t want to give her a dance series – gainer full, stuck.

9.725 for her, a split of 9.800/9.650, which tells me the second judge didn’t give her a dance series, accounting for the discrepancy.

Lee – FX – Utah – 2.5, high, controls the step out, some knees in the air – switch to switch ring 1/2, front leg down on that switch ring 1/2 – front lay to front full, also controlled on step – 2/1 to loso, smooth, nice routine. 9.925. Senior day. But also another strong routine.

Karas – BB – Michigan – bhs loso series, super powerful and secure – beat jump – switch split jump to pike jump, strong – change leg gainer loso, solid – punch rudi, stuck, Excellent routine. 9.925

Randall – FX – Utah – full -in, hit, a bit low in the chest with a step forward – leap positions look strong – 1.5 to layout – double pike is short with another step forward. Opened the door for a lower score there. 9.850

Mariani – BB – Michigan – good full turn – side aerial to split to straddle 1/4, strong positions in her leaps – switch side, secure – bhs loso series with a larger break, bend to the side with a wobble – 1.5 with a step forward. 9.775

Soloski – FX – Utah – DLO, good control on the landing and the chest up, some feet and a bit too much arch – 2/1, also secure on the landing – 1.5 to layout, really has to whip around that layout and arch it not only to get it to her feet but to keep it in bounds, good presence there but should be a significant deduction. 9.925 is awfully high for that last pass. You have to take a tenth just for that.

Funk – BB – Michigan – bhs loso, solid with what is now the expected volcano of chalk – switch side, super high but a large break this time, leg up wobble, doesn’t get the extra 1/4 turn around this time – straddle position excellent – side aerial to full, small hop back. 9.800

MMG – FX – Utah – pike full in, fairly out of control this week with a lunge back – a little tight on leaps but mostly gets to position – 1.5 to layout to front pike, got it this time – rudi to straddle, only a little bit of travel this time. 9.925.

Wojcik – BB – Michigan – aerial to beat jump, tremendous – switch to split, very nicely extended – bhs loso series, extra solid there too – cat leap to side aerial, nailed – 1.5 with a little hop forward, basically the only deduction to take in that one. 9.925

Skinner – FX – Utah – she’s blowing a whistle in the beginning and it always looks like she’s holding her nose – double double tuck with a bounce back out this week, shows a bit of lack of control – split leap 1.5, close enough to around – 1.5 through to 2/1, a little bounce in place but kept the front foot down on that one – full in, a little chest down with a step forward. Good. A couple landing things.

9.975. I mean, that one definitely wasn’t a 10 because she had two moments of lacking landing control. She’s like, “Don’t boo, that one wasn’t one of my 10s.”

Final: Utah 197.975, Michigan 197.350

Both teams will take those scores. The Utah score high enough to get them back to #5 for this week. Michigan able to drop a 196.050 and replace it with this score, so big RQS work done.

Meanwhile Minnesota is on track for a 197 and Ramler hasn’t even done beam yet.

Thought Ramler was going to get a 10 on beam there for a second. 9.975.