Friday, March 22	Scores	Stream
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – MIC Championship #35 UIC #37 Lindenwood #55 TWU #56 Illinois State #67 Centenary #70 SE Missouri	LINK	VAULT BARS BEAM FLOOR
8:00 ET/5:00 PT – MRGC Championship #13 Boise State #15 BYU #24 Southern Utah #41 Utah State	LINK	FREE

Today’s slate may be small, but it is significant. Mostly because of the regionals qualification implications in play at the MIC Champs. A refresher of what’s at stake:

UIC’s goal score here is simple. 195.975. That would ensure qualification regardless of what anyone else does.

Lindenwood’s goal here is a little more complicated because it doesn’t exclusively depend on Lindenwood’s performance. Lindenwood needs to score at least a 195.825 AND beat UIC while UIC does not reach the scoring goal noted above. That scenario would ensure Lindenwood gets through to regionals. (There is also an odd case in which Lindenwood could actually lose to UIC by about a quarter tenth and still advance as long as they both score in the 195.8-195.9 area, but don’t worry about that.)

We also have some regionals seeding implications at the MRGC Championship, but that’s very dependent on scores recorded tomorrow by teams like Oregon State, Cal, and Nebraska, so for right now it’s just…score as high as possible?

First, the MIC Championship. The rotation order is as follows:
VT – UIC
Bye b/f UB – Illinois State
UB – SEMO
BB – TWU
Bye b/f FX – Centenary
FX – Lindenwood

So I’ll be starting with following VT and FX since those are the two events with national implications. Starting on floor is not an ideal draw for Lindenwood (Lindenwood got last pick and was stuck with floor) since it has to go over 49 if there’s to be any hope of reaching the goal total. There can’t be early sluggishness—either from the team or the judges—or there won’t be much hope of a high 195.

Heads up, it looks like the vault stream is actually beam and the beam stream is actually vault.

Introductions are just beginning now at MIC, so you’ve got some time.

And now it’s the touch. For reference: Lindenwood looking to beat an NQS of 49.020 on floor, UIC is looking to beat an NQS of 48.800 on vault. Both team’s overall NQSs are about 5-6 tenths short of today’s goal score, so they are looking to beat event NQSs every time out.

Rotation 1

We’re underway now.

Good front tuck beam mount for TWU.

UIC opens vault with a full from Broad, large lunge back but chest up and solid hit. I see a 9.650 from one judge. 9.700 overall.

Franklin (LU) on FX – front tuck through to double tuck, medium hop back – will have some leap position deductions but got the split leap 1.5 around for credit – double pike, some chest, step back 9.725

UIC second vault is another full, very similar to the first with a bounce/lunge back. I see a 9.700 from the judge we can see. Final 9.750.

UIC’s third vault with a Y1/2 with a much larger bound forward so will be a lower score, but she sat it down in warmup, so the better correction. 9.650.

Lindenwood 2 on floor – double pike, nice control – 1/2 to front pike, small slide, good comfortable completion of the skill – 9.675

UIC’s 4th vault is a cleaner and more controlled Y1/2 from Mahoney, pretty solid position in the air and power, medium hop forward. 9.825. Vault scores pretty high, but that was a solid showing.

UIC’s 5th vault is a nearly stuck full, small hop in place, some knee form throughout, a bit of chest position. Really good. 9.750. That score works for me.

Lindenwood 3 opens floor with a bounce back on a double pike – a bit of knees in straddles – double tuck, some chest with a small bounce, no large landing errors here, good control – 9.775 is cloer to the kind of score they need to start getting.

UIC anchor fab distance on her full, clean body position, not the highest, but fine – a full tenth bounce back – 9.800.

So that’s 48.850 for UIC on vault. Right around the NQS, a touch higher.

Alexander – LU – FX – double tuck, controlled step back, nice legs together position – pretty solid on the switch ring extension – sticks a final pass double pike, just with chest down. I would expect that will bring them into the 9.8s. 9.800 exactly

Henry LU on FX – double pike, solid landing – double tuck, good control, chest up landing – switch side to popa is around, a little tight in the switch side – 1.5 to layout, hit, a little body position – another good one. A 9.850 and they needed it.

TWU put up a very strong rotation on beam here.

Mitchell – LU – FX – anchor routine, and they need a 9.9 from her – double pike, controlled step, chest up, clean pass – switch ring to split full, hit – front 1/1 to layout, nice height, only a little body position in the layout – rudi and hands down. She stays down for a while and needs attention on the floor.

Well crap.

This is bad for Lindenwood, both because this means the floor score is going to be well down of the needed pace, and because Mitchell is their everything. She is being carried off the floor to receive medical attention.

After 1: UIC 48.850, Lindenwood 48.825, TWU 48.725, SEMO 46.625

UIC and TWU are on byes for the second rotation. Illinois State starts its competition on bars here, and Centenary gets started on floor. A critical vault rotation for Lindenwood coming up.

Lindenwood opens vault with a pretty solid Y tuck full from Baze, small hop back. Good one. 9.700

Nice high double tuck dismount on bars from ISU’s first, Quigg.

Next up is a stuck Y1/2 from Henry LU. Well that works. 9.725 seems a little tight for that. I had 9.800.

I love literally everyone in college gymnastics has a Shaposh variation. Remember in the 2008 quad when it was like, “Chellsie Memmel is doing a SHAPOSH.”

Uncontrolled landing on a Y1/2 from Turon on VT from LU, bounces forward out of frame, good dynamics. 9.750. Really scoring the dynamics there compared to the stick from Henry. Which is not bad, but we’re not accustomed to them caring that much about thigns besides landings. You know.

Hop back on a full 4th up on vault from LU. Best difficulty and power so far. 9.775.

5th up on vault for Lindenwood, really strong full, good direction, only a bit of knees and a small hop back. They’re making up for floor now. 9.825

6th up also hits a full, not quite as much distance as the previous fulls and a little larger hop back, but also solid. Lindenwood brought the vaults today. 9.750.

So, I was worried about Lindenwood’s prospects after floor, but that vault rotation was closer to the pace they were looking for.

Massive Deltchev from ISU on bars, and she’s hitting vertical on handstands, and a stuck FTDT. So that should be a score.

So apparently that was NOT Mitchell who vaulted after all. You’re telling me I should learn more of the non-top-20 gymnasts by sight, aren’t you? I know.

So live scores have LU’s vault at 48.850, but LU’s twitter (the one without Mitchell in the lineup, which makes more sense because her floor injury looked nasty) has 48.825. So we’re thinking 97.675 after two events. Will need to average over 49 on the remaining two pieces to reach the goal now.

Especially with the lineup change, a 48.825 is not a bad result on vault for LU.

We’re nearly getting started from MRGCs as well now.

Boise State opens on VT with Nilson – pretty large bounce back on her full, a small amount of piking. 9.675

Murakami – UB – SUU – shortish first hs – 1/2 to straddle jaeger, great height, into overshoot – stronger final cast hs – FTDT, stuck with some crazy legs in the air. Quite good.

Smith – VT – BSU – also with a pretty large bounce back on her full, did like the attempt to show a bit of an open position early – nice power. 9.700

We have an early fall from Utah State in the beam lineup.

Two 9.850s to start bars for SUU. Huge.

Nipp – UB – SUU – small back in cast hs but nice vertical – jaeger, hit, a little lower tham Murakami’s – some straddle catching the bail – DLO, nice position in the air, lunge back

Vault scores very keen on those landings and not impressed with them so far.

Bouza – VT – BSU – massive full with a bounce back and some direction and knees to take, not the most distance but she got super high.

Miner – FX – BYU – slide back on her DLO,

Back at MICs, we have an opening 9.775 on bars for UIC. They’ll be quite pleased with that.

2nd up we have a hit jaeger, clear hip to bail with a leg break – 1/2 turn in layout 1.5 dismount, really low chest that ended up causing a large lunge forward, so don’t expect as high a score there. 9.525

SUU has a fall on bars in the fourth position. Jorgensen up 5th catches close on a big gienger and has to add an extra swing.

Pretty DLO third up on bars for UIC from Baddeley, small hop. Should be a solid score. We have a 9.800/9.600 split for 9.700. I was with the 9.800 judge there.

Sarah Means will anchor vault for BSU – pretty solid 1.5, medium hop forward, good distance and direction, just a little feet. That should get them over the 49 mark at least.

SUU counting a 9.400 on bars now after the extra swing from Jorgensen has to count.

We have a fall on a Shaposh 5th up for UIC on bars, so the 9.525 will need to count.

Utah State has to count an 8.7 and a 9.2 on beam.

Evans – FX – BYU – double pike, clean legs and great height of course, but a slide backward this week – double tuck, perfect and stuck, legs right together – split leap full to wolf full, secure finishing positions – front lay to a high front full, but she takes it too high and OOB. Won’t be her normal score and they needed a normal score from her.

Absolutely gorgeous bars routine up from Serena Baker in the 6th position for UIC, which should right things as much as possible on bars at this point. 9.850.

It’s still a 48.600 on bars though, not the score UIC wanted there on their best-ranked event.

Lindenwood is going to have the lead after everyone has completed two pieces.

Scores are sluggish to update at MRGCs, but no one had a great first rotation. Expect Boise State to have to lead, but not too far over 49 on their rotation.

This is a huge 4th rotation coming up at MICs, Lindenwood on bars and UIC on beam. We’ll know a lot about regionals in about 30 minutes.

Interview with Amy Smith at MRGCs where she’s basically like, “Well, that sucked.”

So it’s 49.000 exactly for Boise State on vault. We’re waiting on BYU’s score on floor, but we know they had two OOBs in the rotation. 48.625 for BYU on floor

Great final handstand into DLO from Bouza on bars for BSU. Clean DLO, small hop. Important start. 9.875

Hill – VT – BYU – hit full, small hop to the side, a pretty clear pike throughout. 9.775

Means – UB – BSU – solid tkatchev  – shortish cast hs after – toe on to bail, hit – giant full to double tuck, a little low with a hop. A few more things in hers than in Bouza’s, but another useful hit.

Zhong with a medium-sized hop in place on her full on vault – also has some pike, a little better dynamics

We’re going for rotation 4 at MICs now. We have a nice hit piked jaeger to overshoot from Lindenwood on bars – finishes with a bit of a straddle DLO but not a large hop. UIC with a hit beam to open, pretty position on switch leap, a check on side somi, and a stuck gainer pike.

Mission done for both teams in the first routine.

We have a 9.750 on that routine for Lindenwood.

McGregor – UB – BSU – toe on to toe shapo, legs right together – into bail, solid execution – good vertical positions, high FTDT with a small hop, another good one.

We have a fall on a loso series from UIC’s second up. It’s going to get tight now.

BYU will got 48.900 on vault.

Lindewood 3 on UB – shortish first hs – hit clean tkatchev – straddle back, solid position reached there – final cast hs looked good – huge DLO and stuck. That was an excellent routine. 9.725. That was a Pac12/SEC 9.850. Just for reference.

SUU on track to a strong beam score at MRGCs

UIC’s third on beam with a solid kickover front – tight in her switch leap, gets through with a hit for 9.650

Borges Lindenwood on bars – solid bail position – she may have clipped a heel on bars on her tkatchev. If not, it was very close.

Lindenwood 5 on bars – hit jaeger – her overshoot was in between an attempt at handstand and not, unclear – FTDT dismount with just a small step forward. That was the highlight.

Hit from UIC on beam 4th up as well. Two more routines to get through.

Lindenwood 5 on ub – nice first hs – jaeger to overshoot, cleanly done, good toe point – giant full to double tuck, hop back. Should be the strong score of the rotation.

Ward-Session – FX – USU – open full in and nails the landing this week – 1.5 to layout, also huge, and controls that one pretty well this time too – switch side to pike jump shushunova – nailed double pike. That was the routine she wanted last week, but that will be a huge score.

49.475 for Boise State on bars.

We have a big score 5th up for UIC on beam. One more routine to get through, and it’s Northern.

Northern BB – UIC – bhs loso series, solidly landed, knee deductions – full turn, slightly overturned but worked through – hitch kick to secure side aerial – cat leap to switch side, a little rushed in position there – 1.5 with a small hop out of it. The final hit they needed. We’ll see what the score is. I had that solidly in the lower 9.7s. She gets 9.825. That’s kind of how beam scoring has been going, which will be interesting for Lindenwood.

It’s clear at this point that neither UIC nor Lindenwood will meet its goal score today, keeping GW and Kent State in the picture for tomorrow, but how comfortably in the picture?

Boise State with a big lead at MRGCs so far, the only team over 196 pace after two events.

Lindenwood has a lead of .125 after both LU and UIC have done three events.

Rotation 3 starting at MRGCs

Zhong – UB – BYU – close catch on a jaeger and has to muscle out into a very short handstand – DLO was fine, a little short with a step. 9.650

Bouza – BB – BSU – bhs loso series, gorgeous, great extension and secure – switch to split jump – cat leap to aerial to beat jump, only the smallest hesitation in there – gainer pike, small hop back. That was tremendous. 9.850

Pitou – UB – BYU – jaeger, also a little close but fine – hit hs – bail, super floaty but ends up haveing to arch that handstand before pulling it back – pretty open shape on her FTDT but it causes some trouble for her, short with a lunge forward. 9.675

McGregor – BB – BSU – front tuck with just the smallest lean to hold it without a real check – larger check on a switch 1/2 with a bend – bhs to layout two feet, some form – side aerial to full, small hop. A third hit.

Lindenwood starts with Alexander on BB – aerial, does well to keep moving into back tuck because she came up short on the aerial – sissone with a check – pretty in the air. Switch to split 3/4, switch leap was lovely – gainer pike, nearly stuck. Nice.

OOF. We have Jozwiakowski down on floor for SUU –

I see 9.800 for the first beam for Lindenwood – Huge and excellent gienger for Evans on bars from BYU, small hop back on DLO.

Nice leaps from Bailey second up on beam for Lindenwood as well. Some checks – finishes with a secure 1.5.

We have another 9.800 second up for Lindenwood on beam. These are the scores they need to stay alive here.

Lindenwood’s third beam is the other Milliet – aerial to bhs series, moves through pretty comfortably – split to sheep, very secure as well, nice line on most elements – kickover front and falls. Oof. It was so good before that. Here we go. Three beam routines to keep the season alive.

49.350 for Boise State on beam. 197 should be comfortable. BYU gets over 49 on bars but has some 48s to work against.

Nice height on full in from Kho on FX for SUU, chest down and some stagger – switch side to popa, short of straddle position – a bit of legs on a front full – really clean double pike.

We have a hit routine 4th up for Lindenwood on beam, but more tentative than the first three routines when everything was smooth sailing. A potential missed combination in there. Stuck gainer pike. Gets her 9.800 still. So what do I know.

Bhs to loso series, very solid, good extension – hit switch side – side aerial, hit – beat jump to a nice stradle position as well – leg extension is a highlight in this routine. Hit 1.5. One more routine to go. It’s another 9.800

Final routine for Lindenwood – bhs bhs loso series, hit well, just a bit of knees – full turn with a tentative check, pulls it back – switch to switch combination, very short of split on both elements – gainer full with a hop back. It’s a hit. I’d say the lowest score of the hit routines, but it will keep LU’s season alive. 9.775. Those routines all got the same score and were nowhere near the same, so that was cool.

Lindenwood finishes with 195.350. It’s not the goal score, but it keeps Lindenwood alive heading into tomorrow. Now comes score watching.

Over at MRGCs – Miner is up second for BYU on beam, hit split jump – hitch to kickover front with a check into bhs – I’d say that’s a no-acro-series. We shall see. finishes with a stuck gainer full.

At MICs, UIC will need a 49.100 on floor to match Lindenwood’s total here.

Amazing save from Varnadore on UN for Utah State, she had an arch on a handstand and was basically in a lowercase n shape before pulling it back.

McGregor – FX – BSU – double pike, just does keep that front foot down to show control – switch ring to switch 1/2 are comfortable – 1.5 to front lay, 1/5 was super high, lay got a little low as a result – rudi, solid. Well done.

UIC is underway on floor, large stumble back on a double pike but kept it in bounds and to her feet.

Great stick on a FTDT from Ward-Sessions on bars

Long wait for the first UIC floor score and a judges conference.

Means – FX – Boise State – double pike, control, a bit of feet in the air – switch side to popa, hit – whip 1/2 to front full, some knees, controlled as well – rudi, with a hop to the side.

So it looks like UIC’s first floor score is in the 6s? I didn’t see the whole thing so can’t really comment.

UIC’s second up on floor, a 2.5 with some major Aliya legs but not too much of a lunge – rudi, keeps front foot down – 2.5 final pass, a little short with a step. Nice content.

Apparently I didn’t see the whole thing on UIC’s first floor because there wasn’t a whole thing. That was all.

SUU will finish ahead of BYU, both in the 195s.

UIC’s second floor is 9.825 from Alicke.

Albrecht – UIC – opens with a solid double pike. Switch side to popa, a little short in popa – 1.5 to layout, solid control, a little arch – double pike and I thought she was going to sit it but she saves it with a lunge back. Almost terror for UIC. 9.775. Some late-meet scores rolling now.

Boise State is done with 196.950, won in a landslide. Didn’t quite get that 197.

Baddeley 4th – combo back into 1.5 with a hop to the side, nice position on straddles – double pike, super solid – double tuck, also pretty well controlled, small slide. Best of the bunch so far. 9.875 so UIC has this with two more hits

UIC 5th – front 2/1 with two little crossover steps, but hit – 1.5 to front layout stepout with a dance out to cover steps but I’m not fooled – rudi to straddle, solid twisting shape, a little hop to the side. 9.850

Northern finishes up with a must-hit routine – FX – front tuck through to double tuck, lunge back, out of control but looked like she stayed in bounds – switch side 1/2 to popa, nice speed, a bit of position to take – 1.5 to layout, a little low, some knees – double tuck, short with a step. I’d have that one in the 9.7s, so it should be close, but I assume the scores will rise and go to UIC here for the title.

It’s also going to be very close in the NQS department between the two.

9.775 for Northern and it’s a TIE!

Appropriate score, but I really thought it would go to UIC at this point.

I twittered the updates in the NQS race based on these scores.

We now know the goal scores for tomorrow:

GW will advance to regionals with a 195.600

Kent State will advance to regionals with a 195.125.

If one of them missing that number, Lindenwood advances. If both of them miss that number, Lindenwood and UIC advance.

— BalanceBeamSituation (@TheBBSituation) March 23, 2019

Finals for the day

MRGCs
1. Boise State – 196.950
2. Southern Utah – 195.900
3. BYU – 195.750
4. Utah State – 193.775

MICs
1. Lindenwood – 195.350
1. UIC – 195.350
3. Illinois State – 194.100
4. TWU – 193.775
5. Centenary – 190.575
6. SEMO – 190.275