Live Blog, U.S. Championships

US Nationals – Senior Women Day 1 Live Blog

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7:00pm CT
NBCSN stream
International feed
Scores

If you’re looking at that start list and already getting heart palpitations about the routines you know won’t be shown on the broadcast even though they should be, then yes.

In the first rotation, of course we’ll have Simone Andromedon Biles likely unveiling the triple double opening pass. “And that right there. If she does that…what we call a skill…if she does that skill…just like that…at the world championships…that will become the Biles.”

But, we’ll also have some critical beam routines opening up that rotation as Wong and Lee try to make world championships cases. It’s tough to get into a beam picture with Biles, Eaker, McCusker, but you’ve got to start somewhere. We’ve also got a big moment for Skinner showing this floor routine. If it’s not vaguely close to 14ish, it will be a tough argument. The US has lots of high 13s on floor.

Tom Forster has said that the members of the Pan Ams team automatically get invites to the world selection camp, which makes sense and takes a little bit of the pressure off their performances here, but just how many people will be getting invites to that camp remains unclear. You can make a good argument for all but about three members of the field, which should keep things extra interesting. Which, I mean, go full Hufflepuff and take everyone and treat them just the same? But that seems unlikely.

Only one today who isn’t doing the AA (at least so far) is Blakely, who looks like she’s not doing bars per the live scores.

Ooh. Starting with a shot of Tokyo. NBC is already POPPING OFF.

Simone plans on being even better than ever. As opposed to planning on getting worse. As people do.

Well, it’s not a polo shirt. Nastia is currently molting.

Tim is promising TWO MORE NEW BILES tonight.

Cecile is more nervous than Simone, Jordan, and Trinity combined.

NO ONE EVER DREAMED OF DOING THESE SKILLS.

We’re at 4 minutes of the Simone standing cam.

Rotation 1

Word from the arena is that Simone’s triple double has been given a provisional J rating.

Wong – BB – switch to straddle, gorgeous – bhs loso loso series, very solid – L turn to full turn, fairly smooth – switch leap – aerial to split ring jump to wolf – split ring position isn’t ideal but otherwise great – side aerial with a LARGE break, bend at the hips and leg up – side somi – 3/1, mostly around, hop to the side, some legs.

One large error in there, a number of skills that were perfect as well.

Hurd – VT – solid DTY, got her twist around – good direction – bounce back

14.450 for Hurd. Useful score.

McCallum – VT – Jack of Diamonds leo – also hits her DTY, good form, loses the legs a little at the end  – not as much distance as Hurd – hop to the side. Good. 14.700.

13.950 for Wong on beam.

Chiles – FX – Dad Jokes Express hasn’t pointed out that Chiles and Biles rhyme yet, and I don’t really know what to do with that – wolf turn double – DLO, very good, chest up, just a little hop – front 2/1 to front lay, basically nailed landing – switch ring – switch side 1/2, probably credit? – 1.5 through to double tuck, bounce back – split jump 1.5, abbreviated – double pike, just a bit chest down, small slide back.

Definite improvement over Classic. Nice routine.

13.750 for Chiles. Not huge but it works and a really nice E score for her there.

14.350 for Lee on beam which we didn’t see. That works.

McCusker – BB – wolf turn triple, good, wolf turn double, almost as solid – “and really she had the gold medal” at Pan Ams, except she didn’t? – lovely leap combination as usual – bhs bhs layout, leg-up check but saves it – switch to switch 1/2 to Korbut, pretty nice rhythm in connection – side aerial, no trouble – bhs bhs double tuck, hop back. One large break, got most of her combinations, will be a big score.

I notice that we’re not seeing Trinity Thomas on floor… But, you know, she did the Biles.

14.500 for McCusker with 6.0, so she didn’t get her full difficulty, but a hit score that will be among the highest.

13.750 for Thomas on floor, same as Chiles.

THREE TWISTS TWO FLIPS.

Biles – FX – hands down on the triple double – someone’s going to do some anger floor – Biles to stag, great Biles, a little meh on the stag, was not really feeling that stag – double wolf turn, no issue – front full to full in, just a little hop – switch to split leap 1.5, which was a little under today, so may not get credit – double double tucked, small slide.

“I’m just pissed off already.” SAME SIMONE.

Also, not be lost in Simone falling on the triple double, that fall was hilarious looking.

The thing about Simone falling on the triple double is that it doesn’t…matter? Interesting if we see it again, though

Skinner – FX – Moors, solid landing, small slide – definite pike and some knees – front tuck through to full in, good control small step – L hop full to swtich 1/1, not around so probably credit as switch 1/2 there – double double tucked, chest well down but under control on the landing – split leap 1.5, short of 180, maybe around – double L turn – 2.5, secure landing, small hop. Big improvement there but the E score will probably be in the 7s.

14.350 for Biles will still be among the highest scores of the day.

Didn’t see Carey on beam, 13.500, which looks like a hit.

Skinner just does get into the 8s in E score with 8.000. I thought it would be high 7s. 13.700, so lower than Thomas and Chiles. She’d also have hoped for higher D than 5.7, but I had some leap downgrades in there.

I think she lost 4 tenths on dance element downgrades versus her intended routine? Will have to go back and look at that.

They’re making Andrea Joyce do a piece about the Congressional report, like she’s a journalist.

Interesting that we’ve done this piece instead of Eaker’s beam, but it did not go great. 13.750 for Eaker.

OK, I know she’s the star and we’ll all obsessed, but the Simone Cam is getting a little excessive. Like, let the girl pee or whatever.

Rotation 2

Hurd – UB – shap to stalder full to tkatchev – good – one short hs – Ricna to Pak, very clean – stalder shoot, nice – toe 1/2 to front giant 1/2 toe full to FTDT with a college stick salute, but a very clean routine. Nice.

“Kyla Williams.” It’s Kayla. And also is she? I thought that was just temporary for Pan Ams, and then it was going to be…….Anna Li? Oopsie?

14.400 for Hurd.

Once again NBC is kind of just deciding to ignore the individual spots qualification for the Olympics.

Big 14.750 for Chiles on vault.

13.950 for Lee on floor. “Sunisa Lee doesn’t exist” is an interesting decision.

McCusker – FX – full-in struggles on the landing, a bounce-0stagger back and OOB – front 2/1 sequence is a little slow in connection but nice individual skills – double pike, bounce back – wolf triple, slow but around – switch ring and switch full, I’d say credit for the switch full this time – double tuck, a bit rough on the landing with a bounce back.

Stuck bars dismount for McCallum

Biles – VT – Cheng – she’s not quite on today – huge bounce back out of that vault – gorgeous in the air of course, but she bounced back so far she almost went off the mat. Still 15.300. A bit of Simone bonus there, but little to take in the air if anything

Didn’t see the full routine for McCallum, but just a 13.500 there.

Biles – VT 2 – Amanar – pace forward, a little larger pace than she would like but mostly her normal.

Just 13.250 for McCusker on floor. These standings today are going to be…interesting.

Skinner – VT 1 -She pulls out the Amanar after not doing it in PT – step to the side and a lot of twisting onto the table – to the point where it’s very similar to her Cheng but with two hands

14.650 for first vault.

Skinner – VT 2 – Cheng – lands it successfully with a bounce back – quite a bit of piking – anyone else think the little logo on the bottom of her leo was a Georgia logo for a second and were like…uh? – we didn’t get a replay of the block, but it was a Skimmer.

We never got a score for that, right?

Carey – FX – Moors, pretty nice, hop back, some knees and position but a bit more laid out than Skinner’s – popa, a bit bouncy – DLO 1/1, nearly stuck, small slide, same piking – L hop full – switch leap 1/1, short of 180 – double double tuck, small hop – front tuck through to full in -oooooh she landed it but it got very low there with a lunge forward

14.300 and Tim thinks it’s harsh? 8.000 E score, same as Skinner, have to take into account potential background music deductions.

“Kara Acre” it’s a thing now.

Eaker – FX – front lay to front 2/1, little hop – 3/1, loverly in the air, small hop – Memmel to full turn, she’s so consistent getting that turn around – 2.5 to front full, another small hop but not a lot to take there – actually struggled in a split leap full most of all, a little crooked and hoppy on the landing – I’m bothered by this crease in the floor – double pike, a bit deep and a bounce back – switch ring 1/2 is…a switch ring 1/2

13.650. They’re complaining about the E but it’s one of the highest E scores of the day, so that’s the standard. And she had that weird leap.

Armine just doing some floor routines on the side

Wong – FX – Dos Santos to stag is very strong – 3/1 and did not do the 3.5 but hopped out kind of like she was expecting to do a 3.5 – switch ring to L hop 1/1 – 2.5 to layout, whips over her layout but solid landing – popa – drops a little in the heel on double L but sells it OK – 3/1, hop back. That’s going to be a problem because it’s a repeated skill.

Tim thought that Wong was going to adjust mid routine and do a 2/1 final pass? You know GAGE gymnasts are instructed not to think!

See: Nastia thinking it was weird that Yul Moldauer would have different routine options. The US women’s program has a problem in that regard.

We’re still talking about Ohashi’s floor? Also, this was not the video that went viral.

Andrea is interviewing Miss Val. ASK HER ABOUT MARIA CAIRE. And I like how she’s pretending she cares about this meet.

So anyway, that was a thing.

After 2:
1) Biles – 29.650
2) Hurd – 28..850
3) Chiles – 28.500
4) Skinner – 28.350
5) Lee – 28.300

You know, like the standings you had? We have Eaker way down in 11th and McCusker in 9th and Wong in 14th. SO YEAH.

Rotation 3

McCusker – VT – DTY – one of her better ones, small hop forward – crossed feet in the air and a pike down, so won’t be the highest E score, and not the distance of some others. Tim and Nastia are more into this vault than I am.

14.450 is a little high for me. Tim thinks it’s low.

We’re just ignoring Trinity completely, which is cool. 14.200 on bars.

Biles – UB – Weiler 1/2 – cast pretty short – Shap to Tkatchev – toe full to pike tkatchev tp Pak, cleanly done – toe Shap 1/2, solid – some short handstands – Double double, lands it with her chest well down, small hop.

She’s going to tell us that she’s competing at 1% of her ability tonight?

Can Simone just be on mic for the whole meet?

14.050 for Biles.

Skinner – UB – Hesitation in Weiler 1/2 with a bend at the elbows but does it – Toe shap to tkatchev with some crazy legs – Ray to pak, legs apart – arch in cast hs – Shap 1/2 with legs – giant full – FTDT is solid, small hop. The form has completely gone with the upgrades, but she hit it.

Carey – VT 1 – pretty solid Cheng for her – small hop back and some piking and crazy legs on the block but good direction

15.000

Just 13.050 for McCallum on beam. Not her day so far either.

Carey – VT 2 – solid Amanar as well, crossover lunge forward and some knees but that’s one of her best series of vaults we’ve seen.

13.000 for Skinner on bars, which is a win for her. It’s quite high for me. Only a half point lower than Simone’s E score.

Chiles – UB – piked tkatchev – tkatchev to Gienger, smooth – missing some hs – piked Jaeger, hit – bail, a bit too floppy there – giant full to FTDT, hop back. My NCAA brain wasn’t happy with the cast handstands, but a strong routine.

13.650 for Eaker’s 1.5 on VT, with the two tenth domestic deduction just CUZ FUN HEY.

13.550 on bars for Chiles.

Wong gets 14.700 on her DTY, which will bring her score up. She’s now tied with Skinner.

Lee – VT – She had two solid scores to start, but this will be the clincher – DTY, she landed it – it’s totally crunched over with a lunge back, but she got it – better than some of the ones we saw in PT.

Morgan Hurd was one of just “three gymnasts chosen” for All Around.

Hurd – BB – back full, solid, nailed it – side aerial, nicely done – bhs loso, very floaty, smoothly done – aerial to split ring jump, good position – switch to straddle to split, well connected and pretty – small check on full turn, her first balance check – switch ring, check, not too big – double pike, hop back. Really good. She’s having a strong day.

After 3 events

1) Biles – 43.700
2) Hurd – 43.000
3) Carey – 42.800
4) McCusker – 42.200
5) Lee – 42.150
6) Chiles – 42.050
7) Thomas – 42.000

14.150 for Hurd on beam. Breaking 14 on beam is a huge deal for her.

Hurd is having a great day, as is Carey. She still has to do bars, so she’ll fall from 3rd, but that in itself is an accomplishment.

McCusker bounces back to 4th after vaulting, and she’ll be in good shape to move back up more if bars goes as normal.

Still very surprising to see Eaker down in 12th. And Wong in 8th. But Eaker didn’t get her beam and Wong had that floor disaster. McCallum also surprisingly down in 10th.

Rotation 4

Biles – BB – BUT WILL SHE DO IT – triple wolf turn, a little hesitant – aerial to split to straddle, solid – bhs loso loso, small lean – switch to switch 1/2 to back pike, good position on switch 1/2, small check on back pike – side aerial, good – split jump 1/2 from side with a large break, bend at the waist – bhs bhs DOUBLE DOUBLE hit it and it was gooooooooood. Better than the PT ones. Just a small hop.

Impressive. Still some issues in that beam routine, but that dismount is what we’ll remember.

14.950 for Biles there. 6.6 D score.

Carey – UB – Ray, solid – Yezhova, very solid – arch on cast but pulls it back – Shap to bhardwaj, there are leg breaks but they’re not actually that bad – giant full – FTDT and stuck. Hey! Form things but a really good routine for Jade

Skinner – BB – candle mount – Tim and I think you need to show the hs position for longer – bhs back full, pretty solid, just a small lean – knees – side aerial to split to straddle, secure – switch to switch 1/2 to back tuck, probably gets series credit, short of switch position – split jump 1/2 from side, well short – L turnto full turn, a little teeter in the L turn – double tuck, small hop. Good one. Lots of deductions on dance elements, but not a lot of checks.

13.300 for Carey on bars. Big for her to break 13.

Let’s talk about how much they’re mentioning Skinner and college, and we haven’t shown Thomas at all.

13.550 for Skinner on beam to finish at 54.900. Really solid AA score for her. Carey, meanwhile goes 56.100 in the AA. 56.100.

58.650 for Biles to finish. 1.350 lower than Classic. Will lead easily.

Lee – UB – Nabs to Pak, leg break on the Nabs but solid connection – Shap to Bhardwaj, lovely Bhardwaj – Toe Shap 1/2, quite strong – giant 1.5 to piked jaeger – short on a cast 1/2 – FTDT, basically stuck. Really strong routine.

Tim seems to be not super aware of how deep bars is internationally.

14.050 bars for Wong, which also works, 55.400. Would have been a really strong total if not for floor.

14.750 for Lee on bars. Very good. She moves ahead of the gang to 56.900 and currently in 2nd.

McCusker – UB – stalder full to toe shap with some legs – connected to tkatchev – Ricna to pak, to Stalder shap 1/2, hit well – toe on – 1/2 turn and doesn’t get up over the bar and has to hop off. Oh Riley. Resumes for the dismount, small hop forward.

13.500 for her there. 55.700 AA and in behind Carey and Lee in the AA.

Hurd – FX – double double, solid enough, slide back, some chest down, definitely worth it to do – front lay to….WHATTTTT layout 1/2? – didn’t do anything out of it – switch ring – split leap 1.5, close – DLO and takes it right to her knees. Oh Morgan. split jump full – double pike, deep with a hop to the side.

Now Tim is saying you can’t change your routine mid-stream. Didn’t we say he wanted Leanne Wong to do that?

Surprised that the DLO wasn’t planned because she did do it in PT?

13.400 for Thomas on beam.

Yikers. 12.050 for Hurd on floor. 55.050.

McCallum – FX – double double tucked, pretty low chest but a bit higher than at Classic – front lay to front 2/1 to front tuck, popped it right up but got it to her feet – wolf triple is very smooth – full in, secure landing but forward – split leap full – double tuck, small slide, just a bit deep.

So, you guys, Sunisa Lee is going to be in 2nd, and Jade Carey is going to be in 3rd. McCusker 4th and Wong and Thomas tied for 5th.

“A spectacular…finish…for Simone Biles.” Simone giggles.

“NOT GOOD THINGS WERE GOING ON IN HERE. NOT GOOD THINGS.”

You know, the standings you predicted.

If you want a case study in why you can’t take the all-around standings from one competition and be like, “THIS IS THE TEAM.” Please see today.

Initial reflections: TBH, this is one of those “just throw it out” kind of days. Nothing went to plan, and you can’t read too much into it. We’ll see what happens on the next day. But kind of excited to see who would end up in the highest scoring team of five based on only today.

Weirdly, it would still be Biles, Lee, Carey, McCusker, Hurd. So not super crazy. In reality, that team is probably a little over-strong on bars and under-strength on floor versus what the US could put together, but not an awful idea.

155 thoughts on “US Nationals – Senior Women Day 1 Live Blog”

  2. Instantly read the quote in Daggett’s voice, then started smiling by how perfectly you capture it.

    2. Both McCallum’s and Suni Lee’s leos were terrible. It was like a Minnesota conspiracy in a bad way. It was sad for me as a Minnesotan.

      1. Best she looked so far still isnt gonna make her happen. Its good for Chiles level. But impact level? Naw. She had more charisma, and presence when she was dancing with Simone at the beginning of the competition on the NBC coverage than in any of her actual gymnastics.

      2. Chiles has improved dramatically in the short amount of time at WCC. She hit 8 for 8 at Nationals. If she is hitting an Amanar and puts in a few upgrades to the other three and remains consistent, she will definitely have an impact. I am not much of a fan of hers to be honest but I can admit that there was a drastic change in her gymnastics.

    2. Yup, she’s currently happening so you might want to adjust that attitude

  7. They showed Trinity on the international feed. I’m watching both. NBC was on commercial.

    1. I believe she said “I’m just going to stop already”. As in stop trying to upgrade all the things.

  10. That fall was dangerous and scary looking. Not hilarious. Could have been a torn Achilles with how she rebounded.

    1. I thought the same thing in the training video of her double double off beam.

  12. The international feed is showing a lot more routines. Get a proxy. It’s worth it.

  15. NBC broadcast is steaming garbage. Cameras on gymnasts’ faces for 30 seconds at a time while routines go on.

  16. Kara Eaker fell on her second (?) tumbling series on beam – it was late in the routine but I feel weird saying second series given I’m used NCAA.

    Jade Carey was fine on beam but her routine was very deliberate – I mean you can actually see her brain thinking before doing each skill.

    1. This. Like the complete opposite of “flowing”.

      You can’t pick apart her individual skills for form as her form is pretty good. , but beam and floor (and bars) just seem to me like sloooow motion. No energy at all. Gymnast-on-Valium appearance ?!?

  18. Ok I need a mini Gymcastic or a Vocal BBS on the leo’s and N’s pick muppet shirt!! Please Spencer!!

    1. I’m always bothered by how much her shoulders come up around her ears when she runs. It’s so awkward.

    1. Agreed. I mean they could have interviewed Ohashi instead of Val. Also, why is Val there? She’s not coaching. It’s not an NCAA meet. Either she is selling her books or she’s lobbying for a job with USAG (or NBC).

    1. Interviews Val is dumb. She’s not an elite coach. She has never been an elite coach. She doesn’t have any ties to these athletes. Won’t coach any of them. Won’t be paid off by any of their parents to get out in UCLAs team. Who cares! Get her off the floor.

  23. If Miss Val did the splits, Katelyn’s championship rings would fall out.

  24. C’mon Andrea, ask Miss Val about Maria Caire!

    Also, quit making Miss Val out as some savior for the sport. She was a great coach, but I don’t understand why they keep making her out to be so amazing. There are a lot of amazing NCAA coaches. I get she has books to sell and wants to get paid for speaking engagements, but it’s ridiculous.

  28. What in heaven’s name was going through Eaker’s head when she repeated her triple twist?? I don’t what would be worse, Eaker not knowing about the repetition rule or knowing it and being incapable of improvising. When you’re at this level, you have to be able to think; there’s no excuse for making such a basic error.

    1. I don’t know what’s worse you not knowing the difference between Leanne Wong and Kara Eaker or insulting 16 year old girls?

    5. It was Leanne, not Kara.

      Honestly, I think it was just autopilot. I was a dancer and this happened all the time. Muscle memory is a scary powerful thing—evidenced by Leanne turning that extra half-twist after the unintentional triple. Your brain can think whatever it wants, but once you’ve trained doing it one way a million times, 99% that’s what will happen.

  29. I’ve never been nervous for Simone’s safety watching her compete before, but that triple-double was downright scary. She looks rattled and off her game, and I really hope she doesn’t throw the double-double at this point.

  30. Why does everyone in the audience film the routines? Are they aware USAG posts every single routine? Put the phone down and enjoy watching a competition in person. I mean, most of them will delete the video anyway.

  31. You know when it’s a bizarre night when Jordan Chiles is having the smoothest meet. She is looking really, really good.

    1. Right! I don’t know if Worlds will be in her future this year, but if she continues this pace into 2020 and brings back the Amanar, she might find herself on the Olympic team.

    2. Chiles’s rebirth is one of the best under-the-radar stories of this season

  32. I know that the NCAA has all kinds of rules about when, where, and how coaches can interact with prospective student athletes…does anyone know how that works when they are on the floor coaching Trinity? Obviously they are interacting with the other gymnasts just by being there.

    1. Helps that the rotation group consists of a pro, three athletes who have already signed NLIs, and a Florida commit.

    2. Skinner is over IMO. She’s the third best vault finalist potential so she would be 2 per’d by Carey and Biles. Her first VT score was beaten by DTYs from McCallum and Chiles.
      UB is a ragged mess.
      FX is also quite messy, Moors is super tucked at the end, Silivas is landed chest down. her leaps are short, her double L turn has a noticeable tuck.
      Yes, she cleaned up in NCAA, but it is obvious why- less difficulty meant better execution.
      I wouldn’t give her an invite to World camp at the moment, but maybe she will pull out better performances night 2.

      1. I thought that she looked much improved since Classic. If she can keep improving that quickly, I am looking forward to seeing where she will be by this time next year!

      2. She might have improved her performance from Classic because she didn’t almost die on FX. However, her execution has gone back to previously elite Skinner. It’s filthy gymnastics. We now her mantra-load up the difficulty so even with poor execution, it balances out.
        I don’t think that will work as well with a 4 person team, but we shall see.

      3. Agree on Skinner. Laughed that Tim thought she silenced her haters and they should apologize. I think she proved me exactly right.

        Btw, for everyone saying Skinner qualified through Classic, she clearly must have qualified at camp since she did bars. Never trust a USAG press release.

      4. Skinner’s haters were/are correct. Her return to elite was not some magical change. Her return to elite demonstrated her return to poorly executed gymnastics. I don’t know why she continues to get credit for her Moors, it is riddled with deductions and she is significantly pucked (piked then tucked thanks Monica Phelps) and I think it was was silly for Tim to say she has haters because they didn’t think she could return to elite. Bitch please, we all knew she could return to elite, it was never about that.

        USAG needs to practice what it preaches which is transparency. I think qualifying at camp needs to be eliminated completely. Obviously USAG made a flub on their press release. Who knows. The other option would be for USAG to have a page on their website which tracks who is qualified to nationals and how they qualified. International meet (World Cup/Jesolo), Training camp, or one of the qualifier meets like US and American Classics

  35. Wow Jade beat Riley in the AA!! Solid day from her. And great job to Suni; almost broke 57!

    3. When he said that Skinner would compete her Moors “straight as a board,” I almost spit water out of my nose.

  38. US Championships are the new US Classic it seems. So many mistakes. It also seems like doing Pan Ams and this meet back-to-back was a really bad idea for all the girls.

    1. Carey’s bars continue to get better and better and I think she has what it takes to keep improving beam. If she continues at this pace, she could be an all-arounder in the vein of Aly Raisman.

    1. Reminds me of 2011…Wieber was far and away the dominating athlete. Everyone else had disasters all over the place. Maroney finished 2nd AA with a fall of BB on day 1 and an OOB and hands down on FX.

  41. Well classics wa splatter free relatively so you need this to make up for classics i guess?

    Simone is still GOAT…. She will clean up those new moves… I think a lot was just nerve…

    1. It is almost as if….the ladies peaked for US Classic to make the Pan Ams team. Eaker, Finnegan, McCusker, Hurd, Wong all made extreme mistakes today. Mccallum performed unusually poorly tonight too.

  42. That was a shockingly rough first day… there is clearly a lot of pressure on all of the women due to the massive uncertainty regarding the upcoming Worlds and Olympic selection. Everyone is so close and they know it.

  43. New Opinion, which will probably change seven more times: Hurd/McCusker…meh…not too worried but would like to see Hurd hit floor and McCusker hit bars more.

    I’m actually wondering now though if Kara makes this team because she really just has beam and Sunisa Lee just made a REALLY good case for herself on bars, beam, AND floor! Realistically if any combo of Biles/Lee/McCusker/Eaker hits beam they can finish 1-2 in a beam finals so Kara’s value is less now IMO.

    I don’t think McCallum really hurt her chances here because they need vault/floor and she hit both of those but I hope she has a better day 2.

    Wong looked tired.

    Hurd/McCallum/Carey/Wong are the floor/vault people

    McCusker/Lee/Eaker/ are the beam/bars people

    If I have to pick TODAY…Biles, Hurd, Lee, McCusker…probably McCallum. Wong/Eaker alternates. Tune in when I completely change my mind Sunday.

    1. I mean, Hurd won bars at classics right? And was second tonight on Bars here? So I’m not sure I’d class her as vault/floor. She’s pretty competitive on all 4 when she doesn’t have a disaster, and Bars seems to be her best event the last few times…

    2. Although Tom stated that they will pick the World Team based on AA results at selection camp, so Eaker could be 2nd or 3rd AA at camp and get the nod.
      All tonight did was put a stick of dynamite into the team scenario.
      I would also add Chiles to the VT/FX people, better tonight than Hurd, McCallum and Wong. Chiles had the 3rd best VT score and was tied with Thomas on FX in 4th.

      1. I hope they don’t just grandfather gymnasts in and keep piling international experience on certain ones, like Eaker, while ignoring those who could also benefit and blossom from it, like Wong or Lee. I like all of them, but I’d like to see some of the younger or later-blooming ones get more chances to prove themselves!

      2. Did Tom actually say this? I understand the Olympics team has to be top 4 AA, but this is Worlds and isn’t the same strategy. Why not take:

        AA Biles
        AA Hurd
        AA McCusker
        Bars and beam Lee
        Vault and Floor Carey

        All medals covered and the average top 3 AA.

      3. yes in an interview Tom said it was his preference to use AA placement to select teams. It’s also what he and the selection committee have been doing.

    1. 14.8 (8.8 E).
      The VT standings, with vault D & E scores for both vaults & the averaged totals, are on the last page of this link, after the AA standings:
      https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2019/w_19champs_sr_1.pdf

      Carey’s E score was better than Skinner’s on both vaults.

      Standings:
      Biles 15.4 (15.3, 15.5)
      Carey 15.025 (15.0, 15.05)
      Skinner 14.725 (14.65, 14.8)
      Finnegan 14.025 (14.5, 13.55 (4.4 D second vt))
      Jones 13.75 (14.65, 12.85 (4.1 D second vt))

      1. I think that Skinner’s and Carey’s were pretty comparable watching them. I also think Skinner’s 1st vault may have gotten hit harder as she went after Simone

        Skinner and Carey looked to me to get similar power/distance/amplitude. But Simone is Soooo much more powerful it kind of made Skinner’s look weak in comparison. But then Jade went later and looked much like
        Skinner’s but scored higher. I thought Carey’s first vault should have been closer to Skinner than Simone

        Just my impressions.

        Never really been a Skinner fan, but damn she got those vaults back quick. Im impressed with her determination. I’m interested to see where she progresses to by next year, and if with some time she can improve. (If she could just improve those leaps on FX and BB ….her AA score would probably be a point better!!)

      2. Im a little bummed that (so far) Skinner threw out everything she learned at Utah by piling the difficulty back on and forgetting about execution. She looks just like old Skinner again and old Skinner didn’t make teams.
        It’s a tradeoff for sure – very hard to ratchet up the difficulty quickly without losing execution, but I still think it looks like she and her coaches just don’t care. Hopefully they can work on that during the fall and winter.

  45. I’m sure all the Pan-Am girls are really tired! This schedule is grueling! I hope everyone emerges healthy.

    In any case, whatever mistakes they make, they will have the opportunity for redemption at camp.

    I really like Leanne Wong’s gymnastics, and I feel like she has a certain mental strength that beats that of Kara Eaker. She also has more well-rounded strengths. The US has a lot of beam options, so as someone here already noted, it would make sense to take someone who can consistently score high enough to take 1-2 AND can be outstanding on events (e.g. bars) on which the US can really use her. I hope Leanne can get more international experience and keep going strong! 🙂

  46. “But kind of excited to see who would end up in the highest scoring team of five based on only today. Weirdly, it would still be Biles, Lee, Carey, McCusker, Hurd.” HUH? That wasn’t top 5.

    Scratch off Hurd and replace with a 5th Wong/Thomas tie…Hurd was 8th, outside top 5, same as at Classic. But, you know, “everyone that went to Pan Ams is guaranteed an invite to camp” said Tim echoing Tom.

    Apparently, basically none of this matters. Especially when the most likely to make the world team has total breakdowns on one or more apparatuses on the same night. Sunisa, Jade and Mykayla are really the only people that walked away happy tonight that have even remote consideration for worlds.

    1. To clarify, Spencer’s comment about the highest scoring team of five based on tonight meant the five who would deliver the highest potential team score in a 3 up/3 count team final, not who placed top five in the AA tonight.

      1. Apparently Tom Forster is making comments on Spencer’s blog. (He seems to have a similar understanding of highest team vs AA score)

  47. Haha, I love how my worlds team of 5 is still the same. If anything, tonight reinforces why I’d still go with Lee & Carey.
    I go by likelihood for an event medal. So it’s Biles, Carey, Lee, Eaker with Wong/Riley/Grace/Morgan as the fifth.
    That combination is likely to have a 1-2 finish on VT (Simone, Jade), FX (Simone, Jade), 1 or 2 medals on beam(Simone/Kara/Riley/Lee), with the likelihood of a bars medal, depending on how Lee/Simone/Riley perform.

    That combination will still win team gold.
    The 2nd AA after Simone is also likely to medal (and at this point could be any one of those listed up there).

  48. “You can make a good argument for all but about three members of the field, which should keep things extra interesting. Which, I mean, go full Hufflepuff and take everyone and treat them just the same? ”
    This Hufflepuff wouldn’t oppose 😂. Especially after today’s…interesting meet.

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