| Saturday, April 17 |
Scores | Stream |
| 3:30pm ET/12:30pm PT – Team Final | LINK | ABC ESPN3 4-event VT UB BB FX Spanish |
Oklahoma, Michigan, Utah, Florida. Oklahoma starts on vault, Utah on bars, Florida on beam, and Michigan on floor.
The general consensus seems to be to crap on Florida’s chances after yesterday—and certainly if they bring anything like the gymnastics we saw in the semifinal, they won’t come close to winning—but it’s still Florida, the best team for the first 10ish weeks of the year.
Based on yesterday, this looks like an Oklahoma-Michigan deal. Very interested to see Michigan’s floor in the first rotation. Because it’s been the question event for Michigan this year, because Michigan does have bigger routines than Oklahoma there and—theoretically at least—could turn it into an advantage, and because the scoring was soooo high there yesterday. The lowest team floor score was 49.425, which would have ranked 2nd on bars, 3rd on vault, and 4th on beam. Florida was the only one among the four qualifying teams that went sub-49.6 on floor.
On the starting events, yesterday Oklahoma went 49.525 on vault, Utah went 49.5125 on bars, Florida went 49.3875 on beam, and Michigan went 49.650 on floor. So Michigan is going to be looking for a lead here, and Florida will need to be up in the 49.5s or 49.6s on beam this time to be in contention. Basically, any sub-49.5 score in the first rotation here is a miss.
Scores page is up. No Gallentine in the Florida lineup. Florida will compete just 8 gymnasts. Richards will continue leading off beam.
Bart and Kathy have rocket fueled to the moon or something. Yesterday was exciting and whatnot.
Rotation 1
Richards – BB – Florida – bhs loso loso and she falls again
Davis – VT – OU – looks like she got the stick again today, a little more lean to hold it this time – 9.850
Bauman – FX – Michigan – double pike, controlled landing – switch 1/2 to wolf fulls, a little off balance on final wolf, very slightly – double tuck, slide back – 1.5 to layout, big straddle on that layout and a little short on landing. 9.8125
Stern – VT – OU – nearly sticks her Y1.5, small slide back – good one. 9.950 for a no stick, that’s how today is going
Sabado – UB – Utah – small hesitation on first hs – jaeger – hit – toe on to bail, leg break, nice toe point – some ragged handstands – DLO, small step. Follows 9.8625 for Paulson, which is one of her higher scores.
Webb – VT – OU – comes up more under this time, medium slide back
Koulos – FX – Michigan – 2.5, hit, a bit too much of a step – double pike, under control – front full looks good – 9.9125
Skaggs – BB – Florida – wolf is solid – great switch and split – bhs loso, holds it, maybe a smalll lean – aerial, another very small adjustment – cat leap to switch side, good 180 position again – side aerial to full, stuck. Good. 9.8625
We see Schoepfer stick in the background. 9.9375
Burch a little low on her DLO dismount, chest down and a step
Wojcik – FX – Michigan – double pike, good position, slightly bouncy – split leap full to popa is excellent – front 2/1 to front pike, small bounce –
Levasseur – VT – OU – hits her Y1/5 but a fairly large crossover step so should be as high.
Lazzari – BB – Florida – bhs loso loso, very strong – great split position – full turn – side aerial to full, golds the stick, a tad low. 9.9125
Trautman – VT – OU – huge stick, would expect a 10 given what we’ve seen from the other ones like Stern. 9.9625. Only a10 from some.
O’Keefe – UB – Utah – great maloney to pak – solid vertical position on 1/2 turn on low – good cast hs on high – double arabian and stuck again. Strong work.
Hesikell – FX – Michigan – good double pike – 1.5 to lay, just a little slide stagger on landing – 9.9125
Baumann – BB – Florida – bhs loso series, perfect – switch 1/2, securely landed – 1.5, nearly holds the stick, arm wave and a small step. 9.925
Isa – UB – Utah – good ray – bail was just a tad crooked – giant full to DLO, hop back. Got out of there with a 9.900 though. High for that one.
49.575 on vault for Oklahoma.
Brooks – FX – Michigan – huge FTDT, small bounce – front tuck through to double tuck, strong and secure landing – double pike, controls landing, chest a bit down, so something to take there. 9.9125
49.425 for Utah on bars.
Thomas – BB – Florida – switch to split leap, good – full turn, holds it, nearly out of control – bhs loso series and fallllls! Basically. Lots of falling onto the beam and and staggering and hooking her leg and GIF – side aerial to full,s tep back.
Well, that sucks for her and will take Florida out of this.
Wilson – FX – Michigan – open FTDT, great, small bounce – front lay to front full, so high and laid out – switch side to popa, huge lift – double tuck, another small movement, would expect that to get the 9.9 she needs to take the lead after this rotation.
Clapper – BB – Florida – after Thomas 9.175 that will count – bhs loso loso, securely hit – switch to split, hit, she has improved on split positions, still some soft knees but she’s getting to 180 – side aerial to full, tries to hold the stick, a little off line and a lean.
After 1
Michigan 49.625
Oklahoma 49.575
Utah 49.425
Florida 48.7625
Good first rotations for Michigan, Oklahoma, and Utah. Michigan leads with a score over 49.6 on floor, so met the goal, and Oklahoma improved on yesterday’s vault total to stay right there. A 49.425 is a strong bars score for Utah, but it’s the final, and anything that isn’t a 49.5 doesn’t help that much. And Florida well…counting a fall. When Florida won nationals counting a first-rotation beam fall, the floor score was a very controversial 49.7 to bring them back in it, but these days a 49.7 on floor doesn’t bring you back in it because everyone gets 49.6.
Cool how the live scores aren’t giving us the individual gymnast scores. Good thing the ESPN quad box has them.
Yesterday Oklahoma went 49.400 on bars and Michigan 49.350 on vault. Both will look to improve on those numbers, and certainly Michigan will need to do better than a 49.350 to take the title.
Rotation 2
Heiskell – VT – Michigan – sticks her Y1.5 – excellent work
Trautman – UB – OU – maloney to pak, good legs together – 1/2 turn on low, some leg crossing – good cast hs on high – DLO, slides heels together, very clean. 9.9125
Burch – BB – Utah – bhs loso, small check – split jump to stag ring, a little short on split 180 – hits aerial. 9.850
Wojcik – VT – Michigan – another stick for Michigan – great one – nailed the first two of the rotation. Following 9.975 for Heiskell, and hers has more distance. 9.9375, weird that it went lower than Heiskell.
Levasseur – UB – OU – good toes – maloney with quite a large straddle into bail, good verticla position – a bit hesitant in final cast hs – DLO, shuffle back. 9.8625
Wilson – VT – Michigan – doesn’t keep the stick streak going with a medium sized hop forward –
Draper – UB – OU – good first hs – 1/2 turn to piked jaeger, some feet flexed but hit – pak, legs apart in the air – solid final cast hs vertical – double front, finds stick. 9.9375 very high.
Stanhope – BB – Utah – bhs 1/1 to bhs is soolid – switch and split, under control – 1.5, stuck. Good solid work.
Morrison – VT – Michigan – hop forward, doesn’t look as large as Wilson’s on her Y1.5 – still a full tenth hop.
Webb – UB OU – pak, very good – van leeuwen, solid – toe 1/2 is a bit late – double front 1/2 out, holds the stick witha little lean.
Brooks – VT – Michigan – a third stick of the rotation for her Y1.5 – another great one. Another 9.975 in this rotation.
Guggino – VT – Michigan – medium step forward, solid hit – doesn’t have the dynamics of a Brooks, but another good one. 9.875.
Smith – UB – Ou – Ray, good hit – toe on to pak, good – hits vertical on her 1/2 turn on low, good – DLO, whippy and some piking, hop forward. 9.875
Thomas – FX – Florida – DLO is very nice today – split leap full to popa to popa is excellent – front full to front lay, great extension – very clean work.
Michigan is at 99.275 after 2.
Davis – UB – OU – higgins to huge and excellent piked jaeger – great cast hs on high – pak is clean – solid 1/2 turn on low – hits cast – higgins to front giant to double front – step back on landing. 9.900
Paulson – BB Utah – side aerial to loso, securely done – switch to split, good positions – side aerial to full, stuck. Nice. 9.9375 keeping Utah up there.
Reed – FX – Florida – DLO, very strong and secure – front lay to rudi, legs right together – switch 1/2 to wolf full, tight on switch 1/2, good wolf – double pike, comfortable.
Randall – BB – Utah – bhs loso, secure work – beat to sheep, solid position – sissone, good – rulfova, very strong – 1.5, holds the stick
Baumann – FX – Florida – double tuck, bounce back – wanted them to tell us that she “warmed up a DLO and we might see it in competition” just for old times sake – 1.5 to front full, good positions – control switch 1/2 to an elegant popa – nearly holds onto the stick on her double pike and then stubbed her toe on a forward roll. 9.900
O’Keefe – BB – Utah – side aerial to loso, very high, solidly landed – switch to split leap, nice 180s as always – cat leap to sdie aerial to full, stuck. Very good.
Michigan will extend its lead on Oklahoma after a 49.650 on vault. Oklahoma went 49.5625 on bars for a rotation that I thought got held up a little. Florida recovers with 49.550 on floor, but given this meet, that’s not a super high floor total. But it’s Utah that wins the rotation with a 49.700 on beam to stay RIGHT in it, going to the gift horse that is floor.
After 2
Michigan 99.275
Oklahoma 99.1375
Utah 99.125
Florida 98.3125
Look out for Utah on floor now. Utah went 49.600 on floor yesterday, Oklahoma 49.525 on beam, Michigan 49.3875 on bars. Like in the last rotation, big room for Michigan to improve that number. Because Oklahoma finishes on floor, Michigan’s going to need to extend that lead in this rotation.
Rotation 3
Trautman – BB – OU – bhs loso solid – switch side, little arm wave – gainer pike, slide back
Heiskell – UB – Michigan – she looked a tad close on her jaeger catch, but the rest was solid, gets 9.9125
Randall – FX – Utah – double pike, secure landing – 1.5 to layout, a little soft in the knees – 9.8625
Baumann vaulted, bounce back on yfull. Lazzari follows – clean, slide back
Bauman – UB – Michigan – high jaeger and nice overshoot – toe 1/2 to double front, full tenth pace forward
Schoenherr struggled on vault again in the warmsup and we’re seeing the replays – she goes in compeittion and hits it – holds onto the stick well, deep landing and not her most distance. 9.825
Wilson – UB – Michigan – piked jaeger, nice – hits cast – small angle in bail positions – a bit of strength on final cast hs – DLO, chest down, hop forward. 9.8375, not the score they needed here.
Trautman started beam with 9.875, Davis follows with hit. 9.8875
Skaggs – VT – Florida – clean, holds onto the stick, a hair forward, hands on well
Dunn – BB – OU – PUNCH THAT BEAM – bhs bhs loso series and falls – well now.
Stanhope – FX – Utah – full in, secure landing, chest down – double tuck, again very well controlled – switch side to wolf full, hit – 1.5 to layout
Apparently Abby Brenner came back on bars and no one informed us?
Brooks – UB – Michigan – good first hs – blind to piked jaeger, solid – good cast hs – bail, hits vertical, legs together – one borderline hs – slide back on landing –
Thomas – VT – Florida – solid Y1.5, small hop forward. One of her more controlled landings.
Wojcik – UB – Michigan – short first hs – toe on to Deltchev, hits it today – good hs – rushed bail, a bit short of vertical – stronger cast hs on high – pings off on DLO, lands squatty with a lunge back. So hit her deltchev but a number of other deductions in there. gets away with 9.8625, which will count, high score for that.
Woodard – BB – OU – side aerial to bhs, secure, bent knee in bhs – kickover, holds it well to beat jump – switch to split, good toe point – side aerial to full, hit. Good.
49.4875 for Michigan on bars. 49.3625 for Florida on vault.
O’Keefe – FX – Utah – Rucker went 9.925 before her – double pike, clean work – front lay to front full, good height, a little loose in layout position – switch to split leap full, wonderful split – 1.5 to layout is clean
Smith – BB – OU – bhs loso with an arm wave check, saves it – aerial, solid – straddle 1/2 to korbut very strong – again just slightly off line on korbut but it doesn’t really show – gainer full, stuck.
Soloski – FX – Utah – DLO, looks like pretty solid control – switch 1/2 to split full, gets to 180, has some foot flexing – front lauy to front full, slight bending – 1.5 to layout, hit. 9.8875
Webb – BB – OU – a hit for her here would but OU in very solid position heading to the floor treasure – smooth full turn – bhs loso, strong extension – cat leap to aerial, hit comfortably – switch to switch with a check, leg up, fakes an arabesque like she meant to – side aerial to full, nearly holds stick long enough, shifts a little at the end.
Michigan 49.4875 on bars to Utah’s 49.475 on floor. So not a huge floor number for Utah but they’re staying right in it. Will have to hit those vaults as well as Michigan did though.
Webb gets 9.925 for that, so Oklahoma goes 49.4875 on beam to tie Michigan’s total from this rotation.
After 3
Michigan 148.7625
Oklahoma 148.625
Utah 148.600
Florida 147.675
Michigan has a lead of more than a tenth, but Oklahoma goes to floor while Michigan is on beam and Utah is on vault. You’d want to have that Oklahoma rotation if given the option.
Rotation 4
Here we go.
O’Keefe – VT – Utah – leans forward to control her landing
Bauman – BB – Michigan – bhs loso series, smoothly landed – switch 1/2 to split jump, hitting splits – pike side somi, good – side aerial to full, holds landing, chest forward. 9.850
Draper – FX – OU – double pike, chest a bit down, only a small bounce – front full front full, clean – 1/2 to rudi, controls landing, some leg crossing. 9.8875
Hall – VT – Utah – hits her Y1.5, but a sideward lunge – not too large
Good stick for Lazzari on FTDT on bars.
Isa – VT – Utah – kind of a larger bounce back on her yfull
Wilson – BB – Michigan – hitch kick – high bhs loso, arm wave similar on landing, similar to Smith – cat leap to switch side and another check, leg up hesitation – double tuck, small hop back, chest up
Stanhope – VT – Utah – hop forward on her Y1.5 as well, not getting the landings they need
Good stick on DLO for Skaggs
Rucker – VT – Utah – that was the landing. Good stick, her best of the year.
OU got 9.900 for Schoepfer on floor, has already closed the gap. 9.750 for Wilson on beam –
La Pinta – FX – OU – 3/1, little bounce – softer layout position in combo pass – double tuck, bounce back. 9.850
Farley – BB – Michigan – bhs loso loso, her usual, low, covers a balance check – split jump to split 1/2 – 1.5 turn, good – side aerial, another little arm wave – gainer pike, can’t stick it, leans and a little step-shuffle. 9.7625 OUCH.
Schoenherr falls on bars, nasty back fall and doesn’t continue the routine.
Burch – VT – Rucker got 9.9875 Lordy – another stick, good final two vaults for Utah.
Utah done on 197.9875
Johnson – FX – OU – double back with a stagger bounce on landing – switch to swithc 1/2 to wolf full, short on switch 1/2 position – 9.850
Brooks – BB – Michigan – bhs bhs loso, solid – switch to switch, confident – kickover, nicely done – double tuck, excellent, only small movement, should be huge score.
Webb – FX – OU – OU not getting great floor scores but Michigan even lower on beam – front 2/1, good control – back 1.5 to front 1/1, good height, controls landing – clean – switch 1/2 to split full, feet, hits split positions – rudi to stretch jump, a little travel this time
Wojcik – BB – Michigan – Following 9.9625 for Brooks – aerial to beat jump, smoothly done, nice – switch to split, lovely – bhs bhs loso, hits it comfortably this time – 1.5, stuck landing. Awesome.
Webb got 9.9625 on floor to move OU ahead of Utah and make this TOUGH for Michigan.
Trautman – FX – OU – DLO is solid – switch side to popa to split jump full, good – front lay to front full to sissone –
Baumann gets a hit on bars for Florida for 9.8875.
Trinity finishing on bars for Florid a- maloney to clear hip to pak is lovely – hesitation on low bar, steps up to high bar – DLOstuck landing.
Wojcik 9.9875 on beam. Heiskell now – teams currently tied – cat leap to side aerial, good – switch to straddle 1/4, some short back leg – bhs loso series, solid work – 1.5 dismount, small hop. BUT THAT WILL BE A HIGH SCORE.
Oklahoma 9.9375 for Trautman. Michigan only needs 9.850. And that should do it.
AMAZING finish from Michigan, because OU was running away and then Michigan went nearly perfect at the end on beam. Shade of UCLA in 2018.
Heiskell’s 9.925 is up.
Michigan finishes on 198.250 to win the championship!
A well-deserved win. It was close, but Michigan was the best team today. After that counting 9.7625 on beam, it seemed done, but Oklahoma just counted a couple 9.8s and Trautman’s score was “only” 9.9375.
Michigan becomes the 7th team to win a title. 198.250 is a Michigan program record.
FINAL:
Michigan 198.250
Oklahoma 198.1625
Utah 197.9875
Florida 197.1375
Also a valiant effort for Utah. Didn’t expect them to be as close as this to the top.
Shifting over to GymCastic live reaction show for thoughts in about 10 minutes.
MICHIGAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MICHIGAN THIS IS YOURS!!!
OMG GO BLUEEE
SO SO SO happy for Michigan well well deserved!!
HECK YES!!!!!!!!
CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM #7!!
One of these things is not like the other… lol
Abby Heiskell wasn’t even in the beam lineup for most of the season and she clinched the win for Michigan I’m crying
she was so calm and to get the win and beating OU wowowow
Well deserved to Michigan! What a fantastic team. That said, whack scores everywhere
At the end of the day, Michigan was the absolute best team out there and have the most difficulty. I am extremely happy that the right team won today.
Congrats Michigan!!! Well deserved, such a good meet!
why am I crying oh my god this is the best moment of my year
MICHIGAN!!!
So excited for what Utah can do next year considering they’re only losing one gymnast (LeBlanc) who only competes one routine! Will be awesome to see what Eaker and McCallum will add to the team!!
don’t forget Sage Thompson, she is one of the best level tens
omg yes and Sage!!
That is if Eaker and McCallum end up at Utah after all.
why wouldn’t they? They already signed
And MyKayla comes back!!
Oh yeah I forgot Skinner was meant to return! Wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t though.
I think Myk recently said she would be back as long as her body holds out. Why would you pass up the opportunity to be on that team?!
Those two are not going to go higher in elite and are sitting on top of a rocket in terms of where they can help take a program that is already set for solid runs at the top 4. I’ll bet on them being in SLC next year.
Just because they signed doesn’t mean shit.
How many US gymnasts have signed NLI and then went pro.
Way too many to count. If McCallum and Eaker are part of team USA and win team gold, they will likely go pro and end up taking advantage of opportunities post Olympics. For example, making money on the Biles Post Olympic Tour.
That’s a dumb comment. They aren’t marketable enough to go pro. Getting paid to do Simone’s tour doesn’t trump 4 years of paid college.
Correct. No Laurie Hernandezes in this bunch. I bet no one goes pro except Simone. Maybe, MAYBE Hurd if she wins an individual gold (seems unlikely).
So true. Skinner said she would come back, and I think she enjoys the college attention and will want to cap herself off a successful senior year, especially if she doesn’t make the Olympic team. She will give them some ooomph on vault, which they really need. Adding those three elites in should make an amazing team next year.
Also, get rid of Jenny Rowland please. I can’t look at those sad faces again next year.
Why would you get rid of Rowland. Other than the 2019 fiasco, she is performing as well as any of the coaches following a NC winner’s retirement. This years team was always makeshift and she has a really hot hand in terms of her recruits that should be on the floor in 2022. The one big question mark is why she kept putting Richards in leadoff- UF has patented putting their weakest or second weakest link in the anchor spot to relieve pressure on early girls and unfairly boost that weak score. I cannot figure out why she did not play that strategy on beam.
I’m guessing Skinner won’t be back. $10 says she gets pregnant after not making the Olympic team and doesn’t finish her degree.
Well, she did use that strategy on beam with Clapper. And it worked because no way Clapper gets a 10 mid-lineup. Given how poorly Richards handled the pressure, putting her in the anchor position was probably a bad idea anyway, but lead off probably also not great. She should have buried her mid lineup.
Trinity better hope she’s 100% healed for Olympics, injuries reoccur.
As far as Jenny, I don’t expect her to win a national title just because Florida has won before she got there. Above poster is right that Jenny has done well compared to the other coaches who have taken over national championship programs.
However, I do expect her to have her team peaked and managed properly so they can have their best performance of the year at Nationals — and this is the second postseason in a row she hasn’t done that. So that’s disappointing.
Hot Take: of the coaches who have taken over national-championship winning programs (Kupets, Duckworth, Farden, Rowland, and Waller), the first one of those to win a national title themselves will be Farden.
Rumor is Skinner may also return, which Utah could definitely use on VT.
Skinner is NOT returning.
You Utah fans are a delusional mess.
Agree with anonymous at 2:57z
“Delusional mess”
You’re a delusional asshole – I’m not even a Utah fan, but these types of comments are nasty and have no place here.
If Utah wants to be optimistic about who is joining their program, they can be.
And if Skinner does join, what does that make you? An ignorant, hateful person.
@anonymous 3:22pm. You’re what’s wrong with America right now. It’s ok if someone has a different opinion thank you. Just because someone’s truth isn’t yours does not make them wrong or evil. Geez, learn to disagree peacefully
@4:28 — calling someone a delusional mess because they state Skinner may return isn’t exactly being peaceful. You have a problem with 3:22, but have no issue with someone calling a poster a delusional mess?!?! Not to mention the poster is a Minnesota fan and not even a Utah person.
Yep but watch out for FLs Hurd, Wong, McCusker, and one other. Can’t wait for next season! OU had a chance, would have won without Dunn’s beam fall. What a final though, UT had a fantastic meet and nearly had a great chance. I’m hanging up my leotard until January 2022!!!
@anon 5:07 – Freaking learn people have different opinions than you. Just because what someone says makes your blood boil doesn’t mean they’re wrong. Sorry – i hope you learn that soon
No.
Stop incorrectly stating that Oklahoma would have won without Dunn’s fall.
Yes, Dunn’s score was dropped, but the lowest counting score on beam was Trautman’s 9.875.
If you were to drop Trautman’s score, Dunn would have needed a 9.9625 on beam to TIE Michigan and a 9.9875 to win outright.
Dunn didn’t even break 9.9 in semifinals, scoring a 9.850. There is no way that Dunn would have gone 9.9875 that would have been needed to win the meet. Especially when 9.925 was her season best.
Michigan won because they were the best team that night, not because of mistakes from Oklahoma.
Agreed! This Utah team with more depth on Vault, Bars, & Floor will be awesome!!! Only concern is what amazing athlete is not going to make their beam lineup next year? Eaker, McCallum, & Skinner would all bring in huge beam scores, but their existing lineup is already fire from top to bottom!
Stanhope’s position is vulnerable which either Eaker will take most likely. McCallum will fight with Rucker but I’m not sure who will win the spot between the two of them. I also think O’Keefe will get pushed out of the AA unless she gets a 10.0 vault
Just watch the gymnastics. Geez.
Much deserved win for Michigan.
Agreed.
The snarky, petty comments about gymnasts, their fan base, the judging, etc. is exhausting and robs the sport of its joy.
I stopped reading the comments on this site for most of the season. It’s become a cesspool.
YES MICHIGAN!!!!!
Michigan’s assistant coach is an OU gym alumni!
Yes!! She was a member of OU’s first championship team in 2014 and now coached Michigan’s first championship team!
Hello from your day-drinking OU fan! After Big 12s, I only hoped Oklahoma would qualify to nationals this year, and they did a lot more than that. Congratulations to Michigan on their championship and a great meet. I love seeing another team join the winners club, and it’s well deserved. Cheers to this crazy season & this crazy sport
I love this!! Happy Michigan win from an LSU day drinking fan too!!
Happy for Michigan!! I was cheering for Utah but happy for Michigan if it couldn’t be my Utes.
YAAAAAS MICHIGAN!!!
Super excited to see a 7th team join the NCAA Champions roster! Love to see it!
WOW! 1-2-3 in the AA tonight for Michigan.
So happy for Bev Plocki, what a humble coach and she has been working hard for so long, a few years in the mid-late 90s they were so close to winning and just lost out. This was a long time coming!
Yep MI came in second at Nationals in 1995 and 1999. Some gymnasts robbed on scores as I saw perfectly but only received 9.85 suckitydoodah!!
Sierra was amazing. Gymnast of the meet for me.
Beyond thrilled with this result. I felt like OU got a couple of gifts on beam and Michigan was not adequately rewarded for amplitude on vault. I love that the winning team went for real difficulty on all four events. And I tip my hat to Utah for putting together their meet of the year when it mattered most- with next years recruits I think they can make up some ground on vt and tumbling difficulty.
MI had to go for difficulty because OU has the difficulty, so good planning from MI coaching staff.
My three favorite things about today…
1- I did not have to watch LSU compete again
2 – OU did not win
3 – I did not have to watch LSU compete again
same same
You are salty as fuck.
Lololol
Same girl
Must be a Florida fan……. come sit with LSU with no SEC titles and no National Championship this year.
Pretty funny comment since Florida won the regular season title this year by going undefeated (your memory seems to be faulty so I’ll remind you also that LSU had 3 conference losses).
Regular season title? That’s a participation trophy in my book.
OK fine, forget about the regular season titles. SEC titles for Florida 10 (2nd only to Georgia), SEC titles for LSU 4. National titles for Florida 3, national titles for LSU 0 (and won’t be changing anytime soon).
Sweetie….. Florida hasn’t won anything in the postseason since 2016……
Ouchie.
There is NO EXCUSE next year with that roster, but I’m sure you will find one, 🥰
ZERO national titles for LSU. Math I realize is a problem for you so just to point out 3 is more than ZERO. When Florida wins their next 3 titles that will make a total of 6 (3 + 3 = 6), and yes 6 is also more than ZERO.
Michigan just became the 7th team to win a Gymnastics Championship with an outstanding end of beam set. Didn’t get the rightful attention at all this season…..
And then you decide to get on this board and bring up a team THAT DIDN’T EVEN COMPETE TODAY. Can we at least give Michigan their props before you throw salt on a team because yours clearly choked today. Thanks.
So I’m guessing this is the first time you’ve ever read the comments on this blog?
Second, but I appreciate your unrequested perspective.
“Unrequested perspective” ???????????
Once again, welcome to the comments section.
I’ll add a fourth- we did not have to coronate at team that only goes for difficulty on one frickin event and two lineup positions on the other three, As much as I love KJC, if I had to watch her blather about some whale shaped leap that is obviously meant as a landing cover one. more time…. And UM could literally vault over the Utah and OU vaults. How were their girls outscoring Wojcik???
Yes to this so much!!!
Honestly, KJC’s orgasm over that leap was the low point of the whole competition for me. She’s a smart lady who knows better. It’s one thing to respect the hustle and point out when a team exploits a loophole in the code (that SHOULDN’T BE THERE, get your shit together NCAA), but it’s another to act like that leap was exceptional gymnastics.
Wojcik herself ends with a Rudi- split jump. That’s not any more noble than Webb’s leap out of her Rudi. You all are just haters.
No one pretends that Wojik’s rudi to split jump is either high art or an athletic feat. Feel free to link to anyone who did. And NW at least has a double back and does the double front in combo. At that she is still not in the top half of Michigan’s difficulty much less the penultimate routine. FWIW- I’m not even a homer for any of the teams in the top four and my criticism of that pales in comparison to my moaning about scoring and routines from the Tuscaloosa and SLC regionals.
Also, a split jump is an element in the code and can be deducted if not done properly. I’m pretty sure Webb’s is not. Certainly Hano’s epileptic starfish jump wasn’t.
Ok, I’ll continue to engage since you seem game to engage, and for whatever reason you also keep on checking out the comments section well after the event.
I absolutely agree with KJC about Webb’s rebound after her Rudi (new this season) and I feel the same way about Wojcik’s split jump after her Rudi. Both are aesthetically gorgeous and add to the performance factor of the actual floor set.
I’ll agree with you that the Hano phenomenon wasn’t aesthetically pleasing. What do you think of Heiskell’s post Rudi shape then? I put it in the same category as Hano. And Skaggs’ too.
Wojcik and Webb have in my opinion the exact same due respect for doing something beautiful after a Rudi.
Hate us because you’re not us. I’ll wrap myself up in my comforter and sleep just fine knowing you live your life to hate a program… i have better things than that to do! Go Blue! Awesome win!
Amen to all of this!
OU and MI were tied near very end, then OU pulled ahead, then you know the ending!
And had Sierra Brooks had the same vault yesterday as today, she would have won the AA.
she is literally the most underrated gymnast in ncaa, the fact that she almost won the aa and Spencer didn’t even mention her as an honorable mention for the aa before the meet
Sierra Brooks kind of crept up on the competition though so definitely a sleeper. She had a roller coaster season in the beginning.
Michigan as a whole started peaking at the right time.
Going into Nationals it was always Florida vs Oklahoma and maybe LSU, Utah, and Alabama.
Michigan was not a favorite after Big Tens and though they had a strong regionals, they still were underdogs. Their team performance in semi final 1 finally showed that Michigan could put together great executed routines with strong difficulty. I didn’t think Michigan was a contender until finals to be honest. I also thought they might be picked off by Cal or Minnesota in SFs.
So glad for them they earned this title.
She’s definitely underrated, but I don’t know if I would say she’s the most underrated. She’s received praise all year — commentators talk about her a lot during Michigan meets.
Michigan’s Heiskell, Cal’s DeSouza, ASU’s Scharf, Kentucky’s Worley, and Florida’s Lazzari are also similarly underrated and under appreciated.
Here for the Scharf shoutout!
MI was a strong contender since last 3 meets of regular season. OU started peaking before/after Big 12.
Heiskell is moree underrated. She did AA in what 2 meets this year and just went 39.7+ at nationals unbelievable!
The right team won. Utah doesn’t have the power events they need for the title. Rowland chokes down the stretch again.
Agreed. Michigan won the meet on vault tonight. Lights out vault set.
Michigan won because they had great difficulty across the board.
I would say they won the meet based on their first rotation battling what was their nemesis FX, they ended up defeating those demons and won that event. That hit FX rotation was crucial.
Why Rowland put Payton in for leadoff beam when she so clearly was not going to hit is beyond me. We ALL saw her fall coming. I don’t understand how she was still in the lineup, let alone leadoff
Yup.
Rowland made some poor choice in BB line up.
Lazzari should have been lead off or maybe even Skaggs.
The line up should have been:
1- Skaggs
2-Lazzari
3-Thomas
4-Baumann
5-Clapper
6-Richards
Literally the team was so depleted they had Savannah vault after hurting an ankle in the warmup and then Trinity on two super taped ankles? Could Clapper not sub in for Savannah on bars after what looked like a disaster ready to happen? Did they just peak really early or were things mismanaged throughout the season and just collapse in SEC/regionals/nationals?
UF was behind the eight ball all year because they (and UCLA) lost too many routines in ’20 and their big recruits deferred to because of the Olympic delay. They then had about four injuries in the last quarter of the season. A healthy Thomas would have likely made up .75 of their .8 deficit to Utah and put them in a different head space.. But they did not have the fire power of Michigan or Vt advantage of OU even on their best day in 2021. Those 39.8s from Thomas and a stellar back 5 on beam could hide a multitude of weaknesses in the first half of the season.
A healthy Thomas would have made up the ground?
LMAO.
Thomas FELL tonight and that is what caused them to lose the meet.
T.R.U.T.H. Wrong of Rowland….unless JR got paid to throw the meet!?!
Florida choked…. again… just own it. No excuses and get better next year.
Ha…did anyone say Utah should have won over MI?
I don’t think anyone is making that statement – why are you looking for controversy?
The right team won today – Michigan didn’t just look phenomenal today, they were excellent both days. This board is so spiteful and mean!
Why can’t we just celebrate the fact that it was a fantastic championship, between three teams, and the best team WON?
Sheesh people – it’s non-stop on this board.
No. Not a single comment saying Utah should have won. Good Lord.
Definitely not.
There might be an argument that Utah should have finished second over OU, but I would have to go back and watch a few routines that I missed to be sure. I feel like OU got some serious gifts (Webb vault, Draper bars, Webb beam, Webb floor stick out for me…also Johnson floor but that would be the drop score). But Utah also got a couple gifts on vault too (Burch and Stanhope). I also didn’t catch all of Utah’s routines.
Why on Earth would Rowland out Peyton on beam at Nationals??? Peyton fell AGAIN in finals, wrong decision for FL. Should have replaced her.
I was feeling that way too, but her options were pretty limited. The only other athletes who have even competed beam are SJS, Taylor, and Schoenherr. SJS and Taylor were injured at regionals. Schoenherr was injured on vault in the warmup. She was still able to gut it out and make it through vault but you could see it was a struggle for her and she couldn’t even finish bars. I can see why Jenny didn’t want to add another routine to her load.
I’m shaking inside with excitement and Michigan isn’t even “my” team. They were fire all season and especially today!!! Well-deserved win!!!!
Weren’t fire all season, became better near end of regular season.
Let’s all not forget that OU and MI tied on beam with 49.4875, MI really had some bad moments during the final, especially those 9.7s on beam, MI was literally giving it away to OU so MI knew they had to fight for every tenth. Knew it would come down to OU and MI and that it would be a close score, and it was. The meets always come down to the last routine. Meet scores are phasing out tenths but rather it’s coming down to hundredths of a point.
Michigan seems to be an amazing team to be part of, Bev looks like an amazing coach, all the girls are so friendly and hard-working. What a meet and what a win!
The shade that the now Arkansas gymnast said seemed to point to otherwise but who knows…
What did she say? I’m super out of the loop
O’Hara is just pissed off that Michigan wouldn’t agree to her 5th year because they didn’t want to issue her a scholarship based on the signees they had. They would have had to drop someone in order to give her the scholarship she wanted.
Maggie could have stayed and walked on as a graduate student and just won herself a national title. She would have been used on both UB and BB without a doubt and who knows maybe actually been in the hunt for the national title on UB if she anchored that Michigan rotation.
However, her own ego had to come in play and insist she be on scholarship. When Plocki said no to her returning on scholarship, she freaked instead of stayed in her lane and acting humble.
Wieber was desperate for experienced gymnasts, so Abby and Maggie were perfect grabs for her.
So, I know absolutely nothing about Maggie O’Hara, but I think it’s pretty presumptuous to say that someone going where there is a scholarship for her is because of ego. Graduate school in the US costs money. Lots of money. Most people who go there are saddled with student debt for many years after they graduate. Maybe she was thinking of her long-term financial future by going to a school where there was a scholarship for her rather than staying as a walk-on.
She would’ve been paying out of state tuition while competing as a walk on with no guaranteed lineup spot or joined a team that would give her a scholarship and more chances to compete; I think she made the best choice for herself.
The OP isn’t saying O’Hara didn’t make the right choice to go to Arkansas.
They made a valid point that O’Hara wanted to be on scholarship for her 5th year and Michigan said they couldn’t do it. Instead of either leaving to another school humbly or choosing to stay at Michigan because she love the team, she allowed her ego to take over and transferred for her 5th year and then talked shit about Michigan coaches and gymnasts.
THAT is where her ego comes in.
I guess I’m missing where she trash talked her former coaches and team?
Anonymous at 3:07… have you ever thought that she needed the money to pay for that grad year? Novel concept.
Robyn, the OP is implying that she should have “stayed humble” by being a walk-on and didn’t say anything about her trash talking Michigan. I don’t think anyone is obligated to be a walkon if they can find a scholarship offer somewhere else. School is expensive.
O’Hara made the right move for her by transferring (go get that money), but there was no need for her to shade her prior school for making a perfectly reasonable decision about scholarship allocations.
People keep saying that O’Hara trashed Michigan but no one actually is able to report what she even said. Any receipts?
Congratulation Michigan!! Well deserved!
Overall the scores weren’t the same as I would have given but I definitely think the four teams ended in the right order.
GO BLUE! So excited for Michigan to finally win a championship. It’s been a long time coming. I could not be prouder as a former Michigan gymnast!!!
you must be really proud of your team congrats
And you were a GREAT one too!!!!
Joanna — As a Buckeye, it kills me to admit this, but I was cheering for Michigan today. The first (and probably last) time in my life! Also, your floor routines were always so amazing!
Too funny- I was watching someone throw a strong double pike on a video yesterday and literally thought, who helped Sampson upgrade to the DLO mid career? I also had a minor Elise Ray moment when they won and Michigan is not even my fandom. Love that they are not throwing cookie cutter routines.
I had actually competed the DLO my senior year of high school. It got away for me for a couple of years and then Shannon Welker (now head coach @ Mizzou) got it rolling again!
Oh-that would make sense. He is slowly making progress at Mizzou but drew a bum hand with the Hu injury. I always thought that was a neat element for you since the rise & rotation was distributed evenly instead of punching then cranking or going up straight then piking. Nice of you to give credit.
Congrats Michigan! Well-deserved!
The most exciting meet of eternity. So close!! I knew it was going to be hard for Utah, ending on Vault. And after the two scores in the 9.7s for Michigan I was scared that OU would pull it out! So proud of Michigan and what they’re doing for Big Ten gymnastics. Now maybe we’ll get more coverage of the sport!!
An excellent meet all around, and the right team won, so good job judges. WOW
Yep OU had it with MI’s 9.7s, they had to drop one and count one. This final was an easy guess as to who would win…MI of course. We shall see next year if MI can win Nationals again for back-to-back wins!
maile o’keefe and natalie wojcik tying for the highest beam score today is correct
4sure
Can we talk about how Florida absolutely choked post-season? They went into this season as the favourites and didn’t win one title.
I wonder if Jenny Rowland will resign after this. This is not the first and not the second time they die in post-season.
Btw, can a head coach be fired? I’m not saying she should be by any means, I’m just wondering. i have no idea what university programs looks like in the us
Yes, coaches are fired all the time. Gymnastics is somewhat unique in that it isn’t a high profile sport or revenue sport at most schools. Thus, ADs don’t really pay attention too much to gym programs. Which means coaches stay a long time and you see little turnover.
Rowland might feel a little pressure, but her recruiting is lights out. I also don’t know who they would bring in as a replacement (maybe Wieber or go after Jenny Hansen but I don’t know if they’d take it) Chris Waller could be in a similar situation at UCLA in a few years — he can bring in recruits, but if they don’t start seeing success in the post season, he could be in trouble. Plus, UCLA has an easy replacement candidate in Wieber.
Yes, head coaches get fired. Jay Clark and Danna Durante both got let go as Georgia’s head coach during the 2010s.
A head coach can absolutely be fired, but I doubt Florida cares enough about gymnastics to actually do something. With the recruits Rowland has coming in though, if they don’t win soon she should definitely be on the hot seat. If you told me two months ago Florida was going to finish fourth, I would have been shocked.
Ironically UF (prior to the UGA purges post Suzanne) was the last big name team to ax a reasonably successful coach for underperforming. They pushed Judi Markell aside to put Feign in place in the early/mid 00s. But Rowland has won an SEC title and landed in the final round every year except once.
LOL, would you voluntarily resign from an incredibly prestigious and high-paying job because you feel like you could have done better?
Little commented on fact- Duckworth has seen Alabama win more SEC Championships than Rowland has with Florida. (And their highest placement at Nationals (3rd) is the same. And they both missed one Nationals.) There’s no way Florida should be winning less SEC Championships than Alabama comparing the rosters.
Rowland has had more success making it to Super Six and Final Four. So your argument is one extra SEC title is more valuable than an extra two appearance in the championship round. They’ve both lost more Championships and podium positions to LSU than they’ve won in that same time period…
I think Duckworth and Rowland have performed similarly after being handed the reins of a previous national championship team. Rowland has done a better job with recruiting but Duckworth seems to have done better with getting her team to perform to its potential.
I think Dana did a better coaching job this year than Jenny- even though Alabama didn’t make finals they performed well at conference championships, regionals, and nationals. (That said, I don’t really care because Dana should have been dismissed for her racist comments…)
So unbelievably happy for Michigan 😭😭😭
So happy for Michigan! I was very impressed. They’re doing clean, beautiful and difficult gymnastics. Well-deserved. And they’re returning basically their whole roster next year, so that’s something to watch out for.
and I think they get a 5-star recruit too
Star ratings aren’t too important in gymnastics. It’s basically one gymnastics fan site ratings gymnasts. College gym fans is trying to fit gymnastics into a football/basketball mold and that doesn’t always work.
Currently have Grace McCallum as a 4 star…what?! lol
I wish College Gym News would stop trying to make their “star ratings” thing happen lol. As if their ratings are the true judge of recruits.
Yes to Anon at 4:07.
College Gym News doesn’t know shit anyways.
So happy for Coach Plocki and the Gymverines!
We should have won nationals in 1999 but UGA was over scored in the Super Six similar to Oklahoma being over scored tonight.
Happy that the pendulum swung the correct way this year.
22 years later, justice is finally served!
Nope. UGA deserved to win in 1999. Congrats on the win tonight!
Sorry, but you weren’t there in 1999, I was!
We were robbed! But thanks for trying!
I’ve followed college gymnastics since 1990 — I’ve attended 18 national championships in the last 31 years. Do you know whether I was there or not? Nope. Don’t assume that I know absolutely nothing about gymnastics. I’m a Minnesota fan; however, I appreciate the sport as a whole and always watch meets through as fair an eye as I can. I remember 1999 and I stand by my statement. UGA won in 1999. Michigan deserved their win today. Appreciate the win today instead of throwing shade on the 1999 winners.
Minn fan.
Were you there in Salt Lake City?
I highly doubt it.
I COMPETED at that meet and can 100% state that Georgia was held up that night.
I was fortunate enough to attend in 1999. I missed 1996-1998 and Huntsman is one of my favorite places to watch gymnastics.
You were a fantastic athlete and I respect Michigan a ton. I understand why you would think Michigan should have won — you were on the team. As an unbiased observer of the meet, I thought Georgia deserved to win.
Enjoy your win tonight! I hope Minnesota joins you in the final four next year.
Y’all are so bored. Let it go. Lol
Hope to see you in AA in the fall!
Please tell me ‘Gymverines’ isn’t actually a thing…ha
3 best teams went 1 – 2 – 3.
Probably should have been Cal in there for 4.
SEC is week and benefits from over-scoring all season long.
Florida didn’t even belong in the same arena.
*weak.
And Oklahoma, UCLA, Minnesota, etc. didn’t have meets that were overscored?
You’re right. Sorry I was homeschooled 🙁
Congrats Big Blue! 😂 Good for them! Yesterday I was reminiscing about Beth Wymer and Sarah Cain and Heather Kabnick. But who can forget Elise Ray is an alumnus as well?? In any case, it’s always great to see someone new join the club; I just wish it would have been LSU. But what are you gonna do 🤷♂️
ALL TOGETHER NOW: AT LEAST IT WASN’T OKLAHOMA!!
Whew! Praise be! Thank you Jesus! 💗
Utah comes up just short yet again. I swear this has been a recurring theme every few years since the days of No Grips Georgia Dabritz. What do they need to finally get over the line? The return of Mykayla? 🤔 Maile did all she could, but she’s not God. Unfortunately. I know they look very similar; I often get them confused also..
Seems like it was a cracker of a meet. Excited to catch the replay!
They really need vaults!
Ewwwww…. why is pedophile Wally Young allowed on here. UGH nothing worst than a straight up pervert. Wally prefers boys under the age of 16. The Twitter receipts are still out there.
I have to go throw up now.
Well, there is zero moderation here, so…anyone is allowed to post here unfortunately.
Receipts WHERE? Never in my life have I said anything about preferring boys under 16. You don’t know me, and that’s untrue. I’d sue your ass but surprise surprise you’re ANONYMOUS.
You’re a vile, disgusting EVIL person for writing that because it’s a straight up lie and complete misrepresentation of anything I DID write. How can you sleep at night not caring if you ruin people’s lives by posting shit like this? It is so infuriating. Karma is coming for you.
It’s been 26 years since Utah has won which is almost like they’ve never won. Not sure what they need to get over the top. Somehow, they need all 4 events to come together and peak at the right time. Timing was good this year – all 4 events was not.
Congrats to Michigan! They came out on fire and put all 4 events together. When it started to look like they might crack the door open on beam, they slammed it shut!
Utah actually is improved on bars compared to a couple of seasons ago (an O’Keefe type routine certainly helps). They’ve added vault difficulty too. I think all they need is some better coaching on vault to get the max out of that rotation, and then they will contend.
I have to double check scores again, but I don’t think Utah scored 9.7’s or lower today. Semi-finals were really consistent too.—I don’t recall any major breaks. All 9.8s and 9.9’s (just not enough 9.9s) show a really impressive effort. Solid line-ups.
I think Utah did all that they could. #3 with only 11 healthy gymnasts. I agree vault needs to beef up but look how far they came on bars in a couple of months. Next year with four 10 start value vaults coming in could make a huge difference. Though I am a major Utah fan I love that Michigan won. They were steady and amazing all season. It was one of the most exciting meets I’ve ever watched. Can’t wait for next season. As to the snarky comment of Utah falling short again they exceeded expectation so that’s a win. Love my red rocks
What Oklahoma has done for college gymnastics in the past 5 seasons is pushed everyone else to need to absolutely peak to win the title. Their remarkable feat of hitting 198 for every championship round starting from 2017 (have to be near peak at the right time for that to happen), yet “only” winning 2 of 4, raises the bar for all the other contenders. Want to win? Not only do you have to go 198+ during finals, but you have to outdo Oklahoma’s 198.
Interesting stat. A mid 197s isn’t winning a natty anytime soon. You definitely need scores up into the 9.9s to win. Utah returns nearly everyone next season. Apparently Michigan does too. Who else will have a good shot next season?
Florida beings in a bunch of talent (if they don’t defer) and returns Thomas, Schoenherr, Reed, and Lazarri. Plus, maybe their seniors will return? Based on their reactions today though, I feel like Baumann and Skaggs may be done.
I honestly think this is one of KJ’s best coaching jobs. Given all the injuries they had, including losing Thomas at regionals, to finish second is kind of amazing. That floor lineup was a guessing game every week, but they managed to pull it together at the end. It wasn’t quite enough, but Michigan had a better day.
Totally agree. They absolutely maxed out on floor.
Yeah, I haven’t been a fan of OU this season, but as usual, I do think KJ got the most out of her athletes.
Yeah I personally dislike OU’s gymnastics and am thrilled they lost but I definitely think KJ is the best coach in NCAA gym.
I mean, sure Oklahoma constantly scores 198s in finals but they are always over scored anyway. They aren’t always legit 198s. They shouldn’t have broken 198 tonight.
This may be a somewhat debatable 198 today- I personally thought the judges just boxed themselves in a narrow range for all teams throughout this weekend. But I think you’d find few who thought they were overscored *relative to the field* in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
What Utah, Alabama and Georgia did for college gymnastics set the stage for everyone else. There was not much parity back in the day. So much better competition now.
I have a lot of respect for OU and Kindler. I think she coaches to minimize deductions better than anyone. She is also uncannily strategic- and equal to Sarah Patterson on that level. But aside from really dialing in on vault, I feel like they basically do not push difficulty on any other event. They remind me Utah prior to the mid 00s. Their choreo is also lagging at this point.
The last half decade has also seen scoring explode so a 2018-21 198 us not the same as that some score in the late 00s or prior to 2000. I’d be fine with mid 197s winning national championships in return for proper separation of scores.
Lagging choreo? KJ is one of the most inventive choreographers.
In 2017, Oklahoma threw 5 E passes in the Super Six and in 2019, they had 4 (would have been 5 with a healthy Nichols). I think it’s just who they have healthy enough to compete this season that made the difficulty especially less on floor. But bars wasn’t different difficulty-wise than any other top squad. Utah and Michigan do push the difficulty on beam for sure.
Let’s talk bar routines back in the 80s vs. nowadays: much more skills packed into a routine, nowadays it’s mount, release, oak, release, dismount, done! Look at Nadia’s routines and other gymnasts of her time, especially bars….loaded with skills…way more exciting to watch. Now 4obFloor…can one really watch 4 squares at the same time!?! Geesh!
Anon at 3:51 – in other years I might agree with you about KJ and innovative choreography. But not this year. Those routines were terrible. Webb had about the only watchable routine choreographically and I didn’t even care for hers that much.
I agree about choreography lagging at this point. Oklahoma floor has gotten stale and isn’t what it used to be. I miss when we had AJ Jackson, Natalie Brown, and Chayse Capps in a lineup!
Ok, but howi.pressed are we that Okeef figured out sticking that arabian bars dismount? She has been on fire with it all post season!!! I had thought that dismount was going to prevent her from getting the 9.95+’s, then she just started sticking it Every. Single. Time
Finally someone who isn’t a blatant OU hater posting. OU is at the top of the game year in and year out. UCLA got what they needed in 2018 and Michigan got what they needed in 2021. Matters not, OU is bringing in a great freshman class and we’ll see the haters in Fort Worth again next year. Boomer!!
Oh FFS, not being a fan of OU doesn’t make someone a “blatant OU hater”…and FWIW, OU was my favorite team from since about 2014 and I made a trip to Oklahoma a few years ago just to watch them compete. I started being a little less impressed with them last year. And this year, they have not had the goods, in spite of what the marks say.
Absolutely thrilled for the Michigan gymnasts, but I can’t ever cheer for Plocki after she hired Faehn (for like a week because the athletic department finally realized they f’ed up).
Agreed about Plocki/Faehn + effed-up.
YESSSSS Michigan!!! So so happy the best team won and their big gymnastics was rewarded. Such a close meet all around. I’m not a Utah fan at all, but OU definitely got some gifts Utah did not have the benefit of. I would have had Utah in second but oh well.
I do think Utah has an amazing shot next year. But it’s worth noting that no male head coach has won except Marsden and that was 25+ years ago. Female head coaches seem to get more out of their athletes!
It’s a pretty small sample size — 7 coaches have won a title. I would argue Marsden, Kendig, and Clark are all pretty successful. Marsden and Kendig were pretty instrumental in building NCAA women’s gym (with Yoculan, Patterson, VKF). I don’t think it’s a male/female issue.
Jay Clark is only successful at eating.
Of course every staff has males and they have an impact. But having a strong female leader has proved more successful at winning championships.
I would say Clark’s success as a head coach is debatable.
I’d say that there are ways to criticize Jay Clark without being fatphobic, hon.
@Anonymous 3:41 I’d say you’re a clueless moron, hon. Clark is not only a fat toad but a Christofascist scumbag. There. Not just about his physical grotesqueries but his spiritual ones. FOAD!
Before that plenty of male coaches came super close.
Jim Turpin was a great coach at Oregon State who had several national champions in Chari Knight, Amy Durham, and multiple champion Joy Selig. They were also 4th in 1991.
Jerry Tomlinson was a standout male coach at UCLA. Coached Rhonda Faehn and Tanya Chaplin (nee Service) as UCLA Bruins as well as Kim Hamilton 4x national champion on VT (89) and FX (87-88-89) and Jill Andrews champion on VT 88 and BB 89. The dominated the Pac 10s for his entire career. Tomlinson was named coach of the year in 1989. He coached UCLA to 3 four years in a row, and 2nd in 1989 just losing out to Georgia by .050.
If you are going to honor Kendig, who never won a National title. You need to at least recognize Turpin and Tomlinson.
Wouldn’t there be just as many female coaches who never won team titles but had individual champions? DD Breaux, Melissa Kutcher-Reinhardt, even Dana Duckworth, Dana Durante and Kristen Smyth. I’m not saying male coaches are bad by any means I just think it shows that women have been more successful at winning team titles and if I was an AD I would notice that.
How could you forget John Spini at ASU?? 4 runner ups at Nationals and 10 national champions (6 athletes) including Jackie Brummer the 1986 AA champion.
Make final championship ONLY top two teams, MUCH better!!!
No! I like the 4 team final.
And the SEC gets jack squat. Good!
It’s been said several times in the coverages that by the end of the season seniors must decide if they want to take the extra year of eligibility. So do we expect announcements soon?
Yes. Go to College Gym News website to see the current list. It is about 50/50 right now.
https://collegegymnews.com/2021/03/20/tracking-covid-years/
Feels like most fans agree Michigan was the best team today. Everything else is debatable but not the top team. Congrats Michigan from a Utah fan.
Honestly, I think it’s mostly Utah fans who think the rest is debatable. I don’t particularly support any of the teams in the final (I’m a Cal fan) but based on what we saw on the main broadcast I think the results seemed correct.
I haven’t seen a single Utah fan complain about the results. There are a lot of people saying Utah fans are the worst, but I honestly haven’t seen it at all this year.
Anonymous@4:27 — literally that comment is responding to a Utah fan saying “Everything else is debatable”. There have been several Utah fans saying that Utah should have beat Oklahoma.
Utah fans have been ridiculous all year (and almost all eternity) but I’ve also found them to be largely chill and reasonable for the final this time.
HA ! HA ! HA !
Utah fans being reasonable??? Do NOT go check out their Facebook group then. My LORDT. Rabid fans searching for justice for underscored beam in semi finals and then under scored floor and vault for finals. They literally compared Utah’s VT scores to what Michigan was getting. LMAO.
They have always been the worst complainers since they stopped winning in the mid 90s. It really came to bloom again in the mid 2000s when it vs Kupets vs Postell. Skinner brought it to a new level of pretentiousness. It was quiet in 2019 and 2020 because it was clear they were lucky to make Nationals in 2019 and didn’t make it out of semis and last year Covid cancelled. IF Skinner comes back (highly unlikely) the delusions of grandeur will be EPIC!
The Marsdens might be gone (the ones that started the complaint traditions) but the culture of being robbed has lived on.
So, “Suck It Utes,” if you hate Utah so much, why do you waste time looking at the fan Facebook page? I’m guessing all teams have these groups? No idea. I’ve been to a couple of meets in Utah and the fans that attend those meets seem pretty amazing. People write a lot of shit when they are anonymous or hiding behind their computers. It’s no wonder Spencer pays not attention to any of this drivel.
I think everyone can agree Michigan had an AMAZING competition and the final was an excellent competition! I loved it all, Oklahoma kept it close and Utah had a respectable finish.
PS I love the story about Serena Williams’ daughter!!
Utah was underscored on floor relative to the others but the gap on vault was too big. Oklahoma was second best but in my opinion should have been scored closer to Utah than to Michigan
Michigan was so impressive the last 2 days. They are, no doubt, the rightful winners and best team in the country. Their team is stacked.
Florida fan here, but they shouldn’t have made it to the finals today and they have not been looking good at all in the post season. There seems to also be a sense of negative energy and defeat throughout in the team, but I hope they can rally and work on their confidence next season. They relied too much on Bauman and Ellie to rescue them repeatedly this season.
OU and Utah were all heart tonight. It was a pleasure to watch them compete. Love to see it.
Fellow Florida fan here, and I think the real unsung hero of their team this year was Skaggs. Lazzari also did very well as a freshman to become a consistent AA, and Baumann stepping up to finally do AA as a senior was quite impressive. They’ve been piecing together their lineups all year, but their late-season injuries really did them in. It’s sad to see, but you’re right that their performance this weekend was not championship quality.
The other three teams were very deserving. I actually think Oklahoma was in a similar situation working around injuries and making hodgepodge lineups, but they were able to pull it together when it counted. I’m not as familiar with Utah and Michigan, but they were both really impressive. I love seeing the growth of the sport and another team joining the club of national champions. Very happy for Michigan and their accomplishment!
Florida fan!
Agreed with Skaggs being added to the list. Florida relied too much on clutch gymnasts/performances and had many mental errors and rotations at almost every meet. It was like I was nervous for them instead of excited to watch them perform.
Hope next session is only a season ending Super 6: only three teams per each two sessions then top team from each session goes to one final meet, drop semis at final meets.
Those three team sessions would be semis…. And why do you think three teams would be so preferable to four?
So we get individual champions from 6 teams? No thanks. It’s hard enough for talented athletes on non-top teams to make nationals and have a chance at a national title. Cutting even more teams makes it that much harder for individuals to qualify.
Absolutely disagree. Look at some of the most watched/popular NCAA postseason formats: March Madness, CFB playoffs/bowl season, the Frozen Four, baseball/softball regional/supers/World Series format, ncaa volleyball tourney . . . Multiple teams have a legitimate shot. It makes it exciting. Keep it at 8.
If they want to make postseason more selective because there are so few gymnastics teams, they could do 16 teams. Do a regional with four quads with two teams advancing to nationals. Or scrap regionals and just do 16 teams at nationals. 4 quads with one team advancing out of each quad.
Thursday: 4 quads, 1 team advancing from each
Friday: rest
Saturday: Team finals
Sunday: Event finals (I’m really hoping they bring them back)
I miss event finals and while the NCAA event champions are good gymnasts most of them are not who I think had the best routine in their event… Leo bias, lineup position, semifinal order and the lack of separation all contributed.
Event finals should come back.
It is an unfair advantage to those athletes in the first session.
Only Bordas was able to hold on to a title and that was shared with O’Keefe. Out of 9 medals given out, just one went to a team from the first session.
I also felt that Sierra Brooks BB was better than Luisa Blanco BB and should have at least shared the title with her, with Blanco benefitting from being in the second session.
Don’t get me started on Graber co-win on FX, what was that??
Yeah, Blanco tying for second place AA with that vault is absolutely batshit.
I look at someone like Lexy Ramler who didn’t have her absolute best day but still had a better day than Blanco yet somehow ended up down in like 10th? While Blanco ended up second. And don’t get me started on where Ramler’s bars placed. I would like someone to watch Ramler and Shchennikova’s bars back to back and then justify how Shchennikova scored higher.
Anyway…the point is that the individual awards tends to favour the second session.
I never understood the rationale for getting rid of EF. It really helped the girls on lower ranked teams or who had to play it safe for a team score, since they could start off with a clean slate an no one else depending on a safe hit. Brown is the only gymnast with no team that is coming to mind as a winner since they canned EFs. I remeber in the00s when Bumpers beat Miles, Maloney and the big dogs fro back to back FX titles on her own. I also think it makes Hansen and Kupets’ titles that much more significant since they had to face the top girls back to back to back for a straight up comparison instead of letting judges box themselves in on lesser routines and throw high as heck scores at the end of a team lineup or last rotation of prelims. I will not be convinces the two Bama EF titles would have come earlier in a lineup or prior to the last/second to last rotations of the evening Semi.
I believe the “consensus” was that the EF day was boring and anticlimactic.
(Of course, it wasn’t like that for stars on lower ranked teams, but they wanted us to care about their feelings they would have gone to one of the powerhouse schools, amirite?)
I love event finals! It’s so fun cheering for individuals you like from other teams and watching gymnasts try out new skills or big skills. It felt like there was camaraderie and sportsmanship during EF. I’d love to see them bring it back.