Let’s not forget the final act of this week of gymnastics, the storied battle to see which M is the better-looking M.

Entering the meet, Michigan has a 197.750 and a 197.950 already on its record, while Minnesota opened with a 196.900 last Monday.

Apparently Wojcik is not doing bars today. Cancel the meet. Vore is into the bars lineup for her counting debut.

Rotation 1

Minnesota VT 1 – Gerdes – good amplitude on yfull, small hop back, slightly off direction. 9.800

Michigan UB 1 – Heiskell – good first hs – blind to jaeger, catches very close this time, works through it – pak is well performed – good cast hs on high – giant full to double tuck, stuck. Fine, but gave away ground on the jaeger. 9.825

Minnesota VT 2 – Hooten – Y1.5 – good work on her 1.5 – step to the side and then moves to meet it – a small bit of knees at the end. 9.850

Michigan UB 2 – Brenner – short first hs – blind to jaeger to overshoot, solid amplitude – better final cast hs – DLO, held the landing. Looked like she flung it out but ended up well. 9.900

Minnesota VT 3 – Ramler – Y1.5 – naillled her Y1.5 – great stick, great dynamics. I have .05 for knee/lower leg position but nothing else.

9.975. One judge went 10.

Michigan UB 3 – Morrison – gienger, a tad close but fine – bad camera angle to see anything – clear hip to bail, a little angle on bail catch – DLO, deep landing, hop forward. 9.850

Minnesota VT 4 – Quarles – Y1.5 – also found the stick on hers, Minnesota is vaulting very well – keeps her leg form a bit more than Ramler. Doesn’t bring her heels together before saluting. Some form on block. 9.950

Wonder if they only took for not bringing her heels together on the controlled extension. Oh no, because one of them went 10 and the other 9.900.

Oh, hi the bars broke?

Apparently we’re all OK?

Michigan UB 4 – Wilson – good first hs – blind to piked jaeger, a tad close – slightly overarches her cast hs but brings it back – hits bail hs – final cast hs, little hesitation in getting up there – DLO, good stick. 9.900

Minnesota VT 5 – Loper – well, a third stuck Y1.5 in a row and that was the best one of the three so far. She has legs together on the block and maintains her stretch position.

10.000

Michigan UB 5 – Brooks – good first hs – blind to piked jaeger, solid – rushes next hs  – bail, slight lack of tension on catch – DLO 1/1, saves it well, knees were starting to buckle but she only moves a little. 9.850

Minnesota VT 6 – Koch – brings out a y tucked 1.5, lunge back but hit. 9.725

Michigan UB 6 – Vore – shortish first hs – maloney to bail, solid, maybe a little short of vertical on the bail – hits final cast hs – DLO, stuck. Good work. Improvement over the bars we’ve seen from her before. Tighter positions. 9.900

Minnesota goes 49.575 on vault, which is .025 shy of the program record from 2002. Really excellent Y1.5s in there and a deserved lead after the first rotation.

Michigan was not bad on bars, but not awesome, and still ends up with 49.400. Missed Wojcik of course. Enough given away on handstands and dismounts and close catches there to keep a bunch of them in the 9.8s. Vore got a counting score there, and seems closer to the lineup than I thought she was before this, though it’s a tough one to break into. You could see her fighting for Morrison’s spot at this point.

Rotation 2

Michigan VT 1 – Guggino – sticks her Y1.5, it’s a stick day – little lean to the side to hold the stick – a bit softer than Loper, not quite as far and high. 9.925

Minnesota UB 1 – Remlinger – good first hs – Ray, just a bit of feet – hit hs – toe on to bail, leg break on catch – somewhat shorter on high bar hs – FTDT, stuck, a little under rotated. 9.800

Michigan VT 2 – Wojcik – Y1.5 – little hop forward, beautiful form in the air even stronger than Loper, good power and distance. 9.875.

Minnesota UB 2 – Leneave – I feel like this dude is throwing out numbers that are…not. clear hip to tkatchev, fine – well short on cast hs – bail, hits vertical, little foot quiver – rushing those handstands – FTDT, doesn’t show the stick long enough before her college salute. 9.800

Michigan VT 3 – Heiskell – very good form on her Y1.5 again – hop forward, both feet moving, a little bit of direction. 9.900. For me Wojcik should have been higher than Heiskell.

Minnesota UB 3 – Willmarth – good first hs – Ray, better counter rotation – bail, clear vertical – short final cast hs – giant full, a little late, into double tuck, so high, stuck landing. Some vertical positions but one of the best we’ve seen from her. 9.875

Michigan VT 4 – Morrison – strong stick on her Y1.5 – this is vaulting – holds the stick onto her toes – loses her feet closure by just a tad in the air.

9.975. Yeah, a couple almost deductions in there.

Minnesota UB 4 – Loper – shortish first hs – maloney to pak, gets her grips over on that catch, good cover, a little timing issue on catching the maloney – not quite to vertical on these casts – giant full to double tuck, small hop. 9.900 is high for that one.

Michigan VT 5 – Brooks – another fab Y1.5 landing – sticks it and brings the feels together – holds the stick long enough – a little soft in the knees in the air. 9.950

Minnesota UB 5 – Hooten – blind, a little late into piked jaeger to overshoot, great jaeger, some piked hips in overshoot – rushes final cast hs – FTDT, hop forward. 9.800

Michigan VT 6 – Wilson – hits her Y1.5 – medium hop forward – good everything else. 9.925

Minnesota UB 6 – Ramler – maloney to pak, perfect – good cast hs – van leeuwen – hits another cast – toe on to FTDT, holds the stick with an arm circle. Maybe the first hs was a little short? Grasping for things. 9.950

10 from one judge, 9.900 from the other.

You can justify it, but it remains that if Ramler is 9.950, all y’all should be getting 9.7s.

It’s 49.675 for Michigan on vault. They saw Minnesota’s 49.575 and were like, “That’s cute.”

Jencks doing bars exhibition for Minnesota.

In all, I think the judges did a solid job differentiating between a ton of vaults that would all receive 10s at…certain meets. I had a couple disagreements here and there, but they created a differentiation.

After 2: Michigan 99.075, Minnesota 98.900

Rotation 3

Minnesota BB 1 – Koch – full turn with a large break, major bend at the hips, didn’t quite bend to horizontal I don’t think though (which is a difference between .05 and .20, so it’s a big deal) – bhs loso series is hit – beat to split 3/4, misses split position – kickover to scale, brings it to scale pretty smoothly all things considered – sticks 1.5. Some strong moments, some larger things to take too. 9.775

Michigan FX 1 – Heiskell – double arabian, lands deep but saves it with a step back – 1.5 to layout, good body position – switch 1/2 to wolf full – double pike, control, chest forward. 9.825

Minnesota BB 2 – Tyson – bhs bhs loso series, very secure, some leg form – switch to straddle 1/4, switch is nice, straddle gets to 180, a little piked in the hips – 1.5, lunge forward. 9.775

Michigan FX 2 – Brenner – full in, hit, chest down – 1.5 to layout, dances out – switch side to popa – double pike, lunge back. 9.875

Minnesota BB 3 – Loper – bhs loso, well landed – kickover piked, good ampltiude – switch to straddle 1/4, pretty solid – 1.5, holds landing. Good one. 9.900

Michigan FX 3 – Wojcik – double pike, shows control – split leap full to popa, good leap positions – front 2/1 to front pike, the step is controlled so no risk of OOB – rudi to staddle, good control. 9.925

Minnesota BB 4 – Sonier – candle mount – BUT WAS IT VERY UNIQUE – thank you to Olivia for being like, lots of people do this – bhs loso series, like the feet – full turn, smooth – split jump to split 3/4, short of split and a bend forward at the hips, definitely to horizontal on that one – bhs 1.5, step to the side. Minnesota giving some tenths away in this rotation. 9.650

Michigan FX 4 – Morrison – FTDT, controls the step back – front lay to front full, bounces forward out of it – switch 1/2 to wolf full, good positions shown – double tuck, controls step back on that one. 9.950

Minnesota BB 5 – Pearl – full turn, very slightly overturned – bhs loos series HUGE wobble, waves her arms 755 times and bring sit back onto the beam – cat leap to switch side, crooked – aerial, small lean – switch to split, hit – 1.5, a bit short, step back. Minnesota will now have to count a 9.6 and two 9.775s.

Michigan FX 5 – Brooks – full in, nearrrly showed the stuck landing, smallest slide – front tuck through to double tuck, chest somewhat forweard, hop to the side – split leap full to jump full – double pike, controls the step back. 9.950 is high.

Minnesota BB 6 – Ramler – full turn, good – bhs loso, solidly landed – aerial to immediate beat jump, good – beat to split ring jump, possible littttle lean – side aerial to full, hits landing. 9.925

Michigan FX 6 – Wilson – open full in, does a good jump to hold it and then hop to present to show control despite her chest being a little forward – front lay to front full to front tuck, nice – switch side to popa, clearly around – double ttuck, shows control. Best of the rotation and we’ve had two 9.950s. 9.950 again.

Michigan goes 49.650 on floor, which is pedestrianly .05 down on the program record from last week. Scores got pretty high for me there.

Michigan opens up a large lead on Minnesota now as Minnesota got two good beams from Ramler and Loper but also had to count some lows for a 49.025. They’d need Michigan to count a beam fall now. But beam has been the one question mark for Michigan thus far.

After 3: Michigan 148.725, Minnesota 147.925

Rotation 4

Michigan BB 1 – Morrison – goes for candle mount, rolls past hs and has to muscle a little to get it up there – bhs loso series is nice – cat leap to switch 1/2, little pause to beat, good back leg on switch but front leg a little down – gainer pike, hop forward. 9.750

Minnesota FX 1 – Koch – front 2/1 to front tuck, hit, a little bit of leg crossing – split leap full to wolf full, wrenches them around – back full side pass – rudi, secure landing, and again some loose leg form. 9.925 is very high

Michigan BB 2 – Wilson – hitch kick to the heavens – bhs loso series, little arm wave quiver check – split jump split jump combination – double tuck is good, small hop forward. 9.850

Minnesota FX 2 – Leneave – double pike, good chest position – switch 1/2 to wolf full to little 1/2 hop around because sure – 1.5 to layout, just a hair short, but that was actually good because otherwise she’s going OOB – double tuck is well short, chest down, lunge forward. 9.675

Michigan BB 3 – Guggino – full turn – bhs loso series, hit, good amplitude – split jump to straddle 1/2, a little tight in position, secure landing – cat leap, check, broken connection to side somi, hit – bhs 1.5 dismount, lunge forward. Won’t have her full SV. 9.850? Oh nvm. Straddle jump 1/2 is a D in elite. That’s dumb and I always forget that because it’s dumb. So why is she doing that cat leap at all?

Minnesota FX 3 – Ramler – split ring jump full, the only one who’s allowed to try – 1.5 through to 2/1, good form and control – switch ring to switch 1/2, perfect ring – rudi, hit, pikes it down a little – 1.5 to front layout, hit, slight arch in layout. Good.

9.975. Pretty, but that’s a bit much.

39.825 for Ramler, new high for college gym this year. .025 down on her all-time career high.

Michigan BB 4 – Brooks – bhs loso loso, excellent – switch to switch, pretty good back leg – kickover, chest up well – bhs 1.5, stuck landing. Wonderful. 9.950

Minnesota FX 4 – Remlinger – full in, chest up well, hops to present – switch side to popa, good positions, overturns her switch side some – 1.5 to layout, hit – double tuck, little foot adjustment. Very solid work. 9.900

Michigan BB 5 – Heiskell – cat leap to side aerial, lean to the side, arm wave – switch to switch, more tentative in position than Brooks, another arm wave correction – bhs loso series, hit – 1.5 dismount, hop forward. 9.700

Minnesota FX 5 – Loper – front lay to rudi, good form and height, bounces to present – switch ring to split leap full – 2.5, step forward a little out of control – 1.5 to layout, controls step, good height. 9.925

Michigan BB 6 – Wojcik – aerial, check – switch to split, lovely – bhs bhs loso, no trouble at all – full turn – 1.5 dismount, stuck. Everything perfect except the initial check.

9.900.

Michigan goes 49.300 on beam to get to 198.025, the first 198 of the season.

Hooten only needs 9.875 to set a new Minnesota floor record.

Minnesota FX 6 – Hooten – full in, chest up, solid landing – switch side to popa, does get about exactly to 180 – front full to front pike, like the rise into the front pike, stuck – double tuck, nailed landing. Good work.

Unsurprisingly, Hooten goes 10.000. It was the best of the rotation and they were already throwing the scores out. Maybe the front full a little soft? But good one.

So, that’s 49.725 on floor for Minnesota. A new FX record for Minnesota.