Saturday, February 18		SCORES	STREAM
1:00pm ET/ 10:00am PT	Springfield @ Cortland	LINK	FREE
2:00pm ET/ 11:00am PT	Bridgeport @ William & Mary	LINK	FREE
3:30pm ET/ 12:30pm PT	Arizona @ [12] Oregon State	LINK	P12
5:00pm ET/ 2:00pm PT	[6] UCLA @ [7] Cal	LINK	P12
6:00pm ET/ 3:00pm PT	Rutgers @ [18] Iowa	LINK	BTN+
7:00pm ET/ 4:00pm PT	Towson @ LIU		ESPN+

As we move into NQS season, we can now define some more specific goals and implications when it comes to the scores at today’s meets.

Oregon State has been pushed just behind Denver on NQS after last night and will be aiming for 197.300 at home today to go ahead of Denver and into the top 10. For Arizona, a 195.325 would bump them up ahead of Towson, Penn State, and North Carolina and into 26th place today from a current spot of 29th, with a 194 road still to drop, Arizona could do a lot of ranking damage with a good one today. 

Meanwhile, Cal has fallen behind LSU after yesterday’s 198, but needs just a 196.8 today to get back into 7th place. UCLA could use a 197.150 to get ahead of Auburn for 5th place for now, but Auburn will compete tomorrow.

Iowa could use a 196.875 today to move into the top 16, with Missouri still to compete tomorrow. Rutgers will be aiming for 195.525, which would put them in the top 36 in the in-progress rankings.

Rotation 1

Garcia – VT – Oregon St – yfull, kind of a larger hop back, good direction. 9.750

Mueller – UB – Arizona – a bit shy on first hs – tkatchev, good amplitude – toe on to bail, small leg break in the air – better final cast hs position – DLO, legs apart, good stick. 9.750

Letzsch – VT – Oregon St – yfull, good control on landing, small hop back, solid layout position, very small pike at the end. 9.825

Larusso – UB – Arizona – blind to jaeger, good toes, a bit of a close catch – bail, hit – shorter final cast hs – FTDT, just a small rebound in place, good. 9.800

Briones – VT – Oregon St – lands short, chest forward, jarred landing, large lunge ahead – 9.700

Linton – UB – Arizona – solid first hs – toe on to maloney, leg break, connects to pak – gets off line on her 1/2 turn on low bar, loses body tension and collapses off the bar – resumes with good hs on high – DLO, bounce back

Gonzales – VT – Oregon St – ro full on back pike, larger bounce back today than she has the last couple weeks. 9.800

Hargrove – UB – Arizona – giant full, crooked but works through it  and connects to a tkatchev, close but hit – bail is pretty, good leg position – solid hs on high – FTDT, chest down, hop forward. 9.725

Dagen – VT – Oregon St – nearly there on her y1.5, a bit short though, which causes the step back – so they’ll have to take minimum .2 there. But they don’t, and she gets 9.825.

Fears – UB – Arizona – good first hs – tkatchev, lovely, best counter rotation so far – toe on to bail, legs together well – good final cast hs – DLO, chest forward, little hop. Pretty one on the bars. 9.850

Carey – VT – Oregon St – DTY , stuck landing, definitely her best of the year. We’ll see if they want to take for a little bit of leg form.They don’t and it’s a 10.000

McCabe – UB – Arizona – shorter first hs – blind to piked jaeger is good – better 2nd hs – some hip angle in bail – short final hs – DLO, some leg separation, holds it with a little rebound.

So the 10 for Carey takes Oregon State to 49.200 on vault. Not their best of the season, but they’ll take it. Jade says you’re welcome again.

Arizona is able to drop the fall on bars and use a 9.900 from McCabe, a little high for me for those handstand positions, to get over 49, so they’ll take that as well.  49.025 is about on track with what they’ve been getting on bars lately, just .050 shy of their high.

After 1:
Oregon State 49.200
Arizona 49.025

Rotation 2

Herry – VT – Arizona – yfull, bounce back, not the same amplitude of the OSU fulls, little pike. 9.750

Beeman – UB – Oregon St – good first hs – blind to jaeger, good toes, close catch – pak is hit, small leg break – shorter hs – stalder to double tuck, holds the landing with a little body lean but I don’t think moved. 9.850

Mueller – VT – Arizona – also a bounce back on her yfull, a little high higher than Herry, otherwise similar, some feet position. 9.750

Weaver – UB – Oregon St – shorter first hs – giant full to gienger, legs together – better hs on high – bail, legs together – holds onto her hs on high, small arch – giant full, a bit late, double tuck, holds onto stick. 9.900

Nosek – VT – Arizona – yfull as well with a bounce back, best amplitude so far. 9.775

Caso – UB – Oregon St – good first hs – maloney to pak, lower pak with some leg separation – good hs on low – van leeuwen with leg break – stalder with a hesitation, connects into double tuck but can’t get it around, stumbles back a few times and then collapses onto the ground. 9.300

Hargrove – VT – Arizona – y1.5 with a very nice stick, well done – just a bit of direction, good layout position.

9.975 for her, one judge going 10.

McMillan – UB – Oregon St – good hs – toe on to maloney to bail, small leg break on catch – a bit shy on hhs on high – DLO, a bit of piking and a lunge back. Alisa says she clipped the bar on her giant swing and then I think recants on replay? 9.800

Castles – VT – Arizona – solid yfull, just a little rebound in place, upping the landing control from the earlier fulls. 9.850

Briones – UB – Oregon St – higgins to oooohhhhhh, super close on jaeger and almost like she caught with her face and falls, hit the bar chest first – resumes with pak, small leg break – check on stepping up to high – DLO, small hop. 8.975

Larusso – VT – Arizona – good stick on her yfull, not the most amplitude but strong, some leg break in preflight. 9.850

Carey – UB – Oregon St – good first hs – maloney to bhardwaj, exellent – hits hs on low – van leeuwen, legs together – borderline final hs – FTDT, lands chest forward with a bound.

Arizona will take the lead with a 49.200 on vault that matches Oregon State’s total there and is AZ’s 2nd best vault score of the season.

Oregon State will get the hit score from Carey but will have to count the 9.300 from Caso because they’ll drop the 8.9 for Briones.

Carey goes 9.900 to take Oregon State to 48.750 on bars.

After 2:
Arizona 98.225
Oregon State 97.950

Rotation 3

Peterson – BB – Oregon St – bhs bhs loso, good secure landing – full turn with a check – switch 1/2, small pause before straddle jump – gainer pike, holds the stick, some direction. 9.875

Larusso – FX – Arizona – front 2/1, controls the step, some knees – cat leap to switch side to popa, overturns the switch side a little – back 1.5 to front lay, comes in short on layout with a step stagger – rudi, nearly fully controls the step. 9.800 with a 9.900/9.700 split.

Domingo – BB – Oregon St – aerial to back pike, very solid, connects – full turn, stylish – switch to straddle jump to split jump 3/4, well executed and secure – gainer full, stuck. Lovely routine. 9.925

Castles – FX – Arizona – back 2.5 to front tuck is stuck, just some leg crossing, well done – switch ring to switch 1/2 – double pike, short, chest down with a step forward. 9.775

Letzsch – BB – Oregon St – aerial, comes in way short and falls – resumes and repeats the aerial into back tuck, secure landing – split jump to split ring is nice, pauses before beat jump – full turn – front gainer full off the end, small step. 9.350

Mueller – FX – Arizona – double pike, secure landing, chest forward – switch side to popa, overturns switch side – back 1.5 to front lay, controls the step – double tuck, controls the step there as some, some foot flexing. 9.875

Gonzales – BB – Oregon St – aerial, just does keep moving into back tuck, a little too slow, secure – full turn is hit – side aerial, good – cat leap to switch 1/2, some foot position, secure as well – gainer front full, good. 9.925

Schultz – FX – Arizona – front 2/1 to front tuck is hit, somewhat under on tuck with a slide back – switch ring, under split, to switch side – loso to knee to have a back element – rudi, bounce back. 9.850 seems pretty high

Dagen – BB – Oregon St – bhs loso is clean – switch to switch 1/2, not the highest but secure, small hesitation in between – 1.5 dismount with a slide-salute. 9.925 for her, pretty high, would have had that lower than Domingo’s on ranking. 

Herry – FX – Arizona – double tuck, bounce back – switch 1/2 to popa, good amplitude and completion – back 1.5 to layout, keeps layout shape, lower than the 1.5 though. Best foot form so far. Double pike, chest down, step forward. 9.850

Carey – BB – Oregon St – forward roll mount – small hesitation on full turn – aerial to straddle jump, good straddle – bhs loso, secure – switch, pause before switch side, under control – gainer full, hit. 9.975 is pretttttty high as well

Hargrove – FX – Arizona – FTDT, controls the landing – front lay to front full is also controlled well – switch ring to split leap full, a little under –  double tuck, good toe position, solid

And 49.625 is an all-time program beam record for Oregon State. So that happened. Don’t think it was their best beam of the season, but none of the five counters gave away anything wobbly.

We’ve only got 15 minutes until UCLA/Cal, so there will be some overlap. Let’s talk about this planning.

Hargrove gets 9.925 on floor to take Arizona to 49.300 there. It’s going to get happpppy in this last rotation. Huge opportunity for Arizona to get a season high total today.

After 3:
Oregon State 147.575
Arizona 147.525

Rotation 4

Fears – BB – Arizona – split jump, hit – bhs loso, smoothly landed – full turn wobble, leg away from beam – cat leap to side aerial, small lean correction – beat to stag ring jump, holds it – 1.5 dismount, hop forward. 9.825

Miller – FX – Oregon St – double pike, good feet, keeps front foot down – switch 1/2 to popa, clear straddle position – back 1.5 to layout, controls the step – double tuck, maybe a small adjustment – solid routine, only some small formies, so we’ll see where they start this rotation scoring. And we start at 9.900

Herry – BB – Arizona – full turn – bhs loso, securely landed – side somi, holds it under control – straddle jump, small hesitation before split jump 1/2, a bit under on that position – bhs 1.5, hop forward. 9.825

Peterson – FX – Oregon St – back 1.5 to front full, short landing, covers fairly well but does have a step adjustment with leg up – switch side 1/2, clearly around – switch full to straddle 1/2 – double tuck, didn’t get much punch there, chest well down, lunge forward. 9.700, with one judge giving a 9.800 I don’t see how you can justify.

UCLA/Cal broadcast starts with an extended Frazier sister hug. They’re like, “how long do we have to hold this?”

Linton – BB – AZ – wolf double with a wobble, holds onto it – bhs bhs loso, huge break, double wobble, leg up, a couple leans, keeps it on the beam – switch to split is hit – 1.5, small hop to the side. Stayed on, but they’ll need to drop it. 9.525

Young – FX – Oregon St – double pike, bounce back, just does stay in right into the corner – double tuck, big bounce back and this time does go OOB – with Peterson and that, Oregon State won’t get the full score they were looking for here – front lay to front full, hit with a slide. 9.600

Mueller – BB – Arizona – side aerial loso, big lean over to horizontal bending at the hips – full turn is good – switch to straddle jump – 1.5, little hop forward. 9.750

Gonzales – FX – Oregon St – front full to front lay, good layout position – switch full to sissone, nice split positions – double pike, good feet, chest down on landing with step forward – switch ring to switch 1/2. 9.850

Cal/UCLA starting now. We’ve already seen that apparently yfulls have a “9.5” start.

Rotation 1

Li – VT – Cal – good yfull, little bounce back, chest up. 9.825

Campbell – UB – UCLA – good first hs – maloney to bail, legs together, solid vertical – good hs on high – blind to double front, cowboy, small slide back of heels together. Good. 9.850

Hargrove hits beam 5th up for Arizona, one check. 9.925

Williams – VT – Cal – yfull, also a small bounce back on hers. 9.825

Steele – UB – UCLA – good first hs – maloney to pak, some leg separation in maloney – 1/2 turn on low is well completed – solid hs position – DLO, legs and some piking, finds the stick with chest down. 9.825

Dagen hits floor 5th up for Oregon State. Good cover on double pike step forward.

Brown – VT – Cal – yfull, best height so far, but a larger bounce back. 9.800

Padurariu – UB – UCLA – good hs – toe on to maloney, hit – connects to bail but comes in shy, elbow bend and a small leg break – hits hs on high – FTDT, chest down, hop to the side, will want to drop that.

I don’t see how she can get 9.800 for that routine?

DeSouza – VT – Cal – solid landing on her y1.5, little shuffle forward, some direction, some leg separation on block. 9.925

Carey finishing the meet for Oregon State, chest a bit forward on double double with a step forward – front lay to double pike, solid landing, some feet.

Harris – UB – UCLA – hits Ray well – bail, small arch in vertical, pulls it back – great cast hs on high – giant full, well finished into DLO, small slide back. 9.875

Lauzon – VT – Cal – nice one, small hop forward on Y1.5 – better leg position and direction than DeSouza, but they didn’t give themselves any room to reward that. 9.950

Castles fell on beam for Arizona so they count the 9.525 for Linton and finish on 196.375.

Chiles – UB – UCLA – good first hs – piked tkatchev to pak, excellent – good hs on low – maloney to gienger, legs together – solid hs on high – FTDT, stuck landing ish, brings heels together. 9.950

And Carey gets a 10.000 on floor despite a short landing on her double double and a step forward. OK.

MJ Frazier – VT – Cal – DTY, some of her best chest up on landing, lunge back

M Frazier – UB – UCLA – good first hs – maloney, some leg separation into pak, clean – 1/2 turn on low – DLO, up onto heels, bit of a step salute. 9.900

Oregon State goes 196.975 with a counting fall on bars.

Cal goes 49.400 on vault, which is about on track for their good Y1.5 days. UCLA equals them with 49.400 on bars, which is actually on the low end for them this year. So we have a meet going on early.

After 1:
Cal 49.400
UCLA 49.400

Rotation 2

Lee – VT – UCLA – yfull, solid one, small hop back, chest up. 9.775

DeSouza – UB – Cal – good first hs – blind, a little past into a high piked jaeger to overshoot, good amplitude – borderline final cast hs – FTDT, small hop in place. 9.925.

Anyimi – VT – UCLA – yfull, medium hop back, good distance, one of her better blocks. 9.825

Frazier – UB – Cal – a bit shy on first hs – maloney to pak, some back position – 1/2 turn on low – tighter final handstand – DLO, small leg break, sticks. Definitely the best I’ve seen her on bars this year. Oh boy it’s a 9.950. I… I…

Frazier – VT – UCLA – yfull, bounce up and back, some pike in the air. 9.825

Perea – UB – Cal – good first hs – pak, clean – good hs on low – toe on to van leeuwen, legs together – DLO, bounce back. 9.850

Campbell – VT – UCLA – yfull, landed a little out of shot so can’t tell control, but great height, replay looks under control, brings heels together. 9.900

Williams – UB – Cal – good hs on low – maloney to pak, very good – 1/2 turn on low bar within 20 degrees – DLO, lovey stick.

And 9.975 here. Wattcchhh outtttt.

Harris – VT – UCLA – Y1.5 is quite good – small shuffle forward, a bit of knees – 9.900

Li – UB – Cal – pak is lovely – good hs on low – van leeuwen is pretty – hits hs on high bar – giant full, great finish position into double tuck, small lean to maintain the stick. Good. We’ll see what they do with it. 9.950

Chiles – VT – UCLA – DTY, large bounce back today, she’s like “FML this is such a 10 meet” 9.850

Lauzon – UB – Cal – arches first hs, brings it back – maloney, small leg break to pak, pretty pak – short cast hs on low, has to recast and improvise with 1/2 turn on low and step  up to high – FTDT with a good stick though.

So UCLA goes 49.300 on vault, which is not bad for how they’ve been scoring, but Chiles would have wanted to take advantage with a landing on her DTY. Slightly surprised Campbell didn’t go 9.950 given the everything.

Lauzon invented 19 cast handstands in that routine and still got 9.825 as Cal goes 49.650 on bars to take a non-small lead after two events. A pretty rotation of course, but you knew when Frazier went 9.950 we were going to be in for an experience. Still, we’ve seen a stronger Cal than UCLA through the first two events.

After 2:
Cal 99.050
UCLA 98.700

We really need Justin/Liz and Janelle to milk some sort of BETRAYAL FOR LEAVING storyline to spice things up. You could be Suzanne and Sarah if you really wanted it.

Rotation 3

DeSouza – BB – Cal – cat leap to aerial, holds onto it, small correction – bhs loso, very secure – beat to sheep jump, some hip angle in sheep position – sissone – full turn, hit – 1.5 dismount, excellent stick.

Her third 9.925 of the day.

Lee – FX – UCLA – double tuck, good foot position, controls the step back – front lay to front full, under control, a bit of knees – switch ring to switch 1/2, hit – double pike is very deep, chest down, lunge forward. 9.750

Williams – BB – Cal – wolf double is hit – aerial to split jump, smoothly connected, good split positions – bhs loso, does well to avoid a check despite coming in a little shy – switch, check before beat jump split jump, we’ll see if they say she broke the dance combination – bhs gainer full, chest down, arm wave to hold the stick. 9.900, so I guess it was fine. Very high score there.

Malabuyo – FX – UCLA – double tuck, well landed – back 1.5 to front lay, dance out – switch ring to switch 1/2, lovely height – double pike, a little bit of movement back – good form in tumbling throughout, lovely technique that most don’t have. 9.925.

Li – BB – Cal – aerial to split jump, great split position, small waver on landing – bhs loso series, held well – full turn, solid – beat to sheep, small check there – gainer tuck full, good stick. Pretty work, couple small hesitations. 9.875. That’s lower than Williams?

Harris – FX – UCLA – FTDT, a bit of legs at the end, good control, chest lowish but not as low as last week – double tuck, also controls the step, same on the chest position – split leap full to popa to shushunova, well extended to 180 – back 1.5 to 1/2 to double stag, well controlled into all three. 9.925

Frazier – BB – Cal – good full turn – aerial to loso, a little hesitation but don’t imagine they’ll care – gorgeous switch ring to split jump position, ideal – 1.5 dismount, rebound step forward. 9.900, so they didn’t take anything except dismount landing.

Did they organize the lineups to make sure that eMjae and Marz competed back to back on every event?

Frazier – FX – UCLA – whip through to double tuck, slide back – switch full to popa to popa, a little crooked in final popa but one of her better dance combinations this season – double pike, good height, some foot flexing, small rebound.

Another 9.925 for UCLA. Chiles and Campbell will get 11s?

Lauzon – BB – Cal – wolf single, good – bhs bhs loso, perfect form – switch to split, back leg looked low today on the jump – very high 2/1, small bounce back. 9.925

Chiles – FX – UCLA – DLO, stuck landing, chest down – front tuck through to double tuck, good control – split leap full to wolf full, good attention to wolf position – double pike, chest down, small hop forward. 9.925 is some…”we wanted to give you a 10 but you had two tenths of deductions but also we can’t give you a 9.8 because in this meet that’s basically a fall” scoring.

Perea – BB – Cal – wolf double, why are we seeing Liz’s back instead of this routine?  – kickover to back tuck, works through it, a little hesitant after kickover – back tuck full is thrown in today, hits, little rebound back and an arm wave – switch to split to beat, lovely – side somi to back tuck 1.5 dismount, small slide back. 9.875, gets difficulty forgiveness on the wobble on the back tuck full.

Campbell – FX – UCLA – FTDT, good control on landing – split leap full to popa, strong amplitude – front lay to front full, good landing control – double tuck, solid, chest up. I mean it was easily a tenth better than the 9.925s in this lineup, so let’s see what happens. 9.950. Too bunched with the other routines.

49.525 for Cal on beam ties a program record. UCLA eats into the lead with a 49.650 on floor.

After 3:
Cal 148.575
UCLA 148.350

Typically the home team would have the advantage at this point with a lead, but floor hasn’t always been the score for Cal this year so they’ll need a good day. Although the same is true for UCLA on beam.

Cal’s program record score is 198.050, so they’re looking for 49.475 on floor to tie and 49.500 on floor to break it.

Rotation 4

We see Brooklyn Moors in sweats in the back. Will we see her this year? And are we supposed to survive without that?

Solid work by the Pac-12 Net showing Jade’s 10 highlights and not showing her first tumbling pass. Always maintain plausible deniability.

Lee – BB – UCLA – full turn, little arm wave hesitation – bhs loso, well done – switch, small pause before split jump, lovely positions – aerial, holds it into split jump – gainer full, good start. 9.925

Perea – FX – Cal – round off double tuck, looked like she must have gotten lost in the air and lands on her hands and knees – round off double pike is well short, chest down, lunge forward – wolf double hit – switch 1/2 to wolf full, a bit under the full turn – back 1.5 to front lay is hit. 9.025

Alipio – BB – UCLA – full turn, hit – aerial, just a bit of knee, connects to a secure back tuck – split leap to switch 1/2, nicely done, good feet – side aerial to split jump, small check – gainer tuck full, holds the stick. 9.900

DeSouza – FX – Cal – rudi to a double stag that travels back many feet into the corner – double tuck, huge bounce back OOB there as well in a routine that will have to count – back 1.5 to front full with a bit of a bounce out. 9.675 will count. I feel like this is screaming to be a 2-pass routine.

Padurariu – BB – UCLA – candle mount, hit – wolf double, easily under control – side aerial to bhs, good control there as well, corrected her feet being a little off on the side aerial – switch – beat to sheep jump, solid – 1.5 dismount, hop forward. 9.900

Williams – FX – Cal – front lay to rudi, bounce back – trips on choreography – wolf double, around, a little teetery – switch 1/2 to split jump is nice – back 1.5 to front layout, a bit lower in the layout, controls the step. 9.875

Chiles – BB – UCLA – aerial to bhs loso, right on, very good – switch to wolf jump, solid – full turn, nice – side aerial, secure – double pike dismount, near stick, small movement. Very good. 9.950.

Li – FX – Cal – front 2/1, no connection attempt today, dance out – front full to front lay, clean layout position, not super high but fine – switch to switch ring 1/2 – 9.900

Harris – BB – UCLA – bhs loso bhs, secure landing – switch to split leap to full turn, split leap was a little more hesitant in the back leg today but hit – kickover, small check to hold it – 1.5 dismount, good stick. 9.950. Of course it is.

Lauzon – FX – Cal – front 2/1 to front luck, lovely – switch side to popa, good extension – back 1.5 to front full, stuck landing. Excellent routine. Could save the score, if not the meet result.

9.975 for Lauzon.

Malabuyo – BB – UCLA – wolf single, nice – bhs loso, holds it well, does well not to give up a check – aerial to beat, hit – split rign jump with a bigger check, bend over at the waist for a tenth – gainer full, little slide back. 9.850

Won’t count because [gestures at everything] but a pretty and confident beam rotation for UCLA.

Frazier – FX – Cal – could pull out the win with a 10 – DLO, little rebound – nice split ring jump – switch ring to switch 1/2 to sissone is glorious in the air positions – front tuck through to double tuck, holds onto the landing with chest a bit forward. Will seal a big total for Cal at least.

Of course it’s 9.975 for Frazier to make an exact tie.

FINAL
UCLA 197.975
Cal 197.975

Now, who’s going to put in a post-meet inquiry to change this up?

Please tell me more about the poor underscored Pac-12 that never gets the scores the SEC gets again.

So both teams definitely hit their goal totals. It ends up as Cal’s 2nd-highest score of all time, after the counting OOB 9.675.