Sunday, March 5		SCORES	STREAM
1:00pm ET/ 10:00am PT	New Hampshire, Penn, Brown @ [25] Maryland	LINK	BTN+
1:00pm ET/ 10:00am PT	LIU, Bowling Green @ [13] Michigan State	LINK	BTN+
1:00pm ET/ 10:00am PT	Bridgeport, Rhode Island @ Yale	LINK	ESPN+
1:00pm ET/ 10:00am PT	Springfield @ Ithaca		FREE
2:00pm ET/11:00am PT	[17] Arkansas @ [18] Georgia	LINK	N/A
2:00pm ET/ 11:00am PT	[24] Illinois, Kent State @ [16] Ohio State	LINK	BTN+
2:00pm ET/ 11:00am PT	Pitt, Central Michigan @ West Virginia	LINK	ESPN+
3:00pm ET/ 12:00pm PT	[21] Stanford @ [5] UCLA	LINK	P12
4:00pm ET/ 1:00pm PT	Towson @ [10] Denver	LINK	DU ($)
4:00pm ET/ 1:00pm PT	Southern Connecticut, Fisk, Ursinus @ Temple	LINK	ESPN+
5:00pm ET/ 2:00pm PT	[19] Southern Utah @ San Jose State	LINK	FREE

Checking in on what Stanford and UCLA are all about today, but before that gets started, we already have THE DEVELOPEMENTS, with Michigan State getting a 10 for Nikki Smith on vault and a 10 for Jori Jackard on bars. The pace is well into the 198s after two events, and if it even remotely holds up, would see MSU jump back up to 10th, only a smidge behind Auburn.

If you’re a big score nerd, though, the most important score of the day belongs to West Virginia, which currently sits in 37th in the in-progress rankings, one spot below the cutoff. They would need 196.225 today to jump into the top 36 and bump Penn State down to 37th. And 49.425 on vault in the first rotation is a big step in that direction.

As for UCLA against Stanford, UCLA fell slightly behind LSU on Friday so will need 197.350 today to get back to sole possession of 5th. While UCLA can’t catch Utah this week, a 198 today would sure make things interesting moving forward and would get UCLA very close.

Right now, Stanford is sort of sitting in that purgatory zone where they’re safe for regionals but still fairly far behind the top 16 so are basically just waiting until they get sent geographically to the UCLA regional. BUT, that big 197.5 last weekend is a game-changer kind of score, and if they can do that again, they can start to make a last-minute push (does Stanford do any other type) toward the top 16.

Also Michigan State went 49.600 on beam. Arkansas leads Georgia 98.600 to 98.325 after 2.

So Michigan State finished with a 198.225, beating their previous program record by over 5 tenths. In the same meet, LIU scored 196 for the first time, and Bowling Green got its 4th-highest score ever. So it was a subtle one.

Rotation 1

Lee – VT – UCLA – good laid out yfull in the air, slide back. 9.825

Dean – UB – Stanford – good first hs – Ray, solid – hits hs on high – pak, legs together – giant full, good vertical into double tuck, step back. Nice.

Anyimi – VT – UCLA – yfull, bounce back and then an extra hop back after the initial bounce, so that will take down the score some, pike position. 9.750

A fun judges conference after the first bars routine. 9.750 with a 9.850/9.650 judges split.

Brunette – UB – Stanford – giant 1/2 to deltchev to overshoot, hit, some legs in overshoot – DLO, holds onto the stick. 9.800

Did they miss showing us Malabuyo’s vault entirely? Oh here it is, laid out position in yfull, bounce back, 9.800.

Neault – UB – Stanford – maloney to pak, good legs together position – cast 1/2 turn on low – good cast hs position on high – toe full, pretty close to vertical, connects to double tuck, small hop. 9.900

Campbell – VT – UCLA – nice stick on her yfull, looks like she held onto it though her feet were out of frame. Direction pretty solid. And it’s a perfect 9.950.

Alexeeva – UB – Stanford – short first hs – toe 1/2 higgins to piked jaeger, excellent – pak, a little loose body position, legs together – well short on final cast – giant full to double tuck, bounce back. 9.775

Harris – VT – UCLA – Y1.5, good one, medium hop forward and a bit of knees. 9.850

Roberts – UB – Stanford – short first hs – pak, good – toe on to van leeuwen, small leg break – better hs on high – fiant full to double tuck, lunge back. 9.800

Chiles – VT – UCLA – DTY, good height, pretty solid leg position, slide back. 9.925

Janay doing some eMjae Frazier erasure in listing the conference DTYs.

Widner – UB – Stanford – good first hs – tkatchev, lovely feet positions – giant full to bail, gets vertical well – excellent final cast hs – DLO, some piking, holds a good stick. 9.950

UCLA goes 49.350 on vault to take a lead over Stanford’s 49.225 on bars. That’s .05 short of UCLA’s season vault high but pretty much what they were looking for. 49.225 is Stanford’s lowest bars number since Feb 4, an event they usually count on along with beam to build the total.

West Virginia and Ohio State en route to 197s now if everything goes to plan in the final rotation.

Dean’s score raised to 9.850 after the rotation, taking Stanford to 49.300 on bars.

Rotation 2

Chrobok – VT – Stanford – this is not Claire Dean – yfull with a pretty large bounce back, some leg separation and foot flexing. 9.700

Campbell – UB – UCLA – maloney, small leg break into bail, legs together – good hs on high – blind, slight crooked, into double front, hop forward. 9.775

STILL WASN’T CLAIRE DEAN.

Neault – VT – Stanford – ro full on back pike vault, shows solid control on landing, small hop to the side, chest farther down on landing than some like Gonzales at Oregon State. 9.800

Steele – UB – UCLA _ good first hs – maloney, small leg break, into a hit pak, pretty – good 1/2 turn position on low – short final cast hs on high – DLO, a little piking, landing tries to sell it but ends up with a pretty large step salute that should be a tenth. Still gets to 9.900 with a 9.950 from one judge.

We’ve now identified Stanford’s leadoff of Jade Choburke. So…closer?

Widner – VT – Stanford – good layout position on her yfull, bounce back. 9.825

Padurariu – UB – UCLA – good first hs – toe on to maloney, good leg position to bail, gets to vertical – nice final cast hs – FTDT, some feet, holds the stick well with some chest down position. 9.950, watch out.

Brunette – VT – Stanford – yfull, solid amplitude, medium hop back, small amount of pike. 9.850

Harris – UB – UCLA – good first hs – Ray, nice – good hs on high – bail, legs together, good vertical – excellent final cast hs – giant full, DLO, pinged a little, small movement. I have some on the dismount, but also it was better than Padurariu’s. 9.950

Nguyen – VT – Stanford – pulls out a DTY, which is also fun, pretty much around, small hop to the side.  Just a bit of chest position and leg crossing. 9.850

Do Jim and Janay know that individual judges can’t give 9.975s?

Frazier – UB – UCLA – good first hs – maloney to pak, small leg break on maloney – solid hs position on 1/2 turn – a little shy on the hs compared to Harris but not necessarily short – DLO, slide back. 9.925

Roberts – VT – Stanford – Y1.5, lands short today with a lunge back

Chiles – UB – UCLA – good first hs – piked tkatchev to pak, excellent – hits hs on low – maloney to gienger, nice – up to handstand on high – FTDT, holds the stick, maybe a bit of stagger but showed heels together. I feel like that would be a 10 in most contexts, but especially with the scoring of this rotation thus far, which has been quite loose.

10.000.

UCLA goes 49.725 on bars, so that’s a score. Stanford 49.125 on vault, which does keep up the chance for a useful high 196 or a 187. UCLA now on 198 pace.

After 2:
UCLA 99.075
Stanford 98.425

Meanwhile, Arkansas puts together a hit meet and defeats Georgia 197.150 to 196.875.

West Virginia went 197.325, which means that North Carolina’s 196.105 now sits as the regionals cutoff.

Rotation 3

Lee – BB – UCLA – full turn – bhs loso, good feet positions, small adjustment – switch to straddle, good height – aerial with arm wave check, into split jump, check – bhs gainer full, good landing. 9.800

Dean – FX – Stanford – actually is Claire Dean this time – double pike, controls the step, a bit deep – switch full, shows the split – back 1.5 to front full, solid height, a bit of a bounce out, switch 1/2 to popa, around – 9.875

Alipio – BB – UCLA – full turn, just a little tentative – aerial to back tuck, smoothly connected – split leap to switch 1/2 to beat jump, solid – side aerial, works through it into split jump with a wobble afterward – gainer tuck full dismount. 9.825

Love when the feet are out of shot for every dismount landing. Probably not important.

Brunette – FX – Stanford – front lay to rudi, good control, keeps front foot down – split leap full, a bit under split, into wolf full, around – double tuck, drops into it well, good feet. 9.875

Ohio State goes 197.600

Padurariu – BB – UCLA – candle mount, a little past vertical – wolf turn – side aerial to bhs, good secure landing, a bit of knees – switch, good position – beat to sheep jump, good hip angle in sheep jump – 1.5 dismount, knees, large lunge forward. 9.775

Neault – FX – Stanford – double pike, chest down some, good control – rudi, shows height – switch to split ring full – back 1.5 to front lay, low amplitude on the layout with a bit of knees.9.900

Chiles – BB – UCLA – aerial to bhs loso, very smooth – switch, controls it into wolf jump, doesn’t show a check – full turn, just some little arm covers here – secure side aerial – double pike dismount, really good stick today, chest a bit down. Very good.

One judge bit. 9.975.

Almost like you wish we lived in a scoring world where this could be scored legitimately at 9.950 but would still be higher than easier, stiff routines with rhythm and level deductions that don’t get taken.

Nguyen – FX – Stanford – DLO, good height, controls step, little bit of pike – switch side to popa, a little short of straddle – 2.5 to front pike, large lunge forward out of it. 9.825

Harris – BB – UCLA – bhs loso bhs, very smooth – switch to split leap to full turn, more fluid connection this week – kickover, check – 1.5, stuck. 9.925

Roberts – FX – Stanford – front lay to rudi, excellent rise into her rudi – switch 1/2 to popa, good foot point – double tuck, super deep landing with a couple jelly legs lunges but stayed on her feet somehow, but OOB. 9.525

Malabuyo – BB – UCLA – wolf single, good – bhs loso, check, lovely position – aerial, works through it to split jump korbut – then does shush choreography, I think to tell you you didn’t see her little arm control during that split jump, I’ll obey – beat to split ring jump, hit – gainer full, stuck. 9.900

Sander – FX – Stanford – back 1.5 to layout, some leg separation on 1.5, not super high – switch side 1/2 – double tuck, controls the present, chest a little forward – switch side to popa, overturns the switch side enough that it looks very similar to the switch side 1/2. 9.775

UCLA goes 49.425 on beam to stay right on 198 pace, going to home floor. Stanford 49.250 on floor to fall farther back but stay in contention for that 197 with a hit beam.

After 3:
UCLA 148.500
Stanford 147.675

Rotation 4

Dean – BB – Stanford – smooth full turn – side aerial to loso, hit with knee position softness – switch 1/2 to beat, good – 1.5 dismount was high, too high almost, tried to control the landing but bursts into a step-salute. 9.825

Lee – FX – UCLA – double tuck, good foot position, controls the step – front lay to front full, some knees, under control – switch ring to switch 1/2, good – double pike, good one. Probably her best tumbling of the season. 9.900

Onyshko – BB – Stanford – aerial, keeps moving into bhs bhs – switch ring, little pause before beat jump – full turn, good – gainer pike, step back. 9.775

Interesting: Towson has a big lead on Denver after 1, with 49.325 on bars to Denver’s 49.075 on vault.

Malabuyo – FX – UCLA – double tuck, hit – back 1.5 to layout, covers in the dance out, lower amplitude in layout – switch ring to switch 1/2, lovely switch 1/2 – double pike, chest a bit lower, solid landing. 9.950, here we go

Alexeeva – BB – Stanford – wolf double, under control – bhs loso, holds it, good feet – switch 1/2, a bit under, to beat jump – front gainer full, holds landing. Nice one. 9.900

Harris – FX – UCLA – FTDT, bounce back, keeps it in bounds – double tuck, good feet, chest a bit forward – split leap full to popa to shushunova, good split position – 1/2 to 1/2 to double stag, shows nice control on that combo. 9.900

Neault – BB – Stanford – bhs loso, good amplitude and position – aerial, holds it with small check – split jump to split ring jump, well done – 1.5 dismount, some knees. 9.875

Frazier – FX – UCLA – whip through to double tuck, bounce back – split leap full to popa to popa, under split on the final popa – double pike, bounce back. 9.825

Nguyen – BB – Stanford – standing loso loso, hit with a wobble – cat leap to switch side, solid – straddle to beat jump – full turn, overturns with a check – 2/1 dismount, bounce back. 9.775

Chiles – FX – UCLA – DLO, good control, chest up a bit more this week – front tuck through to double tuck, also secure – split leap full, a bit overturned, to popa – double pike, controlled, a little lower chest position. I mean definitely at least a tenth better than the others so far.

9.975 there. 39.875 AA.

When you’re doing an entire extra pass you don’t need, you’re always opening the door to deductions unnecessarily.

Widner – BB – Stanford – switch to split, wobble, leg up – bhs loso is secure, good form – aerial, huge break and then keeps breaking, falls – resumes and redoes aerial into split jump – gaienr full is excellent, stuck landing.

Campbell – FX – UCLA – FTDT, chest up well – since when does Chae need to work on her facial expressions? – split leap full to popa, around – front lay to front full, little slide out, good layout position – double tuck, great stick, but then almost kind of wanted to hold the stick so much that her step back didn’t look all that controlled. 9.950

FINAL
UCLA 198.175
Stanford 196.825

That will be a counter for Stanford, bringing their NQS to 196.705 and a current ranking of 20th.

Season high for UCLA in probably their most complete performance. They will move back up to 5th and will be .010 behind Utah on NQS. Next week, UCLA will have a 197.450 to drop and Utah will have a 197.500 to drop, so it’s almost entirely just going to be down to who does better that week.

Also Denver went 49.600 on bars.

In the seeded-spot ranking reshuffle, Ohio State is now on an NQS of 197.020 for 15th place, Arkansas is on 197.000 for 16th place, bumping Missouri down to 17th and Georgia stays in 18th.