| Monday, February 19 | |||
| 2:00pm ET/ 11:00am PT | All-American Challenge A: Brown, West Chester, Bridgeport | ||
| 3:00pm ET/ 12:00pm PT | [9] Alabama, [16] Arkansas, [17] Arizona @ TWU | Scores | TW($) |
| 5:30pm ET/ 2:30pm PT | [4] Utah @ [8] UCLA | Scores | ESPN2 |
| 6:00pm ET/ 3:00pm PT | All-American Challenge B: New Hampshire, LIU, Yale, Southern Connecticut | ||
This morning’s new rankings were the final edition of the season to go by average, which means that’s now obsolete and everything switches over to NQS. Utah currently sits in 5th in the prospective NQS rankings and will be looking for 197.375 today to get back ahead of Kentucky for 4th. Any kind of season high (so anything 197.775+) would tie Utah with Cal in 3rd.
UCLA currently sits down in 12th by NQS but could get all the way up back to the top 8 with a 197.750 or better today.
Earlier today, Arkansas got its 5th-best score of all time (197.375) in a quad meet loss to Alabama on 197.625, with Arizona on 196.950 and host TWU on 195.725.
Alright, let’s jump into the nonsense.
UCLA’s opening lineup salvo is that Maddie Anyimi will be on bars for Malabuyo and Esparza will be on beam. Campbell is in on vault and bars, and Reed is in on her two events. For Utah, we’re looking at no Rucker on floor, and no McCallum on vault. Morgan is in as the vault anchor.
Rotation 1
Lee – VT – UCLA – yfull, good control on landing, just a bit of knees. 9.850
Smith – UB – Utah – hits first hs – pak, legs together well – hits hs on low – toe on to vl, small leg break – toe on pike 1/2 dismount, stuck. 9.900
Anyimi – VT – UCLA – yfull, bigger height than Lee but a fairly significant bounce back and doesn’t hold the finish position. 9.750
Sabado – UB – Utah – tight first hs – blind to jaeger, too far and falls, can’t catch, had pretty foot position in the air – resumes and redoes the jaeger, which she hit this time, but missed her hand on the connection to overshoot for a second fall – finishes DLO
Big insight: They’ll need to drop that one.
8.600
Rosen – VT – UCLA – y1.5, solid, small hop to the side, came in very slightly under-rotated and some knee position. 9.900
Morgan – UB – Utah – good first hs – maloney, some leg form, connects to bhardwaj – van leeuwen – a few small foot separations – stalder tuck 1/2, good stick. 9.875
Campbell – VT – UCLA – yfull, sticks it, good one, just a bit of direction, not her very very best one, but a solid stick. And one just went perfect for a 9.925.
Zirbes – UB – Utah – good hs – Ray to pak, good rhythm – fair finishing position on 1/2 turn on low bar – FTDT, comes in somewhat deep to absorb it. 9.800
Reed – VT – UCLA – y1.5, solid, medium hop forward and some leg position at the end, 9.850
O’Keefe – UB – Utah – maloney to pak, smooth – holds her vertical on her 1/2 turn on low – short cast hs on high – double arabian, big, didn’t quite time the landing with a step forward. 9.775
Harris – VT – UCLA – y1.5, gets the stick, basically the same as her 10 last week, nailed landing, some soft leg position. And they go 10 again.
McCallum – UB – Utah – maloney to pak, small leg break at the end – connects to stalder to van leeuwen, solid leg form – FTDT, foot flexing, small shuffle back on landing. 9.850
So, here we go. UCLA gets 49.525 on vault with three perfect scores given out by individual judges. Utah is able to drop the Sabado routine but had some steps and shuffles and foot positions they actually decided to see to go to 49.200, kind of a large deficit so far.
Rotation 2
Winger – VT – Utah – y1.5, hits it, crossover step and some knees. 9.800
Oh look are the bars broken. Equipment, are you doing OK this year, honey? Looks like that interrupted the warmup so UCLA still has to warmup. Bart and Sam are very confused.
Zirbes – VT – Utah – Y1.5, short landing with a lunge back and some leg position. 9.750 is not enough separation here
Campbell – UB – UCLA – maloney to bail, hit, small leg break in maloney – good cast hs on high – blind to double front, cowboy, hop forward. 9.825
Glynn – VT – Utah – solid y1.5, medium step forward, small leg break at the end. 9.850
Anyimi – UB – UCLA – piked jaeger, hit into overshoot – toe circle up to high – FTDT, foot position, shuffle around with a couple hops, but a viable fill in. The form and rhythm aren’t quite there, but a hit. 9.725
Smith – VT – Utah – Omelianchik, solid form in the air but a pretty large bound forward. 9.825
Rosen – UB – UCLA – good first hs – maloney to pak, legs together well – DLO, leg separation, chest a bit forward with a hop. 9.800
Rucker – VT – Utah – y1.5, also lands shorter with a step back. 9.825
Frazier – UB – UCLA – hits first hs on low – maloney, good leg position, connects to pak – a bit past on 1/2 turn on low – solid cast hs on high – DLO, small hop forward. 9.900
Morgan – VT – Utah – y1.5, hit it, step forward, good direction, some knee position. 9.900, so only took for the step.
Esparza – UB – UCLA – maloney to pak, smooth – hits hs on low – van leeuwen, legs together – well short on final cast hs – holds onto DLO landing. 9.825 with a 9.9/9.750 split. Very handstand forgiving on the 9.9.
Note to ESPN: They’re pausing too early on the handstand protractor this season. If you’re straddling up to handstand, you have to wait until the legs come together.
Harris – UB – UCLA – good first hs – Ray, hit – nice hs on high – bail, legs together – hits cast hs – solid finish position on giant full it appeared from this angle, which is not a great angle, but also it’s Harris so we can assume – DLO, holds onto it. Nice. 9.950
A couple 9.9s in there for UCLA to get to 49.300 on bars. Able to drop the Anyimi score and have five countable hits in a non-Malabuyo lineup, so that’s a victory for them. Esparza has found her routine at just the right time. Utah with another 49.200, this time on vault, did not have the landings, with every single vaulter incurring (theoretically) at least a tenth on landing.
After 2:
UCLA 98.825
Utah 98.400
Rotation 3
Lee – BB – UCLA – we missed the beginning of the routine to relive Peszek’s bars 10 – aerial to split, hit – comfortable loso series – switch to a straddle jump, solid positions, little arm control through it – bhs gainer full, slide back and a little more movement. 9.825
Smith – FX – Utah – front 2/1, around, controls the back foot on step forward – split ring leap to cat jump 1.5 to wolf hop full, a little soft in those positions – rudi to layout to straight jump, solid control rudi to double stag. 9.825
Rosen – BB – UCLA – switch to split to stag ring, small check – aerial, another little check – bhs loso, smooth – full turn, third small check – 1.5 dismount, little hop. Fought it but stayed on. 9.750
One judge has 9.850 for Lee and 9.700 for Rosen. One judge has 9.800 for both.
Zirbes – FX – Utah – front 2/1, controls her landing – switch 1/2 to popa, good – back 1.5 to front full, leannnning forward on that landing, but didn’t go crazy. 9.875
Andres – BB – UCLA – beat jump to switch 1/2, hit, good height – gainer loso, small lean on landing – kickover, keeps going through a little lean to connect to korbut – full turn – 2/1 dismount is low, ends up chest forward with an additional .1 step. 9.700
Paulson – FX – Utah – front through to 2.5, controls step – front lay to front full to stag, good straight position on the layout – switch 1/1 to sissone – back 1.5 to front lay. Solid. 9.900
Alipio – BB – UCLA – aerial keeps moving to loso, nice foot position, solid landing – split leap to switch to beat, smooth – full turn, holdddss it – gainer tuck full, chest forward, sticks, lean and some direction. Good. 9.825, OK we’re judging a little bit on beam today.
Now they’re trolling us with the pausing on the split-o-meter.
Gilstrap – FX – Utah – rudi, controls the step – switch 1/1, good split position, maybe landed a little under – leap full to knee – front lay to front full, good rise in front full. 9.900
Esparza – BB – UCLA – full turn, hit – side aerial is way off line, falls in attempted connection to bhs, so now two 9.7s with count – switch to split, good 180s, some loss of foot position – bhs gainer full, rises onto toes there. 9.150
McCallum – FX – Utah – FTDT, solid chest up, feet not pointed – switch to split leap full to popa, comfortably around – front lay to rudi, slide back. 9.925
Harris – BB – UCLA – bhs loso bhs, solid – switch, arm correction, keeps moving into split leap full turn, but a couple little leans in there – kickover, solid – 1.5 dismount, short landing with slide back, could lose .150 there.
9.775 with another 9.700/9.850 split, a prototypical split of what-does-the-code-say versus how-is-college-gym-scored.
O’Keefe – FX – Utah – double pike, nice foot positions, controls the step – front lay to front full, a little low in the front full with a slide – nice switch ring 1/2 – back 1.5 to layout, good rise in that layout. 9.900
UCLA goes 48.875 on beam for a rotation with a dropped fall but 2.5 pretty tight routines with checks and short landings that had to count. Very interested to see how Utah’s beam scores by comparison now. Utah goes 49.500 on floor to take a 2 tenth lead with four 9.9s.
After 3:
Utah 147.900
UCLA 147.700
Rotation 4
Morgan – BB – Utah – wobble on bhs mount before beat jump – bhs bhs loso, good – switch to split, hit – full turn – front gainer full dismount, holds stick with little lean. 9.750
Lee – FX – UCLA – double tuck, good foot positions, bounce back – front lay to front full, under control, not the highest – switch ring to switch 1/2, lovely – double pike, bounce back, OOB, foot tries to take the tape with her. 9.700
Smith – BB – Utah – candle mount – hitch kick to aerial to split jump, a little under – bhs loso, solid – switch, good – full turn, hit – gainer full, holds onto the landing a little forward. 9.825
More big beam splits. Full tenth on the first one, .150 on the second one. And it’s not like one of them is always tighter.
Andres – FX – UCLA – back 2.5 to front tuck, hit, a little travel forward – double tuck, chest down with a step forward – switch side and a little overturn to a popa – 9.825
Gantner – BB – Utah – bhs loso, hit, chest a little forward, arm circle to split jump – switch 1/2, somewhat under split, connects to beat jump – full turn – 1.5 dismount, step forward. 9.750
Rosen – FX – UCLA – DLO, under control, some leg separation – double pike, chest a bit forward – switch ring to switch 1/2, good positions – 1.5 to front lay to front tuck, hit. 9.900
McCallum – BB – Utah – candle mount, hit – wolf triple, smooth, hits wolf double – bhs loso, some foot, check – split leap, bit of rhythm into switch jump – gainer tuck full, stuck, slightly off direction
Moors – FX – UCLA – front 2/1 to front tuck, and goes OOB – lovely loso side pass – switch to switch 1/2 to wolf jump full, very nice compleition and positions – rudi, under control. 9.750
Paulson – BB – Utah – side aerial to loso, hit – switch to split, comfortable – full turn, a bit ginger there – gainer full, stuck, some feet positions throughout but a secure one. And it’s 9.925. The beam judging ice broke?
Harris – FX – UCLA – DLO, good control, some chest position at the end – split leap full to popa, great amplitude – double tuck, chest up, controls the step – back 1.5 to 1/2 to a high double stag. Good one. 9.950
O’Keefe – BB – Utah – switch to split leap, hit – side aerial to loso, secure – full turn, smooth – bhs gainer full, stuck. 9.975 for her to secure the win.
Reed – FX – UCLA – DLO, good legs together and chest up, smallest front foot movement – split leap full under 180 split, to wolf full, good wolf position – front lay to rudi, nice rise into that rudi, another small landing rebound. 9.850. Oh, you mean like a real score.
And Utah’s beam goes up as Gantner’s gets raised to a 9.800.
FINAL:
Utah 197.300
UCLA 196.975
Utah gets the win although both teams will pretty much be doing an arson about these unusable totals. UCLA had a good one going through two but then a very tight beam rotation, and a counting OOB on floor that sort of stalled things. Utah got the scores in the second half of the meet but was so steppy in the first two rotations they were coming out of a big hole.
I’m sure the beam scoring will be…a thing…because of those big ranges all over the place that emphasized that no one actually knows what the rules are and no one is at all on the same page from meet to meet or judging table to judging table, but at least they weren’t throwing their panties at every single routine? So there’s something?