MEET WEEK 5
Saturday, February 1
1:00pm ET/ 10:00am PT	Cortland, Brockport @ West Chester	SCORES	FREE
2:00pm ET/ 11:00am PT	Oshkosh @ Simpson	SCORES	FREE
5:00pm ET/ 2:00pm PT	Washington @ [18] Minnesota	SCORES	BTN+
5:30pm ET/ 2:30pm PT	[5] Michigan State @ [6] UCLA	SCORES	FOX
8:00pm ET/ 5:00pm PT	Iowa @ [25] Nebraska	SCORES	BTN+

In UCLA lineup news, we’ll see Riley Jenkins in the vault lineup rather than Anyimi or Webster-Longin. No Katelyn Rosen at all today, with Webster-Longin taking her spot on bars and Chiles coming into the beam lineup as expected.

Is Fox aware that the internets exist, or like, nah? OK we have a web link now while basketball continues to be self indulgent nonsense.

Ooooooh, at 8 past the half hour they’re cutting off this basketball to switch us to gymnastics. Take that! The future is now.

Your name is Connor Onion.

Rotation 1

Lee – VT – UCLA – solid stick on yfull, bit of knees, chest a little forward, good. 9.800

Stephen – UB – MSU – toe on to maloney to bail, small flinch of legs apart – a bit shy on hb handstand – ftdt, high, slide back. 9.825

Jenkins – VT – UCLA – y1.5, hits it, two small steps forward on a jarred landing. 9.850 with a 9.8/9.9 split

Zsarmani – ub – msu – pak, good height – maloney to gienger, a little close but hit – dlo, scoot back. 9.825

Moors – VT – UCLA – hs pike 1/2, snapped up too quickly and ended up with a lunge back and then a lean to try to control, another bigger split on 9.85/9.750 for 9.800

Doyle – ub – msu – blind topiked jaeger, efficient – toe on, good height on pak – tight cast hs on high – shorter dmt with hop forward. 9.850 despite dismount shortness and step –

Campbell – VT – UCLA – one of her best yfulls, good landing control and direction. 9.875

Smith – ub – msu – good first hs – toe to maloney to pak, legs together – good 1/2 turn on low – arches cast hs on high but pulls it back – dlo is close to the bar, step forward. 9.700

Chiles – VT – UCLA – ro 1/2 on tuck 1/2, little scoot back, flexed feet. And now that’s 9.925 ok

Kellerman – ub – msu – good foot positions on her jaeger and bail, till turning a little when she catches bail but pretty – solid hs on high – good dlo stick. 9.925

McGowan – VT – UCLA – y1.5 is solid, hop to the side and some knee positions, and goes 9.900

Harkness – ub – msu – toe on to high gienger – small arch on hb handstand – hits bail – dlo, lean forward to hold stick

After 1: UCLA 49.350, Michigan State 49.300

Both teams will be pleased with the start, scoring pretty loose at the end there but also some weird judge separations that led to some strange rankings that maybe don’t reflect the quality of routines.

Rotation 2

Tucker – VT – MSU – y1.5, good distance, step to the side, a bit of knees. 9.850

Campbell – ub – UCLA – good fist hs – maloney to bail is clean – solid hs on high – double front, cowboy, hop back. 9.850

Doyle – VT – MSU – y1.5, really nice clear stick, good, leg separation on block. 9.900

MWL – UB – UCLA – good hs on low – maloney, small leg break, into pak, clean form, a little lower than others – solid 1/2 turn on low – she can handstand – ftdt, bounce back. 9.850

Zsarmani – VT – MSU – y1.5, another clear stick on hers, a little bit bigger than Doyle’s. And 9.950

Malabuyo – UB – UCLA – tight first hs – maloney to pak, small leg breaks on both – good 1/2 turn on low – toe on, ftdt, holds stick. 9.850

Smith – VT – MSU – y1.5, and a third stick in a row, biggest of the bunch yet. 9.950 and one judge goes 10.

McGowan – ub – UCLA – toe to tkatchev to overshoot (which is fine as long as they don’t think she was trying to handstand) – short hs on high – dlo, flung out some, chest forward and a step. 9.750, not enough separation between that and Malabuyo previously

Stephen – vt – MSU – high y1.5 but lands well short with a significant lunge back. 9.800, also too high for a missed vault when a solid hit went 9.850 to lead off

Esparza – UB – UCLA – hits mloney to bhardwaj, a little over the b=low bar but works out of it fine – small back position on low – good vl – dlo, hop back

Kellerman – VT- MSU – handspring pike 1/2, nails the stick as well, chest pretty well up. 9.950

Chiles – UB – UCLA – hits first hs – piked tkatchev to pak is great -0 can’t cast up on low bar – does a weird tucky 1/2 turn to try to correct – finishes dlo hop back.

After 2: Michigan State 98.900, UCLA 98.500

Michigan State opens up a big lead after the best vault rotation in gymnastics so far this year, scoring 49.600 and definitely better than LSU’s 49.550 from last night. UCLA fine on bars but not super crisp in the landings, and then didn’t get the Chiles score, which they typically rely on to bring up the total.

Rotation 3

Sam’s like, when I was an athlete, all I wanted to be was not an athlete.

Lee – BB – UCLA – aerial to split, smooth – bhs loso, hit, maybe very small squeeze adjustment – switch to a high straddle – gainer full, stuck. 9.850

Beaufait – FX – MSU – high 2/1, mostly controls the step – switch to switch ring 1/2 – back 1.5 to layout, lower layout and slightly jarring on the step. 9.775

Chiles – BB – UCLA – bhs loso, right on – cat leap to switch side, good horizontal position there – comfortable full turn – side aerial, lean correction with arm wave – 2/1, small rebound. 9.850

Tucker – FX – MSU – rudi to a smooth loso, Aly is vicariously talking about the 92 Olympics right now – front 2/1, controls the step. 9.850

Campbell – BB – UCLA – bhs lay pike, arm wave correction – split leap to switch 1/2, tght, under split with a wobble – beat to split jump – gainer full, chest down, hop forward. A tight one today. 9.675

Harkness – FX – MSU – ftdt, hit with slide back – switch to split full to wolf full – front through to double tuck, rebound back. 9.850

Moors – BB – UCLA – smooth aerial to bhs – full turn, slight over turn – cat leap to side aerial, hit – switch 1/2, tighter switch 1/2 today with chest position and a check – tuck full off the end, step forward. 9.700 that will count.

Stephen – FX – MSU – front tuck through to rudi, a little low, slide back – switch 1/2 to a high wolf full, tighter in the switch 1/2 – loso to knee and roll choreo I like – front 2/1, big lunge forward. 9.875

Alipio – FX – UCLA – bhs bhs loso, way off line and falls as Sam tells us the rules of beam – side aerial, hit – split leap to switch to beat, little lean in the middle – gainer tuck full, lean forward to hold

Smith – FX – MSU – ftdt, chest up, bounce back – switch 1/2 to popa – front tuck through to double tuck, nails landing

Judging delay on Alipio.

Malabuyo – BB – UCLA -bhs loso, clean – aerialnto beat to korbut, very smooth – split to split ring jump, secure, front leg a bit lower – gainer full, stuck. 9.925

Schulte – FX – MSU – ftdt, good chest up, small rebound – switch 1/2tompopa to straddle, good rise in popa – front through to double tuck short, chest down, hop. 9.825

After 3: Michigan State 148.200, UCLA 147.500

UCLA goes 49.000 on beam after having to count two semi misses, so this won’t be the biggest total. Kind of the exact opposite beam rotation from last week, where the state of the lineups both hinged on Chae’s routine. Not the best floor from MSU either, but they did enough hitting to be able to extend the lead.

Rotation 4

Kalefe – BB – MSU – bhs bhs loso, lean correction with arms – switch, little hesitation before tuck jump full – gainer full, stuck. 9.750

The Kalefe family is not giving them the Mama Raisman content they were looking for.

Lee – FX – UCLA – double tuck, smooth – front lay to front full, fine, a little low – switch ring to switch 1/2 – double pike, pulls it out, chest down – 9.875, so looks like we’re getting wild on floor

Tucker – BB – MSU – cat leap to aerial, keeps moving, if slowly, into bhs – hits split jump 3/4 – cat leap to side aerial, chest way down, can’t save it and falls – sticks gainer full

I love when Sam kind of can’t resist being judgey about beam misses. She didn’t even put her foot down!

Malabuyo – FX – UCLA – double pike, good height, little bounce back – leaps, probably good but terrible camera angle – comes up under rotated on her wolf double – back 1.5 to front lay, a little low but works out the landing. 9.9 with one going 9.950. So brooklyn gets a 51?

Smith – BB – MSU – bhs loso, high, secure – beat to straddle 1/2, also secure, a bit tight on straddle position – full turn – really good double tuck dismount. 9.875

McGowan – FX – UCLA – ftdt, nice open position to start, little rebound – switch side to popa, just a hair under rotated – back 1.5 to front full, lowish but pulls it out. 9.950 oh no.

Zsarmani – BB – MSU – kickover piked, keeps moving to bhs – cat leap to switch side, huge break, keeps it on the beam but a big lean and leg nup wobble – 1.5 dmt, holds stick. 9.750 very forgiving, saves msu’s bacon there.

Moors – FX – UCLA – fro t 2/1 to front tuck, very good – loso side pass – switch to switch 1/2 to wolf full – rudi, keeps front foot down, solid. Not her very best but better than the 9.950s that have been thrown out already. 9.975.

Schulte – BB – MSU – full turn, smooth – switch to switch 1/2 to beat, not bad on the height – bhs loso, secure landing – switch to gainer full, stuck with lean forward. 9.800

Campbell – FX – UCLA – ftdt, good control – split full to popa, around – front lay to front full, controls her step – double tuck chest up, solid. Again, definitely better than 9.950s we’ve seen in this rotation. Another 9.975.

Sam, don’t act like the scores are too low. This is the most looney tunes rotation of the season.

Stephen – BB – MSU – aerial to two, solid – bhs loso, high, secure, a bit of knees – beat to straddle 1/2, arm wave check – 2/1 holds the stick. 9.825

Chiles – FX – UCLA – DLO, great landing – split full to wolf full, gets them around – fro nt tuck to double tuck, controls the step as well. Would be surprised if this one isn’t a 10. And it is a 10.

UCLA goes 49.800 on floor, ending with three great routines, but the massive overscoring of the first three in the lineup gave us a ridiculous end to the meet and a ridiculous score. MSU will feel hard done by this result. They definitely got away with one on the Zsarmani beam score, so maybe don’t have that much righteous indignation, but were stronger through the first three rotations

FINAL: UCLA 197.300, Michigan State 197.200