A mere national championship? Naw. This is the first step on the road to the trail to the path to the lane to the avenue to the journey to LA2028.

Or, sorry, more importantly we learned this week that day 1 of nationals is the SQUAD SHOWDOWN, where your rotation group is a team now, and it’s a team competition. We love team. Team team team. I sure hope Team wins.

The news of podium training was that Skye Blakely looked excellent on her two events, bars and beam, and will be favored to win both events here at nationals should she reproduce those training routines.

In roster developments, Myli Lew has withdrawn and Tatum Drusch is joining Skye Blakely in doing just UB/BB. Everyone else is slated for the all-around. For now.

Scoring-wise, I’ve had pretty good luck with ScoreCat. Other people haven’t. The broadcast is on Peacock in the US and on USAG’s YouTube for the internationals/VPNers among you.

We’re live. Hezly Rivera was Olympics. Leanne Wong and Josc Roberson will challenge her. Jayla Hang, Claire Pease, and Simone Rose are invisible. Chapter 1 for Los Angeles. 2028 2028 2028 2028.

Rotation 1

Sumanasekera – UB – stalder shap to pak, small leg break – maloney to ricna, some elbows – jaeger, hit – some back position, good feet – giant 1/2, ashy – giant full – FTDT, chest down, lunge forward. 12.950

13.800 first vault for Roberson.

Rose – FX – 2.5 to tuck 1/2 to split jump, leg form in twist – split jump full – back 1.5 to front full, step forward – tries to pull around a wolf triple, rhythm in the final turn – switch 1/2 to split leap full, around – double tuck, little bounce back. Solid, fine, pretty good control on landings overall. 13.500

Alessia Rosa scratched floor.

Laurie hasn’t compared any gymnasts to a labubu yet, so she’s beating the odds.

Hardie’s Y1.5 matches Roberson on 13.800.

2 routines for you, 84 commercials for me.

Blakely – BB – shoulder mount – wolf triple is comfortable – tuck full, hit, little rebound – fhs to front tuck, very large break, grabs the beam – switch, breaks connection to switch 1/2, another wobble – aerial to split to wolf is solid – side aerial, step choreos back out of it – double tuck, step back. Much shakier than we saw in podium, but the composition is there.

Look back at Roberson’s vault, DTY, leg separation in the twist, larger bounce back for that 13.800.

Claire Pease has a full blanket on in the background.

13.450 for Blakely, which still would have been .1 back of Sullivan’s beam to win Classic.

Rivera – BB – wolf double, hit – side aerial to split to straddle, secure landings – bhs lay 2 feet, piking, check – switch 1/2, under split, pause before korbut – aerial to split ring jump – switch ring, wobble not too big – bhs bhs double pike, chest down. Some wobbles, a couple broken connections, nothing big, will score well.

Hang – FX – wolf double – 2.5, overshoots it, connects to a layout that is fully horizontal but to her feet, very low – whip full through to double tuck, chest down – switch 1/2, split leap full is nice – double pike, super short, falls.

14.050 for Rivera on beam is big, versus a crashed floor for Hang. 12.200

We didn’t see Sullivan’s bars but just a 12.050 there, so that’s a miss.

Wong – BB – switch mount, hit – side aerial, secure – switch to switch 1/2 to straddle, connected – switch ring looked under – bhs layout stepout, slide back with front foot – wolf double, good – aerial, wobble before split to bhs so no connection or series – side somi, check – gainer tuck full, stuck. A very good one. 13.750

Laurie is still playing Mario Kart during the meet.

Now we’re looking back at Sullivan who takes her Tkatchev too far and falls. Resumed with a formy pak and van leeuwen, solid DLO 1/1 with step back.

Pease – BB – candle mount – wolf double, small hesitation – switch to split to onodi, connected – bhs loso loso, secure – aerial to straddle to bhs, little check – aerial cartwheel – switch 1/2, solid – 2.5 dismount, leg crossing and a bounce step to the side and off the mat. This was very strong overall as well.

After 1
1. Rivera – 14.350
2. Pease – 13.900
3. Hardie/Roberson – 13.800
5. Wong – 13.750

Rivera’s beam bumped up to 14.350 from 14.050. 6.4 D score.

Rotation 2

Matthews – FX – front full to 2.5, leg crossing, step, just stays in? – doesn’t quite get around on wolf double with arm waving – whip full through to double tuck, chest down – switch 1/2 through to split full – double pike, lunge back – pretty much her typical. 13.500 is a good floor number for Matthews.

Rivera – FX – DLO 1/1, two steps back but stays in, some piking – DLO, little bounce back – wolf double and a little extra – switch full to knee – front tuck through to double tuck, gets bounced back farther – split ring to switch ring – 2.5, lunge forward. A couple bigger landing errors but going to be another good score. 14.000. It’s Hezly’s day.

Hang – VT – mostly a really nice DTY, good height and distance, shows toe point, leg break early in the post flight – little bounce back. Should be around a 14. 14.050.

Wong – FX – wolf triple is around – double double tuck, chest well down but secure landing – back lay 1/2 to front full, ditched the back 2.5 version she was struggling with in podium – switch to switch 1/2, comfortable – double pike, secure, small rebound – popa – she’s also having a very nice day so far. 13.800

Caylor’s beam comes in as 13.850, which is also a gigantic number for her.

Pease – FX – double double tuck is way short, hands down, like her fisrt turn in PT – bounce back on rudi – switch ring to switch 1/2 is good – double pike, shuffle back – wolf double rising and wobbling out of it – 2.5, bounce forward.

Turning this car around and no one but Hezly is going to worlds.

Rose – VT – Y1.5, medium hop forward, solid

Roberson – UB – shaposh to clear hip 1/2 to yezhova, legs apart, good height – toe full, past, connects to maloney to gienger, legs apart – clear hip – DLO 1/1, some piking, stuck. And she gets a 13.650 for bars specialist Josc Roberson who LEADS ON BARS.

Hardie – UB – stalder full to maloney to pak, good legs together – van leeuwen, leg separation – clean hs – toe 1/2 to jaeger, close, some toe point – DLO, a little deep, hop back. Nice.

Hardie and Roberson were .05 apart on E. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.

Sumanasekera – BB – candle mount, good – bhs bhs layout 2 feet, some pike, bounce up – aerial – split to sissone – arm wave in there – switch to switch 1/2 to korbut is solid – switch ring, under with an arm wave – side aerial – full turn – bhs bhs double pike, chest down, crossover step back. But another strong beam. 13.8

Sullivan 13.650 on beam, which helps pull her out of the bars hole. Pease 12.050 on floor.

After 2
1. Rivera – 28.350
2. Wong – 27.550
3. Caylor/Roberson – 27.450
5. Hardie/Rose – 27.000

Mood:

Hang is in 11th and Pease is in 15th, just like you thought.

Rotation 3

Rivera – VT – DTY, much improved from podium, chest up little hop back, way off to the side, some pike. Oh look Valeri is smiley now, look how that happened. 13.800 with a 0.3 ND.

No, the E score does not include the ND.

Wong – VT – DTY is also improved, good direction, leg crossing through the twist, step back. 14.000

Wong – VT 2 – ro 1/2 on pike 1/2, pretty high, large bounce back – but she’s doing two vaults and a lot of other people aren’t – 12.950

Caylor – FX – double y, starts the position a little late but gets two turns around – DLO, shortish, slide forward – whip full to double tuck to punch front, nearly got it, very very deep knee on front tuck – tries wolf triple, gets like 2.75 around – double pike, bounce – switch ring to split full

Oof. Haven’t seen Hang’s bars but it’s 12.150, and Pease’s DTY is only 13.300. They’re going to need a real day 2.

Roberson – BB – back tuck full, secure – switch to switch 1/2, under split, gets connection to back tuck, check after – side aerial to loso loso, solid landing – full turn with a wobble – onodi, connects to straddle to pike jump – bhs bhs double pike, step forward, chest down. A strong hit, let’s see what the E score looks like.

And a 14 for Sullivan on floor is big, some useful numbers after that bars miss.

Rose – UB – yezhova, larger leg break – maloney to clear hip full, past – Ray, good – pak, legs apart – van leeuwen, smooth – clear hip – DLO 1/1, piking, hop forward – she’s having a solid, regular day. 13.350

Looking back at Pease on vault, DTY is very short, deep knee, chest way down.

Roberson gets a 7.6 E with wobbles for a 13.800, which also bodes very well for this E score queen, racking up huge numbers.

Sumanasekera – FX – DLO, leg separation, rebounds into split jump – double tuck, bounce back – switch ring to switch full, under rotation – wolf double – back 1.5 and totally misses her timing into attempted front full, lands under, looked scary in a twisting into a ground kind of way, but she’s back up and fine – good double pike. 12.4

Hardie – BB – switch mount, hit – bhs loso, secure – aerial, check – split to sissone, under on split position – wolf double – switch, hit – side aerial with a couple big arm circles – bhs bhs 15, hop to the side. Lower D but usable. 12.900

After 3
1. Rivera 42.150
2. Wong 41.550
3. Roberson 41.250
4. Rose 40.350
5. Stassi 40.150

Esponda just 13.250 on floor, which is not what she needed.

Rivera, Wong, and Roberson having big days so far. Even though Sullivan fell on bars, that 14.000 on floor should also be considered a win for her today. Similar for Sumanasekera with her 13.800 on beam despite the floor fall.

Blakely bars and Roberson floor the big ones coming up next.

Rotation 4

Wong – UB – clear hip 1/2 to jaeger, hit – toe full with big leg break into bhardwaj, legs – maloney to pak, nice – van leeuwen – good cast hs – DLO, deeper with a step forward, dmt would get an eye roll at Florida, but a great day for Wong. Definitely helps her standing. Still don’t know what event you’d look at her as a medal contender on, but if the faves are mostly going to splat…

13.550 for Wong takes her to 55.100, huge result.

Sullivan 14.000 on vault

Pease – UB – frotn stalder 1/2 to toe full, large body position break but pulls it back – maloney to tkatchev, low – pak is clean – stalder shap 1/2, good – nice hs – toe 1/2 is late with leg break – double front 1/2 out way way short, hand down.

Started really well for Pease on beam (where she’s still 2nd), but a throwaway day everywhere else.

Hardie – FX – wolf a billion – back 2.5 to front lay, good twist, a little low on front lay – back 1.5 to front full, lands short but covers pretty well with a shuffle back – switch ring to split leap full – double tucm, bounce back – switch 1/2, good. Nice one. 13.850, 53.750 AA.

13.950 vault for Sumanasekera for 53.100, DTY pretty solid in the air at the beginning, losing some form at the end, good distance, steps back

Just a 51.600 for Pease.

Hang recovers for a 13.850 on beam, which she really needed.

Roberson – FX – Moors, hits it, hop to the side – front full through to FTDT, step back OOB – switch side to split leap 1.5, only a hair short of rotation – DLO 1/1, very archy, bounce back – wolf triple will get credit – DLO, legs apart, bounce back.

14.150 for Roberson with the OOB is huge for her. 7.750 E, 6.5 D. 55.400 AA moves ahead of Wong.

That was the biggest result today for Roberson because without two vaults so far, she needed to show an event score. That’s the event. More importantly, she is still tied for first on bars. All I want is national bars champion Josc Roberson.

Rose – BB – wobble on mount – gets wolf triple – bhs loso loso, hit with small slide back of front foot – side aerial – split and straddle – aerial, leg up wobble – 2.5 dmt, hop to the side. 13.100

53.450 for Rose, she really nickel and dimed herself out of a score today.

Rivera – UB – weiler 1/2 – toe full is late – stalder shap to ricna, hit – pak, good height and leg form – maloney to tkatchev, low but hit – short on cast 12 turn – FTDT is better, chest down but just a step forward. 13.450

That’ll do it. 55.600, just ahead of Roberson.

Blakely – UB – stalder to Church, hit – Downie to pak, leg sep – toe full to van leeuwen, lots of tucking and misses her hand and has to recast after resting against the bar – double front 1/2 out is excellent.

13.250. Blakely’s 2 event score is 26.700. She needs a minimum 26.800 on Sunday to be eligible to be added to national team.

Not the day she had in podium, but even if she has issues again on Sunday, they’d be insane not to advance her to camp to see if she can earn it.

FINAL:
1. Rivera – 55.600
2. Roberson – 55.400
3. Wong – 55.100
4. Caylor – 53.800
5. Hardie – 53.750

Hang and Pease finish 11th and 15th.

Ready to pull a Martha 2013 and just take 3 people to worlds. If you’re taking into account the body of work, Hang and Pease are still right there, but they’ll need to bring it back.

Interested to see what happens with people doing 2 vaults, because the vault specialist and bars specialists for the worlds team right now are No One and Empty Seat.

If you assume Skye works through it and gets her routines in hitting shape, a Blakely/Roberson pairing is theoretically a solid specialist pairing if Roberson has her two vaults going by camp. But there are some ifs in there. As we stand today, you’d want Rivera for AA and then whichever of Hang or Pease gets it together better? And then Wong if neither do?

You’re happy you have camp to actually select from and not this.