A wild and crazy day 1 of competition left us with Jayla Hang in 11th and Claire Pease in 15th and Josc Roberson tied for the lead on bars.
I think we can all agree that the only thing that matters right now is for Roberson to win the national title on bars. Everyone else fall. You have your instructions. For real, her 14.150 on floor was probably the most significant result of day 1. As we ask the “but what event could you actually medal on compared to the international field?” question in trying to put together a worlds team, Roberson’s floor D gives her a clear answer.
Hezly Rivera leads the all-around with 55.600, but Roberson and Wong are well within a reasonable striking distance. The top 8 AA automatically make national team after today, but they are also free to add anyone else who gets an elite qualifying score (52, 39.6, 26.8) either day.
Important updates to start the broadcast: A picture of Suni at a basketball game. Picture of Suni at Basketball Game could medal on beam at worlds.
Interview with Josc, she feels Smiles. Hezly is wearing a jacket. Leanne is here. Floor music going in the background. Probably no one. Not important.
14.000 vault for Pease. It looked Picture of Leanne’s Coffee instead.
12.050 for Hardie’s beam, which is a miss.
Rotation 1
Wong – VT – oh hi I’m going to bring out the Cheng and stick. She’s running. Legs, chest down, but very solid. 14.600.
Looking back at Pease’s vault, much improved DTY.
Hang – UB – weiler 1/2, arch and leg separation – pak, leg break – toe on to maloney to tkatchev, hit – 1/2 turn on high, solid vertical – DLO, chest foward with a step. 13.450, downgrade but solid.
14.000 second vault for Leanne. Big deal. She can start answering the event question with vault now.
Rivera – VT – DTY, solid height, very large bounce back, just a little leg separation in the air. 14.050.
Sullivan 13.800 on floor.
Caylor – FX – memmel is around – DLO, pikes down at the end, slide back – whip full to double tuck to front tuck is hit today – lower squat but landed – teeters out of wolf turn – double pike, bounce back. 13.100
Roberson – BB – John tells us we can see her coach Chris Brooks, and also a nameless person next to him with zero gold medals – tuck full, holds it, little adjustment balance – switch to switch 1/2, under, connects to back tuck, small check – side aerial to loso loso, bigger balance error, bend at the hips lean over – onodi to straddle to pike is good, gets the combo – bhs bhs double pike, lunge back.
They’ve been very charitable with awarding beam connections in this meet, but hers looked legit in this one. 13.700/7.5 E.
Rose – UB – yezhova, legs apart – maloney to clear hip full – Ray is solid – legs apart on pak – van leeuwen, small leg separation – clear hip – DLO 1/1 some piking, hop forward. Good. Score is up as 12.600 which feels like a point too low? Mistake?
Sullivan – FX – switch full is pretty good – double double tuck, step back – switch – split leap full to popa, good rebound, a little lack of control – DLO, bounce back, chest down at the end – wolf double – Sullivan’s fave is “Moose-ta-feena” we learn – steps OOB on double tuck but a strong one.
Sumanasekera – FX – DLO to split jump rebound, good control – double tuck, slide back – switch ring to switch full, lands a bit under full turn – wolf double, hit – back 1.5 to front full is hit today, knee form – double pike, bounce back. Nice one, good execution overall.
After 1:
1. Wong – 69.700
2. Rivera – 69.650
3. Roberson – 69.100
It’s on?
They fixed Rose’s bars score to 13.600, which makes a lot more sense. D score was originally listed as 4.8 but it was 5.8. Sullivan’s hit floor moves her up to 4th AA.
Rotation 2
Wong – UB – clear hip 1/2 well past – jaeger, good – toe full, nice vertical finish – bhardwaj, hit, small leg break – maloney to pak, legs slightly apart – good van leeuwen – DLO, nearly stuck, little slide back. Another good one. 13.950 is up 4 tenths on day 1.
Lower DTY score for Sullivan today, 13.500.
Caylor – VT – DTY, solid height, pretty large bounce back. 13.900
Looking back at Sullivan’s DTY, just gets it to her feet but multiple lunges back.
Rivera – UB – weiler 1/2 to toe full – stalder shap to ricna, hit, a little low – pak – maloney to tkatchev low and close – FTDT is much better, close to the bar but gets a good stick
Hang 13.900 on beam.
Looking back at Skye’s injury montage again.
14.150 bars for Rivera puts her .150 ahead of Wong in AA.
Blakely – UB – stalder to Church, hit – Downie to pak, legs apart – toe full, solid, connects to vl, little leg break – toe 1/2 – double front 1/2 out is excellent, small movement.
Hang – BB – wolf double, good – aerial, secure – straddle split and loso for a series bonus – bhs tuck full, solid hit, little check adjustment – switch to switch side, check – double pike, nice height, hop back Very good.
14.350 for Blakely is the top bars of the meet.
Roberson – FX – Moors is hit – hop to the side, no flag up – front full through to double double tuck, chest down more with hop – switch side to split leap 1.5, a little under rotated – DLO 1/1 is very low, landed though, chest way down – wolf triple is around – super super short on DLO too. A hit but much rougher landings today.
13.650
Pease – UB – front stalder 1/2 to toe full to maloney to tkatchev, solid combo – pak, good – stalder shap 1/2, good – toe 1/2 to double front 1.2, low but fine, hop to the side. Much better. 13.800
Rose – BB – switch mount to immediate switch – wolf triple is around – bhs loso loso, hit, small foot slide back – aerial to split and straddle, arm wave wobble – aerial is short, arm circle wobble to pull it back – 2.5, legs crossed, hop to the side. Good. 13.600, another good improvement on her day 1 number.
After 2
1. Rivera – 83.800
2. Wong – 83.650
3. Roberson – 82.750
Rivera should have the scoring advantage the rest of the way, but has to beam.
For today’s scores only, Wong leads, then Rivera, then Pease. Roberson’s floor was really the only main routine from today that has been weaker than the first day.
We hear Josc say she’s not going to do her second vault today with a taped ankle after floor.
Rotation 3
Rivera – BB – wolf double, solid – side aerial, check before split and straddle – bhs to lay, very secure, piked position – switch 1/2, pause before korbut, off line, pulls it back on – aerial, pause before split ring jump – hits switch ring – bhs bhs double pike, good stick, chest down. We’ll see the D because I thought she broke most of the connections. 14.000 with a 6.1 D, so they gave her some of the combos but not all.
Roberson – VT – hits her DTY, ginger on the landing with some lunges back. 13.050, 8.550 E and an additional mat deduction.
Blakely – BB – wolf triple, solid – back tuck full, solid, small adjustment – fhs front tuck, holds it with a leg up wobble – switch to switch 1/2 to back tuck, little hesitation – aerial to split to bhs, a little slow but good elements – side aerial, check – high double tuck, step back. Little checkies but a good one.
14.400 is also the beam high of the meet.
What’s important is that Simone Rose’s nails. Much more important than Nola’s routine.
Rose – FX – 2.5 to tuck 1/2 to split jump, under control – split jump full – back 1.5 to front full, some leg crossing, step – also smooth on the wolf triple here, slow but comfortable – switch to a wide shot of the arena, thank you – double tuck, bounce back. 13.600
Blakely did the job of make sure you hit so that there is also numerical justification for the thing we all already knew needed to happen—a spot on the worlds team.
Sumanasekera – UB – stalder shap to pak, nice amplitude – short cast hs – maloney to ricna, low but through it – jaeger, elbows but caught – 1/2 turn short – super loses form on toe full, arch and legs – ftdt, hands down
Pease – BB – candle mount, hit – wolf double – switch to split to onodi, way off line bend over and falls – this was her good one on the first day but now a fall – hits bhs loso loso well – aerial with some knee, into straddle bhs – side aerial, solid – switch 1/2, more under today – 2.5 dmt, hop forward. 12.800
Hang – FX – wolf double and a little more – back 2.5 to front lay, low arch on the lay but much better than day 1 – whip full to double tuck, bounce back – switch 1/2 to split full – double pike, hop back – popa – good one. 13.750.
Wong – BB – switch mount – side aerial, smooth – switch, pause before switch 1/2, wobble – switch ring looked better today, check – smooth bhs loso – wolf double, nice – aerial, some knee to split straddle, check – side somi, secure – gainer tuck full, holds the stick. Continuing to have a great comp. 13.950 and an 8.450 E.
After 3
1. Rivera – 97.800
2. Wong – 97.600
3. Roberson – 95.900
4. Sullivan – 94.500
5. Rose – 94.250
Sumanasekera and Pease currently out of the top 8 AA with one to go.
Hang’s 41.100 today is now third behind Wong and Rivera, and she still gets to vault.
Rotation 4
Your featured dream routine was Hezly’s DTY? Was that a mistake?
Roberson – UB – shap with leg break – into clear hip 1/2, solid on yezhova – past on toe full, into maloney – hits connected gienger, a bit low and some legs – DLO 1/1, another good stick with a little pike.
13.650 vault for Rose. 54.450 AA today.
14.300 vault for Hang, goes 55.400 today with a bars downgrade.
We see Rose’s 1.5, good stick, lower amplitude, clean.
13.700 for Roberson on bars. Sadly, she is 4th there now. I blame all of you. 54.200 AA total.
Pease – FX – double double tuck is deep, bounces back OOB, but landed – back 1.5 to rudi is solidly landed – switch ring and switch 1/2, good – double pike, chest down, bounce back – wolf double, around – 2.5, legs crossed, pretty big bounce forward. I feel like we need to ditch one of these passes and add in some D dance elements. 13.350
53.950 for Pease with a beam fall.
Hardie – UB – stadler full, a bit oast – maloney, leg break – good position on pak – van leeuwen, legs apart – toe 1/2 to jaeger, closer, good feet – past on 1.2 turn – DLO, small hop back. 13.450.
Wong – FX – wolf triple – double double tuck, chest down but secure, small hop to the side – back 1/2 to front full with a dance-bound forward – switch ring and switch 1/2 – double pike is a bit more sluggish, chest down, lunge forward. 13.600
56.100 (!) today for Wong.
Sullivan – BB – wolf double, solid – arabian is secure today – bhs loso, hit, knee in bhs – aerial to straddle to split, secure, losing form on aerial – onodi, solidly landed – switch – bhs bhs double pike, chest down, step forward. 13.450
Rivera – FX – DLO 1/1, bounce back and extra step, some pike, chest up well – DLO, hop back – wolf double plus some more – switch full to knee – front tuck through to double tuck, also gets Spiethed back here but keeps it in – split ring and switch ring – 2.5, good position, dance-bound forward. 14.200, 8.4 E is a lot for that landing control, but a good one. Also the top floor of the meet.
56.400 AA today for Rivera.
Other than Kalmykova’s wild Russian Cup score, those 56.400 and 56.100s are the top AAs in the world so far.
Still waiting on the score for Caylor’s beam, which is significant for the standings still. 13.900 beam for Caylor, would have been a huge AA today without the bars miss.
FINAL:
1. Rivera – 112.000
2. Wong – 111.200
3. Roberson – 109.600
Top 8 AA is Rivera, Wong, Roberson, Sullivan, Rose, Hang, Hardie, and Caylor. They’ll automatically make national team. Obviously, I’d add Blakely. And also Sumanasekera and Pease. For selection camp at the very least.
Blakely ties for the lead on bars and finishes 2nd on beam with basically-misses on day 1, so…
The big development today was Wong’s hit Cheng, which gives her vault as a compelling event for the worlds team now. Based on nationals, the Rivera, Blakely, Wong, Roberson team makes a lot of sense. But there’s still also every chance that Hang shows up to camp and wins the AA day 1 and automatically makes the worlds team.
1-2 floor were Rivera, Roberson
1-2 beam were Rivera, Blakely
1-2 bars were Rivera, Blakely
1-2 vault (2 vaults) were Wong, Pease