Lots and lots of acrimony over the worlds team this year—mostly by me, because scores and charts and frustration over “rank order” from previous selections—which is fine and normal.
But Spencer, why do you have a problem with the selected team if those were the gymnasts who earned it on the day?
Continue reading US Worlds Team, By The NumbersNow that the US national championship has provided a lovely, juicy, delicious (can you tell I’m hungry) chunk of new numbers to bolster and clarify Spreadsheet Nation, let’s take a new look at the updated scoring hierarchy and what it could mean for potential worlds team selection.
First, the athletes are ranked by peak score recorded on each event so far in 2019, with the top 3 on each apparatus highlighted.
Using those numbers, the highest-scoring team in a 3-count scenario would be as follows:
That team would be “burn down the world” good on bars and beam, though I do think the peak scores somewhat misrepresent vault because this group of 5 is far from the strongest vault team the US could come up with. It would be perfectly reasonable for the US to object to heading into worlds with McCusker, Lee, and Eaker on the same team knowing that one of them would have to vault in the team final.
Now, you could counter that argument with “but the other events are so good they make up for it” or “they’re going to win the team final anyway, so why not maximize event medal possibilities” in support of this team of five. Your choice.
Basically, counting the McCusker vault is the only non-amazing part of that team (should everyone hit), and there’s no other permutation of gymnasts that comes very close at all to matching this peak team score.
What the peak team doesn’t take into account, of course, is consistency, so it doesn’t mind if you fall 80 times as long as you hit once and that hit was an amazing score. Continue reading The Scores: Post-Nationals Edition
This year’s RQS calculator is live.
It’s on view-only status, but you can either download the document from there or select “make a copy” if you want your own version to edit yourself so you can play around with your own “If we got 199 next week, and they got a 2, would we be ahead of them?” pipe dreams. I’ll update each week with the new scores.
It’s still early. Only two teams have a full RQS score so far (congratulations on your championship Iowa), and RQS doesn’t get used for official rankings until week 8. But, a large chunk of teams will have a prospective RQS following this weekend’s competitions, so the comparison game can start—while the “they desperately need three more road scores” game has already long since begun.
Current national scoring records for the 2017-2020 quad (seniors).
| UNITED STATES | |||
| All-Around | Ragan Smith | 57.850 | August 2017 |
| Vault | Jordan Chiles | 15.150 | August 2017 |
| Bars | Riley McCusker | 15.050 | April 2017 |
| Beam | Ragan Smith | 15.350 | July 2017 |
| Floor | Ragan Smith | 14.433 | October 2017 |
| RUSSIA | |||
| All-Around | Elena Eremina | 57.900 | August 2017 |
| Vault | Angelina Simakova | 15.050 | November 2017 |
| Bars | Anastasia Ilyankova | 15.275 | August 2017 |
| Beam | Maria Kharenkova | 15.350 | October 2017 |
| Floor | Maria Kharenkova Angelina Melnikova |
14.500 | August 2017 April 2018 |
| CHINA | |||
| All-Around | Liu Tingting | 56.800 | May 2017 |
| Vault | Zhang Jin Liu Jinru |
14.550 | May 2018 May 2017 |
| Bars | Fan Yilin | 15.166 | October 2017 |
| Beam | Liu Tingting | 15.300 | May 2017 |
| Floor | Wang Yan | 13.800 | September 2017 |
| JAPAN | |||
| All-Around | Asuka Teramoto | 56.800 | August 2017 |
| Vault | Sae Miyakawa | 15.100 | June 2017 |
| Bars | Hitomi Hatakeda | 14.500 | June 2017 |
| Beam | Kiko Kuwajima | 14.500 | February 2018 |
| Floor | Mai Murakami | 14.800 | August 2017 |
| GREAT BRITAIN |
|||
| All-Around | Ellie Downie | 56.198 | April 2017 |
| Vault | Ellie Downie | 14.950 | March 2017 |
| Bars | Georgia Mae-Fenton Becky Downie |
14.600 | 3 occasions April 2017 |
| Beam | Alice Kinsella | 14.050 | March 2017 |
| Floor | Taeja James | 14.100 | April 2018 |
| ITALY | |||
| All-Around | Martina Maggio | 55.450 | May 2017 |
| Vault | Martina Maggio | 14.800 | May 2017 |
| Bars | Martina Maggio | 14.050 | May 2017 |
| Beam | Elisa Meneghini | 13.950 | September 2017 |
| Floor | Desiree Carofiglio | 13.900 | May 2017 |
| NETHERLANDS | |||
| All-Around | Eythora Thorsdottir | 56.350 | February 2017 |
| Vault | Tisha Volleman | 14.500 | September 2017 |
| Bars | Sanne Wevers | 13.933 | November 2017 |
| Beam | Eythora Thorsdottir | 14.850 | February 2017 |
| Floor | Eythora Thorsdottir | 14.000 | February 2017 |
| BRAZIL | |||
| All-Around | Rebeca Andrade | 56.000 | April 2017 |
| Vault | Rebeca Andrade | 15.150 | September 2017 |
| Bars | Rebeca Andrade | 14.450 | September 2017 |
| Beam | Daniele Hypolito | 14.600 | June 2018 |
| Floor | Thais Fidelis | 14.200 | August 2017 |
| FRANCE | |||
| All-Around | Melanie De Jesus Dos Santos | 55.450 | May 2017 |
| Vault | Coline Devillard | 14.633 | April 2017 |
| Bars | Melanie De Jesus Dos Santos | 14.650 | November 2017 |
| Beam | Marine Boyer | 14.900 | May 2017 |
| Floor | Melanie De Jesus Dos Santos | 14.200 | May 2018 |
| GERMANY | |||
| All-Around | Tabea Alt | 54.866 | April 2017 |
| Vault | Sarah Voss | 14.600 | December 2017 |
| Bars | Elisabeth Seitz | 14.900 | November 2017 |
| Beam | Pauline Schäfer | 14.150 | June 2017 |
| Floor | Kim Bui | 13.566 | April 2017 |
| BELGIUM | |||
| All-Around | Nina Derwael | 54.250 | March 2018 |
| Vault | Maellyse Brassart | 14.100 | February 2018 |
| Bars | Nina Derwael | 15.350 | May 2018 |
| Beam | Nina Derwael | 13.900 | June 2017 |
| Floor | Rune Hermans | 13.500 | March 2018 |
| CANADA | |||
| All-Around | Ellie Black | 56.199 | May 2018 |
| Vault | Shallon Olsen | 14.900 | March 2018 |
| Bars | Ellie Black | 14.400 | October 2017 May 2018 |
| Beam | Ellie Back | 14.400 | August 2017 |
| Floor | Brooklyn Moors | 14.600 | February 2018 |
| ROMANIA | |||
| All-Around | Larisa Iordache | 58.466 | September 2017 |
| Vault | Larisa Iordache | 14.800 | September 2017 |
| Bars | Larisa Iordache | 14.533 | September 2017 |
| Beam | Larisa Iordache | 15.566 | September 2017 |
| Floor | Larisa Iordache | 14.266 | September 2017 |
| AUSTRALIA | |||
| All-Around | Georgia Godwin | 56.325 | May 2018 |
| Vault | Emily Little | 14.750 | May 2017 |
| Bars | Georgia Godwin | 14.575 | May 2018 |
| Beam | Georgia Godwin | 14.625 | May 2018 |
| Floor | Georgia Godwin | 14.525 | May 2018 |
This season, I have been updating and expanding the Hall of 10s (always available at the top of the page) with the goal of including names, dates, and apparatuses for every 10 ever scored in NCAA gymnastics.
It currently includes 873 scores of 10.0 dating from Kelly Garrison in 1988 to Elizabeth Price in 2018, but it’s definitely not the complete account of every 10.0 ever scored. I’m missing exact dates for a number of 10s from the mid-90s (because apparently the internet was invented 7 days ago, and before that we didn’t have calendars and told time by the wind).
Plus, most of the Jenny Hansen 10s don’t appear at all in the list because I’m missing years for them (I currently have dates for just six of the twenty-one vault 10s and none of the six floor 10s). No matter. She’s not the most 10-ed NCAA gymnast of all time or anything (oh wait, yes she is). Information is also pretty sparse for those schools that don’t have programs anymore, since they’re weirdly not super concerned about maintaining records because of the whole not-existing thing.
So, I think we can do better if we work together. I know we have a lot of the original fans out there, so take a look at the list and let me know if you have information that isn’t included so that this can become a more complete Hall of 10s.
As we have it now, you may be interested to know (if you’re a trash nerd like me), that the 10-iest day in the history of college gymnastics came on March 12, 2004, when twelve separate 10.000s were awarded (five to Arizona State alone). Disclaimer: 2004 is not a role model.
Plus, a scavenger hunt: Can you find the only athlete in NCAA history who has scored a 10.000 for two different schools?
As the process of preparing for the 2018 season forges ahead (next stop: team-by-team freshman previews), I have ranked the top 32 teams based on how they would score in a meet using only the routines that return from the 2017 season.
It’s a method of evaluating which teams are currently best suited to succeed in 2018 using proven routines already at their disposal, as well as how many useful routines teams will need to get from transfers and freshmen to replace some of the dumpier backup scores from last season. Are they already flush with 9.850s? Or would they have to count some 9.6s if the freshmen don’t come through?
RQSs are used when available. When not available, season average is used. Most teams do return at least five people who competed once on each piece last season to fill out a full event score, but if they lack a fifth score from 2017, scores from the previous season are used. For instance, Oklahoma returns only four people who competed on floor last season, but Alex Marks did compete floor in 2016 for 9.700, so that score is used. Those instances are marked by **.
When there are no scores from previous seasons to be used, event totals are filled out with a “replacement average,” the composite average of all gymnasts who competed that event for that team last season but didn’t make the final lineup. Basically, it’s an approximation of what a typical “replacement level” routine should score for that team on that event.
| 1. FLORIDA – 197.959 | |
| VAULT McMurtry – 9.950 Slocum – 9.945 Boren – 9.925 Baker – 9.898 Hundley – 9.850 49.568 Chant – 9.831 |
BARS McMurtry – 9.930 Hundley – 9.925 Baker – 9.880 Boren – 9.860 Gowey – 9.850 49.445 Chant – 9.820 |
| BEAM McMurtry – 9.925 Boren – 9.900 Gowey – 9.895 Hundley – 9.880 Baker – 9.855 49.455 McLaughlin – 9.845 |
FLOOR Baker – 9.945 Boren – 9.945 Hundley – 9.885 Slocum – 9.870 McMurtry – 9.846 49.491 McLaughlin – 9.805 |
The upcoming season looks like Florida’s best chance to win a title in the post-Rhonda era so far because they return every lineup routine from last season, as well as adding a few famous friends to the mix.
| 2. OKLAHOMA – 197.790 | |
| VAULT Nichols – 9.955 Dowell – 9.935 Jackson – 9.900 DeGouveia – 9.830 Marks – 9.815 49.435 |
BARS Nichols – 9.960 Lehrmann – 9.910 Dowell – 9.905 Catour – 9.900 Craus – 9.850 49.525 |
| BEAM Nichols – 9.955 Brown – 9.910 Catour – 9.880 Lehrmann – 9.855 Jackson – 9.825 49.425 |
FLOOR Nichols – 9.965 Jackson – 9.960 Dowell – 9.910 Brown – 9.870 Marks – 9.700** 49.405 |
The departures of the Capps/Wofford/Jones crew mean that the defending champs do not return the same level of depth as Florida to fill out lineups and will need to come up with two new routines on each event to erase some of the entirely un-Oklahoma scores at the bottom of these lists.
| 3. LSU – 197.676 | |
| VAULT Edney – 9.910 Hambrick – 9.905 Harrold – 9.890 Finnegan – 9.855 Priessman – 9.855 49.415 Kelley – 9.825 |
BARS Priessman – 9.925 Edney – 9.900 Hambrick – 9.885 Finnegan – 9.880 Harrold – 9.855 49.445 |
| BEAM Finnegan – 9.945 Hambrick – 9.900 Macadaeg – 9.900 Edney – 9.875 Li – 9.755 49.375 Priessman – 9.525 |
FLOOR Hambrick – 9.930 Kelley – 9.925 Edney – 9.870 Finnegan – 9.866 Harrold – 9.850 49.441 Priessman – 9.685 |
LSU has a hearty-enough returning crop, though the lack of Gnat scores in particular drops them down to third in the returning rankings. That unflinching beam lineup will have to be reformulated a little this season with a couple new sets.
| 4. UTAH – 197.293 | |
| VAULT Skinner – 9.925 Merrell-Giles – 9.855 Lewis – 9.850 Lee – 9.840 Roberts – 9.785 49.255 Tessen – 9.783 |
BARS Skinner – 9.905 Lewis – 9.880 Lee – 9.845 Reinstadtler – 9.840 Merrell-Giles – 9.835 49.305 Schwab – 9.825 |
| BEAM Skinner – 9.900 Lee – 9.890 Reinstadtler – 9.850 Merrell-Giles – 9.840 McNatt – 9.838 49.318 Stover – 9.830 |
FLOOR Skinner – 9.965 Lewis – 9.890 Reinstadtler – 9.875 Roberts – 9.845 Merrell-Giles – 9.840 49.415 Tessen – 9.825 |
Utah fares quite well in returning routines, having lost only Baely Rowe’s sets from last season, and should have its pick of current routines and injury-comeback routines to fill out the majority of lineups without needing to expect too, too much from the freshmen. Continue reading 2018 Returning Routine Rankings
