Continue reading 2023 Level 10 Nationals →

The full scores—including the juniors—may be found here, but I’ll run through the major senior results along with what you need to know for future NCAA purposes. (Verbally committed seniors are noted with their school and the year of their first competition season, not year of academic entry, because we don’t care about that book-lerning nunsense.)

SENIOR F – Top 10 AA & Notables

Rk	Name	NCAA	VT	UB	BB	FX	Total
1	Selena Harris	UCLA 2023	9.900	9.800	9.650	9.900	39.250
While “needing more talented names on the roster” wasn’t exactly the reason UCLA failed to advance to nationals this season, the Bruins absolutely could have used this level of all-arounder in 2022 and have shed enough routines after the season for that need to remain in 2023.
1	Faith Torrez	Oklahoma 2023	9.775	9.750	9.900	9.825	39.250
Though the national champions are losing a couple critical scores from this year’s team, it’s not a ton of routines, so they can expect a net gain in depth and quality by adding a gymnast of Torrez’s caliber.
3	Miki Aderinto	Cal 2023	9.750	9.800	9.700	9.525	38.775
eMjae Frazier is the name in next year’s class, but Aderinto will be a crucial addition for Cal given what a large and significant senior class the team had in 2022, as the current underclasswomen transition to having to take on more scoring responsibility.
4	Gwen Fink	North Carolina 2023	9.800	9.750	9.425	9.575	38.550
With two top-10 finishes, this was a very good session for North Carolina, which achieved goal #1 this past year by returning to regionals.
5	Addi Lawrence	Missouri 2023	9.575	9.700	9.425	9.800	38.500
#5 Missouri isn’t losing any routines from this season’s lineups, so…
6	Polina Belanovski	Towson 2023	9.650	9.700	9.200	9.700	38.250
Really nice gets in spots 6 and 7 for Towson and Yale here, two teams that were already setting scoring records this past season.
7	Megan Brueck	Yale 2023	9.650	9.650	9.225	9.650	38.175
8	Madina Rose French	???	9.625	9.300	9.550	9.650	38.125
9	Kaya Forbes	North Carolina 2023	9.750	9.625	9.175	9.550	38.100
10	Claire Stippich	Kentucky 2023	9.550	9.475	9.325	9.675	38.025
13	Ashley Cowan	LSU 2023	9.550	9.800	8.775	9.800	37.925
Note: While Cowan is verballed to LSU, she was not part of November’s signing announcement.
16	Kayla Lee	Arizona St 2023	9.250	9.350	9.425	9.800	37.825
18	Leah Moreno	New Hampshire 2023	9.500	9.775	8.950	9.450	37.675
18	Cecilia Cooley	Denver 2023	9.175	9.600	9.650	9.250	37.674
47	Kayla Pardue	So Utah 2023	9.725	8.100	8.375	9.600	35.800

SENIOR E – Top 10 AA & Notables

Rk	Name	NCAA	VT	UB	BB	FX	Total
1	Nikki Smith	Michigan St 2023	9.900	9.750	9.650	9.725	39.025
The deeply accomplished L10s just keep coming for Michigan State, with sister of current team member Nyah taking the title in this age group. Though the younger ones are doing a lot of the work for MSU, there will still be some important replacement work to do next year, so…check?
2	Anna Roberts	Stanford 2023	9.875	9.500	9.550	9.825	38.750
Stanford had a very good session here with multiple top performances, and coming off that wildly encouraging finish to the end of the 2022 season, things are looking up.
3	Amani Herring	Penn St 2023	9.700	9.475	9.550	9.775	38.500
Like Stanford, Penn State also put two people in the top 10 here, but unlike Stanford, Penn State did not have an encouraging end to last season, finishing a historically low 40th place. So this strong L10 class is coming not a moment too soon.
4	Sydney Morris	???	9.675	9.650	9.500	9.625	38.450
Morris, a former elite who was a top-10 junior for several years, has not yet announced a commitment anywhere, so keep an eye on that.
5	Ava Pedrahita	Penn St 2023	9.675	9.550	9.375	9.800	38.400
6	Kylie Eaquinto	BYU 2023	9.675	9.525	9.400	9.725	38.325
7	Taralyn Nguyen	Stanford 2023	9.850	9.150	9.375	9.875	38.250
Underpowered vaulting was probably the most significant deficit Stanford faced in 2022, so these high vault scores from both their top-10 finishers are worth noting.
8	Lily Clapper	Michigan 2023	9.550	9.625	9.425	9.625	38.225
The younger Clapper sister is verballed to Michigan but was not in the November signing class.
9	Nastia Rudnitskaya	Kent St 2023	9.625	9.750	9.225	9.600	38.200
10	Mila Brusch	Denver 2023	9.850	9.575	9.250	9.475	38.150
I guess the theme of this session is younger sisters, but here we have another who isn’t going to the same score as the older sister, with Mila heading to Denver rather than Auburn.
13	Natalia Pawlak	Pitt 2023	9.600	9.700	9.075	9.625	38.000
Pawlak competed for Poland at junior Euros in 2018.
16	Nirel Bart-Williams	Illinois St 2023	9.600	9.725	9.050	9.425	37.800
21	Deana Sheremeta	George Washington 2023	9.550	9.200	9.100	9.750	37.600
Looks like sisters not going to the same school as each other officially wins the session.
25	Naya Howard	Georgia 2023	9.625	8.825	9.500	9.500	37.450
41	Brooklyn Rowray	Minnesota 2023	9.500	8.600	9.525	8.775	36.400
50	Jayda Lealaogata	???	9.375	9.700	7.700	8.800	35.575

SENIOR D – Top 10 AA & Notables

Rk	Name	NCAA	VT	UB	BB	FX	Total
1	Gabrielle Gladieux	Alabama 2023	9.725	9.650	9.600	9.775	38.750
Alabama has a mighty hefty class entering next season, and while they’ll have some serious score replacement work to do (i.e. Graber), a L10 champion in Gladieux won’t even have to bear the brunt of the expectations with elites like German in the group.
2	Olivia Zsarmani	Michigan St 2023	9.725	9.725	9.575	9.650	38.675
Michigan State’s “I want all the L10s” strategy continues in this age group with two more top-10 finishers who are joining next year’s class.
3	Sarah Moraw	Minnesota 2023	9.875	9.475	9.550	9.675	38.575
Minnesota will like the look of that beam result as they try to pencil in the shape of a competitive beam lineup in the post-Ramler, Loper era.
3	Payton Harris	Ohio State 2023	9.825	9.625	9.425	9.700	38.575
Last year, it was Ohio State and Michigan State that pretty much won L10 nationals, and they’re keeping it up this year.
5	Casey Brown	Cal 2023	9.775	9.625	9.375	9.725	38.500
Cal will very much enjoy that vault score and the potential Y1.5 here since vault difficulty was pretty much entirely what separated them from Minnesota at regionals.
6	Makayla Tucker	???	9.725	9.650	9.425	9.675	38.475
7	Jennifer McMillan	Oregon St 2023	9.725	9.850	9.275	9.550	38.400
“Yes, please, bars scores” – Oregon State
8	Bryce Wilson	LSU 2023	9.825	9.425	9.325	9.725	38.325
Check off another vault/floor star on LSU’s list.
9	Sage Kellerman	Michigan St 2023	9.775	9.600	9.375	9.500	38.250
10	Lilly Tubbs	Washington 2023	9.600	9.375	9.525	9.525	38.025
13	Cally Swaney	Arkansas 2023	9.625	9.675	8.950	9.575	37.825
16	Bridget Bourque	Kentucky 2023	9.675	9.675	8.925	9.425	37.700
20	Abby Martin	Arizona 2024	9.575	8.850	9.450	9.750	37.625
20	Kimberly Smith	Arizona St 2023	9.675	9.600	9.450	8.900	37.625
30	Alea Byrne	Illinois 2023	9.575	8.525	8.925	9.825	36.850
34	Brooke Ferrari	TWU 2023	9.225	9.650	8.650	9.175	36.700
52	Ashley Szymanski	???	9.600	9.650	9.225	–	–

SENIOR C – Top 10 AA

Rk	Name	NCAA	VT	UB	BB	FX	Total
1	Priscilla Park	Arkansas 2024	9.625	9.700	9.400	9.750	38.475
With Senior C, we predominantly get into gymnasts who won’t start until the 2024 season, but you know I’m eyeing that bars score anyway.
2	Neve King	North Carolina 2024	9.650	9.600	9.325	9.700	38.275
3	Ava Jorgensen	BYU 2024	9.675	9.700	9.325	9.550	38.250
4	Gabriella Ladanyi	Alabama 2024	9.450	9.700	9.400	9.575	38.125
The daughter of coach Robert Ladanyi.
4	Jurnee Lane	???	9.425	9.525	9.350	9.825	38.125
6	Reese Samuelson	W Michigan 2024	9.450	9.650	9.475	9.525	38.100
7	Anya Pilgrim	Florida 2024	9.775	8.900	9.525	9.800	38.000
The former elite from Hill’s was the big favorite in this session and would have won pretty comfortably if not for the bars fall.
8	Lillian Lewis	Alabama 2023	9.500	9.500	9.425	9.550	37.975
Though most of the gymnasts in this age group won’t compete in college until the 2024 season, a few will join Alabama next season as part of that massive class: Lewis and Gravier
9	Zoe Gravier	Alabama 2023	9.500	9.550	9.350	9.525	37.925
An MG Elite refugee, Gravier ended up at First State and is now heading to Alabama.
9	Ava Molina	???	9.225	9.550	9.525	9.625	37.925

SENIOR B – Top 10 AA

Rk	Name	NCAA	VT	UB	BB	FX	Total
1	Chloe LaCoursiere	Alabama 2024	9.750	9.850	9.200	9.775	38.575
It continues being a seriously successful nationals for Alabama.
2	Kaia Tanskanen	Missouri 2024	9.525	9.650	9.600	9.700	38.475
2	Brynlee Anderson	BYU 2024	9.575	9.550	9.650	9.700	38.475
4	Olivia Coppola	Illinois 2024	9.575	9.675	9.350	9.750	38.350
5	Holly Snyder	Georgia 2024	9.600	9.700	9.200	9.750	38.250
The Georgia rebuild will have to start with recruiting, and there a few encouraging results at this year’s nationals with Snyder here and Battle in A.
5	Devyn Valuch	???	9.600	9.500	9.400	9.750	38.250
5	Ady Wahl	???	9.700	9.500	9.325	9.725	38.250
8	Cadence Gormley	Kentucky 2024	9.625	9.650	9.350	9.575	38.200
9	Kristin Lin	Washington 2024	9.550	9.500	9.325	9.800	38.175
10	Jamison Sears	Alabama 2024	9.625	8.900	9.725	9.875	38.125
Another elite who was favored to win her session but felled by a bars miss, just like Pilgrim in Senior C.
10	Julia Krzywanski	???	9.525	9.475	9.425	9.700	38.125

SENIOR A – Top 10 AA

Rk	Name	NCAA	VT	UB	BB	FX	Total
1	Lily Smith	Alabama 2024	9.550	9.850	9.575	9.900	38.875
Winning three of the six senior sessions is a lot for a single school at one nationals.
2	Julianne Huff	Auburn 2024	9.800	9.675	9.350	9.775	38.600
3	Morgan Price	Arkansas 2023	9.750	9.800	9.450	9.500	38.500
Price is going to be an early joiner for Arkansas next season, so perhaps noting the high bars score is more relevant in this case.
4	Delayney Rodriguez	Kentucky 2024	9.600	9.475	9.625	9.650	38.350
4	Camie Winger	???	9.350	9.675	9.550	9.775	38.350
6	Jaydah Battle	Georgia 2024	9.775	9.200	9.650	9.675	38.300
7	Whitney Jencks	Nebraska 2024	9.275	9.650	9.450	9.750	38.125
8	Brinlee Christensen	So Utah 2024	9.500	9.700	9.375	9.525	38.100
9	Sydney Jelen	???	9.000	9.750	9.675	9.525	37.975
10	Taylor DeVries	Oregon St 2024	9.475	9.675	9.400	9.400	37.950

Full schedule and links

Here’s a rundown of the various randoms I’m thinking about heading into the…second-to-last weekend before conference championships. You know, the big one.

UCLA @ Cal – Saturday afternoon is going to be a thing. In this season’s shifted hierarchy, UCLA currently ranks 4th in the Pac-12 to Cal’s 3rd, while Arizona State leapfrogged both to move into 2nd after last week’s two meets. It’s a different world. And yet in dual meet results so far, it’s pretty much been the same world. The normal expectations have held. UCLA and Cal have both defeated Arizona State and suffered their only losses in pretty tight meets away against Utah. Those are basically the results you would expect in any old season. This weekend, Cal will be eager to confirm that these shifted 2021 roles—where Cal is the numerical favorite against UCLA—are a real life thing with an actual win in a dual meet.

In practice, there hasn’t been much separating these #2, #3, and #4 teams in the conference in their scores all season. All three have been in the low 197s thus far for their good hits, so UCLA/Cal result—as well as their final season rankings—should be considered a toss-up. Arizona State hosts Arizona simultaneous to the UCLA/Cal meet, though ASU’s low home score is already a 197.150, which means there’s probably not a ton of room to continue improving that ranking this week. Meanwhile, UCLA is trying to drop a 196.600 and Cal is trying to drop a 196.075, so there’s clearer room for those two to raise their NQSs with quality performances in a bid to catch ASU.

Continue reading NCAA Week 9 Preview →

Full schedule and links

Marquee Meet

Friday, February 19 – 7:00pm MT – ESPNU

It’s…a different year for this UCLA/Utah rivalry. But it’s still UCLA/Utah. Typically, this meet is about parsing minor advantages and little ifs and buts and preparing for a judging apocalypse (it was just a year ago that Utah went 49.775 on beam and UCLA 49.800 on floor in the final rotation of a 198-a-thon). This year, however, Utah enters as a more convincing favorite than we’ve had in this dual-meet series in quite a few seasons.

Thus far, UCLA has peaked at 196.750, while Utah has scored over 197 in its last three meets and has dipped below that 196.750 mark only once in five competitions. Utah is ranked higher on all four events and, in both roster depth and preparation, has a major edge on UCLA this year. Now, expect to see a better UCLA team in this meet than what we saw during the annual “exploring depth” adventure at Washington last weekend. The Bruins were resting some important routines at that meet and should bring them back against Utah to have more complete lineups, including the full complement of potential 9.9+s at the back half of a floor rotation that can keep pace with, or beat, Utah there. Despite last week’s 195, UCLA will be aiming to hit the 197s this week.

Utah’s scoring aims will be noticeably higher, with the team’s primary advantages coming on vault and beam. UCLA relies on Yfulls from Campbell and Dennis for its top vault scores (and won’t have Wright’s 1.5 again this week), while Utah has four Y1.5s to end the lineup and therefore starts from a much higher place when the landings are on. Beam is Utah’s go-to event these days, compared to a UCLA team that has looked tight and tentative so far and has fewer natural, comfortable beamers than we have come to expect from UCLA beam lineups of yore. UCLA has been working beam lately like they’re at their first middle school dance, and if we see one improvement for the Bruins against Utah, it needs to be that.

If Utah opens up the expected lead because of vault and beam, there won’t be a lot UCLA can do. Beyond winning, Utah will be aiming to improve bars in its quest to get close to those 198s that the popular-girls table has started scoring. Bars is the event that has looked a little medium lately, particularly in the handstand and sticking departments. I mean, there’s only so much a Farden fist pump can do if you cut off your casts and lunge on landing.

Continue reading NCAA Week 7 Preview →