Category Archives: NCAA Preview

2022 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

RkNameNCAAVTUBBBFXTotal
1Selena HarrisUCLA 20239.9009.8009.6509.90039.250
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.
1Faith TorrezOklahoma 20239.7759.7509.9009.82539.250
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.
3Miki AderintoCal 20239.7509.8009.7009.52538.775
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.
4Gwen FinkNorth Carolina 20239.8009.7509.4259.57538.550
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.
5Addi LawrenceMissouri 20239.5759.7009.4259.80038.500
#5 Missouri isn’t losing any routines from this season’s lineups, so…
6Polina BelanovskiTowson 20239.6509.7009.2009.70038.250
Really nice gets in spots 6 and 7 for Towson and Yale here, two teams that were already setting scoring records this past season.
7Megan BrueckYale 20239.6509.6509.2259.65038.175
8Madina Rose French???9.6259.3009.5509.65038.125
9Kaya ForbesNorth Carolina 20239.7509.6259.1759.55038.100
10Claire StippichKentucky 20239.5509.4759.3259.67538.025
13Ashley CowanLSU 20239.5509.8008.7759.80037.925
Note: While Cowan is verballed to LSU, she was not part of November’s signing announcement.
16Kayla LeeArizona St 20239.2509.3509.4259.80037.825
18Leah MorenoNew Hampshire 20239.5009.7758.9509.45037.675
18Cecilia CooleyDenver 20239.1759.6009.6509.25037.674
47Kayla PardueSo Utah 20239.7258.1008.3759.60035.800

SENIOR E – Top 10 AA & Notables

RkNameNCAAVTUBBBFXTotal
1Nikki Smith Michigan St 20239.9009.7509.6509.72539.025
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?
2Anna RobertsStanford 20239.8759.5009.5509.82538.750
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.
3Amani HerringPenn St 20239.7009.4759.5509.77538.500
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.
4Sydney Morris???9.6759.6509.5009.62538.450
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.
5Ava PedrahitaPenn St 20239.6759.5509.3759.80038.400
6Kylie EaquintoBYU 20239.6759.5259.4009.72538.325
7Taralyn NguyenStanford 20239.8509.1509.3759.87538.250
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.
8Lily Clapper Michigan 20239.5509.6259.4259.62538.225
The younger Clapper sister is verballed to Michigan but was not in the November signing class.
9Nastia Rudnitskaya Kent St 20239.6259.7509.2259.60038.200
10Mila BruschDenver 20239.8509.5759.2509.47538.150
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.
13Natalia PawlakPitt 20239.6009.7009.0759.62538.000
Pawlak competed for Poland at junior Euros in 2018.
16Nirel Bart-WilliamsIllinois St 20239.6009.7259.0509.42537.800
21Deana SheremetaGeorge Washington 20239.5509.2009.1009.75037.600
Looks like sisters not going to the same school as each other officially wins the session.
25Naya HowardGeorgia 20239.6258.8259.5009.50037.450
41Brooklyn RowrayMinnesota 20239.5008.6009.5258.77536.400
50Jayda Lealaogata???9.3759.7007.7008.80035.575

SENIOR D – Top 10 AA & Notables

RkNameNCAAVTUBBBFXTotal
1Gabrielle GladieuxAlabama 20239.7259.6509.6009.77538.750
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.
2Olivia ZsarmaniMichigan St 20239.7259.7259.5759.65038.675
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.
3Sarah MorawMinnesota 20239.8759.4759.5509.67538.575
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.
3Payton HarrisOhio State 20239.8259.6259.4259.70038.575
Last year, it was Ohio State and Michigan State that pretty much won L10 nationals, and they’re keeping it up this year.
5Casey BrownCal 20239.7759.6259.3759.72538.500
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.
6Makayla Tucker???9.7259.6509.4259.67538.475
7Jennifer McMillanOregon St 20239.7259.8509.2759.55038.400
“Yes, please, bars scores” – Oregon State
8Bryce WilsonLSU 20239.8259.4259.3259.72538.325
Check off another vault/floor star on LSU’s list.
9Sage KellermanMichigan St 20239.7759.6009.3759.50038.250
10Lilly TubbsWashington 20239.6009.3759.5259.52538.025
13Cally SwaneyArkansas 20239.6259.6758.9509.57537.825
16Bridget BourqueKentucky 20239.6759.6758.9259.42537.700
20Abby MartinArizona 20249.5758.8509.4509.75037.625
20Kimberly SmithArizona St 20239.6759.6009.4508.90037.625
30Alea ByrneIllinois 20239.5758.5258.9259.82536.850
34Brooke FerrariTWU 20239.2259.6508.6509.17536.700
52Ashley Szymanski???9.6009.6509.225

SENIOR C – Top 10 AA

RkNameNCAAVTUBBBFXTotal
1Priscilla ParkArkansas 20249.6259.7009.4009.75038.475
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.
2Neve KingNorth Carolina 20249.6509.6009.3259.70038.275
3Ava JorgensenBYU 20249.6759.7009.3259.55038.250
4Gabriella LadanyiAlabama 20249.4509.7009.4009.57538.125
The daughter of coach Robert Ladanyi.
4Jurnee Lane???9.4259.5259.3509.82538.125
6Reese SamuelsonW Michigan 20249.4509.6509.4759.52538.100
7Anya PilgrimFlorida 20249.7758.9009.5259.80038.000
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.
8Lillian LewisAlabama 20239.5009.5009.4259.55037.975
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
9Zoe GravierAlabama 20239.5009.5509.3509.52537.925
An MG Elite refugee, Gravier ended up at First State and is now heading to Alabama.
9Ava Molina???9.2259.5509.5259.62537.925

SENIOR B – Top 10 AA

RkNameNCAAVTUBBBFXTotal
1Chloe LaCoursiereAlabama 20249.7509.8509.2009.77538.575
It continues being a seriously successful nationals for Alabama.
2Kaia TanskanenMissouri 20249.5259.6509.6009.70038.475
2Brynlee AndersonBYU 20249.5759.5509.6509.70038.475
4Olivia CoppolaIllinois 20249.5759.6759.3509.75038.350
5Holly SnyderGeorgia 20249.6009.7009.2009.75038.250
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.
5Devyn Valuch???9.6009.5009.4009.75038.250
5Ady Wahl???9.7009.5009.3259.72538.250
8Cadence GormleyKentucky 20249.6259.6509.3509.57538.200
9Kristin LinWashington 20249.5509.5009.3259.80038.175
10Jamison SearsAlabama 20249.6258.9009.7259.87538.125
Another elite who was favored to win her session but felled by a bars miss, just like Pilgrim in Senior C.
10Julia Krzywanski???9.5259.4759.4259.70038.125

SENIOR A – Top 10 AA

RkNameNCAAVTUBBBFXTotal
1Lily SmithAlabama 20249.5509.8509.5759.90038.875
Winning three of the six senior sessions is a lot for a single school at one nationals.
2Julianne HuffAuburn 20249.8009.6759.3509.77538.600
3Morgan PriceArkansas 20239.7509.8009.4509.50038.500
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.
4Delayney RodriguezKentucky 20249.6009.4759.6259.65038.350
4Camie Winger???9.3509.6759.5509.77538.350
6Jaydah BattleGeorgia 20249.7759.2009.6509.67538.300
7Whitney JencksNebraska 20249.2759.6509.4509.75038.125
8Brinlee ChristensenSo Utah 20249.5009.7009.3759.52538.100
9Sydney Jelen???9.0009.7509.6759.52537.975
10Taylor DeVriesOregon St 20249.4759.6759.4009.40037.950

NCAA Week 9 Preview

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

NCAA Week 7 Preview

Full schedule and links

Marquee Meet

[14] UCLA @ [3] Utah

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