Category Archives: U.S. Championships

Fun with Numbers, U.S. Championships

The Scores: Post-Nationals Edition

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Now 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 →

Live Blog, U.S. Championships

US Nationals – Senior Women Day 2 Live Blog

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7:00pm CT. NBC. International stream. Scores.

Thus we arrive at the ending. Of course, the race for the title remains in 0% doubt, but Simone’s eh of a day on night 1 does change the skill-competing dynamic a little for herself.

I imagine if she had hit the triple double on the first day, we wouldn’t be seeing it again, but as she didn’t, she’s going to have to do it again tonight. The double double on beam, however, was successful on day 1, so it seems there would be less incentive to put that one back in again.

But to the real show—all the other spots. The standings after the first day were basically like you put everyone in a rock polisher and went, “This is the ranking.”

I mean what even is that nonsense? The surprise would be if they stay in anywhere close to the same positions after tonight’s competition.

I don’t expect the likes of Eaker and McCallum to repeat their struggles today to the same extent, but they’re already two points out of second place, so there may not be an opportunity for them to move up drastically in the standings even if they hit solid meets tonight. There’s just so much ground to make up. Hurd is likely in the same boat. She had three good events last time and then a monstrous floor experience, but that floor experience was enough to truly devastate her ranking.

Continue reading US Nationals – Senior Women Day 2 Live Blog →

U.S. Championships

US Nationals – Men’s Day 2

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Men’s action on day 2 starts with the juniors at 1:00pm CT (Stream, Scores). After the first day, Winter Cup champion Colt Walker leads the 17-18 age group by recording an 80.100 and placing in the top 5 on every event. He has nearly 2 points on anyone else, so he looks to be in control there given a relative hit today.

In the 15-16 group, Nicolas Kuebler stuck the crap out of everything I saw on day 1 to place first with 79.600, but he’s only a couple tenths ahead of Taylor Burkhart in 2nd. Other possible favorite and professional Rami Malek impersonator Isaiah Drake had a nasty on PH on the first day to fall to 6th but could make some ground back up today.

The senior men get underway at 6:30pm CT (Stream, International Stream, Scores). With a lead of nearly 3 points after the first day, Sam Mikulak is going to win. Yul Moldauer is currently in 2nd, only a hair’s breadth ahead of Akash Modi and Shane Wiskus. You like Moldauer as the favorite there for 2nd, but they could end up in any order. Wiskus and Trevor Howard were the big winners of day 1 in terms of improving their prospective cases for the worlds team—also Riley Loos who placed 6th AA but is more under the radar simply because we didn’t see any of his routines on the broadcast. As the less-expected members of the top group, however, they’re going to have to reconfirm that status on day 2. If they falter while people like Yoder and Bower move back up, then we could have a reassertion of the status quo when it comes to the selection camp group.

Just 8 were invited to the selection camp last year, and I have a tough time winnowing down this year’s potential group smaller than 10 or 11 people, so it’s going to get interesting today.

The Oklahoma group will be depleted today as both Colin Van Wicklan and Matt Wenske have been forced to withdraw from the competition. Van Wicklen’s concussion took him out of the first day as well, and Wenske suffered an ankle injury on vault on day 1. Van Wicklen is petitioning to the selection camp, and I have to imagine that will be accepted since he’s a major contender for the worlds team and the selection isn’t for another month.

We’ll be doing the live chat watch party again on GymCastic for night 2 of the men, so get in loser.

 

Live Blog, U.S. Championships

US Nationals – Senior Women Day 1 Live Blog

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7:00pm CT
NBCSN stream
International feed
Scores

If you’re looking at that start list and already getting heart palpitations about the routines you know won’t be shown on the broadcast even though they should be, then yes.

In the first rotation, of course we’ll have Simone Andromedon Biles likely unveiling the triple double opening pass. “And that right there. If she does that…what we call a skill…if she does that skill…just like that…at the world championships…that will become the Biles.”

But, we’ll also have some critical beam routines opening up that rotation as Wong and Lee try to make world championships cases. It’s tough to get into a beam picture with Biles, Eaker, McCusker, but you’ve got to start somewhere. We’ve also got a big moment for Skinner showing this floor routine. If it’s not vaguely close to 14ish, it will be a tough argument. The US has lots of high 13s on floor. Continue reading US Nationals – Senior Women Day 1 Live Blog →

Live Blog, U.S. Championships

US Nationals – Junior Women Day 1 Live Blog

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Here’s your start list for the junior women’s competition:

No taking it easy to begin the meet as we open with a couple significant routines. Barros is up first on floor—so it will just be downhill after that—and Greaves opens on vault with her new DTY, the landing of which will be fairly determinative for her AA hopes.

We’ll also have Konnor McClain third up on floor in the first group and a couple key beam sets from Pilgrim and Witte.

OK, the dude said it like “Kayla Di Sello.” Normally I would ignore, but after the Kara Eaker bombshell…

Anyway, if you weren’t on twitter this morning, apparently it’s pronounced like “Kara Acre” now. My world is shattered.

Looks like we have some more tying the warmup jacket around your neck like a cape action, and the mid-90s realness of this is making me very happy.

Yes, the stream is cutting in and out for everyone.

Anna Li is here judging.

Kittia Carpenter is also judging floor. In case you wanted more coaches here judging current/former athletes, which no one sees anything wrong with apparently because we live in a cyclone. Continue reading US Nationals – Junior Women Day 1 Live Blog →