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Meet Preview, Uncategorized

Week 7 Preview

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Full schedule and links

Marquee meets

GQ Invitational: [4] Utah, [5] LSU, [15] Missouri, Stanford
Friday, 6:15 CT, Flogymnastics

At the top of the playbill, the GymQuarters Mardi Gras Beads and Whatever Invitational brings us a comparison we almost never get in a non-postseason context—Utah against LSU. That comparison is becoming particularly relevant this season as Utah and LSU spend more and more time entrenched at #4 and #5, rankings that will be assigned to the same regional site in the new postseason seeding format.

While both #4 and #5 would be seeded to advance to nationals, one’s going to be the leader and the other’s going to be the old gazelle at the back of the pack, the one vulnerable to getting picked off by a surging underdog. We just don’t know which one is Utah and which one is LSU yet.

Because Utah has shown the more consistent performances thus far with those weekly 197 victories, winning this meet becomes more important for LSU—a team that has had its share of dramas and losses (admittedly with a more difficult schedule) and is coming off a quite lackluster performance against Kentucky. In addition to whatever sentimental hogwash and confidence concerns you might want to imbue the current situation with, pragmatically, LSU has fewer usable scores than Utah right now (only one worthwhile road total) and needs to take this opportunity of a road meet to get a mid-197.

At the same time, LSU’s desire for victory may be tempered by some difficult lineup decisions since this is a two-meet weekend. On the one hand, it’s preparation for the back-to-back days of regional competition. On the other hand, this roster has a number of fragile athletes you wouldn’t necessarily want to push on the leg events for a two-meet weekend right now. Do you hold them back in one meet or the other? Balancing the powerful desire to get confidence back right away by going all out and trying to beat a higher-ranked team like Utah with the patient knowledge that it’s still the regular season and you’re going to make regionals with a fine seeding regardless is a challenge.

Utah will have to manage some of the same lineup considerations for its two-meet weekend with Skinner and Tessen and Reinstadtler all having faced participation limitations in the early going, but will also want to bring out the fireworks for this one. This is the first real big-money meet of Utah’s season—a top-ranked opponent, a podium meet—and one that ushers in the far more difficult portion of Utah’s schedule. Monday’s meet against Stanford is Utah’s last remaining competition without a top-10 opponent. Other than that, it’s LSU and UCLA and Georgia and Michigan and Pac-12s. Difficult asks, but also serious opportunities to move out of that solid-but-not-nationals-level rut of lower 197s.  Continue reading Week 7 Preview →

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Things Are Happening – January 25, 2019

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A. Rosters!

No, noteworthy elite competition for 2019 doesn’t really get underway for another week with Elite Canada, the Reykjavik Games, and the Buckeye Kristal Uzelac elite qualifier, but we sure do have a lot of roster news to keep us warm until then.

Stuttgart has announced that it is the champion of the AA world cup series this year, getting both Simone Biles and Aliya Mustafina to headline its field that also includes Seitz and Schäfer. American Cup is like, “You win this round, Germany…”

We’re also only about a month away from the 2nd of 8 competitions in the apparatus world cup Olympic qualification series (Melbourne, February 21-24), and we now have the list of competitors, one that is notably rather sparse on the women’s side. Leading the field is the comeback of Vanessa Ferrari, who’s going to be perfectly suited to attempt the apparatus route and depending on her current level, has a series shot at garnering a ton of floor points here. A couple other countries are all in, no regrets with their rosters, but not too many. Of course Australia is bringing its best available competitors, and China too is sending a strong group featuring Fan Yilin. (Recall that Fan fell in the final at Cottbus, so she doesn’t have a useful result from the first stop.)

But beyond that, most of the far-away European countries are taking a pass on this one on the women’s side, providing an opportunity for some unexpected people to get loads and loads of points. The same is not true on the men’s side, where nations like the Netherlands, France, and Great Britain are slated to send some of their most likely qualifiers to try to snatch a good result early in the process. You can check in on the current Olympic qualification standings after one event here.

B. National team camp

The US women are back at it for another national team camp.

The roster here is large, as is pretty typical of the January camp, with all the members of the national team participating, along with other invitees. Not on the roster among the major senior players are Adeline Kenlin, Olivia Dunne, Tori Tatum, Audrey Davis, and Maile O’Keefe. Continue reading Things Are Happening – January 25, 2019 →

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2018-2019 NCAA Freshman Playlist

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Because it’s never too early.

The freshman playlist for the 2018-2019 NCAA season has been added to the essential links section in the menu at the top. Or, you can just look at it here:

2018-2019 FRESHMAN PLAYLIST

It contains links to the latest routine videos that exist for next season’s incoming NCAA freshmen (at DI, full-scholarship schools) so that they’re all in one place for when you need to start preparing likely lineups and doing your freshman research. As you do.

Whenever possible, I try to use YouTube videos (as uploaded by USAG, R5 Insider, or the gymnasts/parents) so that everyone can watch, but when necessary, the links will lead to Flo Pro videos because that’s where the videos are.

As the summer progresses, I’ll continue adding (or subtracting as necessary) walk-ons as we begin to learn who is actually joining these teams beyond the scholarship signers.

For your lineup-panic reference, here are the final 2018 lineups for some key teams, noting which routines are coming back and which are not.

UCLA

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Dennis Dennis G Glenn Kocian
A Glenn Honest Kocian Kramer
Ross A Glenn Nguyen Ross
Tratz Kocian Ohashi Tratz
Hano Lee Ross Hano
Hall Ross Lee Ohashi

OKLAHOMA

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Lehrmann Webb Catour Showers
Showers Showers Showers Schoepfer
Dowell Catour Lehrmann Dowell
Jackson Dowell Brown Jackson
DeGouveia Lehrmann Webb Webb
Nichols Nichols Nichols Nichols

FLORIDA

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Hundley Boren Hundley Hundley
Skaggs Skaggs Skaggs Gowey
Foberg Hundley Boren McMurtry
Boren Gowey Gowey Slocum
Slocum Foberg Baumann Boren
McMurtry McMurtry McMurtry Baumann

LSU

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Finnegan Durante Macadaeg Kirby
Edwards Hambrick Hambrick Desiderio
Harrold Harrold Edney Priessman
Cannamela Edney Desiderio Edney
Hambrick Priessman Campbell Finnegan
Edney Finnegan Finnegan Hambrick

UTAH

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Reinstadtler Lewis Stover Lewis
Lee Merrell-Giles Merrell-Giles Lee
Lewis Reinstadtler Soloski Reinstadtler
Tessen Lee Lee Soloski
Merrell-Giles Tessen Reinstadtler Merrell-Giles
Skinner Skinner Skinner Skinner

NEBRASKA

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Williams Breen Roby Epperson
Roby Roby Crouse Roby
Epperson Schweihofer Schweihofer Orel
Schweihofer Epperson Houchin Williams
Crouse Houchin Breen Crouse
Houchin Crouse Williams Schweihofer

GEORGIA

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Oakley Pedersen Snead Arnold
Arnold Schild Dickson Pedersen
Vega Vaculik Schild Babalis
Dickson Snead Oakley Dickson
Snead Oakley Babalis Snead
Schild Dickson Vega Vega

ALABAMA

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Armbrecht Guerra Armbrecht Armbrecht
Mahoney Graber Childers Guerra
Guerra Dickson Ernst Desch
Graber Winston Graber Graber
Guerrero Childers Winston Winston
Desch Mahoney Guerrero Guerrero

CAL

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Keelen Sternberg Shu So Seilnacht
Gallarzo Williams George Robinson
Sy Seilnacht Watterson Keelen George
George Schank Gallarzo Sy Seilnacht
Robinson George Williams Gallarzo
Williams So Seilnacht So Seilnacht Williams

ARKANSAS

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Yamzon Yamzon Yamzon Bargiacchi
Garner Shaffer Garner Wellick
Wellick Laird Wellick Yamzon
Shaffer Wellick Carter Burton
Speed Speed Laird Schaffer
Burton Garner Burton Carter

WASHINGTON

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Riley Nelson Rose Nelson
Hoffa Goings Schaefer Roberson
Copiak Roberson Copiak Schaefer
Goings Burleson Goings Hoffa
Roberson Copiak Roberson Washington
Burleson Riley Burleson Burleson

KENTUCKY

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Dukes Carlisle Stuart Poland
Kwan Warren Rechenmacher Warren
Davis Stuart Poland Rechenmacher
Rosa Coca Korth Hyland
Hyland Hyland Dukes Dukes
Korth Korth Hyland Korth

MICHIGAN

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Shchennikova Townsend Funk Townsend
Funk Funk Zaziski Funk
Brown Farley Brown Marinez
Townsend Shchennikova Shchennikova Brown
Zaziski Zaziski Farley Zaziski
McLean Brown Marinez McLean

AUBURN

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Becker Moss Riddle Smith
Phillips Krippner Watson Cerio
Krippner Watson Sylvia Watson
Watson Day Slappey Slappey
Day Cerio Milliet Day
Glenn Milliet Krippner Milliet

DENVER

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Chesnok Kern Addison Sundstrom
Sundstrom Sundstrom Glynn Kern
Schou Chesnok Brown Schou
Addison Glynn Sundstrom Karr
Brown Brown Karr Addison
Karr Karr Schou Brown

BOISE STATE

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Collantes Collantes Collantes McGregor
Remme Muhlenhaupt McGregor Bir
McGregor Stockwell Esmerian Webb
Bir McGregor Means Stockwell
Stockwell Remme Remme Remme
Means Means Amado Collantes

MISSOURI

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Miller Tucker Bower Bower
Harris Kelly Allbritten Turner
Huber Allbritten Porter Porter
Tucker Miller Tucker Huber
Ward Porter Kelly Tucker
Porter Huber Ward Harris

MINNESOTA

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Montgomery Ung Montgomery Cutler
Quaglia Quaglia Lu Ung
Hitchcock Montgomery Korlin-Downs Hitchcock
DeMuse Hitchcock Gardner Garnder
Ramler Ramler Ung Ramler
Williams Lu Ramler Williams

OREGON STATE

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Singley Khamedoost Singley Jacobsen
Yanish Colussi–Pelaez Minyard Gill
Davis Singley Yanish Davis
Greene Jacobsen Lazaro Singley
Jacobsen Briscoe Gill Lowery
Gill Dessaints Davis Yanish

STANFORD

Vault Bars Beam Floor
Cole Lawson Cole Cole
Fitzgerald Navarro Flam Navarro
Navarro Flam Price Flam
Flam Bryant Navarro Lawson
Bryant Price Bryant Bryant
Price Rogers Fitzgerald Price

 

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NCAA Conference Championships Final Scores

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Friday, March 23 Scores Event Winners
Brockport
Ithaca
UW-La Crosse
UW-Whitewater
Cortland
Hamline		 191.350
188.175
192.550
193.700
189.000
190.000		 AA: O’Donnell (WW) 38.675
VT: Barmore (LC) 9.800
UB: O’Donnell (WW) 9.900
BB: Kowalik (Brock),
Hutton (WW) 9.750
FX: Kowalik (Brock) 9.900
Lindenwood
TWU
Illinois-Chicago
SEMO
Illinois State
Centenary		 195.225
194.650
194.375
193.875
192.075
188.550		 AA: Jones (TWU) 39.150
VT: Sokolowski (LU),
Brawner (SEMO) 9.850
UB: Alexander (LU),
Baker (UIC) 9.850
BB: Sokolowski (LU) 9.925
FX: Northern (UIC) 9.900
Saturday, March 24 Scores Event Winners
Temple
Cornell
Brown
Yale
Penn
William & Mary		 192.675
193.150
194.025
195.325
193.200
194.575		 AA: Waldman (WM) 39.200
VT: Todd (Tem) 9.825
UB: 4 tied 9.800
BB: Baldovino (Yale) 9.900
FX: Buford (Yale) 9.925
Bridgeport
West Chester
Southern Connecticut		 195.100
192.675
191.900		 AA: Campbell (UB) 39.075
VT: Lesperance (SC),
Kistner (UB) 9.725
UB: Tereshko (UB) 9.825
BB: Ramirez (UB) 9.875
FX: Reimers (UB) 9.925
[19] George Washington
[22] NC State
Pittsburgh
New Hampshire
North Carolina
Towson		 195.875
196.625
195.475
196.300
194.775
195.675		 AA: Knight (NCSt) 39.425
VT: 3 tied 9.900
UB: Mulligan (UNH) 9.950
BB: Arduino (Tow) 9.950
FX: Hislop (UNC) 9.950
Kent State
Central Michigan
Northern Illinois
Bowling Green
Ball State
Eastern Michigan
Western Michigan		 194.375
197.025
195.875
195.850
194.225
195.275
194.775		 AA: Plaska (CMU) 39.350
VT: 4 tied 9.850
UB: Harrison (WMU) 9.925
BB: Clements (CMU) 9.950
FX: Fletcher (KSU) 9.925
[1] Oklahoma
[13] Denver
[25] West Virginia
Iowa State		 197.775
197.075
195.625
195.650		 AA: Nichols (OU) 39.675
VT: Karr (DU),
Jackson (OU) 9.950
UB: Lehrmann (OU) 9.975
BB: Schou (DU) 9.925
FX: 5 tied 9.900
[2] LSU
[5] Florida
[6] Alabama
[9] Kentucky
[11] Arkansas
[16] Auburn
[18] Georgia
[21] Missouri		 197.400
196.825
196.975
196.550
196.425
195.650
196.350
196.100		 AA: Finnegan (LSU) 39.500
VT: McMurtry (UF) 9.975
UB: McMurtry (UF) 9.950
BB: Baumann (UF) 9.975
FX: 3 tied 9.900
[7] Michigan
[14] Nebraska
[23] Minnesota
[24] Ohio State
Illinois
Penn State
Maryland
Iowa
Michigan State
Rutgers		 197.200
196.950
196.225
196.375
196.625
195.500
195.250
196.400
194.275
194.400		 AA: Schweihofer (UN) 39.525
VT: Houchin (UN),
Stone (OSU) 9.900
UB: 3 tied 9.950
BB: 3 tied 9.900
FX: Schweihofer (UN),
Tsang (PSU) 9.950
[15] Boise State
[20] BYU
Southern Utah
Utah State		 196.875
196.000
195.575
195.825		 AA: Evans (BYU) 39.400
VT: Stockwell (BSU) 9.900
UB: 3 tied 9.900
BB: Pavicic (USU),
Means (BSU) 9.900
FX: 6 tied 9.900
UC Davis
Sacramento State
San Jose State
Air Force
Seattle Pacific
Alaska		 195.200
194.775
195.975
194.975
194.300
192.200		 AA: Won (SJSt) 39.225
VT: Andrada (SJSt) 9.875
UB: Salamone (AF) 9.875
BB: Howard (AF),
Brown (UCD) 9.925
FX: Brown (UCD) 9.925
[3] UCLA
[4] Utah
[8] Washington
[10] Cal
[11] Oregon State
[17] Arizona State
Stanford
Arizona		 197.500
197.350
196.750
196.950
196.575
196.425
196.350
195.825		 AA: Ross (UCLA),
Skinner (Utah) 39.675
VT: Merrell-Giles (Utah) 9.950
UB: Ross (UCLA),
Price (Stan) 9.975
BB: Lee (UCLA) 10.000
FX: 3 tied 9.950

Conference championships leaders

All-Around

1. Maggie Nichols (Oklahoma) – 39.675
1. Kyla Ross (UCLA) – 39.675
1, MyKayla Skinner (Utah) – 39.675
4. Elizabeth Price (Stanford) – 39.650
4. Maddie Karr (Denver) – 39.650

Vault

1. Alex McMurtry (Florida) – 9.975
2. Maddie Karr (Denver) – 9.950
2. AJ Jackson (Oklahoma) – 9.950
2. Makenna Merrell-Giles (Utah) – 9.950
5. 4 tied 9.925

Bars

1. Nicole Lehrmann (Oklahoma) – 9.975
1. Kyla Ross (UCLA) – 9.975
1. Elizabeth Price (Stanford) – 9.975
4. Emily Glynn (Denver) – 9.950
4. Stefani Catour (Oklahoma) – 9.950
4. Brenna Dowell (Oklahoma) – 9.950
4. Maggie Nichols (Oklahoma) – 9.950
4. Danielle Mulligan (New Hampshire) – 9.950
4. Alex McMurtry (Florida) – 9.950
4. Brianna Brown (Michigan) – 9.950
4. Ivy Lu (Minnesota) – 9.950
4. Olivia Aepli (Ohio State) – 9.950

Beam

1. Peng Peng Lee (UCLA) – 10.000
2. Alyssa Baumann (Florida) – 9.975
3. Kiana Winston (Alabama) – 9.950
3. Nickie Guerrero (Alabama) – 9.950
5. Mary Elle Arduino (Towson) – 9.950
5. Katy Clemenets (Central Michigan) –  9.950

Floor

1. Khazia Hislop (North Carolina) – 9.950
1. Megan Schweihofer (Nebraska) – 9.950
1. Briannah Tsang (Penn State) – 9.950
1. Elizabeth Price (Stanford) – 9.950
1. Katelyn Ohashi (UCLA) – 9.950
1. MyKayla Skinner (Utah) – 9.950

 

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Live from Worlds Day 7 – Event Finals Part 2

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This is it! The final day of worlds. It’s a little wistful. I mean, this has been #trashworlds, but it has still been worlds. Five more medals to award today, including many of the best ones. Updates at the bottom.

MEN’S VAULT FINAL

The Koreans got the best draw in this one, with Yang and Kim finishing in the last two spots, while other medal contenders Shirai and Asato have the first two spots.

Continue reading Live from Worlds Day 7 – Event Finals Part 2 →

Meet Results, Uncategorized

American Classic and Elite Qualifier

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You may now rest easy. I have returned from the wilderness. (Metaphorical wilderness, obviously. Like I would do a wilderness.) While I was sans gymnastics, everyone decided to gather at the ranch for the worst-timed competition of each season, the American Classic.

The American Classic is basically a poor woman’s U.S. Classic, which is a poor women’s national championship. It’s the smallest nesting doll. It’s the complementary appetizer. Still interesting, though. Especially this year. Certain people made some certain grand entrances.

Gymnasts competing at the American Classic have already achieved the qualifying score to the U.S. Classic (51 AA for seniors, 50 AA for juniors) but can use this meet to achieve the nationals qualification score (52 AA for seniors, 50.5 AA for juniors). All elite qualifying scores for this season have been lowered two points from last year to account for the reduction in D scores.

Detour: Can we please stop naming everything Classic? It’s so unnecessarily confusing. You hold 1.3 competitions per year, and yet all of them are “the Classic.” Other words exist.

Also note that Secret doesn’t have title sponsorship of the U.S. Classic anymore, so it’s not the Secret Classic. It’s the U.S. Classic because we’re partying like it’s 2007.

Anyway, here’s what we learned from the Flag Pants Classic last week. Continue reading American Classic and Elite Qualifier →

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Chinese Championships 2017

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The 2017 Chinese Championships were the age-old story of the 2016 Olympians saying, “this me = tired” and also “why is the floor exercise just rebar concrete wrapped in a carpet from a 1960s dentist’s office?”

You know the drill. Super fun. So, let’s get into it—just in case you sleep at night and don’t speak fluent Chinese (ugh, try harder) and don’t have the slightest inkling of what happened in this meet.

Team Final/Individual Qualification
The format of the Chinese Championships is more like an international meet, beginning with a provincial team final that also acts as qualification for individual finals later on. Guangdong (Liu Tingting, Zhu Xiaofang, Chen Yile) won the team final, in case you had a horse in that race. Or just REALLY hate Hunan or something.

-I think most of us entered the competition thinking this would serve as the Birth of the Age of TINGTING. Liu Tingting has emerged as the most likely AA star of the future for China over the last year or so, and with last quad’s AA standouts not at full strength for this meet, this seemed to be her time.

That didn’t really happen. LTT did qualify third into the AA final, but she did so with a downgraded vault (Yfull) and a fall on beam that prevented her from qualifying in the presumed first position. She later elected to pull out of the AA final with a mild case of inflamed can’t-have-nice-things, spoiling her opportunity to grab the scepter and reign as China’s new queen. For now.

–Wang Yan also declined the opportunity to win the AA here by competing just three events in qualification—and not FX, her best piece—presumably because she took one look at that floor being ripped up and repaired in the middle of the competition, went “You want me to do what?” and promptly returned to her trailer to be sprayed with cooling mists by her assistants. No medals for Wang Yan here, other than team silver.

-As for Shang Chunsong, she clearly would have preferred that this meet take place maybe three months from now after a solid spa vacation and one of those entire-skeleton transplants, but she tried to power through qualification. Beam and floor were fine enough, bars was not ready, and on vault, she performed an “Ugh, we’re still doing this? This is still an event? SIGH.”

-As for other previous-year stars, Yao Jinnan did not compete here and may or may not be done. Huang Huidan did compete here and also may or may not be done. Her face certainly said, “I’M DONE,” throughout bars and beam.

–Mao Yi, Tan Jiaxin, and Bai Yawen…also participated. Continue reading Chinese Championships 2017 →