Friday Live Blog – Florida, Alabama, Michigan, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma

Today, Florida and Alabama fight for SEC supremacy, Michigan attempts to hang onto #3 in the face of a wave of increasing 197s, Georgia tries to prove that it is worthy of competing at the top, and Oklahoma says, "Another 197.3, please!"


Friday - 2/8/2013
7:00 ET/4:00 PT - [5] Alabama @ [1] Florida Scores
7:00 ET/4:00 PT - [3] Michigan @ [20] Ohio State Scores Video(All-access)
7:00 ET/4:00 PT - [6] Georgia @ [18] Kentucky Scores Video(All-access)
7:00 ET/4:00 PT - NC State, New Hampshire, Towson @ [17] Maryland Scores Video(All-access)
7:00 ET/4:00 PT - Northern Illinois @ [21] Central Michigan
7:00 ET/4:00 PT - Rutgers @ [24] Kent State
7:30 ET/4:30 PT - [8] LSU @ Missouri Scores Video(All-access)
8:00 ET/5:00 PT - [2] Oklahoma @ Iowa State Scores
8:00 ET/5:00 PT - [19] Arkansas @ [15] Auburn Scores Video

8:30 ET/5:30 PT - IGI Chicago Style ([13] Arizona, Pittsburgh, Illinois State, Texas Women's)
9:00 ET/6:00 PT - [11] Denver @ Southern Utah
9:00 ET/6:00 PT - [12] Oregon State @ Arizona State Scores Video(free)

Lots of all-access options today, but there's nothing doing for non-subscribers until OSU @ ASU in the later slot.

I'm particularly interested in Georgia's floor rotation today with Rogers coming in, so I'm starting with Michigan/Ohio State and then switching to Georgia/Kentucky. Also note that Georgia currently has Demetria Hunte slated to compete vault in place of Persinger. I'm not used to Georgia doing west coast-style depth exploration, but I like it in an "I will obviously make fun of it if it goes poorly" kind of way.

Michigan has Miele leading off on bars now instead of Zurales - not quite there in a couple handstands, but flies well on the DLO with a step back. Solid start.

I need to know my Buckeyes better, but we started with a fine, low Yfull and then a whippy yhalf. Zurales now second on bars is lovely on the deltchev, clean on the bail hs, and sticks her DLO. Legs here and there, but this should score well.  (9.850, appropriate but the routine was more than .025 better than Miele's 9.825)

Schaffer on vault, yfull with lowish landing and a leg break in the air. Perfectly acceptable. Gies goes third for Michigan, so clean to start, a little lacking flight in the tkatchev and then a short hs after that, but sticks the double back easily. 

Marohn a little low on her yfull as well (it's a trend) with a sizable bounce back. They're playing "this is the story of a girl" on the PA for what seems like a century. Good thing we're keeping the music current. Saw the second half of Sugiyama's bars which seemed solid other than a fairly big hop forward on the tuck full. Dunn vaults, and just like her teammates she does a perfectly fine vault than can be knocked for being low and for the bounce back.

Sampson - beautiful tkatchev that scared me a little by being far away. Looked slightly more tight in some of her hs and took a step on the dismount, so not her absolute best but clean and should still score well. Miller finishes vault with an uncharacteristic large step forward on her front pike.

Beilstein finishes on bars (no Martinez today) and her gienger is ridiculous in its height as always and she sticks her dismount cold. The best bars work I've seen from her.

Williams is in on exhibition now and is short on her bail hs and takes a big step on the DLO. I don't see her coming back to the lineup, but it's not a problematic backup. 

Michigan should be pleased because it was a good rotation, but they missed a couple dismount and can clean up in places and still scored 49.375. Great job. Ohio State goes 49.000 on vault, led by the 9.850 from Miller. They gave away a lot on the landings in that rotation.
---------------------------------------------
Georgia gets a strong 49.300 on bars, led by 9.900s from Rogers and Davis. We know Davis can do better and Cheek can also be better than 9.775. This is a strong score but can be better. Kentucky went 48.925 on vault. As usual, it appears that Kentucky struggled through the first two vaulters but did enough well with the last four.

Macko is in on vault for Florida, which may not always be necessary (though ideally the lineup would be Macko, Johnson, Sloan, Dickerson, King, Hunter), but currently is necessary without the team at full strength. The Gators got by with Shisler, Stageberg, and Wang all going last week, but they can do better.
---------------------------------------------
 Casanova leads off vault for Michigan with an OK yfull, low with a bounce back just like much of OSU's work. DeLuca had a fine routine going (a few hs) until the double front dismount which was totally flung out and resulted in many steps.

Zurales vaults #2, gets much better flight than Casanova and sticks. I would take for low chest on landing certainly, but I could see 9.900 easily. Aepli has some back form in her bail hs and is OK overall in her hs, just a step on the DLO full.

Beilstein does the 1.5 and has to bend a little to hang on and takes a step (or minor stumble) back. Fine. The scores currently show a 9.925 for Casanova, but I have to imagine that was for Zurales. Yes, 9.750 from Casanova and 9.925 for Zurales. That's much more realistic. OSU gets another routine in the likely 9.7 territory from Herr. Hs and dismounts mostly.

Sampson does a lovely yfull with great easy power, near stick, tries to hang on but hops forward slightly. Abrams goes on bars, feet and height on the jaeger, leg separation on the blind full, and a step on the double back. Sugiyama vaults the 1.5 - similar to Beilstein in having to bend a little but her step is forward instead of backward.

Marohn on bars for OSU, best line so far, similar hs problems though, opens out of her double front way early and sticks it cold. I thought she was going to overdo that dismount a bit, but she got it. Sheppard finished vault for Michigan with nice flight on a yfull but a larger bounce back. Schaffer finishes for Ohio State, good speed and power, finished her tuck full dismount early enough to stick it but had to take a step.

Michigan goes 49.250 on vault and did give away a bit on landing, especially on the 1.5s from Beilstein and Sugiyama. They weren't problematic, but they weren't free of deductions either. Zurales was the class of that rotation.
---------------------------------------------
Georgia got just a 9.300 from Hunte in the vault anchor position, but had a 49.275 anyway so it didn't matter. Persinger will be back unless Couch is ready. A mistake from Hires for 9.725 had to be counted. She has struggled a bit more than I would expect for the last month or so. Otherwise, we saw 9.925s from Jay and Rogers and a 9.900 from Cheek. Georgia on 197 pace at halfway and Kentucky hanging on close to 196 pace.

Florida went 49.475 on vault, where Hunter crucially returned for 9.900. If they can get Johnson in for Wang by March, they will be in constant 49.500 contention. Alabama returned Sledge to the leadoff position after a leadoff fall last week (UGH) and got a 49.175, led by a 9.875 from DeMeo. They need Priess and Sledge going much higher than 9.825 and 9.850 respectively for this rotation to be competitive.
---------------------------------------------
Perhaps time for a little halfway switch to check in on Georgia and Kentucky with Georgia soon to begin on floor.

Earls begins for Georgia, strong mount where she has to slide minorly out of it, clean and stuck front 1.5 in the middle, good double back to finish. Only minimal issues, good start. The 9.725 seems harsh. Not sure what I missed that the judge who went 9.650 saw. Mitchell hits another clean beam routine for Kentucky - very deliberate, no wobbles.

I'd also like to commend Ohio State and Kentucky for their efficient meet conduction. We're just 50 minutes past the scheduled start time and already well into the third rotation. Tanella on floor does a little improvised half stumble dance to keep herself in bounds on the second pass. As she was going, it looked for sure like she would go out, but she kept it in. Otherwise a strong routine.

Hires now on floor. She looks much more competent in this routine than she did at the beginning of the season. Hits the double tuck dismount. Harrison on beam for Kentucky takes a wobble on her full turn but her layout is excellent and she sticks the 1.5. 
---------------------------------------------
In Florida, Hunter takes a fdall on bars, but the rotation is saved by 9.950s from Sloan and Macko for 49.575. No one else scored under 9.875.
---------------------------------------------
Rogers on floor now, just got her double arabian around with a step back. There are fire alarm sound effects in this music. Disqualified. 1.5 + layout is strong. She's at her best when she's displaying flexibility in this routine. Will this stay? I'm not there. 9.675.

Jay is low on her tuck full and takes a step forward. This is not the floor performance we saw last weekend, that's for sure. Fine double tuck but not her strongest routine.
---------------------------------------------
Alabama went 49.325 on vault, which is fine but is not keeping pace with Florida. Encouraginingly, Gutierrez went 9.950. They've needed her to get the landing together, but the 9.775 from Sledge and the 9.825 from Milliner are uncharacteristically low. They can do much better and will need to. Alabama still on 197 pace, though.
---------------------------------------------
Couch finishes on floor for Georgia. I am a Jedi! I am a Jedi! It's all I can think of. They desperately need a hit to erase that 9.675 from Rogers. They're already counting a 9.725. Most complete routine of the group, just missing the landing position on the dismount and having the usual legs on the mount. They really took for those things, apparently. 9.725. I wish I were listenting to the audio broadcast to hear what Kevin and Cassidy think of that. Cunningham does beam exo for Kentucky, and if she's consistent this should be in the lineup.

Georgia with just a 48.950 on floor, which takes a 197 essentially out of the picture. High 196s is still realistic, though, which all these teams will be fine with for a road score.
---------------------------------------------
Michigan went 49.250 on floor, led by a 9.925 from Sampson and a 9.875 from Beilstein. If they hit beam, this should easily be a 197+ road score.

Florida begins well on beam with a 9.825 from Spicer and a 9.875 from Stageberg. That's before the big guns. Still on 198 pace but only just. It will be tough to get there but I'm not doubting it.

LSU didn't have to count a fall from Jordan and got a 49.100 on bars. They'll take that, no question. 9.850s from Morrison, Courville, and Dickson. Ranzy in over Hall is a good choice.
---------------------------------------------
Cheek leads off beam for Georgia. They need a hit from her this week after the fall last week. Pretty big bend in the loso but hangs on, another big wobble on the side aerial, she still looks very tentative but she hit it. Phipps on floor for Kentucky, performs a double back, front full + layout, front 1.5. Solid start but things to take, especially if the likes of Couch and Earls were low for fine-ish routines, this meet is still looking very high-195 for Kentucky.

Persinger is strong through the loso,big wobble on her front toss, she gets good lift into her dance elements which can be rare. Larger hop on 1.5 dismount. Gross bounces well OOB on her double pike second pass.

Couch third on beam, bigger wobble on loso series, all three have had a hips wobble so far in their routines, legs on her dismount combo but good landing on the double full. I'm interested to see how they score some of the legs on these skills after the 9.725 on floor. Hedges has more power than the other Kentucky tumblers so far, but these landings could use more control.

Rogers on beam now, after the first three routines have been in the 9.7s - bhs 3/4 is great, L turn could have been more steady, huge wobble on bhs 1/1 and comes off the beam. Bad start for Georgia on the final event. Great dismoutn series but she was nowhere on that bhs 1/1. Ooh, Val would be destroying her for her poopy face after that routine.

We've learned the last few weeks that Kentucky beam scoring is not willing to forgive issues that other places are, particularly those entended legs on both dance elements and back handsprings. I would LOVE for beam at Nationals to be judged with exactly these standards.

Shayla beam in a must-hit, good sheep jump, falls on her loso series. Oh dear, Georgia and Shayla. They are all off on these series landings, but they don't appear off in the air, at least from this angle. Devastating to give away the score they could have had from this meet.
---------------------------------------------
Kytra is having a rough day. 9.400 on beam, but Florida is able to drop it again for 49.400 after a 9.925 from Macko and 9.900 from Sloan. Sloan and Macko are owning the AA today. I would love to see a major fight in the AA at Nationals between Kytra, Sloan, and Zam. Hopefully they're all in the same rotation. Alabama was very strong on floor with 9.900s from Guti and Jacob, but they still lost more ground to Florida. Although, 197 finally looks a strong possibility.
---------------------------------------------
Earls hits the best series of the Georgia beam rotation, good side aerial to side, step on the double back. I take back any criticism I made about her anchoring beam. She proved she's the right choice, but Georgia will not accept this score after the otherwise disastrous beam rotation. Can Kentucky muster the win. Hartley is being a pirate, a pirate, oh yes a pirate she on the floor. Very good hit from the last two routines, but it may not be enough to pass Georgia. They do have a 9.600 they can drop, though. Kentucky needs 9.850 for the win, 9.825 for the tie. She could actually do it. If the last one got 9.900. 9.800 for Hartley, and Kentucky just misses the win. That's a shame.

Final Score: Georgia 195.825, Kentucky 195.775
I thought floor was a bit harsh, but Georgia was messy messy on that beam rotation, bends and flops and falls. This was a step back after a step forward last weekend. 

Michigan had a surprising fall from Sampson on beam after she has been so strong this season, but they have 9.750s from Miele and Zurales to fall back on for a 49.050. Casanova had the highest beam score, and it's important that she's in the rotation. She can stay. Big routines from Sampson and Zurales would have put Michigan over 197, but a 196.925 is fine. Ohio State finishes with a characteristically large home floor score of 49.200 for a final total of 196.250, which will help the ranking.
Final Score: Michigan 196.925, Ohio State 196.250

Oklahoma gets a 49.400 on bars, led by 9.925 from Brewer and 9.900s from Clark and Kmieciak. We know the freshmen would help on vault and floor, but this could really be something if they're leading on bars as well. Neither stood out there in JO, so give the Oklahoma staff credit for creating a bars rotation from a group of largely unheralded bars workers.

The LSU/Missouri scores are stuck in a time hole, apparently, but they have indeed moved to the third rotation.

Maryland had a reee-ough time on the beam, so don't expect them to keep up this high ranking after this week. 

Oklahoma is not satisfied letting Florida be the big scoring team so far this year. The Sooners count no score under 9.875 on vault for a 49.450 - just under 198 pace, but expect this score to go over the usual 197.3 at this point. Kmieiciak wins vault with a 9.925. Oklahoma will have an RQS after this meet, and it will be monstrous.

Speaking of RQS, Georgia has no completed its meet and becomes the first team to receive an RQS, which currently stands at 196.370, counting that score from today as the third road score.
---------------------------------------------
P.S. Ashanee gets a 9.975 on floor. Florida is in need of some 9.9s from the last two floor workers (of course possible) and that 198 is in reach. Alabama is still not quite there on beam yet with three 9.7s to start the rotation. Work to do for the final two for them if 197 is to happen. Scores on the line in the final two routines for both teams, but Florida has the win well in hand.

Sloan snatches the AA title at this meet with a 39.675 over Dickerson's 39.650.

King hits for 9.950, Jacob hits for 9.875. Florida needs a 9.850 to reach the goal, Alabama comes up just short again with a 196.850. Fine score but not something they will be satisfied with. It's now starting to stop being OK for the very best teams to put up hit rotations under 49.200. If you're going 49.000, you need to be counting a mistake, but there are a lot of rotations from big teams that are not yet living up to this level.

Hunter goes 9.950, Florida goes 49.650 on floor and 198.100 for the meet. UCLA had a 198 last year, but before that it had been quite a while. This is a combination of the scoring going higher this year, the scoring always being high at Florida, and Florida having an offensively talented team.

Final Score: Florida 198.100, Alabama 196.850

Over in Auburn, the Tigers started well on vault but lost the advantage after bars. Arkansas is keeping this solid, low 49s pace consistent. I've barely seen anything of Arkansas this year, so I'll check in on at least a rotation of that meet. Arkansas had Zumwalde start witha 9.725 on floor followed by a competent routine from Elswick.

I believe this is Dillard up third for Arkansas, but I have no sound. Stumbles a little out of a front 1.5 mount. Otherwise it's a workable routine - not a ton of height in the tumbling from these first few.

Thanks for the heads-up from the commenter who noted that Georgia and Kentucky are now officially tied at 195.825. And to the person who noted that Hall got a 10 on floor - one of those matter-of-time scores, but it seems like it has been a LONG time since we've had a 10 on floor. I'm a bit surprised it happened away, but not at the same time since her floor routine is usually better away from LSU.

Guy takes a fall for Auburn on beam, but Lewis opens on floor with a very nice double arabian and by far the strongest floor routine for Arkansas. Walker hits beam for Auburn. One more to go to not have to count a fall.

Borsellino on floor for Arkansas, another strong double arabian. They have three strong routines to end this rotation, but those early 9.7s hurt the potential for big scores. In another year, Lewis and Boresellino would be early-mid lineup instead of some of the majorly relied-upon routines.

Atkinson takes a minor wobble on her loso series but saves it, near stick on the double pike with a step back. She is a big factor, if not the biggest factor, in Auburn's contention for a Nationals place this year.

Grable finishes on floor for Arkansas (I was about to write "Pisani" . . . oh, how we all wish), cowboys her double arabian and bounces way out of bounds. That's a shame. They could have gone over 49 again, second pass is brilliant, hands down on the double pike dismount. What happened there? Auburn makes up a little ground, and we're tied after three rotations at 147.225.
---------------------------------------------
Oklahoma got big scores at the end of the floor rotation from Olson and Scaman to save it and avoid counting a 9.650 from Brewer. Oklahoma is still on mid-197 pace if we assume the usual big beam rotation. This should be the highest score of the year for them, but they will lose pace to Florida anyway.
---------------------------------------------
Fall from Arkansas in the first position on beam. They were on track through the first two rotations, but now this is getting rough. Opportunity for Auburn to snatch an occasionally rare conferene win if Arkansas can't recover.

Auburn's first on floor completely missed her punch for the punch front middle pass and did amazingly well to stay on her feet somehow, but it will be a major blow in the score.

Freier is second on beam for Arkansas, great line, strong side aerial, a little floppy in the legs on her series, she is nowhere close and comes off, just like the wheels for Arkansas. Oh, it's just not their year.

Speaking of teams having a much better year, Oklahoma gets a 9.925 from Alexander on beam in the second position. These rankings are the way they are for a reason, and the top 5 teams are separating from the pack. LSU can make a gain after this week, though, with Georgia's beamtastrophe.

197.250 is a huge score for LSU, superseding Georgia as the other team of the moment after Georgia got that 197.500 last week.

Auburn is looking very much like a 196 that will easily defeat Arkansas. Grable finishing for Arkansas on beam with a hit, a good showing after a floor disaster for her.

Taylor Spears gets a 9.975 on beam for Oklahoma (their second beam 9.975 this season), and Oklahoma goes 197.625 for by far their best score of the season. Only Florida has managed to score higher. When was the last time Oklahoma scored that high?

Guy finishes up the win for Auburn on floor, Arkansas finishes with 195.650 and Auburn will surpass 196 yet again.Watch out for that ranking because it continues to skyrocket.