April 18, 2014

National Semifinals Live Blog - Get Excited Immediately

The time is now. The day is here. All we know is that it will end in tears.

LIVE SCORES

LIVE VIDEO

ROTATION ORDER

Here is a comparison of the regionals scores for the teams in each semifinal. Top three on each event are highlighted.


We don't have full lineups for the first semifinal yet, but Georgia has released theirs, which they always do in a timely fashion. Broussard is indeed in on beam and floor, and Johnson remains in the anchor position on vault.

This race for the final qualification spot in the first semi is going to be a good one. We'll know a lot after Michigan does beam in the second rotation.

We begin at 2:00 ET/11:00 PT.

In the first rotation, we have Georgia on vault, Michigan on bars, Oklahoma on beam, and Stanford on floor. Where will we look? Be aware that we'll miss some important routines just because of the nature of having that many good teams going at the same time.

I'm looking at something around a 49.400 pace for these teams in the first rotation (maybe a touch less for Stanford on floor - they can make it up later? ish?) I think they'd all take 49.400 in a second to start the meet. Georgia and Oklahoma can imagine going better than that - especially Georgia would love some fancy 49.500 in their opening outing to give some wiggle room.

Full lineups are out now. No Kaleigh Dickson on vault or floor for LSU. Hall in on vault and Ranzy remains in on floor.

Oklahoma has swapped out Charity Jones for Erica Brewer on bars.

No Shelby Gies on beam for Michigan? Huh? Reema in instead.

Stanford has Becky Wing in on bars for Danielle McNair, and Chuang back in on floor instead of Shapiro - for now.

Lots of teams and people doing coverage posted pictures yesterday saying, "The calm before the storm." But it's not calm before storms. Lots happens. Like Shelby Gies being out on beam. 

Coverage beginning now. Here we go. It's on. Toi Garcia is our color commentator. She's doing well so far.

Remember to keep an eye on event finals qualification as well. We have some strong nominees in the Georgia vault and Oklahoma beam, so they'll need to get the big scores flowing early to make it back.

We're starting already! I'm not ready for this.
Ohh, pssssh. This is just the touch warmup. Thanks for the fake-out, commentator lady.

Just saw Beilstein miss her gienger in the warmup. Don't worry. It's warmups. Teams are finishing up now. Here we go.

Rotation 1:
Reynolds - UGA - VT - yfull - small hop forward it looked like - a little piking - bad angle for vault - from behind so it's hard to tell if she landed short..

Davis - UGA - VT - are we not seeing any other events? I hate hearing background cheers when we don't see what's happening. I'm dying of unknowing. Yfull - great height and a stuck landing. That was one of her good ones, very nice.

Scores page is not updating yet, but we're not getting them on the commentary as well.

Lovan - OU - BB - good switch to straddle 1/4, leg up a little on the loso series - smallish wobble and another check on her walkover. A little tight in this routine so far, following a 9.850 from Mooring, which is a strong opening. Loso to layout full dismount with a hop back. 9.825 here. Big range on that routine, as low as a 9.700.

Cheek - UGA - VT - Gorgrous, gorgeous, gorgeous on the yfull. One of her sticks. Let's watch that score. If we ever get it.

Jay - UGA - VT - Nice 1.5 - she has her usual leg break on the vault itself, but another stuck landing. We saw two sticks here from Georgia, so this is looking like the big vault rotation that they needed so far.

Sampson - MICH - UB - Excellent tkatchev to start, clean legs on the bail handstand, and a stuck dismount. That's what we call a recovery from two weeks ago. Great form on the dismount and a comfortable stick.

We see a nice yfull from Martin of Denver competing with Georgia. Just a 9.900 for Cheek, for a vault that would have easily received a 9.950 in the regular season, so we're tighter in this session so far. Let's see if that carries over across all the events and rotations.

Capps - OU - BB - lovely press mount, strong loso to leap - very pretty and confident full turn - clean walkover - good switch the straddle 1/4 with the smallest check after it to regain balance - stuck gainer full. Pretty routine.  9.900.

Williams - Mich - UB - Clean jaeger, nice handstands and line so far - another stick on the dismount. Michigan getting those landings today. Not the level of some of the others in the lineup, but she did her job.

Spears - OU - BB - Pretty onodi to swingdown as always - hits her switch well - excellent aerial walkover - and into a stuck gainer full. Very strong routine, that was on par with the 9.9s she has received this year.

Waiting on Chuang on floor now for Stanford. We're seeing believable scores on bars and beam in line with what we've seen this season. Vault is interesting. Judge 1 on vault is judging at a regular season level, but judge two is much harsher.

Chuang - Stanf - FX - Pretty double pike, good form and a secure landing. Clean in her leaps combo - small shuffle/stumble on her front layout front full middle pass. Stanford already has two 9.7s in this rotation, which they didn't have at regionals, so they need a strong hit here - And we're just getting the score that Vaculik got a 9.600 for a routine we didn't see. Oh Stanford.

Clark - OU - BB - ooooh - she looked like she was off line on her walkover and paused for a second to save it before her swingdown, but she was still off line and had to twist sideways while straddling the beam on her swingodwn, so they'll drop this score. Still a good rotation. Sticks her 1.5.

Asturias on floor now, punch rudi to glorious layout stepout, not quite to 180 on her split full, 1.5 to front tuck that was supposed to be a front layout - so a few issues there and not her best floor routine.

So here we are. Eeeeeenteresting.

After 1: GEORGIA 49.350, OKLAHOMA 49.350, MICHIGAN 49.325, STANFORD 49.025

The biggest thing we learned there was about Stanford. They were only on the cusp of contention today, and they needed a much better floor score there. They got three 9.850s but counted two 9.7s, and that puts them in a significant hole early.

I hope that 9.900 is enough for Cheek to make event finals on vault because she couldn't have done that vault much better. Scores on vault started pretty low and then came into normalcy as the rotation went along. Georgia would have hoped for a big better, but it was a strong rotation and they'll be OK with that score, especially because no one else did better.

Oklahoma could have gone a bit higher, but the break from Clark hurt a tad. We saw some tentativeness from Lovan and Clark there, so not the height of Oklahoma beam we expect, although Capps and Spears had great showings. I thought Oklahoma would get 49.4s here, but they won't be too bothered by the 49.350 yet.

Strong bars score for Michigan as well, improving on their total from regionals. They could have used a bigger score from Beilstein there. She got a 9.825, when she's been going a tenth better than that this season, but they're right in it. Nothing problematic there in their race with Georgia. They'll be pleased so far, but of course we've got beam coming up right now, so that will say everything.

Rotation 2:
We'll have LSU enter on floor here and Illinois enter on bars. Oklahoma and Georgia are on break. Stanford on vault must find some way to recover from that floor rotation, and then Michigan beam. 

Chuang - Stan - VT - Solid power on that vault - some piking and a hop back - OK opening, so let's see how it compares to Georgia's score.

Daum - Stan - VT - Nice power and stronger leg form than Chuang on the block - lands a little short (?) with a hop forward. These won't be big opening scores.

O'Connor - Ill - UB - That was a huge tkatchev - looked like she surprised herself with how big it was - a handstand or two here and there, but she stuck a great DLO just like at regionals, so that helps. Score comes in very low - did I miss something or identify the wrong person?

Chiarelli - Mich - BB - Secure on her loso series, well done - wobble on her straddle 1/2 and the leg goes up - hits her side aerial - They already have a 9.750 from Artz that they won't love to count. Hops forward on the double back, so a couple areas there, but it's a hit.

Gnat - LSU - FX - Pike full in - great power on it but a bounce back - strong 2.5 to front - gets that front around - Very pretty switch ring and split position - no problem there. Sticks an excellent doulbe pike.

D McNair - Stan - VT - y1.5 with a hop to the side, not a ton of distance on that vault but she gets it around this time.

Savona - LSU - FX - 1.5 into a strong double tuck - well done, great landing on her tuck full in - confident and secure - split 1/2 was fine enough and the popa looked very nice - very small bounce on the double pike, but a strong routine.

Zakharia - Mich - BB - Wobble on her opening full turn - holds her front tuck well - getting it together after looking a little nervous on her full turn - nice front tuck to back tuck acro combination - front 1.5 dismount is a stick or near-stick. Huge for her to hit like that coming into the lineup.

Courville - LSU - FX -Just floats into her double arabian and does well to control her step enough to stay in bounds, front to double tuck - high and comfortable, good switch ring and split full - no question there for her. Ooooh, lands short on her double pike and lunges forward. That will jeopardize event finals for sure and could hurt in the AA. She was doing so well! 9.850 doesn't help any of those causes. She won't make floor finals with that.

Sampson - Mich - BB - They already have a fall from Williams that we didn't see, count two 9.7s so far, they need a big Sampson hit. Her loso series looked good, but she had to correct her balance a bit afterward. Nice sheep jump. Hits her side aerial to sissone. Sticks her double full. Thank you Joanna Sampson. They needed that like crazy.

Ranzy - LSU - FX - Starts with a solid DLO, half to split jump to front tuck - well done - short of 180 on the split full, but she's hitting well so far for coming in late, very low chest landing on the double tuck, but LSU is doing fine. They'll be in great scoring shape after this rotation with Hall to come.

We're not seeing Casanova on beam, so let's just hope for a hit to keep Michigan in sight of this thing.

Hall - LSU - FX - DLO is big and stuck as usual - it looked like she was coming in short but she stuck that thing - good straddle jumps - front full to front layout - not stuck as she often does but a controlled step for sure. Final pass - bounces up on her double tuck - ooooh, she had to save that one to control it without giving up a huge deduction but it will be one. Oh, she looks really upset. It will be a good score, but will it be the 9.9+ she'll need to get back to finals? 9.850. She's sitting in third with Courville now on floor. That's not going to be good enough.

Casanova had a fall for Michigan on beam. Maybe that's why the Georgia fans are looking so happy in the crowd right now. Michigan gets a 48.350 on beam, so with Stanford's lower scores so far, Georgia has to hit to go through.

We're finishing with McCartney from Sac State, whom I've never seen before. Solid front double full - nice height on her double tuck with a small slide - short on some of her splits, layout to front full. Solid routine, nice to see - she's taller and has a nice twisting line. 

Hmmmmmm. Well, we're going to have to see more mistakes for this to get interesting now.

After 2: STANFORD 98.050, MICHIGAN 97.675, GEORGIA 49.350, LSU 49.350, OKLAHOMA 49.350, ILLINOIS 48.725

Stanford has gone 49.025 on the first two events, so they would need help from Georgia right now to even think about anything, but it's not as dire a situation as it would have seemed because Michigan counted a fall on beam. We didn't see either falls, but we saw a couple wobbles here and there. The one who came in, Zakharia did well, and Sampson hit a solid routine, but . . . ouch.

We saw very little of Illinois - but they didn't get into the 9.8s on any of those bars routines, so a far cry from what we saw them do at regionals. If they were to break through here, it would have been on bars.

I thought LSU was going stronger than they were on floor, but then both Courville and Hall had mistakes to open the door. They're still in good shape, but they could have done much better. Not blown away by anything in that rotation.

Georgia will head to bars, and Oklahoma to floor, both looking to fortify their leads now. Illinois to beam and LSU to vault. We'll know more about the vault event final situation after LSU goes there.

Rotation 3:
Jordan - LSU - VT - Excellent yfull as always - great height and distance - you won't see a better leadoff - A bouncy stick - so not her absolute best. Still great.

Hall - LSU - VT - Nice power on her yfull, hop back, but great coming into the linuep now and putting her disappointment behind her from floor. She must be pissed. Opens on that vault well. Oh, to have that as a backup.

Hires - UGA - UB - Nice first hs, excellent piked jaeger, clean bail handstand - no trouble at all here so far - great final hs - OOOOH - did she release early? Knee down or close to going down on the dismount with a short landing and big lunge. What happened there? I haven't seen her miss that DLO like that.

Gnat - LSU - VT - downgrades her 1.5 to a full - Nicely done - a little leg break on the block and a hop in place. 

Brown - UGA - UB - Nice clear hit, excellent high tkatchev as always - great form on the pak - hitting her handstands, sticks her tuck full dismount. Great recovery from the Hires routine. May have been short on her half turn on the low bar, but otherwise it looked great.

Capps - OU - FX - I like that we're getting to see all the Capps routines. They know what we like. Oh big bounce back on her double pike mount - that will be at least a tenth - nice front layout to front full. Excellent split - great performance as always - and a clean 1.5 to layout stepout to finish? They'll take for the opening pass, but excellent after that.

Horth - Ill - BB - wobble on her loso series, nice switch and a small check on the straddle 1/4, another small check on the aerial - just little things here and there. Very nice stick on the gainer full. It has been a day of 9.7s for them so far.

Davis - UGA - UB - Not quite the scores we would expect from Georgia so far, so they could use a big hit. great first hs and excellent tkatchev, small small leg break on her bail handstaand, one step on the DLO dismount, but that should be a good score.

LSU gets a 49.350 on vault, which is lower than we would expect, but given how vault scoring and the performance overall has gone today, it should be fine. 9.900s from Courville and Gnat, and judging how things are going, that could make it back for finals. Same with Georgia's 49.300 on bars, way lower than we would expect, but should be fine if they hit.

Kanewa - OU - FX - Hits her pike full in - good enough control there - front 1.5 to half as middle pass is solid - straddle to split jump looks fine. Very secure double pike landing. We've seen a lot of people getting 9.850s with one mistake, and she had none, so expect a touch higher.

Cheek - UGA - UB - Such beautiful handstands, great tkatchev, nailing every position - sticks her DLO. Excellent routine. 9.925.

Scaman - OU - FX - Excellent DLO - took it right to the corner but was controlled - 1.5 to loso looked good as well. switch side to popa with great form - and a stuck double tuck. That's the best floor routine so far today, and Kanewa already got a 9.950. This was a better routine, so let's see what they do. 9.950.

Nordquist - Minn - BB - pretty switch side - GREAT side aerial to loso - that full turn, she's nailing this routine. side aerial to stuck layout full dismount. Excellent routine.

Lindsay Mable fell on beam. Cancel championships. 
 
After 3: OKLAHOMA 98.925, LSU 98.700, GEORGIA 98.650, STANFORD 98.050, MICHIGAN 97.675, ILLINOIS 97.525

The top three are looking very comfortable right now barring a mistake. Oklahoma just opened up a huge lead because of a 49.575 on floor. What we've learned about floor so far is that if you have a landing error on a pass, you'll get a 9.850, and if you don't, you'll get a 9.900 or better. It's going to take at least a 9.925 to make floor finals here.

Would not have called Georgia getting a 49.300 on bars, that's for sure. They would be freaking out right now if Michigan hadn't counted a fall on beam. But, it does put a ton of pressure on their beam rotation not to count a fall. That's what Stanford and Michigan will be watching for now.

In rotation 4, we have Oklahoma to the vault looking good, Stanford to bars needing to hit one of those 49.4s and get some help, Georgia to beam needing to hit hit hit, and Michigan to floor needing a 50. 

Rotation 4: 
Mooring - VT - OU - Nice yhalf - strong form throughout - hop back.

Lovan - VT - OU - a yfull - another who is clean - doesn't have the pop - slightly short landing with a hop forward.

Rice - Stanf - UB - Wooooah, falls on her shoot to high bar. Nowhere close. She had an error at regionals, and now a fall. Pretty jaeger, hits her pak, large lunge forward on double tuck. They are in this if Georgia makes a mistake, but that won't help.

Kanewa - OU - VT - Huge power on her yfull, sticks the landing, legs apart as she lands there - and maybe a small step with one foot on replay.

Capps - OU - VT - Nice distance on her yfull, but a pretty large step back for her this time. She has controlled that landing better in the past.

Scaman - OU - VT - Excellent yfull in the air - she finishes it so early and flairs - hop, so not quite the vault rotation from Oklahoma as at regionals. They haven't had the landings in most of these vaults, but still should be a good score for Scaman.

Beilstein - Mich - FX - Powerful tuck full mount, small bounce back - 1.5 to layout is well done - good form and very controlled - only the small bounce on the first pass in terms of errors - strong routine.

Brown - UGA - BB - Clean and secure loso series, nice switch but a wobble on her straddle 1/4, BIG break on her split 1/2 - bends at the waist and just barely stays on - they'll want to drop this if possible - very short on 1.5 dismount with multiple steps back.

Vaculik - Stan - UB - great first hs. That. Gienger. Legs together throughout, great bail, just the dismount - sticks her DLO - exceptional routine. They'll be able to get rid of the fall from Rice and put up a big bars score. Well done.

It's a 49.325 for Oklahoma on vault, which is on par with what the other teams have been getting. A combination for them of both somewhat tighter scoring and not getting the landings as well as they can.

Cheek - UGA - BB - beautiful loso series to start, best switch side in NCAA -hits her side aerial - good switch to straddle 1/4 - sticks her gainer full. She was NOT going to wobble in that routine.

Sampson - Mich - FX - Excellent DLO - nails her middle pass as well - they're getting a good score so far, but she can make it a great score. No issues at all going into her dismount - excellent double pike. That should be a huge score, on par with what Kanewa and Scaman showed.

Earls - UGA - BB - This routine will decide their semifinal day with the low score from Brown already - nails her two layouts series - switch to straddle 1/4 is nice - side aerial to side position is nice - smallest of checks perhaps - just the dismount - a little down in the chest with a step forward, but they got through beam.

Martin - Denver - BB - secure on her switch to straddle 1/4, hits her loso series but the knees were mushy which will hurt her score - hits side somi - hop forward on 1.5. Nice on the acro but she'll get knocked for the form at times.

Georgia's hit beam rotation puts them back into a fairly comfortable position going to floor. They have a .500 lead on Stanford, so as long as they hit, they're safe.

Harrison - Kentucky - BB - wolf and straddle 3/4 - nice layout (2 foot) series - very secure and she gets relatively good amplitude on that skill - finishes with a 1.5 with a hop forward. Solid.

After 4: OKLAHOMA 148.250, GEORGIA 147.850, STANFORD 147.350, MICHIGAN 147.125, LSU 98.700, ILLINOIS 97.525.

Our top three seeds still look safe here with two rotations to go. Michigan put up a strong floor rotation to keep them in sight of the other teams there, but after the fall on beam, they would need help. The biggest routines in that rotation were the hit beams from Cheek and Earls, coming back after regionals and after the mistakes from Brown to keep Georgia in a safe position going to floor where they don't need to be great, they just need to hit for over 49.

In rotation 5 we have Michigan on vault, who can pass Stanford with the vault score they are capable of, LSU on bars looking to continue the 49.3 parade and keep pace with their favorite brethren, Stanford on beam with a chance to try to put some pressure on Georgia with one of their patented beams, and Illinois on floor to continue also being present at the meet.

In the AA race, both Sampson and Courville have a 9.850 right now, which puts them in some danger from the second session. Sampson did get the 9.950 on floor, and Courville will need one or two of those coming up.

The way vault has been going, it looks like 9.900 can make finals - and we'll have 17 million qualifiers again, ugh.

Rotation 5:

Sugiyama - Mich - VT - Excellent 1.5! Great form - right on line - stuck landing. Near perfect there. Let's see how the judges feel about this vault in the first position.

Artz - Mich - VT - Pretty strong yfull - landing pretty far down in the chest with a small step, but pretty good form and control.

Wyrick - LSU - UB - Nice tkatchev but may have been a bit late on the full before it, clean bail hs, small hop on DLO dismount, a couple breaks but a fine routine.

Zakharia - Mich - VT -Very strong handspring pike half, small hop, but good body position on landing for a handspring pike vault.

Jordan - LSU - UB - Good first has, small pause and break during her turn - excellent jaeger and bail though - great legs together in this routine - hop on DLO - they'll take for the break on the turn, but another fine routine.

Sampson - Mich - VT - Her yfull looked great in the air - excellent power, but she took a pretty big bounce back on the landing, which will keep her down.

Beilstein - Mich - VT - great distance on her 1.5 but a pretty noticeable step forward and some bent knees in the air. She'll be disappointed in that landing. Didn't get those sticks in the last two spots.

Courville - LSU - UB - Huge jaeger, nice following hs, clean bail it appeared - and a stick on the tuck full dismount. Great routine, that will be a big score and probably give her an edge on Sampson in the AA now.

Michigan's day is done. They finish with a 196.425.

Vaculik - Stan - BB - Great switch to back tuck. Beautiful rulfova - I mean terrifying, but beautiful - hits her loso series, good dance element combo - she's hitting very well now. Sticks her double full. Great routine. That can make it back to finals.

Morrison - LSU - UB - Strong piked jaeger, handstands look solid - clean bail - and just hangs onto the stick on her stuck full - leaned and bent for it but she held on.

Buchanan - Ill - FX - Pretty double pike - good height, form, and control. Very well done - hits her switch 1/4 and straddle - 1.5 to layout middle pass is nice. Secure double tuck - a little forward but stuck. Strong routine. 

Daum - Stan - BB - Switch to back tuck is fine. Nice extension on the loso series - a little tentative on the full turn but fine - hits her switch to wolf. A little hesitation on the walkover landing, but nothing problematic here - 1.5 dismount with a hop forward. Good beam rotation. They will move ahead of Michigan with that. Actually they didn't even need it. The scores have been a little late coming up today.

Asturias - Cal - BB - Pretty full turn, strong loso series with good toe point - a little leg correction on her front aerial landing, pulls back her straddle 1/4 onto the beam a little - front 1.5 dismount - low chest but stuck. Solid.

Mable - Minn - FX - Beautiful double pike in the air but a small bounce on it, exceptional dance elements - so easy and well over 180 - punch ridu to straddle to front tuck is great - 1.5 to layout is hit. Good routine but the beginning will keep her out of EF. 

Stanford finishes with 196.600

McMillian - OSU - BB - just the end with a stuck gainer full.

After 5: STANFORD 196.600, MICHIGAN 196.425, OKLAHOMA 148.250, LSU 147.925, GEORGIA 147.850, ILLINOIS 146.725

Georgia needs a 48.775 on floor to advance, LSU needs a 48.700 on beam, and Oklahoma needs a 48.350 on bars.

Michigan had a pretty good meet for three events. If they had just hit beam, they would be putting a HUGE amount of pressure on Georgia's floor rotation right now. Stanford did well to come back with strong rotations on bars and beam, but the low scores from vault and floor were pretty insurmountable, but it just means that Georgia and LSU need to hit their rotations, and Oklahoma doesn't even need to. 

Sampson finishes with a 39.550 in the AA, so Courville needs a 9.900 to tie and a 9.925 to move ahead.

In the events, we have a bunch of 9.900s on vault, Cheek and Vaculik lead bars with 9.925, another bunch of 9.900s on beam, and three 9.950s on floor - can Georgia get one more to knock out Albright and Savona from finals?

No bars final for Sarie Morrison or Chelsea Davis.

Rotation 6:
Hall - LSU - BB - good switch side - she has improved her amplitude on that skill over the last year - small correction on her loso series with some legs on her bhs - switch to straddle 1/4 - step forward on double tuck. 1 down, 4 hits to go.

Dickson - LSU - BB - hits her front handspring - clean full turn - switch to straddle 1/4 - wobble with the leg flying up on her loso series - small hop on gainer pike dismount. Another hit.

Broussard - UGA - FX - Does her DLO but the second salto was very piked - good security on the landing this time, though, so won't get a huge deduction. Toi Garcia keeps calling the middle passes "double salto" passes, which is very misleading. Very low chest on double pike, but it's a hit.

Ewing - LSU - BB - Layout (2 foot) series is solid - as is the switch side - standing loso to straddle 1/4 is hit as well - this is one of her more solid routines, and sticks the 1.5. Great routine for her.

Scaman - OU - UB - Great high piked jaeger, solid bail handstand - hitting her handstands, and just a hop back on the tuck full dismount, still should be a solid score.

Gnat - LSU - BB - Wobble on the aerial walkover - leg goes up, very pretty switch leap to straddle 1/4 - and a nice switch side as well - the dance elements are her forte - hits her loso series - very small hop in her double full. They are nailing this rotation and are one hit away from Super Six.

Spears - OU - UB - Lovely jaeger with great height, some bent elbows on that bail handtand but nice legs, and sticks her double arabian dismount. Great routine. See you tomorrow, Oklahoma.

Courville - LSU - BB - Opens with her L turn, just a small hop forward on her arabian but keeps in on the beam with minimal deduction. Nice loso series, strong sheep jump. Guess how her splits were? Oh, beautiful. Clean walkover to sissone and sticks the gainer pike. Let's see how her score compares with Sampson.

It's a 197.500 final for Oklahoma.

Earls - UGA - FX - Front 1.5 to back handspring loso mount - strong double pike, good control - Georgia is hitting well in this rotation and is one pass away from returning to Super Six - a little low on her double tuck but well hit.

It's a 9.875 for Courville, she's in just behind Sampson. And no beam finals for her. Ugh,

Jordan - LSU - BB - Huge break on her opening walkover - the leg goes way up and she really has to fight to save it. Nice loso series and dance elements to follow, though. Strong side somi, step back on 1.5 dismount.

So Ewing is the only LSU gymnast going to event finals for beam. Who had that one?

Jay - UGA - FX - Nice tuck full mount - that has improved significantly, hits her front full to layout, hops out of her double pike but a solid job. Georgia will finish ahead of LSU here. Interesting.

And there we have it. Oklahoma, Georgia, and LSU will advance from the first semifinal.

We'll finish with Martin from Denver on floor, sticks a cowboyed double arabian - good stick on a difficult skill to land with control - 1.5 to half to split to front tuck is very well done. Strong double back dismount, that should be a pretty good score.

First semifinal results:
1. Oklahoma 197.500
2. Georgia 197.300
3. LSU 197.100
4. Stanford 196.600
5. Michigan 196.425
6. Illinois 195.800

Michigan fans look away now: Michigan would have knocked out LSU if they had scored just a 49.050 on beam. That will sting for a long time.

We're getting some "Hollie Vise shots" of the Michigan team now.

AA standings:
1. Sampson 39.550
2. Courville 39.525
3. Artz 39.375
4. Gardiner 39.225
4. Jordan 39.225
4. Vaculik 39.225

The gymnasts in the second session will feel that AA mark is very attainable. I would bet we haven't seen our champion compete yet.

Event Final Qualifiers:
VAULT - Brandie Jay (Georgia), Lindsay Mable (Minnesota), Lindsey Cheek (Georgia), Ashleigh Gnat (LSU), Rheagan Courville (LSU), Sachi Sugiyama (Michigan), Maile Kanewa (Oklahoma), Haley Scaman (Oklahoma)

BARS - Lindsey Cheek (Georgia), Kristina Vaculik (Stanford), Rheagan Courville (LSU), Joanna Sampson (Michigan), Taylor Spears (Oklahoma), Shona Morgan (Stanford), Sami Shapiro (Stanford)

BEAM - Taylor Spears (Oklahoma), Hanna Nordquist (Minnesota), Maddie Gardiner (Oregon State), Mary Beth Box (Georgia), Lindsey Cheek (Georgia), Sydney Ewing (LSU), Chayse Capps (Oklahoma), Kritsina Vaculik (Stanford)

FLOOR - Joanna Sampson (Michigan), Maile Kanewa (Oklahoma), Haley Scaman (Oklahoma), Brandie Jay (Georgia), Jessica Savona (LSU), Lara Albright (Oklahoma)

So. Many. Qualifiers. From one semifinal. Sunday will be a long day. Lindsey Cheek makes three event finals, and a ton of people make two. Some significant upsets there, but none bigger than Hall out of floor, followed by Courville out of beam and Davis out of bars. 

See you for the second session!

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We're about an hour away from the second semifinal now, but the lineups are out. Far fewer changes than we saw during the first semifinal, but a big one for UCLA is De Jesus being out of the beam lineup. She has been wearing a boot in team photos this week. That means Ellette Craddock and Syd Sawa will both be competing beam in this meet. If they hit that rotation, it will be a championships miracle. UCLA is on beam first, so we'll know where we are in this session very early.

The other change is Penn State bringing on Musto for Musgrove on floor. Injury? Typo?

In the first rotation, we'll have Florida on vault, Utah on bars, UCLA on beam, and Nebraska on floor, so it's another loaded opening rotation. Watch for that 49.400 pace once again before things get thrown out the window by beam falls. Florida should be looking to go above 49.400 on vault, and Nebraska will probably be fine with a 49.300 on floor, but otherwise 49.400 is the goal. Of course, five hit routines is really the goal for UCLA right now on beam - anything else would be bonus.

We're just a few minutes away now. I had expected that the first semifinal would be the more competitive one, which turned out to be . . . not. Thanks Michigan's beam. So let's see if this second one can provide us with some team drama.

Those shirtless Florida gentlemen look cold.

Rotation 1:
Here we go, people.

B Caquatto - UF - VT - OK yfull - but looked like she landed a little short and hopped forward/to the side. Not her best. Solid in the air, though. 

M Caquatto - UF - VT - Better than her sister, landed higher - good power but did have a hop back. Solid.

Wilson - Utah - UB - Hecht mount, solid first hs, Big gienger and the leg break wasn't too bad - hitting her handstands - hop forward on tuck full dismount. Pretty good for her.

Johnson - UF - VT - Good height on her yfull - once again a hop back, though. They're not sticking or coming that close to sticking. Legs apart as well, which is very evident from this angle.

Sloan - UF - VT - There's the stick. Great form throughout her yfull and a stuck landing. Excellent.

UCLA already has a 9.600 on beam. Here we go. 

Hunter - UF - VT - Strong 1.5 but a hop forward this time. Let's see how the vault scores go as to whether this will get back to finals. It was a fine vault showing for Florida, but I think we're going a little higher than for the first session comparatively in the scores. 9.875. She's already third. UH OH.

Gunzelman - Rutgers - VT - Fine yfull - tough going after Florida because she had so much less power and amplitude than they do - step to the side.

Damianova - Utah - UB - Solid shaposh to a clean bail handstand, nice stalder, and sticks her double back. Clean, efficient routine. They're trying to drop a fall from Hansen, and this will help. 

Dabritz - Utah - UB -Strong jaeger with flexed feet, clean bail handstand, looking strong so far - small hop back on the salute for the tuck full. Solid, though. Might be the first to hit 9.900 for the team.

Francis - UCLA - BB - Gorgeous walkover to bhs, good switch to split, strong y spin, Everything looks good so far, anf just the dismount now. Ooooh, she paused a little bit in connecting the side aerial to the full. It was a very small pause so I hope they give her the connection, but it's close.

Grable - Ark - UB - Piked jaeger was amazing as always, but she was short on that bail handstand - doubel front half out dismount and it's a perfect stick. Excellent start for her AA hopes, just the bail was the only issue.

Apparently De Jesus did compete beam after all for UCLA. #UCLAlineups. But she got a 9.675 which will be counting.

Peszek - UCLA - BB - Strong walkover to back - well done - Good switch - big wobble on her straddle jump. Big wobble from Peszek??? What??? They needed a 10 from her in this routine basically, so that's really rough. Peszek bouncy stick on her dismount, but they needed a big routien from her. They won't count a fall, but they're in trouble now.

Wong - Neb - FX - Glorious triple full as always - good split full to popa - hits the front full to layout - Nebraska is solidly in this 9.8s for this rotation - small bounce on the rudi, but this could be their first 9.9.

UCLA escaped that beam rotation somehow with a 49.075, but that puts them in position of already hoping someone else counts a fall. This is where they could pull out a big score. Francis and Peszek not making it back to beam finals? Quite possible.

Wellick - Ark - FX - Bounces a little on her high double pike, front layout front full second pass is fine, she's looking more solid than at regionals, hits her double back.

After 1: FLORIDA 49.375, NEBRASKA 49.350, UTAH 49.275, UCLA 49.075

Nebraska was the story of that rotation. We only saw one routine, the very strong showing from Wong to begin her AA quest, but that 49.350 is a huge boost now going to their best event, the vault. Florida looked fine on vault but didn't stick as much as I would have liked. They'll take that score, though. Utah had about the 9.850 rotation we would expect from this lineup on bars - and UCLA barely escaped beam - counting a 9.6 and under-performing routines from Francis and Peszek where they needed 9.950s, but they went over 49, so they're still in contention to take advantage of some mistakes if they happen. Ellette Craddock got their highest beam score.

Watch out for Nebraska.

 On to rotation 2, we'll see Nebraska move to vault, Alabama will enter on bars, Utah moves to the dreaded beam, and Penn State starts on floor.

Rotation 2:

Bailey - Ala - UB - Strong straddled jaeger - hits her bail - and into a stuck double back - fine solid 9.8y start to that rotation. 9.900. Guess where we are? 

DeMeo - Ala - UB - Ugh half turn to start a routine - solid straddle jaeger - Toi tells us she was short on her bail handstand - hop together on the DLO. Celebrating like she just won the lottery.

Wong - Neb - VT - Very clean yfull in the air, small hop back - solid, though. She's still in this AA fight.  Hmm, 9.825

Blanske - Neb - VT - Great power on the yfull - looked like she was going to stick but takes a step back. Good chest position on landing though - everything was nice except the step.

Jacob - Ala - UB - Nice tkatchev - hits her bail - handstands look a little better but it's a tough angle. Sticks her DLO. Solid routine. It will get a 20.

Wellick gives us a solid yfull with a hop back.

Jetter - Ala - UB - Another solid tkatchev - clean bail handstand - pretty big hop forward on the double front dismount. Just OK on that one, but they don't need the score.

Utah is already counting a 9.650 on beam. Raise your hand if you're surprised. Is it Dan Kendig's birthday because he keeps getting all these gifts?

Lofgren - Utah - BB - Hits her side somi - fine walkover to bhs - good leap series - does the gainer double full but has a pretty big hop back out of it. A hit but places to take.

Clark - Ala - UB - Leg breaks on both her shaposh and her bail - she's been strong on those - misses her final handstand, and two steps on the dismount. Not her best, lots to take there.

Nebraska got 49.200 on vault, which is lower than I would have expected. Penn State's 9.825s on floor are looking pretty good about now.

Delaney - Utah - BB - very nice loso series, clean - big big wobble on her straddle jump to tuck full jump - bends at the waist and has to swim to save it - gainer loso is fine - they'll have to count this score - sticks her gainer full. 9.800 is a huge overscore for that mistake.

Alabama finishes with a 49.375 on bars. It looked like it was going much higher, but a few errors there toward the end prevents them from taking an advantage.

Lothrop - Utah - BB - split 3/4 to start - some leg form going into her bhs loso series but secure - they'll take for some lack of amplitude here, but she's secure - not really wobbling on the skills - 1.5 dismount with a step. OK.

Grable - Ark - BB - We always need a shot of Rene's outfit at every meet. Thank you. It's positively conservative this time. Excellent walkover but a wobble on her loso - leg flies up. No...... Boo. Small hesitation on her front toss to straddle jump. She gave away too much there.

Welsh - PSU - FX - starts with a double arabian - pretty big lunge out of it - not necessarily controlled - front tuck to 2.5 - controlled landing but crossed legs on the skill - split jumps look fine - hits double pike. Solid.

Sloanhoffer - WVU - FX - really strong double pike - nice height and control - this is very clean routine - strong dance elements with hit positions not giving away anything on landings either - a little facing down on her rudi dismount, but good rotuine. 

After 2: NEBRASKA 98.550, UTAH 98.250, ALABAMA 49.375, FLORIDA 49.375, PENN STATE 49.175, UCLA 49.075

I expected Nebraska to be a fair bit stronger than a 49.200 on vault, so they give back some of the advantage won on floor. I also thought Wong's vault was worth more than a 9.825 compared to what we've seen so far. It's a solid total for Nebraska, but they'll still be in danger going to beam.

Utah should be happy to escape that beam rotation with something close to a 49 because it was very, very rough in the routines that we saw. They've opened the door back up for UCLA, but Utah still has its best events to come.

In the third rotatiom, we'll welcome back in UCLA on floor, who will need another regionals 49.500 to make up for that beam rotation, and Florida will go to bars in a comfortable place that can become more comfortable. Alabama to beam needing five hits to stay in non-problematic territory as well, and Penn State will move to vault, kind of in this at this point, but they're getting their good events out of the way first.

If one more team sucks on beam, I say just retroactively qualify Stanford from the first semifinal.

Rotation 3:
Milliner - Ala - BB - Nice aerial walkover - clean and hit - switch to straddle jump - strong loso series, good full turn - perfectly secure front toss. Step back on double full, but a comfortable leadoff. If Delaney got a 9.800, by definition of the code, this should be a 10.300.

B Caquatto - UF - UB - Good first handstand to excellent ray - hits her bail handstand right on top - strong final handstand - legs apart on the DLO landing but a stick. Good routine, should score well.  

Hunter - UF - UB - Excellent hindorff, hits her bail handstand - looking nice so far -small step on the double tuck dismount - just doing the double tuck today, but a fine routine - not as strong as the ones to come.

Sloan - UF - UB - Another great ray - just with she would extend those feet - a little wonky on the bail - caught a little sideways but fine - sticks a great DLO. Very strong routine.

DeMeo - Ala - BB - wobble on the front aerial, strong layout - 2 foot - very secure, good switch to split jump - hop forward on the double pike dismount. OK. 9.900?

Sims - Ala - BB - big wobble on her walkover with the leg going up - hangs onto her loso series with a small correction - pretty leaps - great switch side - finishes landing very short on her double back with a large lunge. They'll want to drop that and can afford to. 9.700. So are we not deducting for mistakes so much anymore?

Peszek - UCLA - FX - Very strong DLO - good landing position and control - front full to layout is solid - finishes with her double pike - small slide back but shouldn't be too problematic. Confident, powerful. Solid.

Gunzelman on bars just showed us and shush and a very pretty pak salto, sticks her full twisting double back. Love to see it.

Courtney - UCLA - FX - Pretty good control on her double arabian - not one of her lungey ones but a little slide forward so room to deduct - nice 1.5 to layout good control that time - and a nice split in the dance elements to follow - big bounce back on her double tuck - that will bring her score down. 

Jacob - Ala - BB - switch to popa is very nice - and very secure on her two layouts series - great barani as (almost) always - hop forward on the 1.5. Great landing. Yes, to those who have commented about it. Toi Garcia doesn't know what a stick is.

Sawa - UCLA - FX - Excellent double tuck mount - sticks her double pike as well - 1.5 to half to stag is under control as well. One of her better floor routines of the season, the best control in the tumbling so far, so that should get a solid score.

Brown - Iowa State - BB - wobbles on her split jump full - interesting front aerial to front full dismount - the legs are a little all over the place, but I like the idea of it.

Case - KSU - FX - starts with a front double full and has to lunge out of it a little, but I like they way she moves on the full - a little bouncy on these landings, though, so there's room to deduct. Strong rudi. Stuck to finish.

Heinz - CM - BB - had a  wobble early, but a strong front toss - big lunge forward on double back dismount. And she is followed by Perkins of Bosie State on floor who gives us a nice full in mount. Thank you for your contribution, Ciera. Solid front layout to front full - sticks the double tuck. Very strong routine.

After 3: FLORIDA 98.925, ALABAMA 98.725, NEBRASKA 98.550, UCLA 98.475, UTAH 98.250, PENN STATE 98.100

Florida's excellent bars and Alabama's hit beam have opened up a lead over the rest, but things are tightening up lower in the rankings. UCLA hit a solid floor rotation, but they probably were looking for a tenth more than that. 49.400 for floor would have been fine if they had hit beam better, but for now, they're in trouble. Especially because they will head to vault, which has been a problem all year.

Nebraska will go to bars now with a chance to open up this meager lead they have, and Utah will go to floor trying to pick up a couple tenths, which they can definitely do if the lesson is that as long as you don't lunge on your passes, you get a 9.900, which was the lesson in the first session. 

Florida is also heading to beam with some redemption in mind, but they have enough of a lead right now to afford just being regular here.

This session is making me cranky for some reason. Should I be this cranky?

Rotation 4:
Pinches - UCLA - VT - yfull - looked like a bit better landing position than we have seen sometimes, but a big step back, so it won't be a huge score.

Mossett - UCLA - VT - Nice height on her yfull - in line with the table which had been a thing sometimes - a little chest downy - step back. OK.

Del Priore - Utah - FX - Solid tuck full in - that's good to see since she occasionally has trouble with it - 1.5 to layout middle pass - a little low on her double back but stuck it. Solid routine. Better than last postseason.

Johnson - Florida - BB - pretty walkover to bhs series, nice switch leap as well - side aerial into a stuck full. She has become more secure than she used to be on this event - at least most confident. Well executed routine.

Peszek - UCLA - VT - Nice yfull - but she does have a hop back. They're just not quite there today. Even Peszek is just OK today. And UCLA is already counting some lower vault scores.

Some 9.7s for Nebraska so far on bars, but Wong can help.

Wong - Ben - UB - Looked a little late on her full turn to a very high gienger, but there was a leg break there - strong tuck full but a couple areas in that routine.

Sloan - Florida - BB -Big wobble on her loso series, bend at the waist. Oh bridget, what has happened to you???? And now she wobbles again and falls. Wow. She's out of the AA. Crazy. And now the big pressure on the Macko and Kytra routines to avoid last week. This is a mess. Lots of mistakes. Sticks her double full. 9.200 is actually a huge overscore for the mistakes in that routine, but the scores always get crazy after falls - it's like they stop paying attention and then just make things up.

Tutka - Utah - FX - Another full in mount and another solid landing, strong rudi to split jump, and a very strong double tuck to finish. Utah is taking advantage in this floor rotation, and looking very confident and solid.

Huge floor routine for Kytra right now.

Hunter - Florida - BB - Solid loso series - without the mount now, that's the biggest risk in her routine and she got through it comfortably - strong switch side - solid double back. They got rid of the Sloan mistake, but that's significant in the AA.

Damianova - Utah - FX - looking clean as always, and sticks her final double pike - that should be another solid score. It was a low score for Dabritz, interestingly, but we didn't see it.

Gunzelman - Rutgers - BB - small wobble on the front toss - but she comes off on her loso series.

Grable - FX - Ark - Double arabian half out, and it's just the best thing ever - nice splits obviously - this choreography isn't anything special but it doesn't matter because of the way she performs it - Strong and controlled double pike dismount. Great routine.

Moraw on beam is our last routine, wobble on the aerial with the leg going up. And sticks her gainer full.

After 4: FLORIDA 148.225, UCLA 147.750, UTAH 147.725, NEBRASKA 147.650, ALABAMA 98.725, PENN STATE 98.100

Things remain solid for Florida and Nebraska. UCLA, Utah, and Nebraska are right together, but edge to Utah going to vault if they can stick some of those final three vaults. UCLA is on a bye now, so they'll know what they need on bars, but they needed a bit bigger lead at this point if they were to make it. Nebraska is trying to get through beam staying close. It has been a struggle to get big scores there, but they have some routines with solid potential.

Katherine Grable's warmup vault should make Super Six.

Rotation 5:

Tutka - Utah - VT - solid yfull but a pretty large step back - getting the sticks will be key for Utah here. A little piking as well.

Witt - PSU - UB - Solid piked jaeger, very short handstand before the dismount and a step back on the DLO.

Lofgren - Utah - VT - Another yfull with another hop back. Tutka was stronger in the amplitude, but not a bad vault.

Blanske - Neb - BB - hits her loso series but had very bent knees - front tuck is fine - a little low but fine - sticks her double full - so a few areas of form but not bad in the wobble department.

Delaney - Utah - VT - Now it's getting real for Utah - Excellent yfull in the air as always, but she did not manage a stick either, hop back, should still be a good score. 

Wilson - Utah - VT - Yet again, carbon copy for Delaney - Great vault in the height but she doesn't stick either. That looked like a larger hop than Delaney's, but we'll see in the score.

Dabritz - Utah - VT - They need a Dabritz stick about now - and that's what they got. If they get through, they should thank that vault for helping this rotation graduate to sticks. Best vault of the rotation.

Welsh is going on bars, but SHOW US GRABLE.Vault - Amazing y half on pike half - I must admit that she did take a small step to the side, but that should be an excellent score.

It's just a 49.300 for Utah on vault. That's beatable. Nebraska is getting huge beam scores right now, so watch out.

Beers - Ala - FX - great DLO to start, solid front layout to front full. Comfortable doubel tuck to finish, They;ll have a 9.7 from DeMeo to drop but are looking strong and comfortable to make it.

DeZiel - Neb - BB -small hesitation after her front aerial - fine layout step series but just looking ever so slightly nervous and tight in some of these skills. Secure front toss - sticks her 2.5 dismount, and they are giving big scores to sticks today. Wong will have a chance to move them into great position.

Grable has a 39.600 in the AA and is the current leader!

Jacob - Ala - FX - Great stick on the pike full in - clean and secure double pike. she's nailing this routine. You guys, Kim Jacob might be the national AA champion. Just look out for that. Correction: it's a 9.950. Misleading commentator lady. Fist shaking.

Wong - Neb - BB - Nice two layouts series during the uproar. Switch side is OK, Just needs a hit to move ahead of Utah, and she gets it. Great landing.

Milliner - Ala - FX - A little bouncy slide on her double pike to finish.  

It's a 9.900 for Wong, so she won't win the AA, but Nebraska moves ahead of Utah with a 197.100 to Utah's 197.025. That's what happens when you don't stick landings on your strength.

Kim Jacob just needs a 9.825 on vault to move ahead of Grable. I'm never previewing the AA again.

After 5: NEBRASKA 197.100, UTAH 197.025, ALABAMA 148.300, FLORIDA 148.225, UCLA 147.750, PENN STATE 146.750

Florida and Alabama will be in cruise control going to floor and vault respectively. The final rotation will be all about UCLA on bars. They need a 49.375 on bars, which I think is going to be too much for them given what we have seen lately on bars, but if they can sneak out a hit somehow and the scores continue to build to the end of the meet, you never know. Val will need to use her Val voodoo right about now.

I don't think I can handle this final rotation. It's just too much.

Rotation 6:
We're starting with Penn State on beam. NOT RELEVANT.

Welsh - PSU - BB - bent knees on her loso but hit it, strong front toss, and sticks a gainer full - fine routine.

Bailey - Ala - VT - Sticks her yhalf - best for her I've seen this year - good form, bends a little to hang onto the stick.

Just a 9.800 for Francis leading off for UCLA. The opposite of what they needed.

DeMeo - Ala - VT - Nice form on her yfull - hop back. OK.

Mossett - UCLA - UB - Bruins basically need straight 9.9s now, so . . . Nice salder shoot - very nice high jaeger - hits her pak well this time - they GOT RID OF THE STALDER. Why didn't you do that a thousand years ago? Late on the full turn and a large lunge on the dismount.

Beers - Ala - VT - Nice form on the yfull but doesn't stick this time - step back.

Milliner - Ala - VT - Falls on her 1.5. WHAT? That's like Zam falling last year.

Courtney - UCLA - UB - Nice shaposh, strong bail hs, she needed a stick there but hops to the side on her dismount. Congratulations Nebraska. Nice upset and great for the team.

De Jesus - UCLA UB - Nice opening handstand - some leg breaks on her gienger and her bail again - huge hop forward on her dismount. UCLA looking sluggish in a rotation where they needed to be amazing.

Sloan - Florida - FX - Sticks her front double full, leaps look solid. Pretty low on her double pike with a hop to the side. She's having a rough day on the final two events. Strong finish, but weird day for her. She'll need to come back tomorrow.  

Peszek with the last routine for UCLA - great full turn and amazing gienger - arches a handstand in there - sticks her DLO. Good finish, and UCLA will end up just, just short. Heartbreaking for them, but that's what happens when you count a 9.6 on beam. Nebraska showed up on beam and UCLA didn't.

Jacob moves ahead of Grable by .025 in the AA. I CANNOT.

Hunter - Florida - FX - Great DLO obviously, huge and nailed, excellent second pass as well. She's nailing thsi routine, oooh short landing on her open double back. Let's watch the score for that and the scores for event finals.

UCLA finishes with a 197, so close for them and Utah, but you can't have such weak landing on multiple events and 

Ending with B Caquatto on floor - hits her mount well this time, rudi to split is solid as well, but this is just a bonus routine for Florida right now, ensuring that they finish ahead of Alabama - if she gets a 9.875. She shouldn't. Very deep on the double pike dismount with a lunge forward. Not great landings in this Florida floor rotation, but the scores have been rising.

Here we are: FLORIDA 197.650, ALABAMA 197.650, NEBRASKA 197.100, UTAH 197.025, UCLA 197.000, PENN STATE 194.825

UCLA and Utah must be devastated right now. No Pac 12 teams in Super Six. Which is not all that surprising, but I'm impressed by the way Nebraska showed up on beam after being very 49.000 all year. It was about not giving away huge wobbles, and they did that.

That was exhausting. I might be dying. Thrilled for Nebraska pulling off that huge upset, though. I'm sure there will be some outrage, but honestly Utah and UCLA had too many sloppy moments to be too outraged.

I'm a little outraged that Kim Jacob won the AA just because I did not see that coming at all. Given the quality of the routines we saw, I would have given it to Grable. I had Jacob's bars lower than 9.925. She got a stick bonus there. It also took a much lower score than I would have expected to win the title, which helped Jacob stay in it.

AA STANDINGS:
1. Jacob 39.625
2. Grable 39.600
2. Johnson 39.600
4. Peszek 39.575
5. Sampson 39.550
6. Courville 39.525
6. Wong 39.525

Event qualifiers:
VAULT - Grable (Arkansas), Courtney (UCLA), Sloan (Florida), Dabritz (Utah) - just 4! I'm shocked. That will be downright manageable.
BARS - Sloan (Florida), Jacob (Alabama), M Caquatto (Florida), Johnson (Florida), Peszek (UCLA)
BEAM - Jacob (Alabama), DeMeo (Alabama), Johnson (Florida), M Caquatto (Florida), Blanske (Nebraska), Schleppenbach (Nebraska), DeZiel (Nebraska), Wong (Nebraska). Statement: No Francis = No point. That is going to be one long-ass beam final.
FLOOR - Grable (Arkansas), Jacob (Alabama), Wong (Nebraska), Beers (Alabama), Milliner (Alabama), Tutka (Utah), Damianova (Utah)

Alright, that's all folks. We'll get into it tomorrow for Super Six, but it should be a close one. I didn't get the impression that anyone of Alabama, Florida, or Oklahoma are out in front of the others.



 

58 comments:

  1. Who is calling the meet on the live stream? If you know, thanks!

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    1. The color commentator (less speaking) is Toi Garcia, former Auburn gymnast. Can't remember the lead's name.

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  2. Here's hoping these scores have clearly and consistently set the standard for today. C'mon judges! Hold the line! =D

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Wow. Oklahoma beat LSU on floor. Raise your hand if you saw that one coming?

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  5. Lindsay Mable fell on beam. :(

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  6. Vault scores seem to be on the move upwards... :(

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    1. Weird, I felt they started OU too high, and then they kept them down at the end when the vaults were much better.

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  7. Vault Finals - aren't Gnat and Courville in that?

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  8. NEVER would have called that Michigan would almost knock out LSU. Georiga, OK, but not LSU. Interesting.

    Also for a sport with so many religious athletes it seems odd that they are having EFs on Easter, yes?

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  9. Interesting to see which teams won each event so far...

    Vault: Georgia and LSU (tie)
    Bars: Georgia and Stanford (tie)
    Beam: Oklahoma
    Floor: Oklahoma

    Oklahoma's beam score held up even though they went first. Even if Georgia didn't get huge scores on vault and bars, they did what they needed to do on their strong events. LSU actually didn't distinguish themselves on the power events.

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  10. Way to go GymDogs!! w00t. Qualifying in 2nd and sending someone to every event final. Success!

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  11. Are you going to start a new blog entry for pm session? :)

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  12. Why is the announcer confusing a hop for a stick? (vault)

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    1. Right? There was only one half stick and those scores seem pretty generous for the size of those hops.

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    2. Agreed. Scores are going higher, which was always going to happen and always going to be frustrating. Sigh. I guess as long as they're high across the board...

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  13. Floor was the high scoring event in session one, with 49.35 being a little on the low end - and floor is a strong event for Nebraska. I see it as a slight missed opportunity, but I'm not surprised, because pristine cleanliness was highly rewarded, and Nebraska I still think of as excelling more in power than finesse.

    That said, under 49.2 on BB was a miss in the first session - so barely over 49 is - going to require help.

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  14. Utah, UCLA, & Nebraska may let PSU into the race for third at this rate . . .

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  15. 9.8 for Delaney-with that balance check? Can someone tell me why?

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    1. No. It's absurd. I have no idea where they got that score. It should have been high 9.6 - maybe a 9.7. Then again, they are also just throwing 9.9s at Alabama like they're going out of style, so who knows. Really disappointing to see.

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  16. Same reaction to Delaney's score--that is just WRONG.

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  17. Anyone predict Ellette Craddock would be leading beam after two rotations?

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  18. The scoring seemed pretty accurate in the first session. What's going on????

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  19. The problem with the score inflation is that Sampson is going to lose the AA to someone who wasn't better than her today. Sad.

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  20. Apparently some of these judges went for the four martini lunch between sessions.

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  21. is anyone else wondering how in the world UCLA are wearing bras??? is it just me, or is the whole back see-through?

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    1. I am continually fascinated by the fact that none of their leos allow bras. Which reading that back sounds prettttty creepy of me... But you'd think it wouldn't be ideal?

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    2. it's a serious issue! they will all have saggy breasts by the time they graduate.

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    3. A couple of years ago they answered this question by saying they used athletic tape. I still don't get it but I guess whatever they're doing works well enough.

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  22. I mean, if we're just going to make scores up, then I award UCLA a 198.5. Just cause.

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  23. 9.60 / 9.90 / 9.75 / 9.80 for Dabritz on floor - would have loved to see that one

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  24. Grable needs a 9.9 to tie Sampson for the AA and she is going to vault which means she has a chance to tie or go ahead! Come on Kat!!!!!!!!!!

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  25. No offence to anyone but I let out a silent cheer when Sloan fell on beam – it made the AA much more interesting. I did say Sloan would win the AA unless she had a meltdown. Grable. Jacob. Wong. Those are the three I'm cheering for in the AA.

    CGF

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    1. It's ok so, did I. Actually I was shocked because I somewhat wanted it to happen but I didn't think it would, but then it did! I however did feel bad for her when I heard she started crying. -Jacob

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  26. What does A. Johnson need on floor to pass Grable for the AA? It looks like the AA is between Jacob, Johnson and Grable.

    CGF

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    1. Better than 9.875. Do-able, I think--her season/career best is 9.95...Interesting...

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  27. I think Johnson needs a 9.9 to go ahead which is what she got at SEC. -Jacob

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  28. Johnson needs 9.875 to tie Grable (not sure about tiebreakers), 9.9 to beat her. But Jacob only needs 9,8 to tie, 9.825 to beat Grable. If they both hit, well . . . we'll see.

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  29. I am going to gouge out my ears if I have to listen to this Mio commercial one more time. Anyone else thinks it sounds like they are saying "Hairy Pomegranate Mio" ?

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  30. Ack! Why Penn State--they aren't in it?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

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  31. Wow...UCLA- I am disappointed. Got to stick those landings!!!

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  32. Kim Jacob has won with a 39.625 and Kat Grable and Alaina Johnson will tie for second with a 39.6. -Jacob

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    1. Awesome for Jacob. From what I've heard about the type of person she is – unselfish, team player – it's nice to see her rewarded with an individual achievement. (I did say in my predictions that I'd love to see either of the Bama AAers or an individual – Grable, Mable – capture the AA title.)

      Shocking that Milner won't make the vault final (she is the co defending champ there).

      CGF

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  33. I think a tear almost came out when I found out Jacob had passed Grable:( -Jacob

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  34. Hey, can someone explain to me who qualifies to event finals? I never remember how many,

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    1. the top four per session counting ties as "one person"

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  35. Cool that 197 was the magic score to make it.
    I think Florida's still got this. Despite some overscores from Alabama, and a mini meltdown from SLoan not much from Hunter they were still able to step up from other places and put up a big score.
    EFs are gonna be weird
    Poor Grable, Id have preferred her or Johnson for the AA title. Nice that the top 3 weren't elites though

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    1. I meant 197.1

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    2. I think it's going to be Alabama. Judges showed they were willing to go high (too high, in some cases) for both teams, but I think Alabama's weakness was bars - on the bars, not landings - and the judges have just decided if you stick, it doesn't much matter what you actually do while your up there. That said, I thought Oklahoma today was superior to both Alabama and Florida (at least based on what we were shown), but I'm skeptical that will show up in the scores tomorrow. LSU didn't have a great meet this afternoon, but I suppose they could come back tomorrow - I don't think they will win though.

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    3. I didn't think Alabama was anymore overscored than Florida. I do think the winner will be one of those two teams, but Oklahoma could win and is as good as both IMO. I think ending on a bye will hurt LSU.

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  36. No Hall, Hunter or Sloan in fx finals. Who were the other 10s this year?

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  37. 10s on FX: per Troester, in addition to Hall, Hunter, & Sloan (from those who were ranked - had an RQS - regular season scores only):
    Scaman, Dabritz, Wong, Sawa, Damianova. I didn't check post season or (aside from Peszek) people I thought might not have an RQS.

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  38. Sampson was another. At Big 10s, appropriately enough.

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  39. So Florida gets Olympic order starting on vault after winning the tiebreaker with Alabama (could Sloan's "high" 9.200 have been the difference?). Alabama will start Super Six on a bye before floor and will finish on beam. Out of all the teams, Alabama is probably the most consistent on beam and the least likely to have an implosion (of course it's still beam where anything can happen... cue Twilight music).

    Assume it'll be LSU and Nebraska who will draw the rotations that finish off the floor.

    CGF

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  40. All teans are revelant.

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  41. Based on the individual event draws –

    It looks like Kat Grable is set up nicely to win the floor title... She goes last after 2013 floor champ Joanne Sampson. Also, Lindsey Cheek could earn her event title on the uneven bars – she's also up last, following Kim Jacob. Would be happy to see both of these ladies earn the titles.

    Excited to see 16 beam routines – which is much nicer to watch then 24 vaults. Bridget Sloan draw the first position on vault so she needs to be perfect to win. Reaghan Courville or Lindsay Mable are positioned nicely in the last group to pull off a win if they hit. Both have earned 10s this year on vault. Would love to see Mable win based on the fact she doesn't attend a "name" school for women's gymnastics.

    CGF

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