Week 0 Ranking and Notes

Since there were only two meets over the weekend, the actual ranking won't debut until next Monday, but that doesn't stop me.

Week 0 Ranking
 1. Cal — 195.175
Week 0 leaders
AA – Owens 38.425
VT – Williams 9.875
UB – Takara, Williams 9.850
BB – Palomares 9.825
FX – Williams 9.875

2. UC Davis — 194.350
Week 0 leaders
AA – Judal 38.925
VT – Nogaki 9.850
UB – Wiktorski 9.775
BB – Stamates 9.850
FX – Stamates 9.850

3. San Jose State — 194.050
Week 0 leaders
AA – Guyer 38.925
VT – Herr 9.800
UB – Heinl, Guyer 9.750
BB – Unpingco 9.775
FX – Guyer 9.775

4. Stanford — 193.450
Week 0 leaders
AA – Rice 39.350
VT – Price 9.950
UB – Hong, Rice 9.825
BB – Hong, Rice, Daum 9.825
FX – Spector, Rice 9.850

4. Sacramento State — 193.450
Week 0 leaders
AA – McCartney 39.000
VT – McCartney 9.825
UB – Benning 9.775
BB – McCartney 9.750
FX – McCartney, Juarez 9.825

6. Central Michigan — 192.550
Week 0 leaders
AA – None
VT – Moraw 9.650
UB – Fagan 9.900
BB – Moraw 9.750
FX – Moraw, Druien 9.725

7. UW-Eau Claire — 183.800
Week 0 leaders
AA – Erickson 37.025
VT – Stanton 9.500
UB – Robinette 9.375
BB – Stubbs 9.700;
FX – Stubbs 9.625

Cal has officially declared an end to the regular season. Done! You're the winners.

• Cal had the best showing of the weekend, breaking 195 and improving on the opening score from last season by a half point. It's still a performance they'll hope to drop for RQS down the road, but with a lineup featuring just 10 of the 24 routines from last year's regional performance (and a noticeably absent Jessica Howe), it's not a bad start.

• In particular, Toni-Ann Williams had a great debut, at least tying for the team's highest score on her three events: vault, bars, and floor. Williams competed internationally for Jamaica at a few major competitions and has a big DLO on floor and equivalent power on vault. She'll be a thing. Watch out for that.

• Davis and San Jose should also be pleased with those performances. Like Cal, they won't want to keep them for RQS, but as a starting point, no complaints. Davis may kick themselves a little because they were in line for a 195 and a possible victory before counting a score in the 8s on floor. Still, last year both teams started with 193s, so this is better.  

• Now for things that didn't go so well, let's talk about Stanford. Oh, Stanford. Even by Stanford-in-January standards, 193.450 isn't good. The problem is not so much the falls. That happens and will be smoothed out as we go. Shapiro and Nicolette McNair will hit bars for big scores this year. The real problem is the lack of depth. There are 15 athletes on Stanford's roster, and yet they currently don't have six who are healthy enough to compete on three of the four events? This isn't a new story for Stanford. Where are all these other gymnasts, and why is the answer to that question the hospital? In particular, seeing N. McNair on only one event is a problem. They need her on three to four events. 

• There is some better news for Stanford, though. The 193.450 is a misleading score. Counting the 8.4 on floor brought it way down, and Kristina Vaculik missed this meet only because she's sick right now, not injured. Having Vaculik in the lineups hitting 4 routines, even for mild scores, would have realistically given Stanford a mid-195 and the meet win, which would have drastically changed the narrative. Mid-195 would be pretty good for Stanford in January. In the coming weeks, expect much larger scores. This result is not indicative of how the season will go.

• Also, don't think Elizabeth Price's debut 9.950 on vault went unnoticed. Price was not originally supposed to compete in this meet (as made clear by her not being in the bars lineup and confirmed by her aunt on twitter) but had to be subbed in on vault because otherwise they would not have had enough routines in the lineup. Depth issues. It's a testament to her talent that she could be thrown in on vault at the last minute with minimal training time and get a 9.950. 

• Next weekend, we'll have a lot more to talk about. The other teams will get their seasons started (except for Boise State - fantasy gym note), including the first SEC Network online meets. The highlight of the weekend will be Saturday's Michigan v. Georgia showdown, but more on that closer to the day.