Regionals Live Blog – Day 4

Congratulations, you have graduated to the regional finals. In our first final, Oklahoma will be among the many (many) top teams that will try to augment their effective-but-not-amazing performance from the semifinal in order to reestablish national dominance—and will be heavily favored to do so. A repeat of Oklahoma’s semifinal performance would almost surely be enough to qualify here, but they have more to give on several events and didn’t even 198 in the semifinal.

The real battle is expected to be between Alabama and Kentucky, which once again switched their hierarchy from SECs (when Alabama came out ahead) in the regional semifinal with Kentucky beating Alabama by a tenth this time, thanks largely to beam. With a competitive 197.350 in the semifinal that pretty much matched what Kentucky and Alabama did, Ohio State will also view itself as in this one, though if we learned anything from the semifinals, it was that comparing actual scores from two sessions is going to be a fool’s errand.

The judges also switch up their events for today, so it’s not going to be the same panel that judged that event in the semifinal.

Beginning on beam, Kentucky will have an urgent rotation to start, and outscoring Alabama’s vault would be a good early indicator for them. Ohio State starts on floor, typically the high-scoring event, so if today is going to be a thing, they’ll need to be top 2 after the first rotation. 

We’re live on the broadcast. Sam is telling you not to make mistakes. In case you were planning on making some mistakes.

Rotation 1

Gladieux – VT – Alabama – yfull, nice distance, small hop back, little pike at the end. 9.850

Luksik – BB – Kentucky – onodi, nice – bhs loso, chest down, check – cat leap to switch 1/2, under split – full turn, nice – beat, good feet – gainer pike, stuck. Her score is up as 9.837, we don’t do that many judges yet. Now 9.825

Good dismount landing from Sievers on UB. 9.900

Paradise – VT – Alabama – y1.5, pretty notable hop to the side and out of the area, some knees. 9.850

Fletcher – UB – OU – piked jaeger, hit – toe on, big pause, gets around the right way – pak is clean – a little rushed on final cast hs – FTDT, good stick to finish. 9.875

Doggette – VT – Alabama – better than the first day but a very large lunge forward on her y1.5. 9.800

Procasky – BB – Kentucky – bhs loso, good feet, shows solid amplitude – cat leap to switch ring, good – aerialt o beat, good feet – gainer pike, nice

Hudson – VT – Alabama – Y1.5 – lands a bit deep, another large lunge forward with a sideward step. 9.800

Vetter opened floor with 9.850

Smith – UB – OU – good first hs – Ray, solid – hits hs on high – toe on to pak, smooth – 1/2 turn on low, good finish position as always – hits hs on high – DLO, piking, nearly sells stick, lean forward into salute

“Leg-in Smith”

Blanco – VT – Alabama – a better Y1.5, medium hop forward, they needed that one since it’s been rough so far. Still not a stick though. 9.875

Bowers – UB – OU – good first hs – blind to jaeger, a hair close today – pak, lovely – 1/2 turn on low, good – hits good final hs – FTDT, stuck. Good.

Olsen – VT – Alabama – DTY, lands a bit low chest today, small hop forward, could get hit for short landing if they want to. “I have seen her do that vault perfectly……as perfectly as she can do it.”

9.975 for Bowers with the close catch, so that.

Olsen still goes 9.900 on vault.

Davis – UB – OU – lovely first hs – higgins to piked jaeger – good hs – pak, legs together – good hs – higgins to doguble front 1/2 out, gets the stick this time with a stagger. Oklahoma will score a million on bars.

Bunn – BB – Kentucky – bhs loso loso, right on – switch to split, good – 2/1, stuck landing. Very nice.

Alabama goes 49.275 and it could have been lower. Going to tell us that we’ll see some sticks of 10.0 starts go 9.950+ today.

Oklahoma 49.675 on bars. Is it good?

We’ve had some long scoring delays on beam for Kentucky but the scores have been nice.

Edwards – FX – Ohio State – double pike, great open – back 1.5 to layout, good straight layout shape, nice control – switch side to popa, nice – double tuck, good open, little rebound.

Patterson with a fairly large wobble on her loso series on beam.But does stick her gainer pike. 9.875 with the wobble.

9.950 for Edwards. They’re going to convert the floor score they needed.

Hodges – FX – Ohio St – double pike, larger bounce back – split leap full to popa to popa, good completion and clear landings – rudi to high loso, well controlled

Worley secure series on beam, aerial to bhs loso. Stuck 1.5. Just a small check on her full turn.

9.875 for Hodges, Ohio State goes 49.475 on floor. A touch down on the semifinal.

9.950 Worley.

Magnelli – BB – Kentucky – bhs loso loso, hit – switch to straddle 1/4, great positions – aerial, smooth – check on full turn – gainer pike, stuck.

That will take Kentucky into 2nd after the first rotation. 9.925 for Magnelli.

After 1:
Oklahoma 49.675
Kentucky 49.575
Ohio State 49.475
Alabama 49.275

Alabama the weakest team in rotation 1, really struggling on those vault landings with large bounding errors. They’ll feel fortunate to be only down 3 tenths on Kentucky honestly. But that’s still a non-small margin. Kentucky will be extra pleased with beam.

Ohio State not top two, but a good rotation and a high score.

What was it you were saying about four judges meaning tighter scores?

Rotation 2

“Oklahoma State”

Dunn – BB – OU – back in the leadoff spot – bhs bhs loso, and falls!

Procasky finishes floor with double tuck, little rebound

Malas – VT – Ohio St – good height on yfull but lands off direction with chest forward and a bounce back. 9.750

Waligora – UB – Alabama – good first hs – blind, small leg break – jaeger and falls – Alabama what is up with you so far?

Pretty large bounce back on yfull for Riccardi as well. 9.825

9.100 for Dunn. 

Trautman – BB – OU – full turn, good – bhs loso, and she falls! Oklahoma counting a fall on beam now.

Oklahoma. Now we’ll see how Oklahoma they can be.

If there are any local arsons in the Norman area, I have a suspect.

Machado – UB – Alabama – maloney to pak, hit – toe on to van leeuwen, short hs on high – toe full to double tuck, holds the landing.

Ohio State gets 9.950 from Harris on vault.

Jennings – VT – Ohio St – nice distance on yfull, small bounce back, just some feet.

Patterson on floor with a large bounce back on double pike for 9.800. Scores also not coming for Kentucky floor. Kind of an awkward loso on floor from Magnelli

Doggette did well to work through a cover a tentative 1/2 turn on low. Otherwise solid on bars.

Bowers – BB – OU – Well this is a test – full turn, bhs loso, holds it – split leap to switch 1/2, good split position – small rebound on dismount. Big hit.

Blanco – UB – good hs – pak, legs together well – hits hs on low – toe on to van leeuwen, legs together well – a little rushed on final cast hs – FTDT, step back

49.375 vault for Ohio State. 49.400 bars for Alabama after dropping the fall.

Kentucky has just two 9.800s and two 9.850s so far.

Torrez – BB – OU – wolf jump – side aerial to loso, secure landing – switch to straddle, good – 1.5 dismount, stuck. Excellent.

Big 9.925 for Davis of Kentucky on floor.

KJ is reiki-ing harder than she ever has before.

Worley – FX – Kentucky – FTDT, controls the step back – switch ring to switch side, good – nice front layout in combination – double tuck, good feet, nice landing. 9.950

Davis – BB – OU – full turn, smooth – bhs loso, holds the landing, small squeeze – aerial, good – beat to split ring jump, solid – 2/1, stuck landing. chest a bit forward. 9.925

Smith – BB – OU – bhs loso, solid – aerial, solid – split jump 1/2 to korbut, slightly off line on landing – bhs gainer full, stuck. Will be a big score.

WELL.

Kentucky goes 49.375 on floor, an OK score but not the floor total they were hoping for after Ohio State’s 49.475, which is letting everyone in. Ohio State will be happier with their 49.375 on vault.

Alabama 49.400 on bars was the highest score of the rotation, which starts bridging the gap a little, but they’ll need to do more on beam next.

And Oklahoma. It’s 49.075 with a counting fall (!) because of course it is. They’ll remain ahead of Alabama and are just a tenth behind Ohio State, so it’s probably fine for them as long as they hit normal rotations in the final two.

After 2:
Kentucky 98.950
Ohio State 98.850
Oklahoma 98.750
Alabama 98.675

It wasn’t boring!

What if it was just Kentucky and Ohio State that advanced?

Rotation 3

Burgess – BB – Alabama – full turn, hit – one arm bhs to loso, leg up wobble – side aerial, solid – switch to beat jump, good – cat leap to switch side, good horizontal position –  gainer pike, small slide back.

Procasky, far yfull, little rebound. Davis opens floor for Oklahoma with a hit, no Johnson today. Procasky 9.900, well now.

Harris – UB – ohio St – hit ray, toe on to bail, small leg break – hits final cast hs – giant full to double tuck, stuck, some feet

Smith – FX – OU – solid double tuck, controls landing – back 1.5 to front lay, good height – switch side, overturns some into popa – doubel pike, step back, possible OOB? I guess not, 9.925

Patterson 9.950 on her handspring pike 1/2. Magnelli follows with a step back on hers. And she goes 9.900 with the one-tenth step. Vault scores trended high early, and Kentucky the first to take advantage really.

Burgess 9.825 opening beam for Alabama.

Waligora – BB – Alabama – full turn, hit – bhs loso, secure with some knee – side aerial with large wobble, leg up and turn to the side – small check on tuck full – 1.5, holds the stick.

Bounce forward from Worley on y1.5.

Hankins on bars for Ohio State holds onto the stick on her DLO dismount but probably would have received less deduction for a step, bent over past horizontal.

Bourque – VT – Kentucky – hits Y1.5 with crossover step. Going to be the top vault team total by far as yet.

49.450 vault for Kentucky.

Adams – BB – Alabama – hits wolf triple – aerial, nice extension – bhs loso, another large break, arm wave and turn to the side – switch to split, excellent height – bhs 1.5, little rebound

Miller – UB – Ohio St – a bit shy his – toe on to maloney to bail, good feet positions – DLO, stuck landing. Good one.

Torrez – FX – OU – DLO, just a little rebound – split leap full to wolf full, around – leg up full turn – front tuck through to double tuck, chest down a bit, holds her front foot.

9.950 for Miller. 49.425 for Ohio State on bars, staying in it. .125 behind Kentucky.

Hudson – BB – Alabama – aerial to bhs loso, hit – switch to beat, good split position – side aerial, smooth – 1.5 dismount, ever so slightly shy with a little foot movement.

And Oklahoma is going to be in the lead again after the third rotation. This was all very Florida Super Six 2013.

Blanco – BB – Alabama – aerial, nice – full turn, smooth – bhs loso loso, nicely done – switch to beat, excellent feet – 1.5, slide back. 9.925

Oklahoma 49.675 floor, Kentucky 49.450 vault, Alabama 49.425 beam, Ohio State 49.425 bars.

After 3:
Oklahoma 148.425
Kentucky 148.400
Ohio State 148.275
Alabama 148.100

Everyone still in it, which is kind of surprising to me that Alabama is still right in this, and heading to floor, since they kind of struggled on both vault and beam. Ohio State doing everything possible to stay in, but will have to convert on beam now.

Rotation 4

Sievers – VT – OU – Y1.5, medium step forward, hit. 9.875

Davis on bars for Kentucky, a little short on her DLO with a hop forward. Just 9.800, which is a vulnerable score in this rotation.

Pritchard secure loso on beam for Ohio State.

Stern – VT – OU – Y1.5, small hop forward

Procasky – UB – Kentucky – good hs on low – maloney to pak, pretty position – 1/2 turn on low, hit – good hs on high – giant full to double tuck, stuck landing. Good one.

Levasseur sticks her vault for OU. [Open Editor] [Hall of 10s]

Machado – FX – Alabama – double pike, little rebound – back 1.5 to front lay, a little lack of amplitude with a step. Waligora opened their floor with 9.850

Bunn sticks DLO on bars.

Kind of a large bounce back from Hankins on beam dismount.

DeGuzman – UB – Kentucky – lovely jaeger to bail – great feet on high bar – DLO, very small movement on landing.

Davis – VT – OU – sticks her Y1.5, legs on the block. Solid.

Harris – BB – Ohio St – switch to straddle 1/4 – aerial to back tuck combination is secure – 2/1, small hop back.

Luksik hits her Ray but misses her feet on a toe on and has to recast. DRAMAS! Little bit of pressure on Worley now.

Trautman went 9.975. Oklahoma vaults 49.625 and goes over 198 with a counting fall. 

Gladieux – FX – Alabama – chest down on FTDT, secure step back –

Worley – UB – Kentucky – good hs on high – clear hip to tkatchev – nice hs on high – pak – some back position, hits vertical on hs – FTDT, stuck landing. BIG hit.

Worley gets 9.900. Kentucky gets 49.450 on bars for a 197.850 total. Basically impossible for Ohio State to catch that.

Hudson – FX – Alabama – front lay to front 2/1, stuck landing just ever so slightly deep – switch 1/2 to wolf full, good feet positions – 2.5, controls her step – double tuck, chest up, small rebound.

Vetter with a secure loso series on beam – 2/1, holds landing, some leg crossing.

Blanco – FX – Alabama – mathematically eliminated at this point – hits double pike, chest a little forward – back 1.5 to front lay, well controlled.

Someone go tell Kentucky that it’s mathematically impossible for anyone to knock them out right now.

Hodges – BB – Ohio St – nice splits in combination – bhs loso, secure landing – gainer loso, secure, some foot and knee form – 1.5, holds onto the landing.

9.950 for Blanco, Alabama goes 197.650. Hodges goes 9.950, Ohio State done on 197.725.

QUALIFIED: Oklahoma 198.050, Kentucky 197.850
ELIMINATED: Ohio State 197.725, Alabama 197.650

Kentucky delivered and I think was the rightful team to advance from this session (actually surprised it got as close as it did). Alabama just had more errors, especially on the vault landings and with the leg-up chances on beam. Big program record performance from Ohio State, couldn’t really have asked for more from their performance.

So now individually we’re looking at Payton Harris going for AA, Blanco going for bars, Flatley going for beam, Elexis Edwards for floor, and I think Williams of Arkansas for vault?

I think the big talking point will be whether it should be possible to count a fall on beam and still beat teams that are still strong who hit, but…you know…a fall is 5 tenths. Is Oklahoma better than the other teams here by 5 tenths combined on vault, bars, and floor? Or .167 better per event? Probably yeah. So they can win with a counting fall. But also was the scoring insane? Definitely yeah.

Oklahoma was a lot better than everyone else on vault and bars. Oklahoma’s floor scores looked really elevated to me, as did Alabama’s coming after them. That was a very ‘WE SORRY ABOUT BEAM” floor rotation.

OK UCLA regional, you have big shoes to fill. And probably won’t. BUT WHAT IF IT DID.

Rotation 1

Lawrence – BB – Missouri – switch to split, solid – full turn – side aerial to bhs, secure, just a bit of feet – aerial, smooth landing – 1.5, stuck. Good start. 9.875

O’Keefe hits yfull, nice stick. Step back from Chae Campbell on double front.

O’Keefe got 9.925 on vault for a full to leadoff so gird your loins.

Brenner – VT – Utah – just a little shy on Y1.5 landing, small slide back.

Steele – Ub – UCLA – maloney to pak, nice – a bit shy on final cast hs – DLO, pikes it down some, hop back

Schaffer – BB – Missouri – aerial, just a little low but holds it with arms – bhs bhs loso, right on – switch to split, good positions – full turn, good – 1.5, little hop. 9.800

“Non-gymnastics related health issues” is such an in phrase right now

Padurariu right to vertical on her bail, almost went over but stayed on the right side of excellent

Smith – VT – Utah – pretty large hop forward on Omelianchik

Harris – UB – UCLA – Ray, good – hits hs – bail – hits hs on high – giant full, just a little past today, DLO, small rebound. 9.900

Rucker sticks her vault. It’s a 10.000, head judge went 9.950.

Davis sticks her gainer full beam dismount.

Gilstrap finishes vault for Utah with a stick on her yfull, but chest forward and lean to hold it.

Frazier finishes bars for UCLA with a hop back on her DLO. 9.850

So that will be 49.575 vault for Utah.

Sheremeta – BB – Missouri – pretty beat jump – bhs loso, nice –

Chiles – UB – UCLA – good first hs – piked tkatchev to pak, good – maloney to gienger, right on – FTDT, holds the landing.

Sheremeta almost sticks her gainer tuck full on beam, little lean and quick salute. 9.850

9.975 for Chiles. UCLA goes 49.400 there.

Hu – BB – Missouri – swingdown mount, lovely – y spin, nice – aerial to aerial, nice – beat to split jump 3/4, good feet, around well – gainer full, stuck. Just a little low. Excellent.

Cunningham finishes floor with double pike, bounce back, some chest position.

9.925 for Hu with a range of 9.900 to 10.000

Schreiber – BB – Missouri – full turn, good – bhs loso loso, secure landing – switch 1/2, small shoulder dip, works quickly into split jump – beat to gainer full, good.

Davis on floor ending the rotation, 1.5 to front lay, controls the step, some leg separation in 1.5

9.925 for Schreiber to take Missouri to 49.400 on beam. They’re tied with UCLA after one rotation, which is big for the competitiveness of this meet, but UCLA also was a little blah in the beginning of that rotation so Missouri might have had an opportunity to go ahead on their best event.

After 1
Utah 49.575
Missouri 49.400
UCLA 49.400
Washington 49.150

Rotation 2

Lee – BB – UCLA – aerial to split jump, good 180 – bhs loso, small adjustment – switch to straddle, good – gainer full, holds the stick. Good. 9.850

Morgan a little slide back on bars dismount for Utah. Bouce back for Innes on vault leading off Washington.

Smith – UB – Utah – good hs – toe on to maloney, legs together to pak – 1/2 turn on low, solid vertical – hits hs on high – toe on to double arabian, some legs in the air, stuck landing with a stagger. 9.875

Brooks lands short on her y1/2 today with a bounce back.

Good secure double tuck on floor for Kratzer. Large bounce back on final double pike.

Brenner – UB – Utah – high jaeger, caught into overshoot – just gets that vertical on final cast hs – DLO, small bounce.

Padurariu – hits wolf double – side aerial to bhs, secure – switch, good – beat to sheep, wobble – 1.5, rises up onto toes to try to hold it.

Thompson – UB – Utah – good hs on low – maloney to pak, good height on pak – hesitates on cast hs 1/2 on low but works through it – also tight on cast hs on high – DLO is good, gets stick.

McCrary with a solid double pike on floor, chest down.

Chiles – BB – UCLA – aerial to bhs loso, solid – switch to wolf jump, little hesitation on landing – solid full turn – side aerial, no trouble – double pike, bounce back

On what planet was Thompson’s the best bars for Utah so far? O’Keefe sticks her double arabian dismount. Not her best handstands in this one but solid.

Sheremeta – FX – Missouri – front 2/1, little crossover – rudi to lovely loso

SKW vaults for Washington to her knees.

Nice bhs loso bhs series for Harris on beam – switch to split leap to full turn, comfortable on the series today – 1.5 dismount, stuck.

Isa gets the stick on her DLO on bars. Was a bit short on the giant full heading into it.

Cunningham sticks her yfull for Washington to drop the SKW fall.

Isa gets 9.900, Utah goes 49.350 on bars to underscore UCLA’s number.

Harris gets 9.950 on beam.

Moore – FX – Missouri – DLO, nice landing – switch 1/2 to popa to popa is good – front tuck through to double tuck, chest up, good landing –

Malabuyo arm wave wobble and turn to the side on her series on beam. Sticks good gainer full. The rest was right on.

Missouri on track for the highest score of this rotation, which is exactly what they needed.

9.950 for Moore.

Celestine – FX – Missouri – could move into first with 9.925 here – FTDT, some leg position, controls the step – split leap full to split jump full, nice amplitude – back 1.5 to front lay, some slide forward – double tuck, little rebound.

9.900 for Celestine, so Missouri and Utah will be tied after two. Thank you Missouri for delivering so far.

After 2:
Missouri 98.925
Utah 98.925
UCLA 98.725
Washington 98.300

UCLA will have to bring the home floor right now because they’re starting to slide back. But you’d favor both UCLA and Utah to gain multiple tenths on Missouri in the third rotation.

UCLA an OK beam rotation, but a little too wobbly except for Harris and Lee, which seems them drop back on what should be a really good event.

Rotation 3

Lee – FX – UCLA – double tuck, little rebound – short landing on front full, knees, lunge back – double pike, pretty solid landing, chest down. Still got 9.800

McCrary – VT – Missouri – medium bounce back on yfull, some knees – 9.825

Morgan for Utah had a check on dance landing, otherwise solid.

Schreiber VT – Missouri – yfull, finds the stick, bends a bit down for it with some chest position. 9.900

Moody pretty big bounce back on bars dismount for Washington.

Oh look the scores broke again.

Davis – VT – Missouri – solid height on yfull but a bounce back

Malabuyo – FX – UCLA – double tuck, bounce back – 1.5 to layout, nice layout height, dance out – switch ring to switch 1/2, lovely – double pike, controls. 9.900

Still waiting on Morgan’s beam score. Wasn’t watching close enough to see if there was anything SV there.

Medium step forward for Celestine on 1.5. Moore follows with a huge stick on hers.

Paulson – BB – Missouri – side aerial to loso, hit – secure leap series – beat to side aerial to layout 1.5, good stick. 9.900

9.975 for Moore. Want to explain the difference to me between Rucker and Moore?

Harris – FX – UCLA – FTDT, bounce back today – double tuck, slide back – split leap full to popa, good split positions – back 1.5 to 1/2 to double stag, nice control. 9.900

Eaker – BB – Utah – switch mount to split leap, no trouble today – full turn, hit – side aerial to loso, nice landing, chest down – gainer full, low amplitude, stuck. 9.950

49.450 vault for Missouri. Huge deal for them. Will keep them RIGHT in this heading to the last event.

Frazier – FX – UCLA – whip through to double tuck, her best open on a double tuck like ever – split leap full to popa to popa, similar to last time, much higher and horizontal popas than usual – double pike, little rebound. 9.950.

Isa – BB – Utah – candle mount – bhs loso loso, good control – full turn, overturns by a 1/4 turn, styles it out – solid straddle 1/4 – bhs gainer full, solid except for the turn.

Campbell – FX – UCLA – FTDT, holds the landing – split leap full to popa, around well – front lay to front full, hit – double tuck, controls front foot. Nice. 9.950

O’Keefe – BB – Utah – side aerial to loso, right on – switch to split leap, good positions – full turn, smooth – beat – bhs gainer full, stuck, excellent. 9.950

Chiles – FX – UCLA – DLO, good control – double tuck, little rebound – split leap full to wolf full, around well – double pike, nice one.

Gilstrap – BB – Utah – wolf turn, hit – cat leap to aerial, nice leg position in aerial – bhs back pike, secure landing – switch to split to beat, bhs 1.5, nearly held onto the landing, step-salute.

Chiles gets 10.000 for that floor for a 49.700 rotation total. That will take them half a tenth ahead of Missouri after three events. We go to commercial before we get Gilstrap’s score. It’s still going to be quite close among the top three teams heading to the last event, which is all we could have asked for.

Except for working live scores. That would have been nice.

After 3:
Utah 148.450
UCLA 148.425
Missouri 148.375
Washington 147.200

Big vault rotation for UCLA obviously. It was the weakness at the beginning of the season with those early yfulls. They have to show that they can get a competitive vault score here because Missouri is very capable of a 49.4 on bars. In UCLA’s favor, vault has been pretty loosely scored today.

Utah not clear by any means. Going to floor and the way that has been scoring, they will like their chances.

Rotation 4

Celestine sticks bars dismount. Brenner good control on double pike, 1.5 to layout, solid -double tuck was deeper with a slide back.

Frazier – VT – UCLA – good distance, medium bounce back on yfull.

Just 9.750 for Celestine.

Schreiber – UB – Missouri – maloney to bail, solid, some hip angle in the air – DLO, stuck landing. Solid.

Lee with just a little bounce back on yfull. Following Frazier 9.850, edge to UCLA early. Brenner 9.875 on floor.

Kathy like, GET EVERYONE WHO ISN’T JAYLENE’S LEAPS OUT OF MY EYES.

Moors – VT- UCLA – handspring pike 1/2, pulls it out, bounce back, a little lack of height and some chest position.