Gymnastic Examiner has a good wrap-up of the Friday night meets.
By Monday it looks like Alabama will be ranked #1. Coach Sarah Patterson is smiling. Her team had it’s highest score since 2007, 197.450.
Senior Morgan Dennis used a career-high 9.975 to win the vault and a 9.95 to win the floor exercise, she also came away with the all-around title, posting a 39.675, just .050 off her career-best score.
“I think tonight is just the beginning and everything just clicked for us,” Dennis said. “It was a huge improvement from last week and I am just really excited for where the season is going.” …
UCLA scored only 194.425 Friday night but competes again Sunday at Stanford. The Bruins will need to put up a HIGH number if they want to hold the #1 team ranking.
… Mac, in the comments, points out UCLA used this meet to get some new routines into the meet. It wasn’t their top line-up.
Still … this season is getting interesting!
Susan Jackson (LSU) is #1 in the All-around. She scored 39.525 last night and won or tied for first place on all four events. This girl’s on a mission.
11 comments ↓
Alabama really had a stellar meet
you can watch it here http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=alab
Casey Jo Magee also has a wonderful BB at around 01:42:00, including a double turn into a front handspring down to the beam.
“UCLA scored only 194.425 Friday night”
To be fair, they were rotating in both newcomers and new routines. 13 of 24 routines were first-time routines. Three of their top performers sat out the meet so others could gain experience.
“The Bruins will need to put up a HIGH number”
Developing a deep, experienced squad can be more important than just putting up high scores to keep the #1 ranking. In football or basketball, #1 is determined by wins, not cumulative points, so the ranking’s not hurt by sitting the stars in a “certain” win.
Good points, Mac.
UCLA is the team to beat this year, I think.
My question is, can they be consistent enough?
Scores throughout the year tend to reveal consistency at Nationals. … That said, this was a good meet to test some new routines in competition.
I expect at Stanford both teams will put in their best line-ups.
Hey Mac, I added a note to the original post. Your comment that UCLA was testing some new routines in competition.
I do think UCLA is probably the team to beat but Alabama’s score was real. They are that good. I think they are the best in the country on bars and vault. I’ll give UCLA the edge on beam and floor. Overall I think its going to be a good year for NCAA gymnastics. Georgia will get better and so will Utah, and I think Oklahoma has the potential to put it all together when it counts.
How is Personett ranked in the AA?
She just got her first 10.0 ever tonight (vault). She posted 39.575 in the AA.
Fantastic! … I’ll try to post that vault when it goes up. Her coach is quite active on Twitter.
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2010/01/23/personett_perfect_on_vault_lio.aspx
I’m very, very excited for Brandi this year. Last year I feel like she was on the cusp of being in the running for titles. This year – so far – she’s been on fire. It’s not only her first 10.0, it’s also the first 10.0 for PSU since 2003.
Brandi won the AA, vault, beam, and floor. She placed 4th on bars.
She was 22nd after week 2.
http://www.troester.com/gym/WRankings/2010/0118/W-AA.htm
I have to say I am just so happy that things are more exciting this year, with Georgia not blitzing everything straight up. Miss Val said she wasn’t expecting high scores for the tri-meet because she is mixing and matching the line-up, but it is good she is willing to experiment despite risking the standings. She said it is back to the A-team for the Stanford meet, though. But can they crack a 197? I hope so! They just have to hit beam and put EHH back in the AA with Li.
[...] is now the #1 ranked team, I [...]
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