Entries Tagged 'NCAA' ↓

NGM feels this Vault may have been better than Zamarippa’s 10.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. 9.975

Landing is better. But Vanessa “sets” better. And is higher. Still, I’d have awarded both superstars a 10.

Geralen Stack-Eaton bio

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And the All-around probably should have been even higher.

One of the greatest College gymnasts all time.

UCLA – athlete bio

Click PLAY or watch watch her 10.0 Vault on YouTube. The only 10 of the competition.

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… my LIVE notes taken during the competition:

Warm-ups ____

The BEST thing about College Gymnastics is TEAM. TEAM spirit. Fans cheering for their TEAM. The Alabama Pep Band is here.

It’s so much FUN to attend NCAA meets.

The second best thing about Collegiate gymnastics is the expectation that gymnasts will HIT their routines. It’s a shocking surprise when they miss. Beam is a pleasure to watch at this level.

Bars – Alabama did a series of dismount STICKS for each girl in the line-up. Ashley Sledge’s double layout is about as high as humanly possible. (Launched, not pinged.)

Floor – Stanford circles the Floor, then alternates front tuck stick, to step-out, as a Team building warm-up.

Beam – Love Pezek’s effortless gainer layout. Smart College series: backward handspring > layout step-out > layout 1/1 dismount. Gerber uses it, as well.

Bars – Utah inconsistent in warm-ups compared with the top teams.

Floor(ida) warming up a LOT. Many reps of each tumbling line. Plenty of spotting.

Alabama will end on Beam 6th rotation. That’s pressure.

Rotation 1 _____ … Good start for all 4 teams.

Florida Vault – lotta BIG vaulters in this line-up. But only Ashanee truly stuck.

UCLA Floor – great choreography, but not the “best” in the NCAA, as they normally are. Comparatively weak tumbling, too, with Vanessa only front tumbling. Peszek stayed on her feet on double pike this day.

EHH awesome. Unique. Clean. One for the all-star UCLA Floor archives. But OB on double pike dismount. Peng will be anchoring next season, I predict.

Utah Beam – solid. Well prepared. Utah fans celebrating.

Arkansas Bars – Grable and especially Pisani are awesome on Bars. But the rest of the line-up not strong enough to compete with the top teams.

Rotation 2 _____ … still no falls from any team!

UCLA Vault – After being chewed out by coach Val in prelims, I expected better. EHH is an average vaulter, but still went 9.9 fighting for the landing. Frattone nearly stuck. Thankfully, Zamarripa skyrocketed her YF for a dagger in a plank landing, and finally got the 10 she deserves most of the time.

Stanford Bars – Beautiful line and style. But I don’t like low shoot overs. Ivana had a small step on landing. Penchanec hit and stuck, but only got 9.9 … funny dismount for Shapiro.

‘Bama Floor – BIG BIG tumbling. Dull choreography. Gutierrez is my fave ‘Bama routine.

Arkansas Beam – They opened with Scarlett Williams, a fantastic routine. It’s no fluke that the Razorbacks are in the Super 6. They are terrific on Beam. Having Pisani and Grable to finish must fill the rest of the girls with confidence.

Rotation 3 _____ … Fall Dickerson Bars.

Florida Bars – Didn’t hurt the Gators, though. The rest of the team HIT. Elis, Hunter, Caquatto, Johnson all STUCK. One impressive Bar team!

‘Bama Vault – XLNT. Stack-Eaton and Milliner stuck.

Utah Floor – I watched closely this time around. The choreography and construction of routines really is good. LOVE Damianova’s double tuck and double pike, as clean as anyone in the meet. Nansy’s music messed up, showing technical malfunctions happen even in NCAA Finals.

Stanford Beam – Excellent again. This is their best apparatus.

Rotation 4 _____ … more HIT routines …

Utah Vault – XLNT rotation for the Utes.

UCLA Bars – Pretty weak first 3 routines for a team that wants to win it all. But Peszek, Gerber and especially Zamarippa were fantastic. Vanessa got 9.95 but truly that routine’s a 10 compared to the rest.

Arkansas Floor – Minor stumbles. A strange fall for Canizaro. Then a shocking fall for superstar Jamie Pisani.

Florida Beam – Former Excalibur gymnast Randy Stageberg opens with a strong 9.9.

Spicer HIT.

Johnson HIT. Arial to layout 1/1 dismount.

Ashanee Dicerson HIT and STICK.

FLORIDA WILL WIN … it was at this point that the lightning bolt struck me.

… I guess I was struck by the wrong lightning bolt.

Kytra Hunter HIT. Marissa King HIT.

Rotation 5 _____ … “misses” for Alabama on Bars, UCLA on Beam:

Arkansas Vault – Great job! Scarlett Williams could have gotten a 9.95 (one judge forgot to watch the vault, throwing the standard 9.85)

Alabama Bars – MISS for Sarah DeMeo, up first, on a simple skill. The rest of the line-up hit, but not nearly as well as the day before. No sticks. Ashley Priess handstands are Zamarippa perfect, but step on landing.

Stanford Floor – SMART. “Simple” tumbling. Well constructed routines. Scored well.

UCLA Beam – Gerber nearly misses her foot on dismount. Deduction for the first competitor. Pressure on the rest of the line-up. Mattie Larson HIT. Zamarippa no mistake on layout today. What a GORGEOUS gymnast. EHH falls on aerial to layout — what a shame.

Peszek moved to last in the rotation for — I assume — the chance to add standing 1/1 to bump the score. After mistakes earlier in the line-up, she didn’t use it. But HIT and STICK for Sam.

Beam will likely drop UCLA to 3rd.

Rotation 6 _____ … Alabama must close the meet on Beam. …

Stanford Vault

Alabama Beam

An incredible finish. Everyone was hitting and sticking.

Stanford, who hardly vaulted in training, must have had the top team Vault score. Amazing.

Watching Florida’s stone cold Kytra Hunter on Floor to finish the meet. And Alabama’s Ashley Priess on Beam, to seal the win, was one of my top competition highlights ever.

… I still thought Florida had won until the ‘Bama fans erupted in joy.

Congratulations to all 6 Super 6 teams. That was a terrific performance.

Alabama 197.850
Florida 197.775
UCLA 197.750
Stanford 197.500
Utah 197.375
Arkansas 196.300

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Alabama 197.850
Florida 197.775
UCLA 197.750
Stanford 197.500
Utah 197.375
Arkansas 196.300

Here’s the psych-up video inspiring the Tide in Team Finals.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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Have begun.

@StanfordWGym

Stanford is psyched.

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“This moment has been a long time coming,” Illini head coach Justin Spring said. “I have been a part of the NCAA for 10 years as an athlete, an assistant coach and now a head coach, and every time, I was on a team that had a shot at this thing. For the first time, we pulled it off. …

Illinois Wins Men’s Gymnastics National Title

As is so often the case, the Men’s Collegiate Championships was more unpredictable than the Women’s.

… Down by over 3 points going into the final two rotations, Illinois roared back, on of all things, pommel horse. The Illini blew the doors off their hinges, exceeding their season high on the event by nearly 3 points. …

The Illini posted four of the top seven scores on PH, led by Chad Mason’s 15.30, followed by Cole Smith (15.25), Yoshi Mori (15.10) and Maestas (15.10). …

For Ruggeri, Wednesday night’s winner of the Nissen-Emery Award, he must be thankful for the 5th year of eligibility he was granted after last season’s ankle injury at Winter Cup. The extra year enabled him to win the big prize, a national team title, while the Nissen-Emery was icing on the cake. …

Stick It Media – Illini Enter Beast Mode to Win 2012 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Title

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Today’s apparatus finals for Men will be LIVE streamed by NCAA. But there’s no more free LIVE streaming for the Women’s competition.

SOME can watch the Women’s Super 6 on ESPN 3. Click through to that link to see if you are one of them.

The best way to follow the women’s Super 6 is on Twitter. Try … @InsideGym #supersix #ncaagym

Leave a comment if you find other good ways to follow the ladies LIVE.

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Pac-12 teams: UCLA, Utah, Stanford

vs

SEC teams: Alabama, Florida and Arkansas

Having the two conferences pitted against each other is appropriate since the two dominate college gymnastics now that the Utes are a part of the Pac-12.

The Pac-12 leads the country with 129 NCAA appearances, while the SEC has 115. Both conferences have produced 15 national titles and with 75, the Pac-12 has three more individual champions than the SEC.

Lya Wodraska | The Salt Lake Tribune – Utah gymnastics: Super Six is a Pac-12 vs. SEC showdown

NCAA – Pac-12, SEC make up Super Six

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Alabama gymnastics head coach Sarah Patterson in the post NCAA Semifinals Press Conference.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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Final All-Around Results:

1. Kytra Hunter (UF)- 39.725
2. Kat Ding (UGA)- 39.65
3. Jaime Pisani (Ark)- 39.625
4. Geralen Stack Eaton (Alabama)- 39.625
5. Alaina Johnson (UF)- 39.6
6. Ashanee Dickerson (UF)- 39.6
7. Ashley Priess (Alabama)- 39.5
8. Katie Zurales (Michigan)- 39.475
9. Katherine Grable (Ark)- 39.45
10. Makayla Stambaugh (OSU) (39.425)

Freshman Kytra Hunter led the #1 ranked Gators through the preliminary competition at the NCAA Championships and won the elusive NCAA All Around title. Hunter totaled a massive 39.725 (9.975 on vault, 9.90 on bars, 9.90 on beam, and 9.95 on floor). In addition to helping her team advance to tomorrow’s Super Six teams finals, Hunter also advanced to event finals on vault and floor.

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

Watch more video of 2012 NCAA Championships (Women) on gymnastike.org

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After some INCREDIBLE comeback on Pommels, the Illini win their first title since 1989.

via @IlliniGym

1 Univ. Of Illinois 358.850
2 Univ. Of Oklahoma 357.450
3 Penn State Univ. 354.800
4 U.C. Berkeley – California 353.000
5 Stanford Univ. 352.650
6 Univ. Of Michigan 351.050

Click PLAY or watch some Team highlights from prelims Thursday on YouTube.

Jake Dalton – 91.0 AA (15.55 Vault)
Sam Mikulak of Michigan and CJ Maestas of Illiois tied for 2nd at 89.7

Vault is devalued 1.0 in the NCAA.

via @USAGym, @collegegymfans, @StickItMedia, @intlgymnast

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Women’s NCAA Gymnastics Championships (session II)

related – Quick hits: Women’s qualifying at the NCAA Gymnastics Championships (session II)

The main story of round 2 of prelims is Georgia not advancing. At home.

… “You cannot count two falls and get out of this meet, you just cannot do it,” Georgia coach Jay Clark said. “It’s a shame. It’s disappointing. It’s an emotional thing for all of us right now. I’m trying to be very careful with what I say. But this team, in my mind, has been one of the most consistent teams in the nation all year. It was the one thing we had. …

Falls keep Gym Dogs out of Super Six

related – Life after Yoculan tough for UGA, coach Jay Clark

related – Gym Dogs Again Falter in Postseason; Georgia Should Fire Jay Clark

Personally, I thought Georgia looked good. Well prepared. Smart routines.

But on first apparatus, Bars, Christa Tanella fell twice. Ouch.

Second rotation Beam. Georgia’s first competitor, Noel Couch, falls, putting pressure on the line-up. Kaylan Earls falls. Sarah Persinger falls. … Merde.

On the bright side, Shayla HIT as anchor.

Could Georgia fight back from this deep a hole?

____ my LIVE jots from NCAAs

A small, loud and knowledgable crowd of FANATICS.

_____ 1st rotation:

Georgia misses Bars. But still scores 49.0

Kat Ding is into the Bar Final. But I don’t like her grip adjustments.

In the meantime, the competition is killing it:

BEAM – Alabama 49.60
VAULT – Florida 49.575
FX – Arkansas 49.15

_____ 2nd rotation:

Georgia 3 falls on Beam: 1) Noel Couch, 4) Kaylan Earls, 5) Sarah Presinger

Oregon State OK on Floor, but has fairly weak tumbling. Olivia Vivian falls out of bounds on double pike. 48.975

Arkansas Vault OK, Ohio State Bars OK.

Florida and Alabama are going to get through. But who will be team #3?

_____ 3rd rotation:

Florida warmed-up Bars loose, but was brilliant in competition. Sticks: Dickerson, Caquatto, Johnson.

The Tide rolled on Floor. Big tumbling, unsophisticated choreography. Where does Marissa Gutierrez get the power for that double layout?

One 10 on Floor for Stack-Eaton.

Huge hit Beam for Ohio State’s Sarah Miller 9.9, anchoring a good rotation.

Oregon State OK on Vault. Again, they need more power.

_____ 4th rotation:

Georgia left the competition area after that disastrous Beam. But came in looking focused for the 5th rotation.

_____ 5th rotation:

Georgia near maxed out their Vault potential score 49.60. (I would have given Kat Ding a 10 on Vault.)

That put pressure on Arkansas over on Beam. Especially after Sam Kolbas had 2 falls! But the Razorbacks put it away with solid Beam sets finishing with Pisani 9.950 and Grable 9.950!

Oregon State was less sharp than usual on their best apparatus, Bars. Worst of all, anchor L Mak dragged her feet on kip after Bhardwaj.

Ohio State did a good job on their best apparatus, Floor.

_____ 6th rotation:

Before the final rotation we thought the qualifiers had been decided:

Florida
Alabama
Arkansas

The last rotation was a great show. The Tide hit SUPER on Bars, with three 9.9s. OSU looked great on Beam. And I was really impressed with Ohio State on Vault. They were fighting for STICK.

Florida did clean, careful Floor routines. No problems aside from two OBs. Kytra Hunter 9.95 has a TON of power.

In fact, Florida’s Kytra Hunter won the AA.

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Advancing to Saturday’s Super Six from NCAA semifinal 2: Alabama (197.675), Florida (197.65), and Arkansas (197.15)

4. OSU – 196.525
5. UGA – 196.500
6. Oregon State – 196.450

Compare those numbers with the “winners” of semifinal 1: UCLA 197.40, Utah 197.20, Stanford 197.125.

Scores escalated a touch in the second semi-final. But not as drastically as I feared.

The Tide ... and their giant bobble heads

With Georgia out, it looks to me like Alabama, Florida or UCLA will win in 2012.

I don’t have a prediction which.

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