A fantastic and unusual NCAA competition ended predictably: UCLA defeated Stanford, University of Illinois and University of Washington.
The audience was filled with young competitive gymnasts, ALL aspiring to compete one day in the NCAA. This is a wonderful motivator for kids.
UCLA, the most “famous” of the teams, was the crowd favourite.
And, once again, Anna Li won the all-around. (Another crowd favourite, she’s from Aurora, IL.)
Last season Anna competed on every event in every meet, tying for fourth overall in the all-around (39.5) at Championships. No one claims Anna is the best gymnast in the NCAA — but she’ll beat the best gymnast in the NCAA on any given day, if they miss. Anna Li is a competition machine. She looked PERFECT last night scoring a career-high (39.6).
On the UCLA website:
“This is the first time this season we’ve competed like Bruins,” said UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos Field.
It was a team season high score. For a team that is 10-0.
UCLA coach Chris Waller said he felt all 4 teams looked great and was pleased the College girls were able to put on a good show for the gymnasts.
Enough about UCLA. Personally I felt Stanford was just as good. And even more cohesive and enthusiastic as a team. If it wasn’t for the weird NCAA competition rules, the result might have been reversed.
Many, many teams in the NCAA are much better than in 2007. Quality and difficulty of routines improved.
This is just a great season for Collegiate gymnastics.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 