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. …
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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