The Super Six fight it out tonight for the National Team title:
Illinois (356.25)
Oklahoma (356.20)
Michigan (353.45)
Penn State (353.00)
Cal (351.15)
Stanford (348.50)
I’ve got no prediction on who will win this year. 🙂
… The fourth-ranked Fighting Illini men’s gymnastics team advanced to the Super Six NCAA Team Finals for the 10th straight year with a season-best 356.250 …
“It wasn’t perfect,” Illini head coach Justin Spring said. “But everybody went out and did their job. …
The Card rocked Beamvia @StanfordWGym in the 6th and final rotation to move on. Congrats.
JOTS taken live during the competition:
_____ 1st rotation:
Good start. The only fall was Minnesota’s Slechta on Bars. Oklahoma looks to have a good chance to get through after hitting 6/6 on Beam. Some very smart, safe routines.
Megan Ferguson layout layout to knee scale. Cool.
Utah has strong tumbling this season. Their choreography is not special enough to get the BIG numbers, however.
Dan Kendig’s Bar team is SWEET. Nebraska girls all look ELITE in terms of execution and technique.
I wasn’t super impressed with UCLA’s Vault rotation. Neither was Miss Val. Only De La Torre stuck.
_____ 2nd rotation:
Nebraska should get through, too, after a strong Beam rotation. Emily Wong one of the favourites for Finals with 9.90. De Ziel’s stuck dismount superb! Unfortunately Busacker wobbled her way to a 9.25.
LSU is out of it, I think. Bars was weak. Hall fell.
Utah was quite strong on Vault. Stanford good on Floor, but not great. Hanset fell.
_____ 3rd rotation:
UCLA on Bars. Zamarippa superb warm-up routine. Talk about handstands. Tiny hop on double layout. She should probably win this Final. Scored 9.9.
Yet Aisha Gerber anchoring scored 9.925 sticking double Arabian dismount.
EHH was replaced by Mattie Larson. Mattie missed a little.
The numbers don’t looks bad for LSU on Beam. But it really wasn’t a strong performance.
Oklahoma is well coached. Period. Smart Floor routines with less difficulty than any other team. More twisting, fewer doubles. Megan Ferguson is SO CUTE. A fan favourite, for sure.
_____ 4th rotation:
UCLA should seal their qualification on Beam. They’re the best team in the NCAA, I’d say. Especially with Gerber 9.875 starting, a rock like Anna Li of old.
But Matie Larson wobbles to 9.775. And the goddess Vanessa falls on Aerial walkover. … They need thank EHH 9.90 and 2011 Beam Champ Pezek 9.90 for closing strong.
Nebraska had some good Floor. Love DeZiel and Evanstad.
Oklahoma did not particularly impress on Vault. Not much power amongst all those petite bodies.
Utah OK on Bars.
_____ 5th rotation:
LSU’s best event is FX. But it didn’t go nearly as well as they hoped. Maliah Mathis is a fantastic tumbler, but went OB on her double layout.
Hall was not as spectacular as usual and may not make finals with 9.875. I felt another power tumbler is even better on Floor — Bri Guy from Auburn: double layout, double twisting fwd layout, double pike. Sadly she over-rotated that double pike.
Utah had a fall on Beam from Robarts. But it didn’t hurt. They got through finishing 197.200. Somehow Utah always gets through to the Super 6.
Nebraska knew they needed to make up ground. Before Vault there was a team powwow — “We must STICK.” Unfortunately, only Janelle Giblin stuck for 9.925. Lora Evenstad nearly stuck and was underscored at 9.85, I thought.
Stanford is fun to watch on Bars. Some gorgeous form and line. Anchor Nicole Pechanec should have made finals, but did not stick her dismount.
_____ 6th rotation:
Dramatic.
Stanford HIT Beam to pull in to the top 3. Wow.
UCLA is my favourite team on Floor. Love Sam Pezek’s Welcome to the Jungle music — but (shockingly) she over-rotated double pike dismount.
Oklahoma showed some gorgeous Bars. I really thought they might get back into the top three. But it was not to be.
_____ Summary:
Oklahoma and Nebraska have nothing to be ashamed of. They looked great and either could easily have been 3rd.
LSU did miss. Congratulations to Rheagan Courville who leads the AA half way through prelims. When Savona joins the Tigers next season they’ll almost certainly have the strongest tumblers in College gym. And LSU had the best tailgate party today. 🙂
6 teams, 2 on byes. I still don’t like it. The flashed scores still leave the audience confused. Why don’t they show running average routine score? … Or running projected Team scores?
As I do every year at this event, let me thank Greg Marsden, Suzanne Yoculan, Sarah Patterson and everyone else who has helped build the best gymnastics conference in the world.
I count 69 Division 1&2 Colleges and 15 Division 3 schools. 84 total. … Not to mention the NAIGC (National Association of Intercollegiate Gymnastics Clubs) who’s Championships starts Thursday, April 19th in Salt Lake City.
Think of all the gymnasts aspiring to reach the NCAA. All the gymnasts helped through their College degree. All the coaches with full-time jobs.
The women’s NCAA is fantastic.
15,558 fans - Florida at Utah 2011
Recall that FIG couldn’t fill a small arena in Tokyo even though it had Kohei Uchimura in it.
Only the women’s NCAA has properly marketed our sport.
Congratulations.
Now I’ll sit back and enjoy the competition. Reporting after each session.
Stanford did less training than any other team on Podium. Coach Chris Swircek told that their plan is to HIT 3 days of competition, not one. Eyes on the prize.
Florida has been the most “impressive” team many seasons over the past number of years. Yet they haven’t been able to win their first Championships.
I’ve always felt that they compete too much difficulty. Most others opine they peak too early.
In podium training Florida was the most spotted team by far. Is that to keep them safe from last minute injury? … I fear it undermines confidence for landing a wee bit.
Click PLAY or watch Kytra Hunter’s Bars on Gymnastike.
The storyline this year is that the Gators have learned the lesson, and have gas left in the tank for the BIG SHOW:
“There is really no comparison,” Faehn said. “By this time in past years they were hanging by a thread, and physical and emotionally, they were very strained. It was harder for them to get pumped and to get themselves confident.” …
So, to counter last year’s slow physical decline as the season progressed, Faehn opted not to turn up the intensity to high as soon as the team arrived on campus in the fall. Instead, there was a slow burn.
The gymnasts cut back on the physical demands of refining their daily routines to focus more on strength and cardio conditioning.
… “We waited until almost November to do full routines.”
If a gymnast had a nagging injury, Faehn didn’t hesitate to tell her to take a few days off to rehab and get well before the next competition. …
Watch as Alabama, the defending national champions, get ready for the NCAA Championships in Duluth, GA! They got a surprise visit from champion football coach Nick Saban, then held an intrasquad to prepare for their final competition of the season where they will aim to defend their national title.
This workout was filmed the Sunday before the 2012 NCAA Championships.
Respect. She was up against Kat Ding of Georgia, Megan Ferguson of Oklahoma, Leslie Mak of Oregon State, Jaime Pisani of Arkansas and Geralen Stack-Eaton of Alabama. Now that’s an all-star line-up.
… senior Amy Glass was named the 2012 AAI Award winner Thursday evening (April 19) at the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championship awards banquet held at the Gwinnett Center.
Glass becomes the first (Boise State) Bronco to ever earn the honor, considered the sport’s equivalent to the Heisman Award. The honor is given annually to the top senior student-athlete in NCAA Division I women’s gymnastics by a vote of the sports’ head coaches from around the country. …
Gymnastics Coaching.com 