… 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
Utah Bars
Florida Floor
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
“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. …
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