2023 NCAA Nationals (April 13 &15)

[Sasha]

Well, time to catch up on Euros, I guess. It’s been fun(ish), folks. Looking forward to next year.

 

[cuuf]

She stated in an interview she was not leaving school

 

[arabiandoublefront]

That’s how I feel, too.

 

[dweiss324]

Agree with the general vibe here. Somewhere between over it and not actively mad about it. Predictable result, but you can’t say OU didn’t have good gymnastics, and it was even exceptional at times. It was close enough to be like “wait, but the scoring”, but it’s not like Florida was fully healthy or fully flawless either. Trautman’s bars and beam scores bothered me a lot, and Ragan Smith I just can’t get on board with for the life of me, but Utah’s vault was so rough. Like, what was that?? And OU just never really gave a super solid opportunity for Florida to make up those two tenths, and Leanne’s floor cost them exactly that.

Ugh. The worst thing today for me was learning Ragan Smith was taking a fifth year. In 2017 I thought she was going to be medically retired within the blink of an eye, and yet here she still is. She will always be “beads girl” to me, and I feel like she’s just been this perpetually un-aging 15 year old for a decade now. Except now she’s burnt orange. I know that’s not fair to her, I’m glad she’s had a great college career, I just… Can’t believe she’s still here

 

[rlayt]

I have that vibe. I thought maybe I was just being a grouchy old lady.

Maybe when next fall rolls around I’ll be back to anticipating meets again. Right now it doesn’t feel like it.

 

[Beamer]

On a positive note about NCAA Nationals:

Florida delivered under pressure in TF.

Kayla DiCello went 9.9 or above on all 4 events in TF. A new NCAA heavy hitter.

Trinity Thomas rocked a 10.0 VT in TF despite her injury and coming up short in warmup attempts!

Jordan Chiles is an NCAA Champion on UB and FX. And an AA runner-up.

Riley McCusker, having a previous history with handling pressure, nailed her two events under pressure when it mattered most in TF.

Haleigh Bryant went 9.9875 on VT in TF, won bronze in the AA, and dropped a casual 39.725 AA in TF to be the star for LSU.

Maile O’Keefe, after dominating the regular season on BB, won a much deserved NCAA BB title. Moreover, she scored 10.0s on BB on BOTH days of NCAAs.

Victoria Nguyen exceeded expectations in the AA in TF.

Skye Blakely went 4 for 4 in TF, nailing bars and beam.

Audrey Davis was gorgeous on UB and BB in TF.

Jordan Bowers delivered a 39.6875 AA in TF like a boss. Maybe an AA title in her future?

Faith Torrez went 9.9 or above on all 5 events she completed in Semis and Finals, living up to high expectations.

Utah won Semifinals with a 198.225 and showed OU was not without rival.

Florida kept it close to OU in TF, keeping the drama to the final rotation.

Cal made Nationals.

Denver made Nationals and Lynnzee Brown went 39.6625 in the AA after a devastating end to her previous season.

Grace McCallum hit all of her routines at Nats and really delivered on UB.

Chae Campbell nailed all 3 of her events in Semis.

UCLA went 49.7125 on FX in Semis.

Leanne Wong put up a massive 9.975 UB in TF, and despite a history of often being less than her best on BB in the highest of pressure situations, she delivered a hit beam in TF. Additionally, she rocked a 9.9625 FX in Semis to finish as the runner-up on the event.

Norah Flatley and Jade Carey rocked their one event, BB of all events to have to wait for and compete without your team.

Any others? What did you like about Nationals?

 

[irichluck21]

She stated in an interview she was not leaving school

What did she say exactly? Not leaving school or not leaving the team?
She can still do schooling and train for Paris but not be on campus.

Just curious what was stated in the interview.

 

[irichluck21]

Highlights:

Victoria Nguyen competing the AA for the first time (as a Gator) and anchoring BB and VT with those specific performances. That BB was a clutch performance under immense pressure. She hadn’t competed beam in two months!

Grace McCallum able to come back and compete two events after that horrible injury.

Cal showing that they are going to be a force next year.

Ohio State well represented by Edwards and Harris, they will be in the hunt for a nationals berth.

Abby Brenner having the time of her life and provided 3 strong scores for Utah in the final.

Courtney Blackson finishing as VT runner up which is a big deal for their program in terms of exposure.

UCLA’s complete turn around in terms of performances and overall vibe and energy, it is clear that McDonald is a good fit as head coach. Though they didn’t make Super Six, they deserved to.

Oklahoma’s determination to hit and win, a total gymn dynasty, very reminiscent of the Utah and Georgia dominance eras.’

Jordan Chiles having fun.

Penn State having two individuals at Nationals since last qualifying in 2019.

LSU, fighting all the way until the last vault by Bryant, despite the horrific year of injuries. Jay Clark needs to be on his knees in prayer that somehow LSU made it all the way to Final Four when they were close to being eliminated three times at regional semi finals, regional finals, and then national semis.

 

[cuuf]

She didnt explicitly say she was going to school but not going to compete in college, but in the context of the interview it was implied, at least thats how I interpreted it. She is on pre-med track. Of course she added, “at this time”. Its at the 1hr mark of this show that starts the interview.

Sports Scene with Steve Russell

 

[makam]

Can she use the coaches at Florida instead of going back to GAGE?

 

[blake]

I really don’t get why they didn’t switch to a tucked dbl arabian for Leanne. She was constantly underrotating it in regular season and having to finesse a landing.

I was super happy to see Riley hit a great set there after prelims and with the pressure of having to drop a fall, and I was glad to see Jenny sub out Richards on beam. She’s like the reincarnation of B. Caquatto.

The scoring for Blakely and Richards on floor plus the 9.75-9.9 range (pre-oob) for Leanne’s floor felt very forgiving, and makes it hard for me to agree Florida was robbed, though I think there’s an argument for the beam judges holding OU up. How on earth was Trautman within a tenth of the Utah lineup? 9.85 for Dunn with a bend at the hips? I thought it was odd they chose to be lenient on those two routines. I’d maybe have been okay if it had been Davis who wobbled and still broke 9.8 because she’s a much better beam worker. And I don’t understand how the judges thought Trautman had the best routine in OU’s bar lineup with a hop?

 

[irichluck21]

I really don’t get why they didn’t switch to a tucked dbl arabian for Leanne. She was constantly underrotating it in regular season and having to finesse a landing.

I believe Leanne wanted to keep the Dos Santos in for her elite floor.

But yeah someone of Wong’s caliber could open with a 2 1/2 punch tuck and then close with a double pike, with her clean dance she she auto 9.950 each week. Instead her floor has been inconsistent all yea.

 

[cuuf]

They did change Sloane’s floor passes as she struggled all year with keeping control on those.

 

[Orange]

I know the coaches are trying to keep the gymnasts happy, but Rowland should have ditched Wong’s Dos Santos a long time ago. She was always short on it but usually managed to save it with a squatty landing. It wasn’t much of a surprise that the pass she’d been having trouble with all season went wrong with the added pressure of nationals.

Chiles’ beam dismount is another one that baffled me. There has to be some balance of doing what’s best for the team versus what’s best for a gymnast that’s still trying to train elite. It’s no big deal that she was doing more difficulty than she needed on bars and floor because she was so consistent. That double pike dismount was just a deduction trap though.

 

[dweiss324]

This is my question. Surely there has to be a balance between training / competing an elite skill and doing something smart when it counts. Surely someone like Leanne or Jordan can have something easier and cleaner in their pocket and substitute it in during post season. Is it really that big of a deal to substitute out your hardest elite skills for one month of post season??

I wonder if other people on the team start to resent them, feeling like their obligation to keep elite skills ends up costing them tenths, if not meets at some point.

 

[jezmerallia]

They’re just like OU but without the interesting choreo on floor and beam. I find their choreo weird and off putting, especially since they have a lot of gymnasts who seem capable of performing better choreography.

If OU had strange, uninteresting choreography I would dislike them too.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

It’s perhaps also about signalling to future elites?

They’re basically saying look at us letting you do what you need to do so you can stay competitive in elite, we will facilitate your Olympic ambitions, you can have it all. Yes, it’ll probably piss some of the other team members off, but it’s not like the Level 10s are going to stop wanting to come, is it?

That said, it’s one thing doing that earlier in the season but quite another if risks are being taken in the championship. I get why Leanne was facilitated to keep the Dos Santos going for most of the season, but not really why it happened here.

 

[irichluck21]

 

[makam]

Yeah, post season should be about maximizing score by minimizing deductions. The coach should be telling them to cut the dty to a 1.5y if they can land it where it will score better. Same thing with dismounts and other bits of flare not necessary to the score. I loved Peng Peng’s double turn but was it really needed? Downgrade just enough to improve consistency, especially on elements that have been dicey all season is smarter than doing nothing. Unless the gymnast really is unable to adjust to doing a double tuck in place of a double pike or whatever.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

I’d think Leanne would have other options entirely for the tumble if she needed, too. Can’t think it’d be a situation where the gymnast loses the easier skill and has no choice.