2016 NCAA Gymnastics

[Allen]

Thought I would get a thread started for the 2016 NCAA season since the Cancun Classic is tonight. Arkansas, Iowa, and Michigan are taking part in the classic. It can be viewed at FloGymnastics (formerly Gymnastike) with their "pro" subscription.

Also, there is a fantasy NCAA gymnastics competition going on over at College Fantasy Gymnastics. You draft a team and compete in leagues over the course of the season. In order to participate, you would need to sign up and draft at least one team member before 11:59 pm tomorrow night (Jan 3).

Here are the preseason top 25:

Rank Team Points First Place Votes
1 Oklahoma 2266 (29)
2 Florida 2234 (15)
3 Alabama 2174 (4)
4 Utah 2171 (14)
5 L.S.U. 2119 (3)
6 UCLA 1922
7 Michigan 1912
8 Stanford 1863
9 Georgia 1839
10 Auburn 1811
11 Nebraska 1801
12 Oregon State 1491
13 Arkansas 1457
14 California 1411
15 Illinois-Champaign 1369
16 Denver 1368
17 Penn State 1246
18 Arizona 1178
19 Boise State 1154 (1)
20 Minnesota 1024
21 Kentucky 876
22 Ohio State 869
23 Missouri 852
24 Southern Utah 829
25 Central Michigan 821

I'm assuming Boise State's coach gave them a first place vote, that's cute

 

[Allen]

Michigan took the Cancun Classic with a 196.975 followed by Arkansas and Iowa. Michigan looked good all around. Vault will be great for them if they can get some sticks as they had three 1.5 yurchenkos and apparently another 1-2 in the works. Olivia Karas is going to be big in NCAA. Her vault was fabulous even with the hop.

http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-gym/recaps/010216aab.html

 

[BigB08822]

Can't wait for the season!!! I guess it already began since I missed the Cancun classic but Michigan got a great score for a season opener.

LSU and Oklahoma will take on each other this Saturday in Baton Rouge. I will be at the meet!

 

[Fridge_Break]

I AM SO EXCITED!

 

[Fridge_Break]

TV Schedule for all networks

For this weekend:

Tonight
Michigan State @ Arizona - Pac 12 Arizona
BYU @ Utah - Pac 12
Florida @ Texas Women's - FloGymnastics (subscription)

Tomorrow
Iowa State @ Minnesota - BTN+ (subscription)
Oklahoma @ LSU - SECN+

Sunday
Alabama @ UCLA - Pac 12
Auburn @ Oregon State - Pac 12 Oregon
Missouri @ Lindenwood - FloGymnastics

 

[Allen]

I had to laugh that Texas Women's didn't get as much applause as Bridget Sloan when they were announced and it's a home meet for them.

 

[Lara]

For those who can't access Pac 12 via cable sub, I'm watching Utah vs BYU on xrxs.net (may only work on Safari/Apple devices, sorry if so).

Yay for the new season starting!

 

[Fridge_Break]

2016 Perfect 10.0 Count

1, as of 1/10/16

Jan 9 - Nina McGee - Denver - FX

(Not sure if there isn't sound, of if it's just my computer being stupid)

I'm not so sure I would have given this a 10.0. Her first and last passes are excellent, but the form in the middle pass is pretty loosey-goosey, including flexed feet on the front layout. A solid 9.9, sure. But not a 10. Regardless, congrats to Nina for being the first to achieve a perfect score this season!

 

[smarts1]

Did Peng Peng Lee do an aerial cartwheel connected to a layout!??! I really hope she's healthy enough to get back to compete in the Olympics because she would definitely be a contender for beam.

 

[BigB08822]

PPL did indeed, although it would never get layout credit in Elite. It is more of a whip or back pike. Her routine is very fast and I don't think she ever uses her hands except on the mount. Is the protecting some kind of hand/wrist injury or is this just an interesting choice of skills? I remember when I was younger I always wanted someone to do a hands-free beam so I love it.

 

[Allen]

PPL did indeed, although it would never get layout credit in Elite. It is more of a whip or back pike. Her routine is very fast and I don't think she ever uses her hands except on the mount. Is the protecting some kind of hand/wrist injury or is this just an interesting choice of skills? I remember when I was younger I always wanted someone to do a hands-free beam so I love it.

She had thumb surgery back in November. I thought it was a cool routine for sure. Danusia Francis also rocked it on beam.

 

[smarts1]

She definitely has one of the most interesting routines out there. And she barely pauses for anything. I remember I watched this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RcfTsTMs6k a couple years ago and was really amazed by her work. It was really a shame she got injured just before the Olympics in 2012 and couldn't compete.

Also nice to see Ohashi competing again.

 

[Erin]

Did Peng Peng Lee do an aerial cartwheel connected to a layout!??! I really hope she's healthy enough to get back to compete in the Olympics because she would definitely be a contender for beam.

Is she planning on trying for the Canadian Olympic team? I don't remember hearing that before but I also haven't been paying attention.

 

[smarts1]

Is she planning on trying for the Canadian Olympic team? I don't remember hearing that before but I also haven't been paying attention.

Yes! She said in an interview that she's definitely going to try to go for the Olympics in Rio.

 

[poths]

Yes! She said in an interview that she's definitely going to try to go for the Olympics in Rio.

I have a sneaking feeling Peng will be a beam bars specialist in Tokyo and challenging! She would be younger than Tweddle, I think.

Her potential is crazy. Rodgers has trained the Amanar, a standing Arabian on beam and a double arabian dismount on beam! She has also added some really interesting bars combos and FX for NCAAs. I have a bad feeling she'll be injured by Rio - but she has huge talent.

Price is going to OWN NCAAs this year. Maybe a nice little battle with Sloan for the AA, but I'm backing Ebee.

Sarah Finnegan's triple wolf on beam in her debut? Class.

 

[Lara]

I miss PPL's flares beam mount but it's great they were able to design a routine around her injury. Definitely rooting for her to make it to Rio as a specialist.

 

[Fridge_Break]

Tonight the SEC Network will be airing both Mizzou @ Bama, along with Georgia @ Arkansas.. back to back!

 

[Allen]

Tonight the SEC Network will be airing both Mizzou @ Bama, along with Georgia @ Arkansas.. back to back!

I thought Missouri looked really good to be away at Alabama. Shannon Welker has done a tremendous job with that team. They had a ton of stuck landings.

Alabama is the Romania of NCAA to me. Even their coach made some comment about not trying to go above and beyond, to just do their normal. They have a lot of good gymnasts, but they are very bland to me. Duckworth made a comment about trying to sass up Lauren Beers's floor routine and it was about as sassy as a 2x4.

Georgia just about lost to Arkansas. They look okay to me, but I don't except this team to make super six if they even make it to the NCAA championships. Brittany Rodgers was the only standout for me. Her bars were awesome. I wish she could fix the leg separation on the pak transition, because that's a routine deserving of a 10 when clean.

Arkansas would have won with a better vault rotation. They look good, also, but nothing spectacular.

Florida must have been on fire last night. UCLA posted a really good score as well. I wish that meet had been televised. I thought Florida lacked energy in their first meet and I can't say I really loved a single floor routine. I would like to see them performed with more spark and see if that's what was missing for me or if I really just don't like the routines. On the other hand, I LOVE UCLA's floor rotation. I've probably watched Angi Cipra's floor routine 10 times this week. Katelyn Ohashi has a very sassy routine that I also really like.

LSU looked great against Oklahoma, but apparently had a really rough meet in Vegas against NC State. Hopefully that meet was a fluke, because I think they may be the team to beat with all the chips down. Oklahoma looks good, but as refined as they can be, their gymnastics isn't exciting to me.

I'm afraid Michigan is almost as good as they can be already. I hope I'm wrong because they really are a great team. Olivia Karas is a very exciting gymnast.

I'll be curious to see how Arizona progresses with Yim. They had a pretty good meet against Michigan State. I'm also going to be interested to see if Auburn beats Alabama on Sunday.

This user's playlist has a lot of full NCAA meets for those who missed them. In fact, they just posted the Florida/UCLA meet.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

If anyone is interested in the Michigan/Ohio state meet, it is being livestreamed here.

 

[BigB08822]

LSU had a rough meet in Vegas but the potential is there. I would love to see this team hit a meet with everyone healthy and lineups as they should be. This week Priessman was out, Kelley wasn't on FX and Savona is still out on everything but bars, she should be anchoring floor. FX could improve tremendously with Priessman, Savona and Kelley all 100% The scary thing is which 3 do you take out!? Finnegan is just amazing and is an amazing get for LSU, thank goodness she is healthy because she has started off red hot.

 

[Allen]

Surprise number 7 George Washington's home invitational against Cornell, Temple, Penn, and North Carolinawill be streamed here at 1pm eastern.

Arizona's away meet against Texas Woman's can be viewed here at 2pm eastern.

 

[poths]

Finnegan is just amazing and is an amazing get for LSU, thank goodness she is healthy because she has started off red hot.

She's not that healthy if she's not able to tumble. She is one of those rare gymnasts that is graceful but hugely powerful. I'd love to see that enormous piked arabian again sometime. Doubt they'll risk her on floor/vault this year however.

It will be interesting to see how Ohashi progresses too, in addition to Priesman. Two hugely talented former elite's who have gone through puberty and injuries and only regaining their skills and confidence.

Florida seem to have 4 AA'ers now in Baker, Sloan, Boren and McMurtry (who won't do floor until regionals) all capable of 9'9 on every event. Add in Bridgey Caquatto (is it just me or has her NCAA career been very underwhelming) on 3 events, Fassbender and Bianca - and really, they'll be hard to beat despite the mammoth shift and loss of Hunter.

Have to give Brandie Jay credit for working so hard - her routines are packed. Caquatto completely outclassed her in Elite, but the roles have reversed in the collegiate domain.

 

[BigB08822]

Finnegan did tumble 2 passes at the intra-squad if I remember correctly. Nothing amazing though, I think a double pike or tuck and some front tumbling. No big skills that I saw. I didn't think she was injured so much as out of competition shape, she just hasn't done anything since Olympic trials, has she?

 

[Fridge_Break]

Add in Bridgey Caquatto (is it just me or has her NCAA career been very underwhelming) on 3 events

It's not just you, she's gotten some pretty big scores by being buried in the anchor position on a few events, notably FX. I was still living in Gainesville when she was a freshman and I remember her first meet she competed as the last to go on FX and thinking that the routine would go maaaaaybe a 9.8 at most (easy tumbling relative to the rest of the lineup, sloppy form in places, etc), and it ended up going over 9.9. Which has happened quite regularly over the years. I see Rowland has kept up the Bridgey Boost that Faehn implemented on a few events -- FX and McMurtry on UB.

Is anyone planning on going to any meets this year? I'm hoping to get up to Michigan State in a couple of weekends if the weather holds out. Also have been eyeballing the Big Ten session qualifying meet (one of the two Big Five meets) that's being held in Ohio State mid-March -- Mr. Fridge is going to be at a conference that weekend so now I don't feel bad about driving quite a distance to attend anymore

 

[Rob]

I miss PPL's flares beam mount but it's great they were able to design a routine around her injury. Definitely rooting for her to make it to Rio as a specialist.

ITA, she's got plenty of flair without the flares! I am rooting for her too. She brings beauty and sparkle!

 

[Lucy25]

I have been waiting for people to participate in this thread! Surely I am not the only one watching?? I am loving this season - thank goodness for the SEC Network. There is so much I like from the top teams. Except the hair - some of the teams just have ridiculous hair. The worst offender is Missouri. Anyone?

 

[mattiecat13]

I have been waiting for people to participate in this thread! Surely I am not the only one watching?? I am loving this season - thank goodness for the SEC Network. There is so much I like from the top teams. Except the hair - some of the teams just have ridiculous hair. The worst offender is Missouri. Anyone?

I hate those huge hair bows!

 

[Lucy25]

I hate those huge hair bows!

The huge bows do look silly, but I mostly hate the goofy updos. Super messy and just ridiculous.

 

[Coco]

There is some AMAZING gymnastics being performed this season. Nationals is going to be EPIC.

 

[Lucy25]

Florida and LSU right now; should be great! LSU is one team that looks so classy & put together - not a messy head of hair in the bunch, lol.