Hello everyone, and welcome to Gymnastics Insider!
Following a thrilling weekend of conference championships, we finally have our NCAA National Championships bracket.
Postseason officially starts on Wednesday, April 1, when our wildcard teams will meet to decide which of them may, in theory, have to compete three times in four days. Regionals continue through Sunday, April 5, after which the field will narrow down to eight teams.
This weekend is the WCGNIC national championship, featuring teams ranked 50th or lower. The top 36 teams have a break, which I hope they put to good use by hydrating after screaming themselves hoarse for the past three months.
Florida takes the win at SEC Champs
The main story of this week is Florida’s clutch bar rotation, which secured them the SEC Championships title on Saturday.
We knew going into this meet that the second session would be a thrill ride, and it didn’t disappoint. The top four ranked teams — Oklahoma, LSU, Florida, and Alabama — had so much at stake here, knowing that this Four on the Floor preview would give the winner confidence and bragging rights going into postseason.
Rotation one: OU stumbles
It was very, very tight. In the first rotation, OU underperformed on vault. Their landings weren’t solid, and they finished in fourth with their lowest vault score of the season. Florida excelled on beam to start, including Selena Harris-Miranda’s 9.950, giving them the lead after the first rotation. LSU started the first rotation strong on bars, including a 9.950 from Kailin Chio.
Rotation two: the comeback
OU came back in the second rotation with strong bar work. Ella Murphy’s beautiful routine got a 9.95, — even her toes were pointed on her double tuck dismount — and Faith Torrez’s near-stuck double tuck anchored for a 9.95. Konnor McClain and Kailin Chio had killer beam routines for 9.95s to cap off a strong rotation for LSU. This put them into the lead halfway through the meet.
Rotation three: neck and neck
Florida had weak landings on vault, leaving them in third going into the final rotation. Meanwhile, OU had a strong beam rotation with many sticks and a 10 from anchor Torrez that put them in the lead. LSU’s Kaliya Lincoln anchored on floor with a beautiful routine featuring a gorgeous double layout for a 9.95, putting them in second. At this point, the top three teams were barely separated by a tenth.
Rotation four: a photo finish
LSU had uncontrolled landings on vault but got the highest score there thanks in part to Kailin Chio’s stick. OU had a strong floor. But their issues on vault opened the door just a crack for Florida to take the win with a stellar bars rotation, where they dropped a 9.900.
They almost all stuck, Skye Blakely and Kayla DiCello got a 9.975, and Selena Harris-Miranda got a 10.
My favorite part of every championships is when an old dude in a suit stumbles out from some dusty corner to hand the trophy to a group of shrieking young women. The SEC commissioner did not disappoint.
UCLA was not there on account of them not belonging to that conference. They easily took the Big Ten win with a 198.1000 after putting up the top scores on every event. Jordan Chiles scored a 10 on floor, and finished the night with a 39.8250.
Full standings and schedule at Road to Nationals, and CollegeGymNews has a recap.
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
ISU update
- Iowa State tells me they’ve received “verbal communication” from the NCAA that ISU gymnasts will get their year of eligibility back. Written confirmation is forthcoming, apparently.
- The Des Moines Register covered the safety issues reported at the ISU training facility. They found that four athletes tore their Achilles tendons over the course of just a few years after landing on the same dead spot on the floor. And since there was no air conditioning, when it was hot the gymnasts trained on wet equipment.
- Ella Schell has committed to Iowa, where she’ll matriculate as a junior next year. There are eight ISU gymnasts still up for grabs, and you can keep up to date using the transfers database.
Elite news
British Championships (results)
Ruby Evans won the British Championships all-around, making her the first Welsh champ since 1971.
The highlight of her night was her vault, which scored a 14.250, the second-highest score of the all-around and the highest vault score by nearly a point. She sealed the deal with her bar routine, which was beautiful for a 13.300.
In the floor final, she hung in the air on a stunning double layout, and really fought for her landings to take the win there with a 13.750.
Alice Kinsella gave birth in September, then did this on beam for a 12.700. I gave birth two years ago and my thigh is covered in bruises from running into our bed frame.
Abi Martin took the vault title thanks to this DTY. It had some form in the air and she stepped off the mat, but her Lopez was much cleaner, for a 13.550 average. She also won silver on floor with a 13.500.
The highlight for me was Alia Leat’s beam routine, which features an aerial walkover straight into a switch ring leap, which she probably meant to connect into a ring jump, and a bhs+loso+loso. This gave her the beam title with a 13.350.
Finally, BECKY DOWNIE. She won bars with a 14.600, over a point ahead of the second-place competitor. Her routine was clean, her landing was stuck, and it was hard as hell, with a 6.1 D score.
Later, she reflected on how difficult it has been for her to come back to this level after struggling to find a training facility.
The Gadirova twins were there, but, ever so injured, they didn’t compete and afterward headed straight for Disneyland.
Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women’s Sports Daily
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women’s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women’s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!
Apr 3-6 Cairo World Cup (roster)
The Cairo roster hasn’t been updated in over three weeks. Who will show? Who knows. The Osijek World Cup (roster) will be held the following week, and will be better attended. More on that next week.
Meanwhile
- Alice D’Amato had shoulder surgery.
- Laurie Hernandez was interviewed for Bustle following her Broadway debut.
Five at the IX
Watch Ruby Evans’ charming response to becoming Great Britain’s top gymnast.
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