The Sooners, the reigning two-time NCAA champions, opened the 12 months with a dominant efficiency throughout their meet on the “Imply Women Tremendous 16” — they usually adopted up this week with an much more spectacular victory on the star-studded Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad in West Valley, Utah. Competing in opposition to LSU, UCLA and Utah, Oklahoma earned the very best group rating of the season at 197.900 — three-quarters of a degree higher than the second-place Tigers.
Oklahoma took the lead after its first rotation on vault, and by no means misplaced it. Audrey Davis, who completed second within the all-around, had probably the most memorable performances of the day together with her near-perfect bars routine that earned a 9.975:
THAT’S OUR BARS QUEEN.@AudreyDavis132 sticks the touchdown for a near-perfect 9.975! pic.twitter.com/0FQVZdHgwW
— Oklahoma Girls’s Gymnasium (@OU_WGymnastics) January 13, 2024
After the second week, the Sooners have two of the 12 months’s high three all-around scores and rank within the high two within the nation on vault, bars and beam. Whereas the group did announce it will be with out junior Danae Fletcher, a contributor on bars, flooring and vault, for the remainder of the season attributable to an damage, it stays the favourite to hoist the trophy — but once more — in April.
UCLA completed in third place, however Bruins sophomore Selena Harris gained the all-around title with a 39.650 complete rating. The sophomore was particularly robust on vault and beam, scoring a 9.95 on each occasions.
It is stick metropolis right here on vault! @selena_harriss drills her 1.5 for a 9.95!
(📺: ABC)#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/elQtGc6Kik
— UCLA Gymnastics (@uclagymnastics) January 13, 2024
And that is in no way that occurred this weekend. Removed from it, really. There have been good scores, history-making debuts and the return of a beloved favourite. This is every little thing it is advisable know from the second week of school gymnastics:
Good 4
There have been 4 good scores over the weekend, making the grand complete six on the season. Here’s who joined Sage Kellerman and Maile O’Keefe, the Week 1 entrants, on the listing:
Konnor McClain: The LSU freshman recorded the right rating in simply her second (!) collegiate meet. And certain, be happy to insert your favourite, “And that is why she was the 2022 U.S. nationwide all-around champion” line right here.
McClain turned simply the seventh gymnast in class historical past to earn the rating on bars, and the primary on the street since 2019. With a super-difficult opening launch transfer, textbook traces and handstands and a wonderfully caught dismount, McClain greater than lives as much as the hype that preceded her arrival in Baton Rouge.
School gymnastics appears to be like GOOD on @_KonnorMcClain
The freshman scores her first profession good 10
📺 ABC pic.twitter.com/IejOg8jkVZ
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) January 13, 2024
Mya Hooten: Losing no time in giving Minnesota followers one thing to cheer about on the Gophers’ first residence meet of the season, the senior earned the sixth good 10.0 rating of her profession on flooring. With a smile as infectious as her dancing, and tumbling passes that she one way or the other makes look easy, the group and her teammates instantly began the “10” chants as quickly as her routine ended — and it was clearly impossible for the judges to argue.
The three-time All-American posts an ideal 🔟 in her residence debut in 2024!
📊: https://t.co/LgGrWNEleN
💻: https://t.co/CVzqennfWh#Team50 x #TogetherWeRise pic.twitter.com/ZDnpYI40mx
— Minnesota Girls’s Gymnasium (@GopherWGym) January 13, 2024
Sierra Brooks: The Michigan soccer group turned nationwide champions final week, however Brooks nonetheless made a case for the title of most beneficial athlete on campus over the weekend. And if that is an exaggeration, it is solely barely. The fifth-year senior broke the college’s all-around rating report with a 39.825 within the group’s win over Stanford on Friday — thanks partially to the ten.0 she acquired on flooring to shut out the evening. To cite the published group, “Sierra Brooks doing Sierra Brooks issues.”
It doesn’t get higher.#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/WVTSWRahZZ
— Michigan Girls’s Gymnastics (@UMichWGym) January 13, 2024
eMjae Frazier: In 2023, Frazier turned the primary Cal gymnast to attain an ideal 10.0 on flooring. In 2024, the sophomore turned the primary gymnast in class historical past to earn an ideal rating on two totally different occasions as she executed a flawless beam routine in the course of the evening session on the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad. Like Brooks, one way or the other that achievement was simply a part of a historic evening for Frazier, who broke her personal program all-around report with a 39.775. However this beam routine — the poise! the leaps! — was really a standout.
.@EmjaeFrazier WITH THE 2ND PERFECT 🔟 ON BEAM IN CAL HISTORY! #GoBears 🐻 | #OneDayBetter pic.twitter.com/JgOUVM5zAq
— Cal Girls’s Gymnastics (@CalWGym) January 14, 2024
And whereas it wasn’t technically throughout Week 2, O’Keefe scored yet one more good 10.0 on beam for the Pink Rocks on Monday on the “Better of Utah” meet. It was the twelfth good rating of her profession on the occasion and helped lead the group to victory over BYU, Southern Utah and Utah State.
🔟 for the BEAM QUEEN!!! 👑
The twelfth of @maile_okeefe‘s profession on beam 🤯
📺: https://t.co/XhRefB52fY#WeOverMe | #RedRocks pic.twitter.com/rpCZUkH1F1
— Utah Gymnastics (@UtahGymnastics) January 16, 2024
California Love
It wasn’t simply Frazier who shined for the Golden Bears on Saturday. Competing in opposition to BYU, Michigan State and North Carolina State, Cal scored the second-highest group complete of the season at 197.875 for the seventh-best rating in program historical past, and broke their very own report on vault (49.525). The group swept the all-around podium as Mya Lauzon and Maddie Williams completed in second and third place, respectively, behind Frazier.
Lauzon even acquired a ten.0 rating of her personal from one decide on vault for her Yurchenko 1.5. ESPN’s Kathy Johnson Clarke referred to as it “completely breathtaking” on the published.
MYA LAUZON WITH A 9.975! 👏👏👏#GoBears 🐻 | #OneDayBetter pic.twitter.com/vMJ1HGeTET
— Cal Girls’s Gymnastics (@CalWGym) January 14, 2024
Apart from Oklahoma, there is likely to be no group with extra momentum and ever-increasing confidence than Cal because the season enters its third week.
For the historical past books
The second week of the season introduced the debuts of two brand-new groups: Clemson and Talladega.
In entrance of a house crowd of over 8,000 followers, the Tigers put the gymnastics world on discover with a 196.325 rating — the very best ever for a debut group — and a victory over William & Mary. Clemson will subsequent face Pittsburgh at residence on Saturday.
To the unimaginable @ClemsonGym program,
To the 8,000+ followers who got here out to help,
And to all the individuals who helped us make final evening so successful…We simply wish to say thanks 🧡 pic.twitter.com/6l2iDjvZ3o
— Clemson Athletics (@ClemsonTigers) January 13, 2024
The Talladega Tornadoes confronted Florida, Fisk and George Washington of their inaugural competitors in Gainesville on Friday. It marked the primary meet in school historical past that includes two HBCU applications. Talladega completed in fourth place, however head coach Aja Sims-Fletcher was optimistic in regards to the expertise.
“We had some early nerves however our younger group competed effectively in a troublesome surroundings for his or her first collegiate competitors,” Sims-Fletcher advised the college’s web site. “We noticed some good troublesome expertise tonight and noticed the place we will enhance. It is solely up from right here.”
Talladega had been slated to compete on the MLK Invitational in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday however the occasion was canceled attributable to inclement climate. The meet, which Fisk, Brown, Rutgers, William & Mary and Iowa State have been additionally scheduled to compete at, was set to be a historic milestone for school gymnastics, that includes all Black girls head coaches. Whereas the meet’s cancellation was disappointing, the six head coaches did take part in a panel dialogue on Sunday, sharing what made the thought for the occasion so particular.
Fisk Head Coach Corrinne Tarver gathered all 6 NCAA Gymnastics Black head coaches for a meet that includes Talladega, Iowa State, Rutgers, Brown, William & Mary, & after all, Fisk. Coaches needed the meet to really feel like a party-a celebration of excellence. pic.twitter.com/WKjX6ADEBa
— Arielle (Ari) Chambers (@ariivory) January 15, 2024
Gator glory
Whereas most of the different high groups made their 2024 debut final week, Florida did not formally get its season began till Friday in the course of the aforementioned quad meet. However the Gators — ranked No. 2 within the preseason ballot –made it a fashionably late entrance to the season in entrance of a sellout crowd of practically 9,000 followers. The group’s 197.10 was greater than 2.5 factors larger than second-place George Washington.
Freshman Anya Pilgrim, who represented Barbados on the world championships in October, formally launched herself to the school gymnastics world in spectacular trend, profitable the all-around title in addition to a share of three occasion titles. Her 39.525 all-around rating is the very best ever for a Florida freshman in her debut meet.
ny. Historic Begin🔒#GoGators | #WeChomp pic.twitter.com/ht3i2HKct4
— Gators Gymnastics (@GatorsGym) January 13, 2024
Senior Ellie Lazzari earned the team’s highest individual score of the night with a 9.975 on beam.
And in per week stuffed with debuts and unimaginable performances, there was maybe nobody — for any group — that bought the collective love from followers on-line greater than Morgan Hurd. The 2017 world all-around champion has had a troublesome street over the previous few years attributable to a string of accidents and surgical procedures. Now a junior, she missed everything of her freshman 12 months and competed sparingly throughout her sophomore marketing campaign.
However on Saturday, Hurd competed on beam and flooring and each wholesome and completely happy. Identified for her artistry, Hurd wowed followers together with her stunning “Black Swan”-themed efficiency on flooring. As Australian gymnast (and good friend of Hurd) Heath Thorpe mentioned on social media, “All my life issues have been mounted with this routine.”
All my life issues have been mounted with this routine https://t.co/Qfab7sWw5p
— Heath Thorpe (@thorpeheath) January 13, 2024
Better of the remaining
Listed below are just some extra routines that it is advisable see from the weekend:
Frankie Worth, Arkansas: Worth’s flooring routine opens because the music of Eve performs, and whereas the rapper’s phrases aren’t heard, most nonetheless know the query she’s asking in her lyrics: Who’s that lady? And goodness gracious, that lady is Frankie Worth. The sophomore completely slays her choreography and her tumbling — and her early 2000s music selections. She earned a 9.95 for this routine on Friday and appears destined for a ten.0 and a few viral fame this season.
Fridays with Frank are SO again 🤗 @frankieprice_ pic.twitter.com/UFJ7tOUrR2
— Arkansas Gymnastics 🐗 (@RazorbackGym) January 13, 2024
Syd Morris, LIU: Within the season opener in opposition to New Hampshire on Sunday, the 2023 EAGL Rookie of the 12 months regarded to construct on their robust freshman marketing campaign — and wow, did Morris, who makes use of they/them pronouns, try this. Morris scored a 9.9 on beam thrice final season — and earned a staggering 9.975 on Sunday to place themself atop the nationwide rankings on the occasion.
Syd Morris beam pic.twitter.com/9kfgInTwy3
— betelgeuse (x3) (@NastiaTrixie) January 14, 2024
Victoria Henry, Ball State: The senior earned the second-best rating on vault in program historical past — and the very best mark since 2016 — together with her 9.975-earning Yurchenko 1.5 on Sunday at Ohio State. Her smile, and the response of her teammates, after her caught touchdown actually says all of it.
9.975!!! VICTORIA HENRY TIES THE 2ND BEST VAULT SCORE IN PROGRAM HISTORY!#ChirpChirp x #WeFly pic.twitter.com/JWsSIjpMwJ
— Ball State Gymnastics (@BallStateGYM) January 14, 2024
Rylie Mundell, Denver: Anchoring bars and needing to hit after a teammate had fallen, the senior recorded a 9.95 to raise her group in its residence opener in opposition to Arizona State.
Rylie Mundell within the clutch with a 9.950 to anchor bars!#GoPios | #NCAAGym pic.twitter.com/RcH4ZAUnFA
— Denver Gymnastics (@DU_Gymnastics) January 14, 2024