We met Dani Dessaints's dad on the way into the meet, which was fun. The meet organizers seemed to get the memo of the tepid atmosphere of the last meet. The cheerleaders were there and way more shirt-throwing than against Stanford. More students showed up too. Definitely worked as there was actually cheering this time. I wasn't as close down to the front this time, but still down by the beginning of the vault runway.
Rotation 1
ASU started out an vault. Still a bit of a sticking spot for them, but two more FTYs. Levin's and Miceli's were both landed poorly. Rene Lyst needs to hope she can recruit some gymnasts who can vault. Tasha Sundby's inclusion definitely made this rotation stronger than at the Stanford meet. I like her tuck Yurchenko 1.5. She doesn't get the greatest block, but it was well landed. Her stride is also super different. Once again, the best vault came from Taylor Allex. Great Yurchenko 1.5 with a Shannon-stick. She tucked her legs on it a bit in the warm up, but straightened them out for the competition. Stephanie Miceli was talking to some fans in the front rows during warm up whom I assume she knows, which I wasn't expecting before a meet.
Oregon State on bars was nice in general, though not very memorable for me. I'd remembered Chelsea Tang's bars from their meet against Stanford, and so hers was the only routine I was really watching for, and quite frankly, it was the only hit I remember from them. Their work was generally pretty, but no real standouts. They started with Taylor Keeker on bars before Stephanie Miceli vaulted and the two routines ended up going on at the same time, which was annoying. Taylor Aufiero unfortunately fell apart on her routine. She overarched a handstand on the low bat and fell, overarched another handstand on the high bar but stayed on, and the fell on her dismount. It was super sad to watch.
Rotation 2
Bars was definitely ASU's best event of the night. Beka Conrad's Geinger had better form this time, methinks. Nice height too. Brie Gades unfortunately had problems on the event. After her Pak, she lost swing and really struggled to stay on the apparatus. It took two swings, I think, but she didn't bit the ground. She also had a great double front dismount with just a tiny step forward. This was really a bummer for the Gym Devils, because her routine would have been a big score for them otherwise, and they ended up having to rely on a pack of 9.7-range scores. With the error from Gades, Carissa Kraus took up the mantle of the top ASU routine of the night. Great flight and lovely, dynamic work. There were also multiple stuck landings in this rotation last night, this is where ASU's upward trajectory belongs.
Oregon State had a nice vault rotation. Lots of nice FTYs. Watching them warm up was amusing. Lots of them had tons of extra power and rolled out of their early vaults, one of them even rolled onto the bars mats and earned a gasp from the crowd. Also lots of warm ups from standing on the vault, very fun to watch. Definitely the highlight of the rotation was Taylor Keeker. She had gorgeous Yurchenko 1/2 which was stuck fabulously. I absolutely LOVE Yurchenko 1/2s, so this was a treat for me!
Rotation 3
It was clear from the one-touch beam was going to be a rough rotation for the Gym Devils. Lots of wobbles and falls from Miceli and Salas. Beka Conrad started out with a tentative routine, but she was able to hold on. I was hoping she would be able to set a tone of at least not major disasters for ASU, but alas, to no avail. Savannah Boorman had very wobbly leap series and didn't make her connections. Brie Gades was able to bring good things to the rotation with a beautiful and steady routine. It was great seeing her hit after bars. I especially love her dismount combination! Sadly, it was followed by a fall from Taylor Allex. The Miceli/Salas Tiny Dancer/Iris combination is glorious as ever, though. Miceli had a beautiful flight series which was powerful and completely solid. She'd had troubles with the front aerial in warm up, and the only problem she had with it in competition was some close feet on landing. Salas unfortunately had a fall on her aerial, which she took about fifteen seconds setting up for. Still glorious with Iris in the background, though.
Oregon State definitely had a few standout choreographed routines which I really enjoyed. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Chelsea Tang's. It's got some really nice dramatic choreography with a slightly avant-garde feel, but there were times where she didn't really seem to be hearing the music. So the jury's still out on that one. I do know that I love Maddie Gardiner's, though. It was dramatic and elegant, and she really lived it. Of course, the highlight was Risa Perez. A woman in a few rows back kept saying how spunky she was. She definitely really enjoyed herself out there! Nicole Turner opened up the rotation with a double Arabian as her first pass. She'd been missing it in warm ups, so she did well to stand it well in competition.
Rotation 4
Before the first rotation, there was a game "Gym Devils in the 90's" on the big screen, where they showed kid photos of the Gym Devils- I bet you won't be able to guess- that's right, from the 90's. Let the record show that I got three right, thankyouverymuch. ASU had one of their best floor rotations this season last night. Beka Conrad was clearly not feeling particularly confident in starting out the rotation. While Katelyn Olrich was on beam, I saw her with her hands on her head and shaking her head during her pep talk. The screen gave a pretty big closeup on her face before her routine started, and she definitely looked worried. She hit her routine, though. Definitely much better than against U of A. Allie Salas had a great presence, I really enjoy watching her. Taylor Allex opened with a stuck double Arabian, super impressive. Tasha Sundby is another gymnast with a great presence for ASU. Her double tuck 1/1 had a bit of a low chest, but nicely controlled. Savanah Boorman was scratched from the final position, as is the Sun Devil want. Still a bit of a damper to end without a home floor.
UGH, whoever chose the music while Oregon State was on beam needs to be fired immediately. That's my main takeaway from this meet. Cassie Witherby almost fell and had a super low landing on her double pike dismount, but the routine was still a harrowing success considering she had to compete to freaking WHO LET THE DOGS OUT!!! I'm pretty sure the judges gave her a little "You didn't die with WHO LET THE DOGS OUT playing in the background" bonus, as they should have. I would have done the same. I probably would have given her an even higher score. And that's coming from a lifelong Sun Devil. Also heard were Barbie Girl and Macarena. UGH!!! Extremely poor taste aside, Oregon State had plenty of memorable routines. McMillan had gorgeous gymnastics with lovely pure form. I also really loved Risa Perez's routine. The best part was her scale, I definitely can see Oregon State influence on Liv Viv's routine now! Sadly, she had some balance checks. Chelsea Tang also had a really beautiful routine. Her mount was especially artistic, as was the Maria Filatova-throwback wolf turn into straddle. Obviously, Maddie Gardiner was the resplendent highlight of this rotation. Her wolf turn was beautiful, and her little leg-shimmy into her scale really stood out to me. Just beautiful work in general, and totally solid.
Sparky seemed to have no idea what to do in the presentation of the roses. It seemed totally random who got one- the third place finisher on this event, the winner on another, the ASU gymnast third-place finisher here, the Oregon State second-place finisher there, just so strange. I saw him throwing up his hands in confusion on the sideline as the meet organizer apparently told him he was doing it wrong. Admittedly, there were a ton of ties.
Favorite ASU vault: Taylor Allex
Favorite Oregon State vault: Taylor Keeker
Favorite ASU bars: Carissa Kraus
Favorite Oregon State bars: Chelsea Tang
Favorite ASU beam: Stephanie Miceli
Favorite Oregon State beam: Maddie Gardiner
Favorite ASU floor: Allie Salas
Favorite Oregon State floor: Risa Perez
Honorable mentions: Tasha Sundby vault, Risa Perez beam, Chelsea Tang beam, Brie Gades beam, Maddie Gardiner floor
No comments:
Post a Comment