ASU vs. Stanford

I went to the ASU vs. Stanford meet last night, and it was so great! I sat at the beginning of the vault runway maybe ten-ish rows back. That meant I had a straight-shot view of the area where the gymnasts dropped their stuff for vault and beam- so surreal! It was crazy seeing former World Champions and Olympians stretching and doing jumps so close in front of me!

Rotation 1
ASU started off on vault. The lack of Natasha Sundby was a profound one, and three of the only five vaults performed were Yurchenko layouts. Taylor Allex was able to shake things up, though with her 1.5. And she was able to bring in a 9.90 for it, too! Definitely the Sun Devils' most exciting vault.

Stanford on bars was glorious, even from across the arena. All of them have such pretty toe point! Rebecca Wing's routine to start the rotation was so pretty! Taylor Rice also had great work. Sami Shapiro is perfection on the bars! Her toe point is heavenly! She had such smooth work and seemed so calm and patient, almost Mustafina-like. Ivana Hong's routine seemed to be over in a second- the dismount took me by surprise! Her DLO was beautiful and stuck, though. Ebee Price was the last to go, and I was so excited to see her in person. Her work was so dynamic, but then she had a terrifying error when she overarched and tucked her legs when she caught her bail, coming off and not finishing the rest of her routine. She was led out of the stadium and was gone for a few minutes.



Rotation 2
ASU on bars was much more exciting than on vault. I'd taken Miceli out of my fantasy bars lineup after she'd been bringing in lower scores so far this season, and I was regretting that decision as I was watching her last night! She brought in a 9.80 for a great dynamic routine with beautiful execution! Brianna Gades also brought in a big 9.85 with her great double front, which really stood out. Beka Conrad's routine sticks out because she had a big Geinger in hers, love to see those! The Sun Devils also had their share of terrifying on bars with Carissa Kraus's routine. She had a super high-flying Tkatchev, but missed the bar and landed crumpled on the ground. She went back to the chalk bowl limping when Rene Lyst went over and apparently decided she should end her routine. She limped over to the chairs and we saw her being examined.

Ebee came back into the arena during the one-touch. She put on her warmups and was taken over to the side where they put on a huge ice pack. With no Ebee in the vault lineup, Stanford also lacked excitement. Definitely the most memorable was Pauline Hanset's pike front half. So refreshing to have a FHS vault! Taylor Rice's run is also so different. On vault, we also had the divine return of Kristina Vaculik. Though she only did a Yurchenko layout, it was great getting her back in competition!



Rotation 3
Because of where I was sitting, I had a straight-on view of the beam. Really different seeing it lengthwise! I wasn't until the third rotation that I noticed how obscene the cut of the ASU leotard was. Oregon State on Monday, ASU, this needs to stop! Cal, you break the chain. I was pleasantly surprised how artistic ASU was on the beam. I went last year, but I didn't get much of an artistic impression on beam. It doesn't outdo Oklahoma or anything, but it was a nice surprise to see them working fluidly and with nice transitions. Stephanie Miceli on beam to Tiny Dancer and Allie Salas on beam to Iris was glorious! I'm sure she was just saying key words to herself, but at one point it looked like Stephanie said "Ballerina, you musta seen her" along with the music, which was fun! I was annoyed they had Sparky throwing shirts during Allie's routine, because of course it meant a lot of screaming, and she did have to fight to keep her aerial cartwheel on. Great save, though. And it did make me feel better about the fact that the "Make Noise" kept going for a second or two into the Stanford beam routines. Also more than one front twisting dismount, which is my favorite kind!

All in all, Stanford on floor wasn't super memorable. One of their gymnasts (Jenna Frowein, I think, but I'm not sure) had a cool handstand series down to the floor, which was fun. Watching Taylor Rice on broadcast just doesn't compare to seeing her live- such a fun performer! The casino sounds at the beginning of Rachel Daum's floor were deliciously wacky, and it was great classic rock once she got into the routine. There were gymnasts lining the corner on her double tuck, so I could tell it was a low landing, but it wasn't obvious that she had fallen. One of the gymnasts warmed up a double Arabian in the one-touch, but I don't think it came out during the competition.



Rotation 4
Beka Conrad started the Gym Devils on floor, which had the same music as Missy Reinstadler! It was a really nice routine, I thought she made it work really well for her. Especially great to see after her bad go of it last week. Taylor Allex had a great routine! She opened with a huge double Arabian, it was so exciting! It was also the routine best tailored to a crowd, she had great moments the gymnasts on the sidelines could really get into. She had clapping cues, which were great to engage the pretty quiet audience. And fist pumps! Just a really fun routine. Natasha Sundby was also greatly missed on floor, and again, there were only five ASU gymnasts competing. Savannah Boorman started her routine with just a back layout, which was a bit of a shock. She also brought the scary with her crashed double back as her second pass; her chest was barely off the ground when she landed. On her third pass, she landed her punch front in a super deep squat, but she stood it up. It was pretty anticlimactic not ending with an ASU floor, which was sad.

Stanford on beam was undoubtedly the highlight rotation of the meet. Their work was stunning! Kristina Vaculik kept running in place and doing jumps to warm up while ASU was on floor, and it was so surreal occasionally to catch her in the corner of my eye while watching floor! Rebecca Wing opened with a gorgeous routine which she was in total command of. Nikki McNair was second in the rotation, and she started out a bit tentative, but it was great to see her gain confidence through the routine. Her switch+back tuck was totally secure, and back clap was fierce! Taylor Rice's choreography was so much cooler in person, and I loved the gainer full dismount. Ivana Hong was just sublime. Her picturesque handstand mount was such a difference from all the rest of the super boring ones. The Onodi+BHS was also a really exciting different flight series. She had a slight check on her jump combo, which was sad as she warmed it up PERFECTLY and with total precision in the one-touch. If she'd hit it like that in the competition, she could have been flirting with a score higher than 9.95. She looked so happy when she stuck her dismount! Kristina Vaculik capped off the meet with a great routine. Her Rufolva was fabulous and took everyone by surprise! She'd only warmed up the Korbut. It's such a crazy skill to see in person, especially from my angle! Definitely the most memorable skill of the night. She also gave a huge smile down to her teammates before the dismount, which was just lovely!


In the presentation of the winners, they only had four roses, but Taylor Rice and Ivana Hong tied on beam, so it was funny watching them banter over the rose. Taylor Rice also was caught by surprise by the ASU line in the congratulations at the end. It was also great seeing Ebee clapping hands with the ASU gymnasts. Despite her bad night, she had a huge smile on her face and looked so genuinely happy at the end of the meet.


Favorite ASU vault: Taylor Allex
Favorite Stanford vault: Pualing Hanset

Favorite ASU bars: Beka Conrad
Favorite Stanford bars: Sami Shapiro

Favorite ASU beam: Allie Salas
Favorite Stanford beam: Taylor Rice

Favorite ASU floor: Taylor Allex
Favorite Stanford floor: Rachel Daum (I didn't see the fall, so it doesn't affect how much I liked it)

Honorable mentions: Ivana Hong beam, Stephanie Miceli beam, Beka Conrad floor, Taylor Rice floor, Rebecca Wing in general