The Greatest Beam Save of All Time

Yes, I am aware that this is going up really late. Starting school the week after nationals will do that to you. So, nothing about Universiade either (I still need to catch up and actually watch that) and we'll see if I work up something about the Russian Cup videos if anything there looks interesting enough. (Can you tell how long it's been even since I wrote this intro?)

So, obviously the first thing we have to talk about is THE BEAM SAVE.

That beautiful moment when you almost fall and end up upgrading. I'm bummed she didn't get the CV because it was connected to a wolf turn-- she didn't break the rhythm or anything!! It's way nicer than those horrible double wolf, pause, triple wolf/vice versa constructions. This could have been the Olympics, and this would be what I consider the most important moment of the meet (unless Sanne won beam, in which case, SANNE)-- for a post-Olympic nationals, even more so! Heck, this just might be the most important thing to happen in competition this year. This is legendary. I'm also super down with her getting the silver here! I know in all context of Worlds discussion we go to "but inconsistency!"... like we do with every non-Ragan candidate (except maybe Marz? and Trinity). At least we'll always have the wolf+side-stand triple.

And then, in the realm of beam saves, we must not forget the Leah Clapper Beam Moments. On night one, she held on with the jaws of life in ultimate refusal to meet the mat, which always gains my respect-- it might not be reflected in the score, but the character it shows!

Unfortunately, on night two she had an actual fall, but still a fall in valiant style:

While we're on the topic of beam, we also really need to talk about the horrible relationship the US has with beam construction this year. First of all, as I already referenced, the doubling up on wolf turns one right after the other. Let me make this clear, I like well-executed wolf turns. I don't like well-executed doubled up wolf turns. They are hideous, QED.

And then there are the side-stand half-twisting jumps. Fortunately, for the most part, they were better-executed here than at Classics, and the ones which hit split and weren't accompanied by a large balance break were decently pleasant enough. But some were still cringe-inducing. Ragan's beam from night one basically just stood as a monument to the pitfalls of contemporary US beam construction:

Also, what was that score?

There are so many aesthetically-pleasing routes to beefing up the D score in the new COP that the US just... isn't utilizing. I can't think of a single senior who's putting the mixed connection potential to use, and with all the upgrades in mounts they're just sticking with their same A mounts. I know the minimize risk, maximize reward strategy, but... is it really working? We had the wolf turn errors and the twisting jump errors, so are they really the most risk-free options? (I feel vaguely like Umbridge talking about risk-free conditions.) Surely it would be better to risk not getting SB than those errors? And not to mention, it's not just the acrobatic mounts that got upgraded! THE HOMMA WAS UPGRADED!!! (Please, just anyone from anywhere do a Homma.) There are plenty of low-fall-risk options for higher difficulty mounts.


On a completely frivolous note at the other end of the aesthetic spectrum, the Texas Dreams leos night one were fab. I'm still not completely sold on the gathering on Ragan's, but it was a cool different touch and otherwise so regal! I loved the red/white/black/gray look, and how they were different but complementary. Just a nice touch of flair!


And, of course, with Texas Dreams, we must discuss Ragan. She was clearly the best by far, and will definitely be the US's hope for the World title in Montreal. She's been one of the most consistent at the end of the summer, and has been topping the scores, so she is going in a favorite. Her bars both nights missed the strength of her Classics routine, but she made it through securely both times, still. While her beam will never be scored that way at Worlds, her night two beam was FANTASTIC! It was steady and precise for almost the whole routine, and her biggest slip involved one of the lovely "no need to notice my foot just completely missed the beam, it didn't affect me at all or anything" moments. All in all, she is establishing herself as the top class at this point.

And, of course, the weirdness of her floor. Well, her choreography fits the new opening music better than it did for the car horn IT WAS CHOREOGRAPHED TO, so good for that. Also, side eye to Dominic Zito (he is still her choreographer?) It's no longer the bizarro Addams Family mess, but still... we know she can do so much better!! There's a proclivity toward butt shelving and there seems to have been a shift toward constructing her routines with static movements that wasn't there in her junior routines. They went from her cuteness just being a natural facet of the routine to the routines screaming "Look! She's cute and little! We give her beads for motivation! We're going to keep pretending she's five!!" This infantilization I just don't get.


Riley both did and didn't do her job here. She had an overall pretty much hit meet (those bars and floor E scores night two were ridiculous, though, floor significantly more so), which was an improvement along the lines she needed to show. However, it came along with a downgrade and, of course, two routines with significant errors. I am more convinced now that issues for her won't mean complete mental implosion and safety-threatening errors, which had been my big hesitation where she was concerned. I do wonder if doing the FTY might have been behind the increased consistency. With her problems at American Cup, I wondered if maybe going for the DTY threw her off. If you took her day one performance, she made a good case. And her day two beam was lovely.

I was totally on the Marz train to make the podium, but actually looking at the scores, it was a fairly unlikely ask of her to get that score on beam. Still, I truly do think she had one of the best overall performances at nationals. She beat both of the other medalists in steady performance. Plus, her floor is just really fun!

Trinity Thomas's coaches must be really bugged this isn't a team year, because if it was, she'd be a shoe-in for her consistency and the competitive scores she can bring on three events. It's such a shame she couldn't have a more difficult vault!

And, oh, Morgan. Especially night 1. *Sigh* And she finally hit the beam routine, too!

Hit the usual problem routine, then miss on others. I will always be here for hoping for the ice-in-her-veins Morgan to happen. She's just such a beautiful gymnast!

But, on the topic of Morgan's beautiful gymnastic, she dealt a huge blow to the artistry in the world when she shaved down her ending choreo!!


Fortunately, however, the void has been filled by the SJS night two routine:

THIS IS GORGEOUS! I love how she and her mom just decided "with the injuries pneumonia and such, Worlds, etc. isn't happening, so we'll make a splash with TWO DIFFERENT FLOOR ROUTINES!!" This was definitely the one I preferred.


Moving from magnificent artistry to pure power, Jade Carey's performance... wasn't what we wanted it to be. Neither Amanar was up to scratch. I wonder if at this point it might be better just to do a DTY instead of the Amanar (that is legal right? I always get confused with whether you can have two vaults with the same number of twists) and go for a safer and cleaner route.


And then, rounding out the major players, Ashton still didn't bring the inbars. The routine with the inbars and Ashton-execution would be quite formidable, but there is the question of bringing a routine she hasn't shown in competition this year. Still, there will be an element of risk whatever Worlds team is chosen.



And the juniors!

I like both of the top two, but I was definitely rooting for Maile going in, so I was glad to see her defend the title! Of course, I was not happy that it came with an error from Emma Malabuyo. But, after the issues she had as Classics, it was great to see Maile go 8-for-8 here. These juniors are insane. How much do you want to bet Valeri has a countdown in his office for the number of days until 2018 and these girls are seniors? I know Maile's standout event is beam, but her day 2 bars are what really stuck with me:

Lower difficulty than day 1, but gorgeous!


It was such a shame that Emma had her stumble day 2 on her beam dismount! She has such lovely gymnastics. She really should have been in the lead after day 1, she had such a clean and polished day. But she's had a great year otherwise! Though her day 2 beam was the cause of her downfall, her day 1 beam was glorious, and I love her arabian! But the highlight of her performance had to be her day 1 floor.

And, speaking of floor, ADELINE KENLIN BROUGHT THE PODKOPAYEVA

But, of course, the big thing that caught my attention here was the new GAGE girls! Dang, they are lovely gymnasts. While Leanne and Kara have been getting the lion's share of the attention, I am a major fan of JaFree's beam composition. But, like everyone else, the one I could watch on loop is Kara's:

This is a vision of what gymnastics should be. And her choreo is also super enjoyable and adds to the overall aesthetic of the routine! Sadly, her difficulty is low everywhere else, but it's ridiculous (not as in crack judging-ridiculous, as in how awesome-ridiculous) that her execution was still able to get her into third! And she turns senior next year? We don't even have her hanging in the junior ranks another year? Well, I guess that will keep her from going into the "permanent junior" category in my mind.



And, of course, I can't finish the post off without talking about the Worlds team. I don't envy the selection committee this year, not because there are so many viable solutions, but because this looks like a puzzle where not all the pieces fit yet.

Ragan is obviously going for the AA. Riley is obviously going in some capacity. Since she would have beaten Jordan even with the rough spots and the FTY if the US didn't have its own values, probably AA. The rest is... eh.

Jordan's rumored Lopez is the biggest wrench in the plan. With Carey's issues, another option would be nice. This brings multiple routes and questions into play. The first is looking at comparing her and Carey for a vault spot. If Carey keeps not Amanaring well, Jordan could be the favored option for vault. Except she hasn't done the Lopez in competition. And then the, y'know, "having other competitive events" issue. Pfft. Jade clearly beats her on floor, making Jade the more-viable-potential-medals option.

But then, on the other side of the coin, the vault field is always the easiest to get into. So, if Jade doesn't get her vaults into order, which option provides the bigger medal opportunity? Of course, not having seen said Lopez, we can't say.

But then there's another option of Jordan going for the AA, having two vaulters, and bring Riley as a UB/BB specialist. Riley may have been ahead of Jordan using, y'know, the criteria they'll actually be judged by, but Jordan didn't hit her peak. So what if she turns up at camp looking fab? At this point, probably, "You needed to do this in an actual competition with people, sorry." But of course, Riley's consistency isn't her greatest strength either. Does either's consistency record make a better case? And, the bigger question in my mind, should Riley go back to the DTY option, will she still have her newfound hit-ness even with the upgrade? The lack of consistent AAers with competitive difficulty levels is what really messes the decision up here. But Riley's definitely the clear favorite for the second AA spot. The Ragan-Jordan-Jade-Riley option just fits the best, but probably wouldn't maximize outcome.

Ashton and Riley were the only two to beat Ragan on bars, therefore making them the only two worth bringing for bars. Ragan and Riley were also 1-2 on beam, making anyone else for a beam spot illogical unless they can outweigh the collective benefit of Riley. Ashton without the inbars is less compelling than she should be, but if she has them securely at camp, I would think that would be good enough for her case. She's still one of only two beating Ragan, so unless Riley doesn't go as an AAer, she's got a claim to a spot where no one else can really make a compelling argument.

With all the pieces in play at this point, the Ragan-Riley-Jade-Ashton team definitely seems like the most solid option of what we've seen and what I'd expect, but an underwhelming top choice. Like I said, the issue is there are a bunch of puzzle pieces which don't really work together.

And then, of course, there's the ideal option of Trinity Thomas suddenly gets a DTY that looks great, there's a consistent second AAer who can bring in some nicely competitive scores on individual events, and we get a solid second AAer and more balanced team both in the bag. If you add in the D score she would have gotten from a DTY (because of course her E scores would have been exactly the same) she comes in second at nationals. It really would just be the best solution.

Ah well, a girl can dream, right?

This is why I love Classics

Classics is my favorite US meet... which, given that 75% of the time the US season consists of three meets, one of which is at the Ranch and isn't broadcast, isn't really saying much, but still. It's 10x wackier, and therefore 10x more fun, than Nationals.

And this year certainly didn't disappoint. Literally no one who will be in the hunt for the senior national title did AA, Gabby Perea won junior bars with a flyaway dismount, Deanne Soza decided to go ahead and do her floor routine even though she couldn't do her DLO and just do a layout pass instead, the junior champion outscored the senior champion, Riley McCusker invented a Stalder-entry tucked Tkatchev on the fly, and Ashton did one event and it wasn't bars. The meets that have literally no bearing on anything else are always my favorite and make me feel full of life.

(Also, there will be basically nothing from the junior session here. There was way too much of that for me to keep track of anything.)


The Good
So let's start with new superstar Jade Carey who literally no one had heard of 3 months ago. New favorite for the World vault title. Also, her floor is not shabby at all and we really need to give more attention to her fab double double. If she doesn't become this quad's Kayla Williams I will be so disappointed.

MORGAN HURD!! Her ending choreography on floor is all the artistry I need this year (though there was tons of great ending choreo). Yes, she did put her hand down on her beam, but it was more solid than we've seen her do all year. So I am going to delude myself that she's going to bust out with the steady beam routine until she has another big issue at P&Gs.

NO AL!!!!!!

Luisa Blanco. Girl is a gorgeous gymnast, bare minimum difficulty or no.

Also, Adeline Kenlin's beam was glorious. It was smooth and solid and difficult and not the same as every other beam routine in the world!

In general, I felt the beam choreography was an improvement this year. If felt less staccato and less like it had been done in a half-asleep daze. Routines moved better and were more interesting between skills.

Some great skills busted out-- more standing fulls than we got from the top dogs last year, arabians, some Onodis (including in floor choreo!), nice combos from the new front tumbling rules (HALLELUJAH), Deanne's Ezhova, and lots of same-bar releases other than straddled Jaegers!!

Laney Madsen might have struggled HARD here, but she did at least bust out the cool skills. If you're going to be sloppy, at least be sloppy doing cool stuff.

Coaches who didn't have their taped-together gymnasts compete unnecessarily. Well done Everest, First State, Brandy Johnson, and Texas Dreams; Maggie Haney, take notes.

Ragan Smith. She is not playing around. Of course, as always we have to appreciate her beam routine of effortless difficulty

but now she's also putting pressure on the gymnasts going for the bars spot by suddenly improving by leaps and bounds there because, if you can't beat Ragan, really what's the point of taking you as a bars specialist? But seriously, her beam score was higher than all of her beam scores last year (which, that score was a little ridiculous, but still, it deserved to be up there) and of her sever bars scores last year, four were within half a tenth of what she got here. She's out for blood.

As always, the Texas Dreams floor routines. At least, those we saw here. We haven't seen Ragan's yet so we don't know if the dark days of finger monocles and finger walking will carry on to haunt us this year, but everyone else's was fab. All of their routines (with the exception of the Addams Family... thing) are just so creative and polished. All of them were enjoyable, but I especially loved Emma Malabuyo's hand-walking and Deanne Soza's routine. (Side note: it was so weird seeing Deanne Soza not in blue and yellow.) (Second side note: I'm still salty we never got to see Bailie Key on floor after 2015 when-- if I recall correctly-- she got a new routine.)

And, once again, the weirdness that lived up to the Classics reputation.


The Bad
Once again, Maggie, why did you make Riley compete for no good reason?

Jordan Chiles not busting out of the gates like everyone was hoping for two years ago.

Even though I am glad she's at least going to do cool things if she's going to be so messy, Laney Madsen did have quite the rough meet.


The Ugly
Triple wolf+double wolf combinations. Just gouge my eyes out, why don't you, it would be kinder. (I don't even hate wolf turns as much as most of the gymternet! I really like a well-executed wolf turn, but even Simone couldn't make this palatable.)

Side-stand split 1/2 jumps. The vast majority of the side-stand half-twisting jumps would fit this category, but even the well-executed ones in cross split were awkward-looking.



Of course, we are all now turning our sights toward naming the Worlds team. While I love the team competition, there's a certain kind of fun about an individual Worlds selection. Of course, Classics isn't really a big indicator, but it did tell us that Jade Carey is definitely a thing and Ragan Smith is bringing it.

Basically for the AA you've got Ragan Smith pretty much confirmed and Riley McCusker and Morgan Hurd (and not really but still should probably be talked about Alyona Shchennikova) for the second spot. Jade Carey is looking fairly unchallenged at this point for a VT/FX (and possibly BB?) spot. That leaves a UB (and possibly BB) spot, Ashton being the obvious pick for that. All of the ones in for the second AA spot would be in the hunt for the UB(/BB) spot if they don't get the AA spot, especially if Ashton doesn't upgrade.

I want Morgan Hurd for the second AA just because she's the one I want for it. She doesn't have a good hit record this year, but no one really does, so... we'll see what happens at Nationals. For the bars spot, I don't really mind, though Alyona does have my favorite composition.

Who I Want to Go to Nationals

Regionals are in the air! And none too soon, I'm getting burned out. The NCAA season feels like an actual job. A job I love, yes, but a job nonetheless. But hey, at least I don't have to get up at 4:30 for any of these meets.

But anyway, let's get to my favorite from each regional. Because who cares about who the most competitive are, this is my fantasy world where all my favorites go to Nationals! (Except ASU, but they beat U of A, so I don't even really care that they're not going to regionals.)


Seattle Regional: Oklahoma, Kentucky, Washington, Utah State, Stanford, BYU
Oklahoma and Washington
UGH I want all of the top three to go!! And Stanford. And I wouldn't exactly complain about the other two going either. But ultimately, leaving Kentucky at home in favor of the other two really doesn't make me feel that bad, which tells me these really, very truly are the two I want.

Lincoln Regional: LSU, Boise State, Nebraska, U of A, Iowa State, Minnesota
LSU and Nebraska
ANYBODY BUT U OF A. I kind of wanted to pick Boise State, but then I realized I've never actually seen Boise State (which I should have by this point, admittedly) and so how can I actually determine that? This was a pretty easy one to pick. Geux Tigers and Go Big Red!!

Gainesville Regional: Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New Hampshire, Penn State, North Carolina
Florida and North Carolina
With this one, I want Florida, and then I kind of want everyone else to make it but I don't REALLY WANT anyone else to make it. I like UNC enough, and Morgan Lane with the full on-pike vault and beam of gold would be great to see. And it would just be hilarious to see the #35 seed beat two SEC teams. And their leos against UCLA were super fun. So yeah!

Fayetteville Regional: Utah, Denver, Cal, Auburn, Arkansas, Central Michigan
Denver and Cal
I feel kind of bad about not picking Utah because I feel like they're the top 10 team to hate this year, but Denver and Cal are two of my favorites, so TOO BAD! I also very much enjoy Auburn on floor, so if they qualified, I would not mind seeing that rotation at Nationals.

Champaign Regional: UCLA, Oregon State, Iowa, Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Ohio State
Oregon State and Illinois
This is probably overall my least favorite regional. I'm not especially attached to any of these teams, so eh. I've mentioned before (a long time ago) that UCLA isn't my favorite (and even the perfect Kyla Ross can't change that). I kind of debated picking Eastern Michigan here, but that would be another Boise State situation, so this ended up being a very easy pick. And Hodan's double illusion on floor deserves its own Nationals berth.

Morgantown Regional: Alabama, Michigan, Southern Utah, George Washington, West Virginia, Kent State
Michigan and West Virginia
I also feel bad about not picking Alabama, because I do like them and Kiana Winston's perfection and Aja Sims with the "what is this?" police siren routine. But alas, I pull for Michigan and West Virginia just a little bit more. And I have Kirah Koshinski and Zaakira Muhammad on my fantasy team, so they've just got a soft spot for me.

(Another) Scoring System Idea

Because this dropping one of the CRs makes this the perfect time to convert the D score to an ROV score.

Now, admittedly, I've thought out the "O" part of this quite a bit more than the "V" part. But still, the basic idea behind this is slide in the originality and virtuosity scores right where that dismount CR used to be.

For the originality part, the idea is an actual new CR. So, you'd have the four normal CRs for each non-vault event, and then there would be a fifth originality CR which would be selected from a list of options. I've done a little bit of brainstorming, and here are some ideas I came up with:

Uneven Bars

• Mount of B+ difficulty (the non-straddle vault over the low bar would probably need to be downgraded)
• Elements showing at least three different non-giant circling elements (German giants count toward CR- this would probably need to get FIG-ified and would include the phrase "root element")
• A combination of two same-bar flight elements
• An F+ same-bar release
• A one-armed pirouette
• A 1.5(+? please someone do a double?) pirouette
• A C+ dismount which had been performed in 10 or fewer routines at the previous Worlds or Olympics (maybe this would need to be more 7-8-ish)

I think this list gives enough options for the less technically advanced programs which tend to struggle on UB(/Romania).


Balance Beam

• A mount of C+ difficulty
• A scale held for 2+ seconds, not including a needle scale
• A side-stand element
• A handstand with unique position not in the mount (by "unique position" I mean not a basic legs together or split position, FIG can figure out how to word things)
• A triple acro series
• A hip circle element
• A D+ spin element

I would hope that first option would lead to a large increase in the number of those good difficulty pretty, non-splat-risk mounts which no one performs because they take a while. A fair bit of this is "more flexibility and balance/strength elements, please," but can you really blame me? So much lovely originality isn't being utilized currently.

Floor

• A D+ forward-entry tumbling element (notice the sneaky "forward-entry" wording to keep arabians from counting)
• An indirect acro combination with an E+ salto or a direct acro combination with a D+ salto
• A triple acro combination
• A dance element not in cross split position in the leap series (MORE DANCE POSITIONS PLEASE/why were butterflies downgraded?)
• A turn in Y, attitude, or scorpion position or an illusion turn or back spin (except apparently FIG got rid of the scorpion turn and the double illusion WHY- ah well, that's not hard to rectify)
• A group 3 (hand-support) element in the choreography (this would also probably need some refining and paring down before becoming the law of the land, but whatever)
• And I'm stuck to make it 7 like the others.....

This one was harder to come up with ideas for, but I think this covers all the bases decently. I'm even okay with Mykayla's "I'm doing an L-turn in the air" hop counting toward this if it means more than 1% of routines don't have a leap series with two cross-split variations (plus I needed some options for less technically advanced programs). Also some encouragement for forward tumbling and combination passes.

Again, the virtuosity part of the score hasn't really been thought out as well. I feel like making it a full five tenths would sort of counteract the whole bringing-scores-back-to-where-they-were concept, but at the same time any less wouldn't really make it have much impact on the score. But then again, making it five tenths would answer the complaint that the D-score makes execution less important by making virtuosity part of that score. So let's make the virtuosity score five tenths. I do like the virtuosity score better in my old scoring system idea, but the part of this idea that really got me thinking was the replacing a CR aspect.

Favorite Routines of the Quad: Floor

Laurie Hernandez 2013 P&Gs Day 2

Remember when they didn't choreograph facial expressions into Laurie's routines and just let it come naturally? Remember when this was the routine everyone was talking about? Ah, good times.

Louise McColgan 2013 National Championships

This has to be some of the most creative choreography I've seen. It was wonderfully fun and playful for a little espoir gymnast, but it was still mature and unique. I could watch this routine every day and not grow tired of it.

Giulia Steingruber 2014 Europeans EF

Giulia's leaps are just works of art. She flies on them unlike anyone else. I just love the intensity of this routine.

Catherine Lyons 2014 Europeans EF

The modern dance masterpiece. She had any number of strong performances of this routine, but the way she got up from the floor before her third tumbling pass in this one really made this one stand out to me. This routine just flows so effortlessly, it doesn't have that separation of skills and performance you so often see.

Yesenia Ferrera 2014 Pan Am Championships EF

The tumbling in this routine was fab. It's a shame she disappeared the way she did, she was a brilliant gymnast. The choreography in this routine isn't super complex, but it was super enjoyable all the same.

Ruby Harrold 2014 Worlds Qualifications

I love the avant garde style of this routine. Ruby just works so well with the percussive music. I also really like the selection of tumbling- it has all the different styles of skills I like to see. It's just such a unique routine performed so well.

Celine van Gerner 2015 WOGA Classic

My favorite Dutch routine of the quad. It's just such a powerful music and presentation. I love the bit after her double L spin, it's just so well done. The tension in this routine is just fabulous.

Ellie Black 2015 Pan Ams EF

When it comes to gymnastics, one of the things I am most thankful for is Ellie Black's wonderfully unique and original tumbling. I'm also a sucker for combination tumbling passes, and so all of Ellie's tumbling passes being combinations is just like Christmas for me. Her choreography is also just so well done and beautiful.

Kyla Ross 2015 Jesolo PT

Yes, it's a cop out to use a podium training routine. But in this case, can you really blame me? It's just so beautiful, and after her crazy issue in competition, she never did it like this again...

Lisa Verschueren 2015 European Games EF

This routine is everything I never knew I needed. It's just so off-the-wall. I love Belgium on floor, their MO seems to be "let's win the prize for kookiness" and I can't get enough.

Giulia Steingruber 2015 Europeans EF

As always with Giulia, the tumbling and leaps are beautiful. This is just such a great modern routine, and her performance is so effortless. It's just so watchable.

Claudia Fragapane 2015 Europeans EF

I like out-of-the-box routines, in case you can't tell. Her choreography is just so different and cool. Her tumbling isn't pristine, but you can't deny it's exciting. Her DLO to wolf should by rights be hideous, but somehow I end up loving that connection. And that back spin to finish!

Bailie Key 2015 Secret Classic

This did not seem to be a terribly popular choreography, but this is my favorite floor routine of the quad. I like the swimming part! I don't know, maybe it's just Bailie's lack of expression, but she seems almost to be mocking the audience, and maybe I'm just weird, but I love when routines do that. And the tumbling's not shabby either. It was just such a different direction to go with Bailie, and I love it!

Marine Brevet, 2015 Worlds Qualification

First of all, "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" is one of my favorite floor music selections. Add to that a lovely DLO, great passionate choreography, and that ending pose, and bam, this routine is amazing.

Favorite Routines of the Quad: Beam

Anastasia Grishina 2013 Europeans AA

Remember when Grishy was looking like a star of the quad? Those were the days. The jaw-dropping moment of this is the lovely Onodi+illusion. This is just a gorgeous and lovely steady routine.

Norah Flatley 2014 Pac Rims EF

Norah Flatley on beam is just an otherworldly experience. She just looks so unhurried. She had two beautiful acro series, and her arabesque is such a beautiful touch.

Eythora Thorsdottir Hamburg 2014

A very weak dismount because she was coming back from injury, but this was a lovely elegant routine with so many unique combinations. Eythora just shows so much of the originality missing from beam recently in this routine. I just eat up her dance+acro combinations.

Kyla Ross 2015 P&Gs Day 2

Kyla Ross angry beam is basically all you need in life.

Pauline Schaefer 2015 DM EF

Pauline is such a gorgeous beam worker, and I love her original choreography. She has her lovely original mount and incredible original acro skill in this routine. I also love her dismount- it's been abused this quad, but when performed like this, it's magical. There's nothing out of place in this routine, and I just love it.

Maile O'Keefe 2016 P&Gs Day 1

Beam extraordinaire Maile O'Keefe. She's got the legendary Dudnik acro series and a layout series just to top things off. Her work is just so off-the-charts and steady. She will hopefully be a great addition to the arsenal in 2018.

Flavia Saraiva 2016 Anadia EF

Flavia is just so delightful. Beam is my favorite event of hers, especially when she hits like this. This routine is full to bursting- she's got her double LOSO series, her roundoff+layout, and the beautiful forward series. And add to that her charming choreography from her lovely 2014-2015 floor, and it's just a completely wonderful routine.

Ragan Smith 2016 Secret Classic

The errors in the dismount were sad, but it was super exciting to see after waiting with baited breath so long. But otherwise, it was about as perfect as she can get. I love her standing full and amazing stretched layout.

Sanne Wevers 2016 Nationals

The most uniquely difficult and smooth as butter routine in existence. I could watch Sanne work beam forever.

Favorite Routines of the Quad: Bars

Aliya Mustafina, 2013 Worlds AA

Gotta love the Seitz and the Mustafina dismount. That's one of those things you've just gotta love about Aliya, how she'll just pull out a randomly different routine every now and then to keep you on your toes. And as always, the classic Aliya swing.

Roxana Popa, 2014 Blume Memorial

Oh, how I miss pre-hey-your-ACL-is-torn-by-the-way Roxana. Her bars work especially was super exciting, and all the connections in this routine just make it so dynamic. There's just so much flight and movement between the bars in this routine! And the inbar Geinger in its pure form.

Rebecca Tunney, 2014 Europeans EF

Long live the Church+Bhardwaj! There's just so much flight and not a second of wasted time in her routine.

Lisa Katharina Hill, 2014 Stuttgart World Cup

Another routine with a Bhardwaj- unique transition work is a pretty sure-fire way to get on this list! I also love her long combination into the Gienger combining pirouettes, transitions, and different kinds of circling elements. There's just so much variety in this routine!

Brenna Dowell, 2014 P&Gs, Day 1

There is just so much in this routine! I'm a fan of everything but the kitchen sink bars routines, and I love how much variety and excitement she is able to pack in. All of the combinations are just amazing, and the Tweddle+Ezhova especially!

Amelia Hundley, 2015 Pan Ams EF

I just really love the way Meals works bars. I find there to be something Aliya-esque in her swing. She never seems to be fighting with the apparatus, and it almost seems as if time has slowed slightly while she performs.

Shang Chunsgong, 2015 Worlds TF

You've just gotta love a good ol' release fest. And it's especially nice with Shang's gorgeous eponymous skill. I also like that she's got some good ol' pretty Chinese one-armed pirouettes going. I was never a pirouette fest fan, but I do wish they hadn't disappeared so much. Shang's issue on bars is her swing can sometimes be a bit labored, but that wasn't a problem here.

Fan Yilin, 2015 Worlds EF

Such a difficult routine and so well done. Lots of movement between the bars, pirouettes, and a great inbar Gienger! Definitely my favorite of the reigning world champions.

Becky Downie, 2016 Europeans EF

So many fabulous releases and combinations! And with Becky's beautiful presentation to top it off. This is a monster of a routine. The Chow+Shang is so breathtaking, but then, so is everything else in this routine.

Jessica Lopez, 2016 Sao Paulo World Cup EF

So many inbar Giengers this quad! One thing I love about JLo's bars is how she works and turns through inverted grip. And her lovely open Jaeger! I also love her double front, there's just something so compact about it.

Ruby Harrold, 2015 Worlds EF

And my favorite UB routine to end! Both a Maloney+Bhardwaj and a Van Leeuwen+Zuchold. The Zuchold is just the ultimate of cool transitions (which, in case you can't tell by now, I'm a sucker for). Not pristine, but just plain cool.