Recapping the Action: NCAA Gymnastics Week 7

Recapping the Action: NCAA Gymnastics Week 7

Catch up on the Week 7 action with multiple 10.0s from Kyla Ross, a heated rivalry renewed and some season-highs for Washington and Cal.

Feb 21, 2017 by Lauren Green
Recapping the Action: NCAA Gymnastics Week 7
Catch up on all of the action from Week 7, including a heated rivalry out west and perfection from Swaggie Maggie, Kyla Ross, and Maddie Karr.

Ross, Nichols, Karr reach perfection

It was another big week for some of the top athletes in the country.

Maggie Nichols grabbed her fourth 10.0 of the season at the GymQuarters Invitational in St. Charles, Missouri, on Friday night. The Oklahoma freshman scored a 10.0 in her final event of the competition on balance beam. It's the second time this season that she has reached perfection on beam.

Nichols had a dominating performance and scored 9.975s on floor exercise, vault, and uneven bars to total an impressive 39.925 all-around score.

Kyla Ross scored two 10.0s in three days for UCLA as the Bruins faced rival Utah in a heated road meet on Friday night, then returned home on Monday for a tri-meet against Bridgeport and Utah State.

Ross notched her second career perfect score on the uneven bars at Utah. Both of Ross' 10.0s on bars have come on the road this season.

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On Monday, Ross secured perfection for the first time at Pauley Pavilion with a stellar routine on balance beam. She's gotten close to the 10.0 on beam this season but always had one slight balance check that kept her from hitting perfection.

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Denver's Maddie Karr notched her first perfect 10 of her career with a gorgeous stuck Yurchenko 1 1/2. Karr is the fourth Denver gymnast to score a 10.0 on vault.

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Oklahoma dazzles at quad meet

The No. 1-ranked Sooners put together an impressive meet during the second session of the GymQuarters Invitational on Friday night as they put up a 198.350--the top score in the country. It was also the first time that the top two teams in the country faced off, as the No. 2 LSU Tigers finished second with then-No. 10 Georgia and then-No. 18 Missouri also participating.

Oklahoma got huge results on every event but were particularly impressive on floor exercise with a 49.675. AJ Jackson scored a 9.975 on floor for the second week in a row for her dynamic routine with huge tumbling and great landings. Chayse Capps tied a season high with a 9.950 in the anchor spot.

Brenna Dowell came up big on vault with a stuck Yurchenko 1 1/2 that garnered a 9.975. Stefanie Catour dazzled on both of her two events with marks of 9.925 or better on uneven bars and balance beam. McKenzie Wofford scored a season-high 9.950 on uneven bars to help the Sooners to a 49.600 total.

Utah, UCLA rivalry heats up

Perhaps the biggest meet of the weekend came on Saturday night when UCLA traveled to Salt Lake City to face rival Utah. The Bruins were coming off a season-high 198.125 against Stanford, while Utah was coming off a close road loss to Oregon State. Utah came away with the win with a season-high 197.875 to top UCLA's 197.500 total.

The meet lived up to its billing as both teams were tied after the first rotation. Ross nailed her uneven bars routine to grab her second 10.0 of the season. An uncharacteristic mistake from Peng-Peng Lee in the anchor spot prevented the Bruins from grabbing the slight edge heading into the second rotation.

UCLA didn't quite get the vault rotation it hoped for with steps on the Bruins' landings in the second rotation, while the Utes had a more solid rotation on uneven bars than in the last several weekends. Utah has struggled with landings and uncharacteristic mistakes on bars during each of the last two meets.

The meet really got heated with some controversial scores on the final rotations. Utah put up some great performances to close on floor, with five routines going 9.900 or better, including 9.950s on the Utes' final three routines from Makenna Merrell, Baely Rowe, and MyKayla Skinner.

Madison Kocian and Katelyn Ohashi lead the Bruins on balance beam with 9.950s. Kocian put together a solid set while Ohashi landed her big back handspring, layout, layout full series with a minimal bobble.

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The next time the two teams meet will be at the Pac-12 championships next month.

Bruins floor rotation struggles in second meet

UCLA returned home to host Utah State and Bridgeport in a President's Day meet on Monday afternoon. The Bruins competed with tweaked lineups on both vault and floor exercise, opting to rest some of their top athletes. Angi Cipra and Kocian did not compete on vault or floor for UCLA.

The Bruins had little mistakes throughout the meet and looked to show some fatigue through the first three rotations. The final rotation on floor exercise started off stellar with Ohashi scoring a 9.900 in the lead-off position and Macy Toronjo making her collegiate debut and grabbing a 9.900.

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Stella Savvidou went out of bounds on her second pass and had a low landing with her chest down on her final pass to score a 9.575 in the third slot in the lineup. Those mistakes snowballed as the Bruins struggled in the second half of the lineup with falls from JaNay Honest, Gracie Kramer (in her floor debut this season) and Ross. It's just the second time this season that Ross has competed on floor exercise.

LSU impresses in multi-meet weekend

Like UCLA, LSU also had two meets in three days. Unlike the Bruins, the Tigers posted a season-high of 197.975 and tied a season-high on floor exercise in the final rotation.

LSU opted to rest Myia Hambrick on vault and both Hambrick and Ashleigh Gnat on floor exercise. Ashlyn Kirby made her season debut on floor to garner a 9.625. Lexie Priessman was back in the floor lineup with a 9.825. Shae Zamardi (9.900), Sydney Ewing (9.925), Kennedi Edney (9.925), and McKenna Kelley (9.975) all scored above a 9.900 to propel the Tigers to a 49.550 total on floor.

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LSU had a stellar vault performance as well with Ruby Harrold and Edney both coming up with stuck landings on their Yurchenko 1 1/2 vaults.

(Video courtesy of LSU Gymnastics)

Washington, Cal, TWU post season highs

California has battled back from losing Toni-Ann Williams to an Achilles tear and posted a season-best 197.075 against Oregon State on Saturday.

The Bears had a great rotation on uneven bars that propelled them into the lead. All six Cal athletes posted scores of 9.850 or better, with Emily Richardson and Chelsea Shu both scoring 9.900s and Alicia Gallarzo pacing the team with a 9.925.

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Washington eclipsed the 197 mark for the first time this season as well with a 197.175 on Sunday against Arizona. The Huskies have just kept improving this season and had a stellar meet across the board.

The strength for Washington has come on the balance beam and Sunday was no different. All six athletes scored a 9.8 or better and both Joslyn Goings and Hailey Burleson scored 9.925s to pace the Huskies. Washington scored a season-best 49.425 on balance beam and a 49.400 on floor exercise, which was capped off by Burleson's 9.950.

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TWU notched a season-high 196.00, which ties a school record set back on March 3, 2003. This is the highest team score for Head Coach Lisa Bowerman since she took over the Pioneer program in 2011. It was the team's alumni night and they sure made the Pioneer alums proud with their stellar performance.

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The Pioneers will be taking on the Oklahoma Sooners this weekend at home LIVE on FloGymnastics. Tune in on Sunday at 2pm CT for this matchup.