Gymnastics win opener

Posted on: January 3, 2025 at 22:11:25 CT

Gymnastics won its opening warm up against 3 lower tier teams with a disappointing score of 196.7 ( last year opener 197 and change) in the gymnastics world any score below 197 is not adequate for a top tier team and to take the next step we need to be in the mid to high 197s on a regular basis. Vault was the first rotation. We have upgraded to 4 athletes with a 10.0 start value but the execution was poor. Lots of steps on landings, poor body position etc resulting in a score below 49. Our bar rotation was the bright spot of the night. Handstands were much improved from last year and landings were solid. Score was an excellent 49.4. Balance beam was our worst event last year and graduated our top worker in seinna schrieber. Overall it looked improved and saw the return of outstanding beam worker Helen Hu who took a year off last year but has returned to use her final year of eligibility. It was her only event and she scored a 9.8. She is pure joy to watch on beam and regularly scored 9.9 or higher in her years here. Hopefully she can return to that form. Score was respectable just over 49. This was an event that regularly went in the 48s last year. Floor was our last event and very disappointing for a team that was so strong on floor last year. Interestingly we appear to have a new black floor this year which was streaked with white chaulk marks from the gymnasts and very distracting to watch on TV…but that’s neither here nor there. The first floor routines were new to the line up and lacked pretty much everything needed to score well…power, amplitude, precision, and entertainment value. I actually caught myself yawning. The last routines which have all those things were poorly executed tonight with no tiger going 9.9 or higher. Score was also just over 49 but good teams will have typically 4/6 gymnasts 9.9 or higher. I was not impressed with this year highly regarded freshmen class and it seems we will rely heavily on returners at least early on. It’s hard to tell much from just one meet but it certainly wasn’t the start I wanted to see. I think we will be very similar to last year. A solid team that’s just not quite good enough to challenge the best of the best.