2015 U.S. Championships Senior Day 2 Live Blog

The Gymternet is excited to be back in action at the 2015 U.S. Championships for the final day of senior competition! We’ll be live blogging everything that happens today right here on the site. Most recent updates will appear at the top. Refresh this page every five minutes or so to see what’s going on.

10:20 pm. The 2015-2016 Senior Women’s U.S. National Team is Simone Biles, Maggie Nichols, Aly Raisman, Bailie Key, Gabby Douglas, Madison Kocian, Kyla Ross, Nia Dennis, Alyssa Baumann, and MyKayla Skinner!

10:09 pm. Floor Exercise Standings

1. Aly Raisman, 31.05
2. Simone Biles, 30.75
3t. MyKayla Skinner, 29.15
3t. Bailie Key, 29.15
5. Maggie Nichols, 28.7
6. Gabby Douglas, 28.65
7. Brenna Dowell, 28.35
8. Madison Kocian, 28.05

10:07 pm. Balance Beam Standings

1. Simone Biles, 30.7
2. Alyssa Baumann, 30.2
3. Kyla Ross, 29.5
4t. Nia Dennis, 29.05
4t. Maggie Nichols, 29.05
6. Rachel Gowey, 28.75
7t. MyKayla Skinner, 28.7
7t. Aly Raisman, 28.7

10:05 pm. Uneven Bars Standings

1. Madison Kocian, 31.1
2. Ashton Locklear, 30.85
3. Bailie Key, 30.5
4. Gabby Douglas, 30.4
5. Simone Biles, 30.1
6. Rachel Gowey, 30.05
7. Maggie Nichols, 29.75
8. Emily Schild, 29.05

10:00 pm. Vault Standings

1. Simone Biles
2. MyKayla Skinner

(They didn’t show their average combined scores…grr.)

9:53 pm. Final All-Around Standings!

1. Simone Biles, World Champions, 124.1
2. Maggie Nichols, Twin City Twisters, 119.15
3. Aly Raisman, Brestyan’s, 118.55
4. Bailie Key, Texas Dreams, 118.35
5. Gabby Douglas, Buckeye, 117.95
6. Madison Kocian, WOGA, 115.95
7t. Alyssa Baumann, WOGA, 115.7
7t. MyKayla Skinner, Desert Lights, 115.7
9. Nia Dennis, Legacy Elite, 115.2
10. Kyla Ross, Gym-Max, 114.55
11. Brenna Dowell, GAGE, 113.7
12. Emily Schild, Everest, 112.55
13. Megan Skaggs, Gym Academy of Atlanta, 112.45
14. Lauren Navarro, Gliders, 107.9
15. Rachel Gowey, Chow’s, 58.8
16. Ashton Locklear, Everest, 57.55

9:52 pm. Baumann BB- Standing arabian is great, switch ring is good, solid bhs loso, switch to switch half, full pirouette, front aerial to sissone is lovely, little stumble on the Sheep, hits Onodi into the wolf but stumbles a little on the wolf jump, side aerial, and she finishes with a double pike, chest totally down.

9:51 pm. Key UB- Nice Jaeger, Ricna to pak and it’s her best pak of the SUMMER. Chow to bail to toe full loses SO much form there before the Ray to high but she holds on. Full-in stuck. Form break aside, a great routine.

9:50 pm. Skinner VT- Second vault is the DTY. Great form, just bounces it back. 15.15 average

9:48 pm. Skinner VT- First vault is the Cheng. Great, just a hop back. She literally swipes the hand through on the block. SHE TRIES. 15.35

9:45 pm. Ross FX- Nails double arabian. Doesn’t bother going into stag. Taking a page out of Aly’s book. Double pike with a step back. Controlled lunge it seemed. 1.5 to front full with a step to the side. Double tuck landing is low but she stands it up! That was a HIT. 13.8

9:43 pm. Raisman BB- Split leap mount. Punch front pike, nails. Doesn’t bother connecting. Just save it like it is. Bhs layout, again doesn’t try to overdo anything. PLAY IT SAFE BABY GIRL. Tour jete half, tiny check. Side aerial is solid. Switch to switch half to back pike…leap connections are super fast, maybe a second into the pike. Punch front tuck to sissone is great. Full L turn, doesn’t connect to full pirouette (doesn’t do a full pirouette after, period). She really is playing it safe. Good girl. Patterson with a step back. May have been a micro second over time. 14.95

9:42 pm. Biles UB- Weiler half to Maloney, toe full loses form a little into the Tkatchev, but no problems. Does a really nice handstand before the piked Tkatchev to pak, both hit well. Toe shoot, and she nails her full-in. Good recovery! 14.95

9:41 pm. Douglas VT- DTY, nice! Just a hop back. 15.15

9:39 pm. Schild FX- Double front tuck is a little cowboyed. Steps out-of-bounds on her 1.5 through to 2.5. Double pike hop back. Double tuck, hop. 13.4

9:38 pm. Kocian BB- Bad landing on switch ring…I think I missed the standing arabian that she starts with? Front aerial, misses connection to split jump to straddle jump. Bhs loso is clean and solid. Side aerial. Sticks double tuck! 14.25

9:37 pm. Dennis UB- Jaeger, toe full to big Tkatchev to pak, legs on the Tkatchev are CRAZY. But not a problem. Bail to toe shoot, and she finishes with a double layout with a bounce back. 14.45

9:35 pm. Nichols VT- Amanar, form isn’t great, but she hits with a hop! 15.85

9:33 pm. Skaggs FX- Double arabian with a slight stumble forward. 1.5 through to double tuck. Rudi to split jump gets a TON of height but she finds herself in the air very well. Double pike. 13.8

9:32 pm. Gowey BB- Nails bhs loso loso. Punch front tuck to wolf jump is solid, front aerial to sheep jump with flexed feet and a wobble (leg up). Switch half to back pike with some minor form issues on both. Hits jumps. 2.5 with a step out. 14.35

9:31 pm. Dowell UB- Tweddle to Ezhova, she catches it a little crazy but DOES IT. Toe full to Maloney, good. Church to pak is her best yet. Barely leg sep. Takes an extra swing on the low bar before the van Leeuwen though. Hits her foot on the low bar before the dismount and put her hands down on the full-twisting double layout. UGH. 13.85

9:30 pm. Navarro VT- DTY, crazy legs but a stuck landing. 14.65

9:25 pm. After seven rotations…

1. Simone Biles, 109.15
2. Aly Raisman, 103.6
3. Maggie Nichols, 103.3
4. Bailie Key, 103.05
5. Gabby Douglas, 102.8
6. Madison Kocian, 101.7
7t. Kyla Ross, 100.75
7t. Nia Dennis, 100.75
9. Alyssa Baumann, 100.65
10. MyKayla Skinner, 100.35
11. Brenna Dowell, 99.85
12. Emily Schild, 99.15
13. Megan Skaggs, 98.65
14. Lauren Navarro, 93.25

9:22 pm. Douglas FX- Very careful on her L turn. Double arabian to stag is great. Tucked full-in, just jumps over an inch. Leaps look better today? Basically sticks double pike. Just looks a little iffy on the Ferrari landing. Double tuck to split jump. MUCH better than yesterday. 14.8

9:20 pm. Ross BB- Punch front to wolf jump, great extension on split jump to straddle jump. Front aerial to sheep with a slight check. Bhs loso. Switch ring. Side somi, just tests her balance a tiny bit and she’s fine. Switch to back tuck is solid. This is the Kyla we know and love! Side aerial. Sticks double tuck!!! YAAAAAS. FINALLY. 50 Shades of Kyla in that routine. 15.25!

9:19 pm. Raisman UB- Toe full to Maloney to Tkatchev, very good. Hop to straddle Jager, looked like she almost got stuck after the hop but she gets it together. Clean bail to Ray, giant half to double front, small hop. 14.1

9:17 pm. Biles VT- Her second vault is the Lopez, and she stuck it! Huge block, just a tiny bit off-center. 15.825 average!

9:16 pm. Biles VT- Perfect Amanar, just slightly crossed toes and a little hop of her feet together if you wanna be nit-picky. 16.3

9:14 pm. Nichols FX- Double double with a bounce back and out of bounds. Tucked full-in, form issues but better than the double double. Good landing on the piked full-in. Hits double tuck. Realized her ending floor pose is the same exact pose as Lauren Navarro’s. #Twinning

9:12 pm. Schild BB- Full turn, bhs bhs layout is a bit piked and her leg comes up. Punch front tuck. Side aerial. Switch to back tuck. Back leg looked a little bent on her jumps. Double tuck with a hop back. 13.1

9:11 pm. Kocian UB- Komova II to pak to Chow half, good. Inbar to inbar half to straddle Jaeger, stalder to stalder full to stuck full-in. Yeah, I’d take her to Worlds. 15.6

9:10 pm. Dennis VT- DTY, big and clean! 15.3

9:08 pm. Navarro FX- Piked full-in with a controlled lunge. 1.5 through to double tuck with a bounce forward, though doesn’t put her hands down. Double pike. 2.5 bounces out of control. 13.0

9:06 pm. Skaggs BB- I missed her wolf turn but hear the crowd get nervous for her. Front aerial to sissone, good. Bhs loso loso, also well done though maybe a bit low. Side aerial. Good jumps. Switch side, leg up. Side somi with legs extended, not really tucked. Double pike with a step. I love that her leo looks like a sunset from an airplane. 13.65

9:05 pm. Gowey UB- Inbar full, Komova II to giant full, Tkatchev, clean pak, clean van Leeuwen, lovely double layout with a hop. 14.7

9:04 pm. Dowell VT- DTY, looks good to me! Very powerful and a bounce back. Looks like she had bent elbows on her block. 14.95

9:02 pm. Skinner FX- Here comes the Irish shamrock bagpiping her way into your hearts, lassies! Moors is great, actually. Better form this year than before. Double double with a hop back. 1.5 through to 2.5 is hit! And then she finishes with a tucked full-in, STUCK. Good work. 14.8

9:01 pm. Locklear BB- Bhs loso a little wonky in her leg form. Tour jete half. Punch front tuck to split jump to wolf jump. Full L turn. Big wobble on side somi but holds it. Side aerial. Switch to switch half. Double tuck, slight hop. Well, she didn’t fall! 13.75

8:59 pm. Baumann UB- Shaposh something or other (why do I ALWAYS miss the beginning of her routine, it’s probably a Chow?) to pak, good. Toe full to Maloney to bail to Ray, a little leg sep on the bail. Hits Jaeger and full-in. 14.05

8:58 pm. Key VT- The groom hits a big DTY, just a bounce back. Form is tight! 15.2

8:52 pm. After six rotations…

1. Simone Biles, 92.85
2. Aly Raisman, 89.5
3. Maggie Nichols, 89.15
4. Gabby Douglas, 88.0
5. Bailie Key, 87.85
6. Alyssa Baumann, 86.6
7. Madison Kocian, 86.1
8. Emily Schild, 86.05
9. MyKayla Skinner, 85.55
10. Kyla Ross, 85.5
11. Megan Skaggs, 85.0
12. Brenna Dowell, 84.9
13. Nia Dennis, 84.85
14. Lauren Navarro, 80.25

8:50 pm. Dennis FX- Double layout with a hop back. Double arabian with a hop forward. Very high double tuck, hop back. Very bouncy. Double pike as close to stuck as she can get! 13.7

8:49 pm. Nichols BB- Clean double wolf turn. Front aerial to jumps are good. Nails barani. Switch ring. Solid bhs loso. Punch front tuck. Switch to back tuck is a little slowly connected. Actually couldn’t tell if it was a back tuck or pike. Looked like a combination of both, haha. Only does the double pike dismount despite warming up tucked full-in. Warning bell went off…maybe worried about prep time getting a penalty like on Thursday. 14.65

8:48 pm. Schild UB- Inbar to inbar half to straddle Jaeger, great straddle! Inbar full to pak, Komova II to bail to toe shoot, all great so far! Nearly sticks full-twisting double layout. 14.3

8:46 pm. Dowell FX- Double front pike and she lands it super close to the edge. Hops forward and one edge of her foot goes out of bounds. Double front to stag is a bit wonky but she fights like hell to keep it in-bounds. Wonder if she gets more deducted for the arm waving to stay up straight than for the actual penalty? 1.5 to front full is good. 2.5 with a step. Little landing bloopers aside, it was a great set. 14.05

8:44 pm. Navarro BB- Crowd oohs at her jump to split mount. Bhs loso loso, she puts her hands down and then fights and then falls. Sad. Full turn. Punch front tuck to wolf jump. Switch to switch side, lands a bit too far on the side edge of the beam and falls. Front aerial. Side aerial, lands it facing sideways. Double pike hit. 11.9

8:43 pm. Skaggs UB- Toe half to straddle Jaeger, good. Toe full to Tkatchev to pak is nicely done though her leg form is wonky. Toe on to Maloney, and she maybe sits her dismount? I couldn’t tell if she put her butt down or not. Stood up really fast. 13.2

8:42 pm. Kocian VT- Form is similar to Baumann’s though she hits the landing nicely with a slight bounce. 14.8

8:40 pm. Key FX- Big stuck double layout. Double arabian is a little cowboyed but she hits right up into the stag. Crowd “oohs” on the slide. I do like the performance value of this leo for this routine, actually. 1.5 through to triple full, her chest is down but the rotation is mostly great. Sails through her leaps. Sticks double pike. Aww, little Bailie, that was awesome! 14.7

8:39 pm. Skinner BB- Bhs tuck full gets applause, but her leg comes up. Side aerial. Switch to switch half and it’s her best switch half of life (though that’s not saying a ton) to back pike. Full L turn to full pirouette, steady. Has an Ellie Black-esque stand up out of her back pike, which dips below the beam a bit. Jumps good. Double tuck is hit. Great aside from the wobble on her tuck full! 14.35

8:37 pm. Locklear UB- Nice first handstand, toe on to toe full is clean to Chow to super clean pak to maloney to bail to Ray, all excellent. Jaeger is extended nicely in the straddle. Full-in stuck. Coach comes awfully close to spotting. 15.45

8:36 pm. Baumann VT- DTY, not bad, not great. Still has the bent knees and slightly piked hips. 15.05

8:34 pm. Biles FX- Full-twisting double layout with a little bounce back. Biles to split jump right into the corner, great. Double double is perfect, tiniest little bounce. Sticks full-in cold. WHAT FALL? 15.85

8:32 pm. Douglas BB- Punch front pike, leg up. Bhs loso is solid. Standing full, leg up but slightly. Switch ring, leg up to her waist. Very nervous routine so far. Punch front tuck, leg up. Calm down girl. Switch to switch half, steady. Front aerial, pause before split jump to weak pike jump. Double pike bounces back. 14.2

8:31 pm. Ross UB- Toe on to toe full to Maloney is good. Catches Bhardwaj no problem. Van Leeuwen, toe half to Jaeger is good, dear GOD finish it up. UGH, stands up the double front and then at the last second sits it back. Really fought but can’t do it. 14.05

8:30 pm. Raisman VT- Amanar, jarred her knee on that landing. Ouch. Whole crowd is going OOOOH in pain when we see the replay. Steps OOB. I’d be happy with the DTY. 15.35

8:25 pm. After five rotations…

1. Simone Biles, 77.0
2. Maggie Nichols, 74.5
3. Aly Raisman, 74.15
4. Gabby Douglas, 73.8
5. Bailie Key, 73.15
6. Megan Skaggs, 71.8
7t. Nia Dennis, 71.75
7t. Emily Schild, 71.75
9. Alyssa Baumann, 71.55
10. Kyla Ross, 71.45
11. Madison Kocian, 71.3
12. MyKayla Skinner, 71.2
13. Brenna Dowell, 70.85
14. Lauren Navarro, 68.35

8:23 pm. Dowell BB- Front tuck mount, doesn’t connect to jump series but that’s okay. Switch side. Solid bhs loso. Front aerial. Split leap. Kochetkova has a wobble. Full turn. Low amplitude switch half. Side aerial. Hit double tuck with a slight hop. Al Fong looks very happy! D is just so low without any connections. 13.3

8:21 pm. Navarro UB- I missed her first skill…caught Chow to stalder to Tkatchev to pak, all done nicely. Chow half…and hits full-in dismount. Good girl! 13.95

8:19 pm. Baumann FX- Double layout is way short, she bounces forward and her leg comes up but she holds it up. Piked full-in also a bit low, chest down. Kinda falls out of 2.5 L turn but it goes with the choreo. Love that there’s like a hard rock almost kind of feel to this routine. High double tuck. Double pike, short, leg comes up like on the double lay. 13.7

8:18 pm. Key BB- Wolf turn full, quick and steady switch ring, pause before bhs bhs layout and it actually looks like she slips her hands on the second bhs but it causes no problems. Layout is one of her better attempts this season. Side aerial. Switch half. Punch front to sissone. Front aerial to wolf jump to split jump. Switch to back pike, slight wobble. Warning bell. Double pike is low but hit, just a step forward. Best beam for her all year. 14.55

8:17 pm. Skinner UB- Van Leeuwen with some leg sep, front giant half to toe full loses leg form, Tkatchev, toe on to Ray is good though. Full-in with a slight hop. Not the best she’s done this summer but she still hit. 13.7

8:16 pm. Skaggs VT- DTY, loses leg form a bit at the end, but gets good air! 14.9

8:14 pm. Raisman FX- 1.5 through to double arabian to front layout is excellent. Just a hop at the end, and she keeps it in. CLOWD CLAPPING AND I’M CRYING. Olympic FEELS. Dos Santos to stag is incredible. Double layout is stuck. I must look crazy up here just crying and biting my hand. Double pike to split half, the jump doesn’t get a ton of amplitude and she does the twist at the last nanosecond but it’s otherwise excellent. 15.5

8:11 pm. Biles BB- EXCELLENT wolf 2.5. She and Nia can share ownership. Split jump to pike jump. Leg comes up after the barani but she holds it no problem. She’ll own that skill eventually. Solid bhs loso loso series. Punch front pike to sissone. Switch to switch half to back pike, effortless. Front aerial to wolf jump, also great. Stuck full-in. Effing BRILLIANT routine. Minus the barani but for a new skill? Who cares. Score’s gonna be HUGE. And… 15.9!!!!!!

8:10 pm. Douglas UB- Beautiful first handstand, inbar full to piked Tkatchev to pak with slight leg separation, inbar to inbar half to Endo half right on the bar to Chow, nice. This is breathtaking. Double layout with a lunge forward. 15.1

8:09 pm. Ross VT- DTY and it’s not her best. 😦 She’s off to the side and lands with her chest down. 14.55

8:07 pm. Kocian FX- STUCK double arabian before going into the stag. So careful. 1.5 to front double full. Super high double tuck with a step. Double pike looks like she might bounce back but she controls a lunge instead. Beautiful. 14.25

8:06 pm. Dennis BB- GORGEOUS wolf 2.5. She owns this skill now. Bobble on tour jete half. Bhs loso. Jumps good. Switch to switch half. Front aerial to sissone, all good. Side somi. WHAT CONSISTENCY ISSUES. DAMN. Double pike, clean with a hop. 14.4

8:05 pm. Nichols UB- Toe full with some leg sep to Maloney to pak with some leg sep to clean van Leeuwen, toe on to toe half to straddle Jaeger, big stuck double layout. YOU GO GIRL. 14.8

8:03 pm. Schild VT- Superbly clean DTY. Beautiful!!! She’s SO good. 15.0

8:00 pm. The baby Aly Raisman in 2008 “maybe you’ll be there someday” video always makes me SOB. Bailie’s leo is supposed to make her look like a ringmaster, by the way. Because her floor routine is like a circus slash is based on Cirque du Soleil.

7:58 pm. Touch warmups are beginning! Will be back in two minutes or so with quick hits!

7:49 pm. National champion montage time! 11 minutes until this thing gets started.

7:29 pm. Kyla’s DTY looks great. Aly’s Dos Santos to stag is EFFORTLESS. Has 200 feet to spare at the end of the mat. Navarro off on a Tkatchev. Aly’s double L spin is lovely. I think we’re winding down now!

7:19 pm. Martha is in a sparkly gold leo. SO pretty. Gabby working bars, great stuck double layout just now. Brenna NAILED her punch tuck mount to jump series. Hope she can combine those in the meet. Hits series. Another stuck double layout for Gabby. Emily Schild hit her DTY.

7:06 pm. Aly’s twerkin it on bars. Just hit an entire routine including a double front with a step. Emily Schild is looking clean on beam, especially on her jump series. I think we’re somewhere between the second and third rotations. Brenna on bars now! Just working giants and toe-ons. Huge Jaeger from Nia who also does a super huge Tkatchev to pak.

6:56 pm. Gabby’s hitting some tumbling on floor. Biles just stuck her Amanar to wild applause. Great DTY from Bailie, and then another one from Brenna, who just takes a step back. Kyla looks flawless on beam. Kocian just stuck her full-in off bars.

6:50 pm. Skinner is doing super smooth turns on beam. Getting ready to move onto the second warmup rotation.

Joe Rinaldi just texted me “Kyla Röß” and I’m CRYING laughing.

6:47 pm.Huge Jaeger from Ashton just now. Sticks full-in. Wild wolf turn for Ms Nichols. Skaggs hit her double front off bars with a step. No more Gowey on the vault podium so I’m guessing she was just running to stay warm. Only did a Yurchenko timer. Wild legs in Baumann’s DTY. Howie claps so much when Kyla hits her Bhardwaj. Hitting everything right now, full routine including big Jaeger and clean STUCK DOUBLE FRONT.

6:44 pm. Aly is working some neat DTYs. Gowey is warming up vault so maybe we’ll see her there? But maybe she’s just staying warm. Nice bhs loso loso from Navarro. Kyla’s doing a toe on to clean toe full to Maloney, oh, whoops, and she gets roughly 1% of the lift she needed off the low bar and comes nowhere close to catching the high. Sits. I’m gonna tear my hair out.

6:39 pm. Warmups about to start! Kyla “I’m moving to Germany” Ross on bars with a lovely pak right off the bat. Bailie “New KZB” Key nails her double pike on floor. Brenna “2016 Olympic Champion” Dowell nailed a 2.5. Maggie “Can You See My Business” Nichols is doing full-in timers. Kyla back up on bars with a good Jaeger and she actually over-rotates her double front to take a step forward. Beautiful 1.5 to triple for Key.

I’m wrong. It’s SKAGGS in the sparkle fest. I think Gowey’s in purple…yeah, she basically matches WOGA. They’re in the same rotation and look like teammates.

6:34 pm. I was wrong. Bailie’s NOT in full out sparkle fest. Bailie is in black with a white/silver V? Possibly an update of this:

Still no idea who sparkle fest is. New guess is Gowey by process of elimination.

6:26 pm. Just gonna take a wild guess and say the sparkle fest is Bailie. I still can’t tell who it is? It actually doesn’t look like Bailie but I have no idea where else Bailie would be. Maggie’s in red with the DEEPEST V-NECK ON EARTH. She is hella sparkling. KYLA is in the German national team leo. Nia in pretty blue.

6:21 pm. Skinner’s in her green and it’s a SUPER pretty leo. Definitely shamrock green. Shame it has nothing to do with Scotland. Aly’s leo is the red white and blue sublimated and it’s to die for. Someone, I can’t see who, is literally in a German national team leo and I love it. Everest girls are in super orangey pink. Gabby in purple. Someone is an absolute sparkle fest, like a red white and blue mix, and I’m pretty jazzed. Simone in red. Brenna in purple with nude mesh sleeves.

6:15 pm. Here we go! As I’ve said on Twitter, Amelia Hundley and Polina Shchennikova are not on the start list, Amelia pulling out due to a slight tear in her meniscus while Polina, who was only originally going to compete bars and beam, scratched beam on Thursday and will not be returning today. Maddie Desch also isn’t on the start list, though she’s in the arena warming up in workout gear, though not in the GAGE warmups that Brenna has on. Weird?

6:05 pm. General stretch will begin shortly! I’ll begin updating as soon as they start.

Article by Lauren Hopkins

51 thoughts on “2015 U.S. Championships Senior Day 2 Live Blog

    • Bailie’s layout wasn’t great but it was one of her better ones of the season. And Aly’s jump out of her last pass got almost no amplitude and didn’t hit 180? lol.

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  1. Thanks for your amazing commentary– especially since the NBC broadcast showed the same five over and over 😉

    I’m thrilled for Simone, Maggie and Aly, but I’m so sad about Kyla:( she seems so tired and I just want her to do well– I almost cried when she hit beam I was so happy! I really hope she can pull it together for worlds!

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  2. It’s not often that I feel like the worlds team should be the top 5 finishers in the all-around, but a lineup of Biles, Nichols, Raisman, Key, and Douglas seems like a winning combination to me!

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  3. I can’t thank you enough for your coverage. After having the privilege of seeing every single prelims routine live through USAG, the NBC coverage made me want to fling myself over a cliff. They interviewed Simone DURING ALYSSA BAUMANN’S BEAM ROUTINE. I love love love Simone, but Alyssa Baumann is a world champion and is exquisite on beam and I can’t believe they wouldn’t interview Simone after the competition was over. I don’t expect them to recognize that girls like Megan Skaggs or Emily Schild or many other AMAZING gymnasts like them even exist, but when even a world champion can’t get some respectful airtime, full-on insanity has set in.
    Anyway, the point of all this is that your blog is invaluable all year round, but it was especially so during this sham of a broadcast. Thank you SO much.
    P.S. Sorry for the rage caps. Al T’s voice takes me to dark places.

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  4. Taking out the deduction from Aly’s freakish fall last night is what excites me the most about all of this. I know she is pacing herself smartly and is doing enough to make Worlds, her potential for Rio time is exciting! I’m so happy for Maggie finally, but feel like ultimately she’s our #3 AA’r. That, and I agree, Lauren, that Kocian’s bars take her to Worlds.

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  5. Did Kyla not make the National team?? I went on Gymnastike (I know, I know I hate them sometimes but they do have interviews and routines:)) and they listed the national team and Kyla wasn’t on there:(((((

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  6. Do you think that a Moors dismount on UB would be easier for Kyla? She wouldn’t need a lot of swing to do it, so it might be easier with her height. It is also a D element in the code, so she wouldn’t lose any sv.

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  7. I think there’s a good chance brenna will get added back on to national team. (fingers crossed). Same with Ashton and a few other girls. Usually the national team roster is bigger than 10… But whether any of them get to go to worlds another story …

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  8. People keep complaining about what I say. But name rec does play as much, as skill set by the judges and national team selection. Look at Kyla : name rec; if it was not for her name and that bb set she would have not been selected . If you don’t believe your dulisional. Plus best bb set for me but because she’s not flashy and as difficult Simone will get a higher score . Last aly for me had the best floor both nights . And people can keep talking about bail lie ; but night two was solid. Name rec and dif will get you the scores by the judges. I don’t feel Simone’s vault was better night two but the judges give her a 16.3 and Maggie a 15.8 witch I feel was better night two. Oh well I guess I was watching for silver and bronze last night. A lot of girls with less name rec def were underscored

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  9. I really think Kyla can pull it together for selection camp. She was hitting in warm-ups, just had freak accidents in the actual competition. Plus I just love Kyla and really want to see her do well. My dream worlds team for this year: Simone, Aly, Maggie, Kyla, Bailey, Madison.
    VT – Simone, Maggie, Aly;
    UB – Madison, Bailey, Kyla/Simone/Maggie (Whichever one of them scores the highest in qualifying);
    BB – Simone, Aly, Kyla;
    FX – Simone, Aly, Bailey.
    I think Gabby could also take Kyla’s place as they’re both strong on the same events, but I’m really hoping Kyla makes the team. I do love Gabby, though. I think once she upgrades she’ll make Rio with no problem.

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  10. So what happens to the girls that were on the national team and aren’t now. (I’m thinking of Locklear.) Are they back to invite only to camp?

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  11. So, I have a new job for Marta (after she retires from the WAG team) – she needs to go be the men’s team coordinator and get them in shape.

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  12. There was def something going on with Kyla, check her leaps on floor night 2, she was struggling, maybe just tired.
    Really really really impressed with Swaggie, she looks extremely fit, and in for the kill. She looks reallly confortable on her routines, I like the fire in her eyes, IMO she didn’t have it before.

    Aly is geting there, who would have thought that she would someday pull one of the best choreos on the team? LOL
    I love and the girls mature and play really really smart to their abilities.

    Soft spot for brenna, she is Amazing, no matter the outcome of the competion!

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  13. This is supposed to be Bailie’s time to shine, but I feel that KZB is taking some of that away from her by dressing her as KZB II with not one but two KZB throwback inspired leos. Let Bailie be herself and not KZB reincarnated.

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    • In an interview KZB said that they were trying to pull Bailie out of her shell and get more into character so they started brainstorming ideas. They thought it would be cool to do a fun leo — Bailie’s whole routine is like a circus so the choreographer (I think she said his name was Dominic but I’m not sure) suggested Bailie wear the Leo that KZB wore in 1992. So they had it made for her and Kim made it very clear that it was for her to decide and if Bailie didn’t want to do it they would just think of a new idea. So Bailie tried it on and loved it, so she wore it night one and the idea behind her wearing the crazy pattern was to help her get into the character of a circus performer for her routine. Kim just had the Leo made for her as a surprise, it seems like it was 100% up to Bailie whether to use it or not.

      Then night two they continued the theme of trying to get her into character by having her wear the tux leo like the ringmaster at a circus.

      On top of that, if you look up Bailie’s night one interview she’s beaming from ear to ear about how excited she was to wear the leo. If you actually read more about it instead of accusing Kim of trying to relive her glory days, you would see that it was a nice gesture to help Bailie break out and feel confident in her first senior nationals, rather than blend in with the dozen other Texas dream girls at the meet.

      It was a thoughtful gesture– don’t try to twist it into something else!

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      • I really do not think that Bailie, who seems like a sweet girl, would object to her coach. Rather, I think she would of course say she loved it. One night of a throwback leo is fine. But, two nights of throwback leos?

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      • I don’t think the tuxedo one was a throwback… I mean if you look at the pictures next to each other the only thing they really have in common is color? Does that automatically make it a throwback even though they’re completely different? I don’t think so.

        Besides, the leo was specially re-designed for Bailie to fit into her routine and help her get into character. I don’t really think Kim is trying to live through her or whatever…

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  14. Sorry – didn’t get to finish my comment. If you don’t know either of them personally, why do you feel you have the right to judge? Going by the video, Bailie was clearly fine with the leos. Case closed.

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  15. So, will the worlds team be selected from this new national team only? Or could they add more people onto the national team at the worlds selection camp? Thanks!

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