The Metroplex Challenge Live Blog

Welcome to the live blog for the collegiate competition at the Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas!

Refresh your browser every few minutes to see the most recent updates, which will appear at the top.

9:45 pm. UCLA upsets LSU, 197.625 to 197.350. Full scores not in yet for Washington or NC State but from what I did see of UW’s bars, they had a great rotation.

9:43 pm. Hambrick, LSU, FX: BEAUTIFUL huge stuck cold double layout to start. YAS. PERF 2½ to punch front tuck. Nice. Big beautiful double pike. I’d give this a 9.95 or a 10.

9:41 pm. Finnegan, LSU, FX: 1½ through to 2½, kind of jolts forward a little bit but the step controls it. Great double tuck. Finishes with a double pike into a controlled lunge.

9:38 pm. Edney, UCLA, FX: Double arabian, legs are a little wonky if you want to be picky. Weird punch layout out of her middle pass, comes in way low and really uses dat core to pull it up, could’ve been worse. Double tuck is great for the finish.

9:36 pm. Edwards, LSU, FX: Front double full, little scoot out of it. Hit the middle pass. 1½ to front full is solid.

Hano, UCLA, VT: Big Yurchenko 1½, slight hop forward.

9:35 pm. Desiderio, LSU, FX: Yaaaas, great double layout! Could’ve stuck it, but probably wants her ankles to exist, so she hops it into a controlled lunge. Front through to low double tuck, you can tell she’s gonna be a bit short in her set. Double pike is better though. Not bad!

Tratz, UCLA, VT: Oh look, another big stuck FTY. BORED. Stop being good for the sake of #DRAMA plz. Jk I love you today.

Hall, UCLA, VT: Yurchenko 1½, huge AND STUCK LOLLLLLL WHAT WHAT WHAAAAAT

9:34 pm. Ross, UCLA, FX: Huge STUCK FTY. MY GOD UCLA.

9:31 pm. Kirby, LSU, FX: Front layout to her Rudi. Solid double tuck. Both passes great so far. Her leap series is way short, though…but last pass, front full front layout, is good.

Ohashi, UCLA, VT: Daaayum Katelyn, huge stuck FTY. Maybe the tiniest baby shuffle on the landing.

Dennis, UCLA, VT: Huge basically stuck FTY, just like Katelyn’s. Bringing it, are we?

9:30 pm. Going into the fourth rotation now! Here goes NOTHING. LSU has looked a little sluggish tonight compared to recent meets but I’m not above thinking they can steal this meet back on floor. UCLA has had such great momentum, though, and I hope they keep it up for one more! It’ll be cloooose!

9:25 pm. UCLA extends the lead a bit, 148.225 to LSU’s 148.0. Washington is at 147.3, and NC State’s scores aren’t updated. #RedHeadedStepChildOfThisMeetApparently

9:23 pm. Honest, UCLA, FX: Exhibition. Double pike, a tad bit low. Front layout front full has a good landing, just a step forward to control. Double tuck is a little bit short but better than the opening pass.

9:22 pm. Cannamela, LSU, BB: Exhibition. Full turn, bhs loso, both good, switch to straddle side, standing loso with a wobble into the beat jump, 1½ with a small hop forward.

9:21 pm. Tratz, UCLA, FX: Excellent tucked full-in. Scary choreo tiiiime. I love this routine with every fiber of my being. 1½ to punch front, good. High stuck double tuck to finish. Fabulous.

9:20 pm. Finnegan, LSU, BB: Wolf turn, bhs loso with a wobble and her leg comes up but she fights it. Switch to switch half is great, best in the biz. Side somi with her chest down. Side aerial to layout full, small hop.

9:17 pm. Edney, LSU, BB: Front aerial to sissone, bhs loso with the babiest baby check, switch to straddle side, little checks after both but they’re SO minor. Full turn. Front toss. Hit the dismount well.

Dennis, UCLA, FX: Skids the double arabian landing but holds it up. Front full to floaty front layout. Nice high double tuck to finish.

9:15 pm. Campbell, LSU, BB: Awww, yay, hometown girl! I guess a lot of these are kinda hometown girls though. Front aerial to bhs is solid. Lovely full turn. Love her low beam choreo. Switch leap, misses connection to switch half, which gets about a quarter of the way around, check, throws a split jump out of it to get the jump series.

Ohashi, UCLA, FX: Kind of another hometown girl. Big double layout to start. Hit her middle pass but I was typing about beam drama during it, it was good though. Front full front half to split jump. Looks like she might not rebound up into the split at first because she’s a little forward after the barani but she gets it up at a slight angle.

9:13 pm. Desiderio, LSU, BB: Front aerial to sissone, yas. Solid bhs loso. Switch to switch half a little short, check on the landing, beat jump. Solid stuck gainer full.

Ross, UCLA, FX: Eek, came out of her roundoff bhs a little weird and I really didn’t think she would get the set she needed for her double tuck. It’s short and she has to take a step forward but could’ve been muuuuch worse. Front full to front layout. Good double pike to finish. She had a better last pass double pike than her opening double back.

9:11 pm. Hambrick, LSU, BB: Nice full L turn. Nice extension on the hitch kick right into the side aerial. Switch leap to straddle side. Bhs loso, some leg stuff but nothing they’d ever take off for in NCAA, nice arabesque hold before her double full dismount, a tad bit hesitant and short but pulls it up quickly.

Meraz, UCLA, FX: Good double tuck. Front lay front full front pike, double pike, both good.

9:09 pm. Macadaeg, LSU, BB: Wobbly full turn. switch to switch side to beat jump, nice extension. Front aerial, love her dance out of that. Bhs loso looks good aside from the tiniest check between the two, but good work covering it and making it flow. Gainer full stuck.

Kramer, UCLA, FX: Hit the opening pass into a front tuck. Good 1½ to front layout. Solid landing. Love the little choreo bit before her last pass. Rudi to split jump (or straddle jump, the angle was awkward on that).

9:08 pm. Btw thank you to Hannah on Twitter who let me know that Ohashi botched a pirouette on bars and had to take some extra swings, thus the lower score!

9:06 pm. This feels like a really long warmup? Two minutes left I think.

9:01 pm. UCLA jumps into the lead with a 98.825 to LSU’s 98.7, while Washington in third with a great 98.375. Don’t have all of the info for NC State’s scores though.

8:58 pm. Riley, UW, FX: Huge double pike to start! Layout in the middle pass gets a bit arched with a step forward but she covers it well. Solid double tuck, lands well and jumps into the lunge.

49.625 for UCLA’s beam. HERE FOR IT. Just realized Kyla got a 9.975. I’m actually glad they didn’t give it to her and ended up giving Peng the 10 because if you had to rank them, that’s the correct order.

8:56 pm. Meraz, UCLA, BB: Exhibition. Bhs loso, big wobble, and she’s way too crooked and her hips are way too off balance to save it. Fall. 😦 Switch half with a big wobble. Good jump series after that, and then a medium wobble on the full turn. Hit the 1½ dismount with a step forward .

Burleson, UW, FX: double pike into a nice controlled lunge. 1½ through to double full, great. Switch ring to full L hop turn. 2½ looks like she’s gonna stick it cold but ends up taking a little step out of it. Great routine.

8:55 pm. PENG GOT A TEN! So deserved, I’ve never seen her look that good.

8:52 pm. Washington, UW, FX: Solid double tuck to open. Hit her middle pass and nails the double pike for a solid finish.

Lee, UCLA, BB: Homma flairs get hella applause. Good bhs layout. PERFECT DOUBLE SPIN OH GODDDDD. Right into her jumps, barely a pause. That got me pregnant. Side aerial to stuck layout full dismount. I’d be okay with a 15 for that, Carol.

8:51 pm. Ross, UCLA, BB: The tiniest baby check at the end of her bhs loso, switch ring to beat jump, front aerial, pause, dances through, side aerial to stuck layout full. She’s fantaaaaastic. Obvs.

Macadaeg, LSU, UB: Exhibition. This is a fun new development. Giant full to low Tkachev, butt grazer. Pak with her legs in a V, arches the handstand as she kips through. Arched handstand before her giants into the double layout with slightly buckled knees and a step back.

8:50 pm. Finnegan, LSU, UB: Ray, toe on to bail to toe shoot, so good, perfect last handstand, stuck double layout cold. THAT was good.

8:49 pm. Ohashi, UCLA, BB: Front aerial to back handspring, switch ring, bhs loso to layout full dismount with a little slide back. I think I missed some little pieces at the beginning but a solid routine overall.

8:48 pm. Priessman, LSU, UB: Nice handstand before her Tkachev to Pak, catches it a little awkwardly and her swing through the Pak is a bit slow I guess? Covers it up well, hits the double layout a bit buckled on the landing though.

8:46 pm. Glenn, UCLA, BB: Super solid bhs loso. Switch leap to split leap, little check on the landing. Front aerial, full turn right into the front leg hold at 180, bless. Back handspring into a solid gainer full dismount.

Edney, LSU, UB: Hindorff, clear hip to solid bail, step back on the double layout dismount.

8:44 pm. Kocian, UCLA, BB: Switch ring, back foot was weird and she had a medium wobble when she landed, leg up. Front aerial to back handspring is solid, though. Switch leap to sheep jump. Hit the dismount well.

Harrold, LSU, UB: Zuchold, muscles through toe half and lands with her hips on the bar, gets back into the swing for the Jaeger, muscles through the front giant into her double front. Step forward. Two huge breaks in there.

8:43 pm. Hambrick, LSU, UB: Nice Ray, giant full to bail, legs break the tiniest bit on the catch, but barely noticeable, basically sticks the full-in.

8:41 pm. Nguyen, UCLA, BB: Front aerial to loso, big check that just keeps getting bigger, raises her left leg to fight her balance and ends up saving it. Good job on that core strength Miss Val. Hit some jumps after that. Sticks the punch front layout full dismount.

Durante, LSU, UB: Hit the beginning from what I could see. Last handstand before her giants was fab, and she has a little foot movement on her full-in.

8:32 pm. I didn’t see what would’ve caused Ohashi’s bars to score so low…looks like she got a 9.55 if UCLA’s scoring is accurate. LSU leads 49.325, followed by UCLA with 49.2, Washington with 49.175, and NC State with 48.95.

Nelson, UW, BB: This is an exhibition routine. Hit her flight series, full turn, switch to split 3/4, bends over when she lands to save it, front toss is a bit low, 1½ a bit seated in the landing. But good routine!

8:29 pm. Knight, NCSU, FX: Love her. Double pike had a huge bounce back to start, though. She’s on a four-inch mat so maybe that gave her some extra weirdness on that landing. 1½, she came out of it weird but still sailed into the front tuck. Rudi with a little bobble to finish.

Burleson, UW, BB: Front aerial with a slight pause into the bhs, side aerial, swings her leg through on the landing to go right into a split leap, LOVE. Straddle jump to straddle side, full turn, side aerial to stuck layout full. That’s about as good as it gets.

8:26 pm. Kooyman, UCLA, UB: Maloney to Pak, slight leg separation, a little shy on the last handstand, full-out with a little bounce in place. Legs could be cleaner in the air if you wanna be picky. CAROL WOULDN’T BE.

Roberson, UW, BB: Switch to straddle side, quick full turn, tiny check at the end of the bhs loso, beat jump, random, cartwheel to gainer full, stuck with feet apart.

8:24 pm. Lee, UCLA, UB: Ray looked good from here, Bhardwaj is textbook, toe on to van Leeuwen, beautiful double layout with a bounce back.

LSU ended so I just flipped over to Washington.

Copiak, UW, BB: Hit her flight series and a jump series with a little loose form. Side aerial was solid, stuck 1½ on her toes!

8:21 pm. Last time I watched on Flo, it let me watch multiple feeds at once but now it’s not for some reason? So it keeps turning off all of my feeds. Wtf? If you’re not going to have four feeds going on in one split screen, maybe make your dumb app so that people can WATCH MORE THAN ONE SCREEN AT A TIME? How shocking that people who watch sports want the narrative of a full competition and not just 25% of the story. Get your life together.

Anyway, someone from LSU just hit a vault but I didn’t see what. Keeping it on just LSU and UCLA for now but will switch around as much as I can.

Edney, LSU, VT: Yurchenko 1½, a hop on the landing but huuuuuge air. I wish we had a better angle to see how good it is, but yes, even from the weird head-on vault angle you could tell. Just huge.

Ross, UCLA, UB: Maloney to bail is lovely, right up into the toe shoot, double layout with a great landing.

8:18 pm. Dennis, UCLA, UB: Maloney to bail is clean, good handstand before giants to the double layout, floaty with a little bounce back.

Beucler, NCSU, FX: POOOOOF! Double pike with a little bounce.Hit the middle pass.

Edwards, LSU, VT: Her crazy person run but then a HUGE Yurchenko 1½. Really good landing.

Ohashi, ULA, UB: Hit the beginning but then the feed stopped so I missed most of this. Double layout with a step forward.

Priessman, LSU, VT: Lovely stuck FTY.

8:16 pm. Schaefer, UW, BB: front aerial, wobble on bhs loso and then eventually has to give in and take the fall. 😦 Full turn, hopped forward on the dismount.

Finnegan, LSU, VT: Decent FTY.

Honest, UCLA, UB: Good Tkachev, straddle back, full-out with a step.

Itcush, NCSU, FX: hit first pass. 1½ to front full is nice. Nailed the double tuck to finish.

Cannamela, LSU, VT: Lovely stuck FTY! Nice.

8:15 pm. One minute left of warmups! Here we goooooo.

8:10 pm. Warmups now! Nothing terrible so far.

There are no real live stats but you can look at the worst way to see live scores for an NCAA meet ever on meetscoresonline.com.

8:09 pm. Omg they said “let’s get ready to tumbleeeeeee” at the start of the meet, I’m sure this is done often but I think it’s my first time ever hearing it and I’m high key obsessed.

Also yeah, hi, the walk-out order was different from the competition order. BECAUSE WHY DO THINGS IN A WAY THAT MAKES SENSE EVER?!?!?! I think it looks like LSU on vault, UCLA on bars, Washington on beam, and NC State on floor. LSU and Washington both in purple and gold is messing with my brain.

8:08 pm. Best national anthem singer at a gym meet probably ever tbh.

8:06 pm. Jordyn Wieber got more applause when they announced her as the assistant coach than basically anyone else got in the entire intro. Same, Texas. Same.

National anthem now!

8:04 pm. I think Washington will start on vault, LSU on bars, NC State on beam, and UCLA on floor. Unless they just called the teams out in that order and then are gonna be like “lol that’s not the order we’re doing things in though :)”

8:01 pm. Lights are going off so march out is probably going to be happening soon. Naturally the feed with the worst volume is the floor feed so hopefully these are relatively synced up, even though they never are usually.

7:58 pm. UGHHHHH I think we’re gonna have to sit through a half hour of intros and apparently also through a toddler emcee who is basically just yelling toddler things into a microphone. It hurts.

7:55 pm. The live feed is just starting so thanks for joining me here! We’re going to get started within the next five minutes I believe, with LSU, UCLA, Washington, and NC State. Stay tuned!!

Live Blog by Lauren Hopkins

20 thoughts on “The Metroplex Challenge Live Blog

  1. Re Ohashi on bars, she went over on one of her handstands early on and had to improvise, then had a couple missed handstands later in the routine, especially on her bail.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Thanks for this live blog!! Really appreciate the time and effort (especially since the feed was less than stellar) But you are stellar, as always! 🙂

    Like

  3. The ad at the top of my screen right now is for Twistars. Somewhat…weird and uncomfortable??

    But also thanks for live-blogging the meet!

    Like

Leave a reply to Lauren Cancel reply