2022 U.S. Championships | Senior WAG Day 2 Live Blog

Welcome to the live blog for the second day of senior women’s competition at the 2022 U.S. Championships, held in Tampa, Florida!

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8:50 pm. Final Standings

1. Konnor McClain 112.750 (56.400, 56.350)
2. Shilese Jones 112.000 (57.200, 54.800)
3. Jordan Chiles 111.900 (56.150, 55.750)
4. Kayla DiCello 110.950 (55.950, 55.000)
5. Jade Carey 110.900 (55.650, 55.250)
6. Skye Blakely 109.300 (54.700, 54.600)
7. Lexi Zeiss 106.500 (52.750, 53.750)
8. Elle Mueller 105.950 (52.800, 53.150)

8:48 pm. Skye Blakely FX: Getting a replay of this! Full-twisting double layout. She’s another one with seconds and seconds of standing before her choreo starts after landing probably earlier than they choreographed. Hits the double layout well! Front double full I think, I only saw the landing but think that’s what she does, she hit it regardless! Double tuck, a little cowboyed. And if we didn’t hate our lives enough, we also just had to see Jones fall again in the background. Rude! 13.450

8:46 pm. Katelyn Jong BB: 13.350

Charlotte Booth UB: 13.400

8:45 pm. Still about five routines to go. No one who is a top eight contender really? Looking like the podium will be McClain, Jones, and Chiles!

8:44 pm. Joscelyn Roberson FX: I just saw that she’s opening with a full-in half-out now which I love for her! 12.950

8:41 pm. Jade Carey UB: Church, blind change to Ezhova, back up to the high bar then down again with the Bhardwaj, van Leeuwen, a little short on the handstand before the blind ful., almost finished horizontally, and full-in dismount with a little bounce. 13.450

Skye Blakely FX: 13.450

Addison Fatta BB: 12.150

8:39 pm. I’m truly devastated for Jones, that routine was looking so good.

8:37 pm. Shilese Jones UB: I’m nervous!!! Good handstand before the stalder full, slightly late, to Chow to Tkachev, nice! Little adjustment in the handstand before the toe full to Downie to Pak, looked great, van Leeuwen with legs slightly apart, toe half to front giant to double front, cowboys and sits it!!!! NOOOOOOO. 13.600

Leanne Wong BB: 13.400

8:36 pm. Elle Mueller VT: Yurchenko 1.5, 13.500

Katelyn Rosen VT: Yurchenko 1.5, 13.400

Olivia Greaves UB: 13.450

8:33 pm. Konnor McClain FX: Full-twisting double layout, form is soft throughout her entire body line. Switch full. Double layout with a hop back. 1.5 to front full, again her hip form could be a lot tighter I think. Double pike with a good landing. I didn’t see her wolf turn but in the replay they just said she kinda fell out of it. 13.850

56.350 AA tonight, almost matches last night’s despite the weaker beam, thanks to the better bars! 112.750 two-day total.

Amelia Disidore BB: 12.300

Nola Matthews UB: 14.050

Lexi Zeiss VT: Yurchenko double, 13.750

Levi Jung-Ruivivar VT: Yurchenko full, 13.150

8:32 pm. Kayla DiCello VT: Didn’t see it but Yurchenko double goes 14.300.

55.000 AA for her tonight, and a 110.950 two-day total.

8:30 pm. Jordan Chiles UB: Toe full, gets stuck halfway through and starts to bend her hips a little but muscles through it, the kind of correction only a pro can make, piked Tkachev to Pak went well, Maloney a little low to Gienger, caught really close. Good handstand before the blind change to piked Jaeger, bail to toe shoot, short on both, full-in stuck! 14.100

55.750 AA tonight, she pulls into the lead with a 111.900.

8:27 pm. Should be wrapping up the commercial break shortly!

Final rotation will have DiCello on vault, Chiles, Jones, and Carey on bars, and McClain and Blakely on floor, in terms of the biggest contenders.

This should get super interesting with McClain capable of a high 13 but Jones capable of a high 14. If they get the scores they did yesterday, Jones would pull ahead! Going to be very exciting.

8:24 pm. Rotation 7 Standings

1. Konnor McClain 98.900
2. Shilese Jones 98.400
3. Jordan Chiles 97.800
4. Jade Carey 97.450
5. Kayla DiCello 96.650
6. Skye Blakely 95.850
7. Lexi Zeiss 92.750
8. Elle Mueller 92.450

8:23 pm. Brooke Pierson BB: 11.700

Elle Mueller FX: 13.450

8:22 pm. Waiting for a couple of scores before the final standings can come in.

Leanne Wong UB: Stalder half to straddle Jaeger, toe full into the Bhardwaj to Maloney to Pak, van Leeuwen, and a double layout, stuck cold! Glad she doesn’t have to have a high pressure meet. 14.250

8:20 pm. Joscelyn Roberson BB: Ugh, looks like a miss today. 11.950

Levi Jung-Ruivivar FX: 12.200

8:19 pm. Kayla DiCello FX: Getting a replay of this, like with all of her routines tonight. LOVE the color of her leo, by the way. Full-twisting double layout, iffy form in the air, especially in the hips. Triple wolf turn smooth as always. Split jump full. 1.5 to front layout, again slightly soft in some of her body line. clean double tuck with a hop. 13.650

8:18 pm. Katelyn Jong UB: 12.700

8:17 pm. Addison Fatta UB: 13.300

8:16 pm. SHOW JOSCELYN ROBERSON ON BEAM YOU COWARDS!

8:15 pm. Jade Carey VT: Cheng, looked really strong, small hop back. 14.650

Lexi Zeiss FX: 13.150

8:11 pm. Skye Blakely BB: Does her chest stand pirouette mount which I always love. Triple wolf turn was nice. Standing full, leg up on her wobble but stays on! Front handspring front tuck, has to take a big step forward to steady it. Switch to switch half, splits maybe aren’t there? Front aerial to split jump to straddle jump, couldn’t see the splits from this angle. Side aerial with a wobble back but she covers well into her dance. Double tuck, cowboys it a bit, lands a bit lock-legged and has to take a couple of stumbles back. 12.950

8:09 pm. Shilese Jones VT: Yurchenko double, HUGE and clean! Hop back. 14.500! Here for it, that was the best DTY of the bunch, very clearly so.

Amelia Disidore UB: 12.300

8:06 pm. Konnor McClain BB: Standing full, leg comes all the way up to save it from falling. Bhs bhs layout also lands a little tentatively with a balance check, not as severe as the first. Switch leap to switch half, great extension, especially on the first. Front aerial to split jump to straddle jump. Lovely side aerial. Did a switch leap instead of a switch ring so she’ll lose D. Double pike with a step. Very nervous routine. 14.100

Marissa Neal UB: 10.750

Katelyn Rosen FX: 11.600

Nola Matthews VT: 12.950

8:04 pm. Jordan Chiles VT: Yurchenko double, didn’t get the distance she’s capable of I don’t think? Slightly soft form but nothing severe, I think she just needs to commit to fully extending her knees on everything, but she’s very close to it, it’s noticeable but not like, egregious. AND she gets points back from me because her legs are glued together. Great landing. 14.300

Ciena Alipio BB: Ooh, yes! 13.950

8:03 pm. Charlotte Booth VT: Yurchenko double, not bad! Some leg form and the rotation needs to be a bit quicker I think, but she landed it well! 13.600

8:01 pm. Still in a commercial break here! First big routine of the next subdivision is Konnor McClain on beam, second routine up, so we’ll probably wait for that…

7:57 pm. Rotation 6 Standings

1. Konnor McClain 84.800
2. Shilese Jones 83.900
3. Jordan Chiles 83.500
4. Kayla DiCello 83.000
5. Skye Blakely 82.900
6. Jade Carey 82.800
7. Lexi Zeiss 79.600
8. Katelyn Jong 79.300

7:55 pm. Just waiting for Shilese’s score to come in and then will have standings!

7:53 pm. Shilese Jones FX: Double double, a little buckled but doesn’t move her feet at all. Hit a turn and then a leap, then hit a big double layout, maybe a little forward on her toes. Front tuck through to double tuck with a hop. Hop L full through to switch half. Fab!

Laughed hard at this…

Nastia: “Kayla DiCello brought four suitcases with her to the University of Florida.”

Tim: “You brought four suitcases to this gig.”

7:52 pm. Kayla DiCello BB: Getting a replay of this. Candle mount, triple wolf turn is SO smooth, side aerial, slight adjustment in her hips, front aerial to split jump, mostly clean, switch to sissone looked pretty well extended, super solid on the bhs loso loso, switch half was a bit short in the split, double tuck with her chest forward and a hop as well. 13.550

7:51 pm. Levi Jung-Ruivivar BB: 13.050

Nola Matthews FX: 12.200

7:49 pm. We’re on a commercial break for the next couple of routines, which looks like Levi Jung-Ruivivar on beam and Nola Matthews on floor.

7:47 pm. Lexi Zeiss BB: 13.050

Joscelyn Roberson UB: 11.200

7:44 pm. Jordan Chiles FX: 1.5 through to full-in, great! Little slide back. Double layout also great, slight movement on the landing but oh so minor. Double wolf turn. Hop L full to tour jeté full, nice. Switch side half I think? Maybe supposed to be a switch full? Front layout through to double tuck, slightly short with a hop forward, but another banger. 13.900

7:43 pm. Scoring feels so slow on some events, especially floor!

Charlotte Booth FX: 12.150

7:42 pm. Skye Blakely UB: I wasn’t ready for this one so wasn’t typing but she caught two releases, was really short, piked, and off balance on a full pirouette on the low bar, and a baby step on the double front. Not her best but still a hit! 13.900

7:39 pm. Konnor McClain UB: Hop to Weiler half to stalder full to Chow, ooh!!! Toe full finishes late, Church to Pak, a little iffy in some of the leg and arm form on both, van Leeuwen with some leg form, almost misses it but reaches with every fiber in her being, small hop on the double pike. That first series was great! 14.050

Katelyn Rosen BB: 12.400

7:38 pm. Ciena Alipio UB: 12.450

Addison Fatta VT: Yurchenko double, 13.900

7:36 pm. Jade Carey FX: Full-twisting double layout, really solid landing, kind of on her toes maybe? But doesn’t hop or anything. Front layout through to full-in is also super solid. Hop L full through to a leap, I didn’t see what. Switch something or other. Double double, similar to the first pass in that she’s maybe a bit too forward on her toes. Double tuck with a little hop back. 13.850

7:35 pm. Marissa Neal VT: Yurchenko 1.5, 13.800

Brooke Pierson UB: 13.100

Amelia Disidore VT: Yurchenko double, ooh, 14.300!

Elle Mueller BB: 12.300

7:34 pm. I really don’t need to see the footage of Jade Carey fumbling her first vault in Tokyo or Skye Blakely running into the tables at trials ever again, let alone multiple times in the same weekend, thank you!

7:32 pm. Katelyn Jong VT: Yurchenko double, not a huge block off the table, looked mostly clean in the air and had a really solid landing! Looked like just a bounce. 13.850

7:28 pm. Rotation 5 Standings

1. Konnor McClain 70.750
2. Shilese Jones 69.650
3. Jordan Chiles 69.600
4. Kayla DiCello 69.450
5. Skye Blakely 69.000
6. Jade Carey 68.950
7. Elle Mueller 66.700
8. Lexi Zeiss 66.550

7:27 pm. Nola Matthews BB: 12.500

Amelia Disidore FX: 13.150

7:24 pm. Katelyn Jong FX: Little bounce back on the double double. Full-in with a hop back. Double L turn. Hop L turn to switch full. 1.5 to front full with a tiny bounce on the landing. Hop back on the double pike. Good! 13.000

7:23 pm. Kalya DiCello UB: Seeing a replay of this. Toe full, misses toes on the next element so doesn’t connect to the Maloney and doesn’t connect out of the Maloney either, gets the first release (piked Tkachev IIRC?) and piked Jaeger, Pak caught a little low I think, van Leeuwen, full-out almost stuck. 13.500

7:21 pm. Lexi Zeiss UB: 13.800

Marissa Neal FX: 12.450

7:20 pm. Jordan Chiles BB: Bhs loso loso, some soft form here and there, but so solid on the landing. Front aerial to straddle jump (short) to back handspring. Full turn, slight adjustment. Side somi. Switch leap to sissone. Side aerial. Switch side. Both good there. Double pike with the tiniest bounce forward. So so so solid! 13.450

Katelyn Jong FX: 13.000

7:19 pm. Loved hearing Cecile Landi say “it’s her story to tell” about whether Simone Biles is coming back or not.

7:17 pm. Got my hopes up about Leanne Wong since she’s on the start list and not showing as a scratch, but she didn’t go on floor. Maybe she’ll do bars and beam or something?

Addison Fatta FX: 13.150

Charlotte Booth BB: 12.350

7:16 pm. Skye Blakely VT: Yurchenko double, not super big off the table but pretty clean throughout, just takes a step back on the landing. 14.300

7:15 pm. Katelyn Rosen UB: 12.750

7:14 pm. Ciena Alipio VT: Yurchenko 1.5, looks like she got it tonight! 13.200

Konnor McClain VT: Yurchenko double, really clean in the air aside from like the tiniest softness in her hips, really powerful pop off the table, but a really big hop back as well. 14.350

7:12 pm. Jade Carey BB: Full turn, bhs loso loso is superb tonight! Side aerial, slight check, split to straddle jump, iffy on the latter, front aerial to switch leap to switch half, maybe a little slow out of the aerial but she showed movement through that period so I could see them giving it to her, wobble at the end of the series. Switch side and then a cross split jump half. Double pike with a step back. Solid routine! 13.300

Brooke Pierson VT: Yurchenko 1.5, 13.500

Elle Mueller UB: 13.900

7:11 pm. They’re going way slower with showing routines tonight. Just the cameras on Shilese for 100 hours.

Levi Jung-Ruivivar UB: 13.150

7:08 pm. Shilese Jones BB: Full turn, standing arabian gets great height, side aerial to layout stepout is a bit off in her hip alignment and she has to grab the beam before falling. Punch front tuck. Switch leap to sissone. Cross split jump half, this angle made it look short. Double pike, chest a little forward, step forward. 12.450

Joscelyn Roberson VT: Yurchenko half-on front layout half, 13.800

7:06 pm. Learning about scoring again on the broadcast! Love this for me. I wish the MLB explained how runs were scored every time they aired games.

7:03 pm. For a little recap while we wait, Shilese Jones had about an eight-tenth lead ahead of Konnor McClain on the first day, where she was close to perfect. Konnor has some ground to make up on bars, but she’ll really need mistakes from Shilese to get ahead of her, something NONE of us wants to see. Jordan Chiles and Kayla DiCello are fighting for bronze right now, but they’re also close enough to Konnor that if SHE has mistakes and they don’t, they’re in ahead of her.

7:02 pm. Touch warmups are underway for the first rotation!

6:59 pm. Getting ready for the competition to start! Then it’s like, multiple WEEKS with no meets, after one billion over the past month. What will freedom from watching gymnastics feel like!?

I’m watching on Peacock tonight. To watch internationally, you’ll need a FlipNow account.

17 thoughts on “2022 U.S. Championships | Senior WAG Day 2 Live Blog

  1. Is it just me, or should Shilese’s coach take some blame for her fall? It looked like she fell on her bars dismount because she landed on the edge of the safety mat, which should have been pushed closer to the high bar.

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  2. I know it’s nationals but some of these E scores feel wildly generous in a way that’s doing a disservice to the athletes (esp Konnor’s bars). I love that the high scores means nationals feels like a celebration of the athletes more than a competition, but I wish that’s how they’d position it, if that makes sense – in Brazil with their bonus rules and crazy scoring, it’s really clear that nationals aren’t meant to be taken seriously as legitimate international scores, but that the whole competition is a way of drumming up national interest in the sport. US national scoring seems to serve a similar purpose (which I love, because these athletes are excellent and deserve huge crowds and celebration) but often gets treated as though the scores are in some way legitimate – it’s wild to me how readily fans will accept these scores as legitimate evidence of who’s the strongest in the field globally right now, when I feel like the Martina Maggio vs Jessica Gadirova floor final might be better evidence of the way scoring is heading and where deductions are likely to come from. On floor, lots of people can’t seem to grasp the objective, quantifiable-for-scoring-purposes difference between watching a Murakami, Gadirova, Hurd, etc vs a Carey in terms of commitment to the performance and a clear theme throughout, and I find that absolutely bizarre.

    That said, I’m absolutely thrilled for this podium, thrilled to see Jordan Chiles back to looking absolutely rock solid, thrilled for Konnor’s massive improvements on beam fluidity and Shilese’s absolutely incredible DTY, and I can’t wait to see these guys competing again. Jordan especially seemed to be having a great time, and was a joy to watch – rooting for her to have the meet of her life at 2022 worlds.

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  3. Any scoop on why Leanne didn’t get named to the national team here like so many others? She’s the reigning AA World Champion silver medalist, attended championships here, tied for both 1st on UB and 5th on BB despite her injury acquired here.

    Seems quite bizarre especially when comparing Paul Juda who hasn’t competed elite for half a year due to injury, didn’t at championships either, and immediately got named to Men’s team the previous night.

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    • So if I’ve understood correctly, the selection procedures as written suggest that the only automatic additions to the national team from this meet are the athletes with the top 8 all around scores. Anyone outside of this will have to petition. I think Alicia Sacramone has basically said that they don’t think this is a particularly good rule and will consider changing it in the future to allow for some flexibility, but effectively, if Leanne wants to be on the national team she’ll have to petition and I imagine her coaches will be going through that process ASAP, though it’s unclear what the turnaround time for this is likely to be.

      I think changing these procedures is a great idea, because this current method seems to be encouraging athletes to compete all around when not every athlete is going to be an all-arounder. Imagine if Italy had a similar rule in place – Villa would have to petition regularly despite being a two-event person because of a known injury. The “AAer only” approach feels like it encourages athletes to do extra routines which put them at risk of injury for little reward for the team in the long run.

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  4. Love the team but I remember back in the day..there used to be like 12 or 16 national team members.. i am talking back in the 1990s during Zmeskal and Miller times. it seems to be getting smaller and smaller each year. Also..I wanted to see some of the Twin City Twister girls but they only showed Lexi Zeiss on bars on Day 1.

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    • USAG also was beloved in the 1990s and had multiple sponsors willing to shell out money to USAG and the National team. Remember when Nationals was sponsored by Phar-mor, McDonalds, John Hancock, Visa, and P&G? Way back before the Nassar scandal dropped. Once it did all their sponsors took off.

      Now their nationals is sponsored by OOFUS, I had to google the company to even know what it was.

      The national team stipend has to come from somewhere. Clearly USAG isn’t making money off ticket sales to their events as the arenas are averaging 70% empty. USAG also has millions to pay to their victims.

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  5. Could someone summarize the benefits of being on the US National team ? I thought the main purpose was mainly the opportunities for the gymnasts to be given international assignments for 2022-2023, and be qualified automatically to the 2023 US Nationals, but obviously with just 8 members it doesn’t work this way. I had in mind it had 20 members but obviously I don’t follow US things as I should

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  6. National Team members receive a monthly stipend. These stipends are based off tiers.
    Leanne Wong, as a two time World medalist at the 2021, would qualify to tier 2 which is $2,500 a month to help cover costs of training, etc.
    Since she was not named to the National Team, she will not receive the $2,500 a month.

    Here is the tiered amount athletes get:
    chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.usagym.org/PDFs/Pressbox/Selection%20Procedures/22_funding.pdf

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