March 16, 2007

Recap

CORVALLIS, Ore. -
Scores and commentary from tonight's Utah gymnastics meet at Oregon State will be posted live. You will need to hit your reload/refresh key for updates. Introductions are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Pacific Time (8 p.m. MT). The first scores should begin to appear around 7:15 p.m. In the meet are Utah, OSU, Washington and Seattle Pacific. Utah will open competition on floor and end on beam.

Note: I can't keep up with all four teams' scores so I'm just going to do running scores for Utah and Oregon State. I'll post all four team scores after rotations and at the end of the meet.

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Utah 196.675
2. OSU 196.600
3. UW 193.625
4. SPU 189.750

OREGON STATE                    UTAH
VAULT                           VAULT
Brook Barclay            9.750  Jessica Duke              9.750
Megan Devencenzi         9.750  Nina Kim                  9.825
Yuki Lamb                9.700  Sarah Shire               9.875
Jami Lanz                9.775  Annie DiLuzio             9.900
Tasha Smith              9.825  Kristina Baskett          9.950
Mandi Rodriguez          9.900  Ashley Postell            9.875
VT: 48.950; Running: 48.950     VT: 49.425; Running: 98.650
Utah vault notes:
Jessie Duke got off to a nice start. I couldn't
see the landing.
Nina Kim had all kinds of momentum on that one and
it looked like she stuck the landing.
Sarah Shire nailed that one cold.
Annie DiLuzio's vault was just amazing. I can see
why she was touted as one of the best vaulters in
the world after that one. She dropped it on a dime
too.
I thought Kristina Baskett would get a 10.0 on that
vault, I really did. What a beauty.
I don't even know what to say about Ashley Postell that
I don't say practically every week. Where are the big
scores she should be getting? Sometimes she doesn't
stick the landing after going sky high on the vault,
but tonight she did.
As was the case on floor, I think this was our best
vault of the year. It tied the previous high, but
I can't remember all six gymnasts sticking their
landing without any steps in one meet this year.

BARS                            BARS
Keegan Fitzgerald        9.825  Nina Kim                  9.675
D'anna Piro              9.800  Daria Bijak               9.775
Tasha Smith              9.825  Jessica Duke              9.725
Laura-Ann Chong          9.750  Ashley Postell            9.875
Mandi Rodriguez          9.550  Kristina Baskett          9.925
Jami Lanz                9.900  Nicolle Ford              9.925
UB: 49.100; Running: 98.050     UB: 49.250; Running: 147.900
Utah bar notes:
Nina Kim had a lot of trouble. She hit a foot, balked
on a handstand and just didn't have much zip.
Daria Bijak really flew through her routine and
looked solid all the way through on the bars. She
cowboyed her dismount, which might have cost
her.
jessica Duke lost her chance for a season-best
score by flying out of her dismount with a big
step.
OK, Ashley Postell is amazing. She totally changed her
routine on the low bar and looked so good doing it
that she got a big score. Maybe she should alter
her vault in flight and see if it will score.
I thought Kristina Baskett's routine was perfect and
that Nicolle Ford's deserved an 11.0. Kristina was
smooth as silk and Queenie just jammed.
 

BEAM                            BEAM
Courtney Dennison      9.725    Kristina Baskett         9.225
Mandi Rodriguez        9.825    Nina Kim                 9.850
Laura-Ann Chong        9.825    Daria Bijak              9.700
Brooke Barclay         9.175    Sarah Shire              9.600
Tasha Smith            9.900    Nicolle Ford             9.775
Jami Lanz              9.900    Ashley Postell           9.850
BB: 49.175; Running: 147.225    BB: 48.775; Running: 196.675
Utah beam notes:
Kristina Baskett had a nasty fall on her flight series
and was really shaken up. It took awhile for her to
get back on the beam. She finished strong once she got
back on.
As SL Tribune reporter Lya Wodraska noted before her routine,
"Nina always has a big beam routine after someone falls." She
was right. Season best for Nina.
Sarah Shire defied gravity to keep from falling, which would
eventually save the win for Utah.
Nicolle Ford had a big balance check on her second layout,
but I honestly didn't think it was big enough to warrant a
9.75 from one judge.
Ashley Postell came up big again. She, too, had a balance check,
though not as big as Queenie's on her first series.

FLOOR                           FLOOR
Megan Devencenzi       9.750    Beth Rizzo               9.750
Yuki Lamb              9.850    Annie DiLuzio            9.850
Mandi Rodriguez        9.850    Stephanie Neff           9.800
Kera Bolen             9.875    Daria Bijak              9.850
Jami Lanz              9.900    Kristina Baskett         9.900
Tasha Smith            9.900    Ashley Postell           9.825
FX: 49.375; Running: 196.600    FX: 49.225; Running: 49.225
Utah floor notes:
Beth Rizzo's routine was clean for the most part and
she did a nice job covering on the only tumbling
pass she had trouble on.
Annie DiLuzio had a big time routine. It wasn't quite
her career high score, but I'd have to say it matched the best
she's done.
That was a great routine by Stephanie Neff. Megan just told
me that they are inquiring her score. She hit all of her
big tumbling, everything was clean.
Daria Bijak had some chins on the ground with her tumbling.
That was her career high and she deserved it. What a fun
routine. She had a ton of energy.
Ashley Postell threw a bunch of big stuff, including her
double arabian. That was her only little problem area. She
took two steps back after getting major air.
It was quite a season-best on floor for the team, but in
my opinion, it was by far our best floor of the year.