2024 NCAA Round Up – Week 12

25 Mar 2024 NCAA Round Up – Week 12

Posted at 23:35h in 2024 Women's NCAA Headquarters, News & Features by

2024 NCAA Round Up – Week 12

By Megan Roth

Gymnast of the Week 

Congratulations to Oklahoma junior Jordan Bowers and Air Force junior Erich Upton, Inside Gymnastics Gymnast of the Week for Week 12!

For your Regionals bracket and info, Click Here!

Jordan Bowers matched the highest All-Around score of the season at the Big-12 Championships, scoring 39.925 with 10s on vault, bars, and floor. Her performances helped Oklahoma win the Big-12 Championship with a record-shattering 198.950, the highest team score in NCAA history! 

Erich Upton won the All-Around at USAG Nationals by over two points, with a score of 79.200. His scores helped Air Force score a season high 401.650 to win the team title!

Team Rankings

Women’s NCAA Event Leaders (NQS):

All-Around: Haleigh Bryant (LSU) – 39.810 

Vault: Haleigh Bryant (LSU) & Selena Harris (UCLA) – 9.965

Bars: Audrey Davis (Oklahoma) & Jordan Bowers (Oklahoma) – 9.975

Beam: Ragan Smith (Oklahoma) – 9.995

Floor: Raena Worley (Kentucky) – 9.990

Men’s NCAA Event Leaders: 

Note: Rankings are now averaging the 3 highest scores 

All-Around: Fuzzy Benas (Oklahoma) – 82.317

Floor: Emre Dodanli (Oklahoma) – 14.983

Pommel Horse: Brandon Dang (Illinois) – 15.017

Rings: Asher Hong (Stanford) – 14.800

Vault: Amari Sewell (Illinois) –  14.817

Parallel Bars: Josh Karnes (Penn State) – 14.567

High Bar: Fred Richard (Michigan) – 14.517

SEC Championships

In a thriller in NOLA, LSU won the team title with a score of 198.075 with Haleigh Bryant continuing her incredible season, winning the All-Around with a 39.800. The Kentucky Wildcats, led by Raena Worley, put up quite a fight, leading after the third rotation with solid beam performances from Worley and Isabella Magnelli, but the Tigers went lights out on floor as they have all season long and took home the title in commanding fashion.

We loved Konnor McClain’s 10.0 beam routine and KJ Johnson’s 9.975 floor routine.

Ultimately, Kiya Johnson clinched the win for the Tigers with her own 9.975 on floor. 

(Still) Ranked #1 on floor for a reason!

In the first session, Mara Titarsolej (Missouri) performed her usual, beautiful bar routine. She scored a 9.95, which earned her a share of the SEC bars title!

B1G Championships

Heading into B1G Championships, everyone was looking for a showdown with all four teams in session two scoring similarly in the back half of the season. Michigan State was the top-ranked team coming in, looking to win their first B1G title in program history at home in East Lansing.

MSU had the lead after the first rotation with a huge floor rotation. The Spartans scored 49.575, not counting a score below 9.90! We loved Skyla Schulte’s routine!

In the second rotation, Minnesota had a stellar beam rotation, scoring 49.4250, closing the gap on the Spartans. Sarah Moraw had the highest score of the rotation with a 9.925. Going into the third rotation, MSU had the lead over the Golden Gophers by 0.150.

After the third rotation, MSU and Minnesota were separated by just 0.050! For the final rotation, Michigan State went to beam and Minnesota headed to vault.

The rotation started out shaky for MSU, but the Spartans were able to bring it back in the final routines. Last up under tremendous pressure, Gabi Stephen clinched the first B1G Championships win for Michigan State with a 9.875.

Meanwhile, Mya Hooten closed out a strong competition for Minnesota scoring a 9.975 for her stuck Yurchenko 1.5, but it was not enough to put the Gophers on top.

The Spartans ended with a 197.600, just a tenth higher than Minnesota’s final score of 197.500. Skyla Schulte won the All-Around with a 39.600.

Pac-12 Championships

After session 1, Stanford came out on top with a 197.175 and Chloe Widner had the highest All-Around score with a 39.500. 

Heading into session 2, Cal was the favorite, but a lower-scoring vault rotation to start the meet opened up the door for other teams. After the first rotation, Oregon State had the lead with a 49.550 on floor, helped by a perfect 10 from Jade Carey, who brought out her full twisting double layout for the last Pac-12 Championships ever.

At the halfway point, UCLA had the lead by 0.300. The Bruins had a great floor party in the second rotation, scoring 49.625 with all scores above 9.900! Utah had a shaky start to their beam rotation, starting with a fall and two scores in the 9.7s. Grace McCallum and Abby Paulson brought it back, scoring 9.925s and Maile O’Keefe closed out the rotation with a 10.0, her fourth of the season. She helped the Red Rocks score 49.300, but it was not enough to take the lead.

In the third rotation, Utah scored a big 49.700 on floor, which helped them claim the top position going into the final rotation. Selena Harris closed out UCLA’s vault rotation with a stuck Yurchenko 1.5, boosting UCLA’s vault score. Going into the final rotation, just 0.025 separated Utah and UCLA. 

For UCLA, Chae Campbell started the rotation off with an uncharacteristic fall, missing her feet on a toe-on. Meanwhile Utah freshman Camie Winger stuck her Yurchenko 1.5 to start the Red Rocks out on vault.

 

While the rest of UCLA’s bar lineup hit solid routines, it was not enough to catch Utah, who finished with a 198.000. UCLA finished in second with a 197.875. Oregon State counted a fall on beam in the final rotation to put them in 5th behind Stanford. Cal had a solid meet, finishing in third with a 197.325, but it was not up to the standard we’ve seen from the Golden Bears this season. Their performance pushed them down to no.3 for postseason, while LSU moved up to finish the regular season in 2nd.

Utah won the last Pac-12 title and their fourth title in a row! Selena Harris won the All-Around with a score of 39.825.

Big 12 Championships

Record. Shattered. Oklahoma went out with more than a bang in their final Big 12 Championships before the Sooners move to the SEC next season, scoring a phenomenal 198.950 which is now the highest team score in NCAA history. Not only did Jordan Bowers score three 10s, but Ragan Smith scored one on beam and Faith Torrez scored one on floor! The Sooners were unstoppable, dropping 9.900s left and right because they are so excelled at high scoring. They’re once again the top seed in the Regional where the question seems to be not whether they’ll win, but by how much.

While it was not enough to catch the Sooners, Denver also had an incredible competition, scoring 197.975 to help the Pioneers, led by senior Jessica Hutchinson, move up to the no.6 spot heading into Regionals.

For more on Jessica, Click Here!

Plus! Talk about being on top of the World, Jordan Bowers also said YES!

ACC Championships

NC State made a huge statement in the first ACC Championships in 40 years, scoring a huge 197.550 to win the title. Chloe Negrete had a gorgeous beam routine, scoring 9.950 and Emily Shephard won the All-Around with a 39.500. NC State’s score here helped the Wolf Pack claim the final seeded position for regionals. Last season, NC State ended the regular season in 30th, but this season, the Wolf Pack claimed 16th!

The meet was also historic for another reason, as longtime commentator Bart Connor paid an emotional tribute to the irreplaceable Kathy Johnson Clarke, who has announced her retirement as one half of this dynamic commentating duo – signaling the end of an era. We love you, Kathy!

MIC Championships

MICs this year was bittersweet – Lindenwood hosted the competition as their last home meet ever. Heading into the meet, it was looking to be a close competition between Illinois State and Lindenwood, who scored within two tenths of each other the previous week. 

Illinois State was looking to win going into the final rotation, as Lindenwood counted a fall on bars earlier in the competition. However, the Red Birds had three falls on bars in the final rotation, opening the door for Lindenwood to clinch the win with a 196.0750.

2022 NCAA Nationals qualifier Gayla Griswold returned to competition after being out of lineups for the last half of the season, a great way to finish her career as one of Lindenwood’s best. Jaly Jones won the All-Around with a score of 39.125.

For our tribute to Lindenwood, Click Here

 

Photos by Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics

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