My First NCAA Meet!

Saturday, I went to the Rutgers, Nebraska, SUNY Brockport, and Southern Connecticut meet.  It was my first one and I had SO much fun!  I had planned to take videos, but after recording introductions, I decided to just enjoy the meet, while my dad took pictures.  I was so grateful that my dad wasted his Saturday to take me to one of my favorite schools for a sneak peak of the next four years of my life!
I thoroughly enjoyed watching Nebraska compete, it was especially awesome seeing Ashley Lambert get a 10.0 on vault for the second week in a row, and watching Rutgers was also cool.  They are definitely a team on the rise and have some awesome recruits coming in.

When I first got to the meet (after my dad drove in a circle for like 10 minutes trying to find the gym), they gave us a tee shirt, and we went into the gym.  They had bleachers and no matter where you sat, you had a good view!  We watched the end of warm ups, and I was so excited to see the meet!  Once all of the teams walked out, the place went NUTS for Rutgers, and there were a lot of

Nebraska fans as well!  Once the meet started, we found one of the little ones from the gym back home and she was in awe (as was I!)  It was a little hard keeping up with everything (the only other meet I've been to was the 2012 American Cup where they competed one at a time) but I loved watching Nebraska.  The score board was a little screwy at time but I didn't really care.  After Hollie Blanske got a 9.95, every one was quiet, waiting for Ashley Lambert to vault.  After she vaulted, the place went CRAZY!  Every team's fans were screaming, Lambert was screaming, and the score was posted and it erupted again.  It was so cool!  They then announced the results, which were kind of predictable.  They announced that Rutgers got a 195.325 and the Rutgers team was so excited!

After the meet, I got to see my neighbor that competed, and she wasn't too happy (she fell three times on the one event she competed,) but laughed it off.  It was really cool to see her.  Then I was waiting around near the floor with the little one from my gym.  We got to meet Kami Moore, who was the one gymnast I wanted to meet most.  I introduced myself as the one that sent her an "Inspiration" bracelet I made her two years ago and she got so happy! "That was you?  I still have it in my dorm!"  She then gave me a huge hug, signed my index card, and took a selfie.  We almost met Jessie DeZiel, but she left to get on the bus before we could.  We then got a poster signed by the entire Rutgers team, and April Baker is SO nice!  She was also funny, but I mean duh.  Just look at her twitter.  The whole team was nice.  The little one knew Emma Hoffman and she was so excited to her!  After we went into the hallway, we saw Ashley Lambert talking to some family members, but I was not about to miss that opportunity, so we waited.  She noticed us about 2 minutes later and she is so funny.  As we were walking out, I accidentally bumped into Dan Kendig, so I got his autograph to.  He was slightly awkward, it was funny.

That was my first NCAA experience.  I enjoyed it, the atmosphere is just as fun as it looks on television.  I can not wait for college, as no matter where I go, they have gymnastics team!  To see my dad's pictures, click here.

Controversies and Changes

In a subjective sport, controversial results happen, and with each come with their own waves of outrage and demands for a rule change.  This, obviously, is easier said than done, but what would happen if the rules actually changed?  What changes would be made?  I decided to look into some of the more famous scoring controversies of the past quad.

2011 All Around Final
As soon as Viktoria Komova's floor score was posted, leaving her in second behind Jordyn Wieber by .033, the insanity started immediately.  "Jordyn fell", they cried.  "Jordyn is inartistic", they screamed.  "Komova was totally robbed!", others argued.  I'm not going into immense detail about how Jordyn outperformed Komova on 3 out of the four events, as the wonderful Spanny Tampson posted in 2011, but it's evident that Jordyn Wieber had less deductions on that day.  And no, Jordyn did not fall.  I personally agree with these results, but a lot people argued incessantly that Komova was the rightful winner, and demanded changes in the code.  They demanded that artistry deductions should be bigger, although I personally believe Wieber's floor routine was more artistic than Komova's.  Anyway, I don't believe that any change in the code is going to prevent this type of controversy.  It just so happened to be a close final.  I'm not sure how fans want to avoid this type final, but a change to the code is not it.

2012 Vault Final
After McKayla Maroney fell on her second vault and her score was still the highest thus far, Sandra Izbasa competed and beat Maroney by .108.  Many were outraged that Maroney still received the silver medal despite not landing both her vaults.  Many people wanted to change the code to prevent this from happening in the future.  In fact, The FIG did did implement a new rule which made it harder to medal with a fall.  However, the FIG revoked this rule change in early 2013.  Another change that has been floating around the gymternet around that time is that a fall on vault should be more costly.  This makes sense, as you only are being judged on one piece of gymnastics instead of 8-10 skills as on other events.  I'm not quite sure how that would work, but it would make things interesting.  Perhaps this is something the FIG should look into?

These are two of the biggest controversies in recent gymnastics history.  If you think of anymore, let me know what you think!  How do you think the Code of Points should change?  In a subjective sport like gymnastics, controversies are impossible to avoid.  How would the Code of Points adapt to these controversies?  The gymternet has yet to see.

The Current State of NCAA Scoring

During the first weekend of full schedule NCAA Gymnastics, we have already seen a 10.0.  Many members of the gymternet are outraged that Bridget Sloan of Florida received this illusive score, and rightly so.  Anyone who has followed my Twitter knows I am a huge Florida athletics fan, however I agree that it is ridiculous that we have seen a 10 in the first regular week of NCAA gymnastics.  However, I am more outraged the bias that many fans have towards Florida.

After Sloan's score was announced, Twitter and Tumblr were disgusted about her score.  However,

University of Florida

many people screaming about how over scored Florida is, were not even watching the meet.  I don't understand how someone can voice their opinion without knowing what they are talking about.  Some fans see that a Gator got a 10, and scream "She was over scored!" without bothering to look at the vault in question.  Just because it is Florida, people get outraged.

I am not trying to make everyone love Florida, or even say that Florida always gets the scores they deserve.  I believe Florida is a victim of over scoring.  I also believe that most other top schools are victims of over scoring.  Who could forget the Florida at Utah meet (that Bekah wrote about) in 2013 in which Georgia Dabritz nearly fell and still received a 9.8 on beam.  The "Zam Bonus" followed Vanessa Zamarippa at her years at UCLA.  I could go on and on, but the facts are the facts.  The top teams are over scored.  However, I do not believe fans should be able to call over scoring at a 9.9+ vault with out seeing the vault.  My point is, the stigma following Florida Gymnastics causes fans to write off a very good vault.  Bridget Sloan's vault was great, but it was not a 10.0 vault.

NCAA

Instead of sitting around and complaining about over scoring for great-but-not-perfect vaults, why not complain about the NCAA Code of Points?  At NCAA competitions, we see the same skills performed over and over, which leads to a direct comparison.  What likely happened today at Ball State, after seeing six Ball State athletes compete equal or lesser vaults, and watching Florida's first, second, and third, compete the exact same vault, the judges saw Sloan's, which was much better compared to the other Full Twisting Yurchencko's.

So how do we go about making a change that will actually fix the problem, instead of disguising it?  I believe we need to devalue the Full Twisting Yurchenko.  Many of the gymnasts that receive 10's on this event are former elites or standout level tens who have been competing this or a harder Yurchenko for years.  A Full Twisting Yurchenko is an easy way to have a 10.0 vault.  If we devaulte it, I believe we will see more variety in NCAA vaults, which has been a problem in the sport for a long time.  I believe that until something is done to the code, we will always see over scored, great-but-not-perfect vaults receiving a 10.0.

Double Double Gym Blog would like to wish Bridget Sloan all the best with her ankle and hope that her injury is nothing too serious.  Feel better soon!

The Impact of USA's New Seniors

Now that some big names are officially FIG Eligible, USA has some big decisions to make about the team they will send to the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland from October 23 to November 1.  While the USA has always been praised for their depth, the number of World Championship caliber athletes increases exponentially with the additions of the new seniors.  I've outlined all the new seniors to see where they could potentially impact the World Team Picture.

Nia Dennis 

Gymnastics Wiki

Nia Dennis, from Buckeye Gymnastics, is a talented all arounder, with her strength being on bars and beam.  I am absolutely obsessed with her lines on bars, and her tchatchev is sky high.  She will look to make a difference on this event, but with a slew of talented bar workers this quadrennium, she will need a couple of upgrades to break into a world's line up.  Her beam is also pretty when she hits, which features a high, flighty Arabian.    Also, I love her floor choreography, and she puts together four difficult passes.  She could factor on that event as well, however it will be hard with the return of Aly Raisman. However, consistency will be a factor for her, and she must learn to control her nerves in order to make a splash this year. Many are excited for her senior debut, myself included!

Jessica Frankl

Bailie Key

The most anticipated new senior in this field, Bailie Key was on fire two years ago.  Winning every possible All Around title in 2013, Key was poised to continue her junior dominance in 2014.  After winning 4 golds and 2 silvers at the Pacific Rim Championships, many were excited to see her repeat as Junior National Champion.  However, an elbow injury forced Key to the sidelines, making her 2015 Senior debut even more anticipated.  Key is a true All Arounder, and is expected to make the podium at this year's National Championship.  In order to compete with reigning National Champion, Key will need some upgrades.  Her current program, maxes out at a 23.7 difficulty, with her highest difficulty on beam.  Se does have planed upgrades and will more than likely make the world team as an all arounder.  Consistency has always been a strong point for her, and I am excited to see her shine as a senior!

USA Gymnastics 

Alexis Vasquez

Alexis Vasquez is one of Chow's four elites and one of the newer elites.  Vasquez, like all Chow athletes is exceptionally strong on beam, and will look to make her bid for the World Championship on this event.  Winning this event at Nationals was huge for her confidence, however, she will need major upgrades elsewhere in order to make splash as a senior.  She has tons of room to upgrade on bars, and the construction of her current routine makes tons of connections possible.  What skills and grace she has on beam, she lacks in power on floor and vault.  She vaults a Yurchenko full, which is another area in which an upgrade is possible.  She does not have the same experience as the others, as this is her first year on the National Team and has never competed internationally.  Look for her to make the Jesolo team and potentially the Pan American Games team in order to gain experience.