2025 Women’s NCAA Semifinals– From the Sidelines by Amy
Wow! The theme of the competitions today was clearly “expect the unexpected.” The results were anything but predictable and no matter who you were rooting for, you were likely holding your breath! The top two teams from each session advanced to Saturday’s Final.
NCAA Semifinals: Session One
Routine of Session One: Helen Hu’s (Missouri) elegant and precise beam routine (9.9875) – Missouri’s final routine of the entire competition – secured her team’s place in Saturday’s final while also giving her the highest individual score of the competition and her first national beam title. I’m glad the judges officially recognized her beam brilliance this year. Better late than never!
Oklahoma: It was just a normal day at the office for Oklahoma, and they were never in danger of not advancing to the Finals. They excelled on all four events, including vault… the event that sunk their title chances last year… and they appeared about as relaxed as any team could be under the circumstances. Jordan Bowers took the all-around title with an impressive 39.7125 total. From my perspective, they are the team to beat on Saturday!
Missouri: Even though they were the clear underdog of this session and that they did not start out as strongly as they had hoped on their best event – floor exercise – they continued to plug away. Utilizing incredibly strong back half performances on both bars (49.45) and beam (49.50), they hit many clean routines with many stuck landings. They excelled in spots one to six, but their anchors on these two events – Mara Titarsolej and the aforementioned Helen Hu – NAILED their routines to help secure the upset of these Championships! It was impossible for me not to smile as I watched the pure, unadulterated joy of the team’s celebration.
Florida: Florida had been a bit inconsistent throughout the season and they did have their best performance in the Regional Final, but most people assumed they would be advancing to the Finals. So, what happened? They started out pretty well on beam (49.30), not always an easy thing to do. On floor, things continued as expected (49.35), though Leanne Wong way over-rotated her normally solid double layout and bounced out of bounds (9.6625). Vault was the game changer. Danie Ferris stuck a Yurchenko 1 ½ (9.90), but the rest of the lineup performed below expectation with counting scores ranging from 9.75 to 9.8375. To put things in perspective, it was their lowest vault event total since 2020! A 49.475 during their last rotation on bars was not enough to lift them out of third place and a disappointing end to the season. They failed to advance by a mere one tenth of a point.
Alabama: Alabama surprised many people and accomplished a lot by making it to Fort Worth, but, they were never in contention for the top two spots. They dug a bit of hole during the first rotation on vault (49.125) and they were never able to significantly change their momentum.
Oklahoma: 197.550
Missouri: 197.300
Florida: 197.200
Alabama: 196.825
NCAA Semifinals: Session Two
Routine of Session Two: Grace McCallum had some struggles on vault with some imperfect landings throughout the season. But, she hit one of the best Yurchenko 1 ½’s that I have EVER seen her do (9.95). Her stuck vault in the second spot ignited a flame that allowed her teammates to have their best vaulting rotation of their entire season.
Utah: Kudos to Utah for, from my perspective, their surprise victory. They did not appear to be firing on all cylinders during the Regional Final, but they put together an excellent performance here. Initially, it seemed like they were behind the eight ball after their first event on beam. Cami Winger fell on her series, forcing them to count Amelie Morgan’s 9.75 in the first spot. But, they quickly put that behind them with excellent performances on both floor and vault as well as a mesmerizing 49.65 on bars – counting scores from 9.9125 to 9.9625 – to seal the victory.
UCLA: After a few tumultuous years, UCLA finds themselves back in the NCAA Finals. They used their unique choreography and strong tumbling on floor to take the lead after the first rotation, but then struggled a bit on vault, including a fall and an unfortunate leg injury to Mika Webster-Longin. Bars was strong (49.425), including a phenomenal routine from Jordan Chiles, featuring a STUCK double layout (9.975). Under immense pressure, particularly after an unusually shaky routine from Emily Lee (9.6875) in the leadoff position, they hit their next five routine (49.55). Emma Malabuyo hit one of the best routines of her life (9.975) – beautiful side aerial/beat jump/back handspring swing down – to secure second place for her team.
LSU: I am sure that LSU is extremely disappointed that they won’t have the opportunity to defend their NCAA team title, but they really did not have a bad competition. Instead, it was more like death by paper cuts – minor bobbles and steps on dismounts and vaults. They started out a bit tight on both bars and beam – which Head Coach Jay Clark admitted during his mid-meet interview – before rebounding on floor and vault. But, with the amazing gymnastics being performed by both Utah and UCLA, the minor errors prevented them from advancing.
Michigan State: Michigan State started out strongly on vault and bars, holding the lead after the first two rotations. However, they fell back to Earth a little bit and were unable to maintain a top two position after their performances on beam and floor. Despite this, it was still a historic season for this ever-improving program!
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