I pretend to not be that into gymnastics, but the truth is, I frequently have NCAA meets streaming in the background during winter weekends, and I have very strong feelings about certain teams and athletes. So when a friend who’s a casual fan (hi Terri!) asked me to link some videos more recent than the two-year-old viral clip of Katelyn Ohashi that she just re-shared on Facebook, I stepped in with a comment so long that it became its own blog post, a combination of reactions to this weekend’s NCAA Championships and my overall favorite athletes and routines of the season. This post is full of spoilers for this weekend’s events, but most videos are from earlier in the season so I could showcase best performances and avoid split-screen situations.
In case you missed it, my beloved Michigan came to the National Championship as high-ranked underdogs, threw down in their semifinal and beat Florida (the favorite) by a mile, then went on to win the whole thing, their first national title ever. The final was a nail-biter, with Michigan clinging to their lead by less than a tenth of a point over Oklahoma, and Utah right on their heels in third . Florida made it to the final but had a bunch of falls and were doomed to 4th place early; LSU, who I love but who have been trainwrecks all season, blew a big lead in their semifinal and didn’t make it to the final. (No tears for the SEC and their barely bothering to implement COVID-19 safety.) I am very pleased with these results.
Natalie Wojcik is the official star of the Michigan team and is great on every apparatus, but she is a balance beam queen in particular. Other than a weird fall on bars in the semifinal that put her out of All Around contention, she was ridiculously good throughout the weekend, going for beauty and precision that make her gymnastics especially pleasing to the eye.
For my money, Michigan’s true MVP is Sierra Brooks. She’s powerful and has style, and she’s dead-on consistent. She’s also a hometown athlete for me, from Plainfield in the Chicago suburbs. And she’s only a sophomore, so I have a favorite gymnast for the next couple of seasons.
I’m not usually rooting for Oklahoma, but they’re so good that I’m always satisfied when they win. Anastasia Webb was this season’s star and won the 2021 All Around individual title by having nerves of steel while several bigger names did not. Her beam routine is not only difficult and well-executed, but has actual choreography.
Ragan Smith (Oklahoma) was one of my favorites in elite and is still learning how to be a college gymnast. Her best NCAA days are ahead of her, and it is great to watch her as a grown woman with muscles and curves.
I’m not generally a fan of Utah, but they have sprightly ex-elite powerhouse Maile O’Keefe, so I can’t hate them.
Utah also has freshman bars hero Alani Sabado. Her technique is a little scrappy, but she flies.
Florida might have had it rough at the National Championships, but they are a spectacular team when they are not a mess of injuries and nerves. Trinity Thomas is the consensus pick for best gymnast in the NCAA this season, but she came to Championships with an ankle injury that seems to have taken its toll this weekend. Earlier in the season, she was doing lights-out amazing work on every apparatus.
My uncontested floor goddess of 2021 is Florida’s Nya Reed. Her tumbling is fantastic, and her choreographic moves and performance quality show off not only her charisma, but her knowledge of dance history and technique.
Cal(ifornia) gave us many brilliant moments at the NCAA Championships, including several athletes who competed with their masks on. They were so good that they almost upset Florida in semifinals. Maya Bordas was Cal’s biggest star this weekend, swinging the bars routine of her life and co-winning a national apparatus title.
However, my favorite Cal gymnast is superstar freshman and gymnastics royalty Andi Li, who looked nervous this weekend compared to her poised performances earlier this season. It is not easy to look this much like a ballerina on the uneven bars.
Minnesota was this year’s Championships underdog, and it was a joy to see them compete well under pressure. Lexy Ramler is their star performer, but my heart belongs to Ona Loper’s sparkling presence and elegant leap extension on floor.
It takes a lot to make me care about anything Alabama does, or to be excited enough about a collegiate vault to put it in a highlight reel. Shallon Olsen’s ginormous DTY achieves both.
LSU is my favorite team besides Michigan, but this season’s lineup is the least inspiring for me in a long time, and not just because they have been crumbling under pressure week after week. Still, I have infinite admiration for Alyona Shchennikova’s form and finesse on bars.
After a massive set of vault scores, LSU looked like they had a semifinal win in the bag. Then they melted down on beam in the final rotation. But that wasn’t Haleigh Bryant’s fault, and her front pike half stood out for its height and quality as well as for being anything other than a Yurchenko entrance.
Denver didn’t make it to the Championships as a team this season, but Lynnzee Brown got there as an individual All-Around competitor, only to throw a disaster vault that put her out of the conversation. She’s been on fire throughout the season, though, especially with this floor routine, the happiest 90 seconds in 2021 gymnastics.
UCLA is normally a shoo-in for NCAA Championships, but they’re in a development year as several of their top recruits have deferred for reasons mostly spelled “Olympics.” Adding to the disappointment, two of their finest qualified only on non-signature routines. Let’s forget how Nia Dennis faltered on vault this weekend and focus on her playful, polished floor routine.
I just implied that Margzetta Frazier’s signature apparatus is something other than bars, but I’m not sure that’s true. I’m as sad as anyone that we didn’t get to watch her strut to Janet Jackson on floor this weekend, but her explosive release moves and gravity-mocking dismount make her a marvel on bars.
Several of my favorite routines didn’t get showcased at the Championships. High on that list is Iowa’s JerQuavia Henderson, who brought some of the season’s most fun floor choreography and a sky-high full in.
I don’t know how Boise State’s Emily Lopez catches that release into a perfect handstand. Please don’t explain it to me and ruin the magic.
It is very unfair that there’s no good video of Illinois’ Mia Takekawa on beam this season, but here’s a clip of her on Facebook from 2020 earning a 10.0 as if this were easy.
If Auburn’s Derrian Gobourne doesn’t qualify to the Championships on floor next year, I might have to send a sternly worded letter to the NCAA. Her tumbling is beautiful, and she dances like no one’s watching.
With that, I believe I am off gymnastics and back to movies until the summer Olympic Games, if we actually get an Olympics. Let’s not dwell on that, shall we?