The hyper-competitive NCAA women’s gymnastics national semifinals begin tomorrow
The GIST: Pack your leo and head to Fort Worth, TX, because both national championship semifinals will hit the mat tomorrow. The top two squads from each four-team semi will flip on to Saturday’s final meet. Your Thursday night plans? ESPN2 and chill.
The matchups: The 4:30 p.m. ET semi features two powerhouses, No. 2–seed LSU and No. 3 Cal, plus the only two squads to make nationals over higher-ranked opponents, No. 10 Arkansas and unseeded Stanford. Stanford’s regional upset was particularly stunning, so all eyes will be on the Cardinal to see if they’ll continue to stick it to the seeding system.
- Defending champ No. 1 Oklahoma is favored in the 9 p.m. ET semi, but the competition might be closer than you think: The Sooners scored a 198.400 in the regional final, while No. 4 Florida advanced with a 198.325. No. 5 Utah and No. 8 Alabama are just hoping to keep up.
The individual qualifiers: Four all-arounders and 16 event specialists from non-qualifying schools will also compete as individuals alongside the eight teams mentioned above, hoping to advance for a shot at a solo national title. Of these contenders, Oregon State’s Olympic gold medalist (and Paris 2024 hopeful) Jade Carey looks particularly dangerous in the all-around competition.
- Kentucky’s Raena Worley is also a favorite to take home some hardware — she’s competing for the title on floor, an event in which she’s already scored four perfect 10s this season. Time to make it Raen(a).
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