Oklahoma Takes Home 2020 Metroplex Challenge Title
Oklahoma Takes Home 2020 Metroplex Challenge Title
On Saturday night, four NCAA teams faced off at the 2020 Metroplex Challenge.
On Saturday night, four NCAA teams faced off at the 2020 Metroplex Challenge. It was a highly anticipated session, featuring No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Denver, No. 5 Alabama, and No. 18 Georgia.
Oklahoma stayed in the lead from the first rotation to the last, finishing on top at the end of a solid competition. This marks the second year in a row the Sooners took home the Metroplex Challenge title, after winning the competition in 2019 as well.
Oklahoma took first place with a 197.525 all-around, scoring almost a full point (0.950) ahead of the second-place finisher. The Sooners started on vault and opened with a 49.475. Anastasia Webb stuck her Yurchenko 1.5 to score a career-high 9.950. Maggie Nichols also scored a huge 9.975 for the same stuck vault.
On bars, Oklahoma scored a 49.475, debuting Vanessa Deniz, who stuck her dismount for a 9.875. Jade Degouveia took the spotlight on bars with a huge routine, earning a 9.925. The Sooners’ beam lineup was stacked, earning them a 49.225, with high-scoring Anastasia Webb and Maggie Nichols both going 9.900.
Floor was a bit of a rocky event, but Oklahoma still pulled out a 49.350 after some changes in the lineup. Maggie Nichols was pulled out of the lineup last minute and replaced by Vanessa Deniz, who stepped up to the challenge and brought in a huge 9.900. Jade Degouveia’s score was dropped after she did the same pass twice, receiving a 9.550.
Anastasia Webb of Oklahoma, whose lowest score of the competition was a 9.900, tied for first place all-around with Maddie Karr from Denver. It was a night of ties, as the second-place team was a tie between Denver and Alabama, both scoring a 196.575.
Denver actually started in last place after its first rotation on floor, where both Emma Brown and Amoree Lockhart went out of bounds with a bit too much energy on their tumbling. Alabama started in second place after its first rotation on bars, featuring five incredible routines in a row, the lowest counted score being a 9.850.
The Crimson Tide held onto their second-place position after their second rotation on beam, where they landed six-of-six routines, totaling a 49.100. However, Denver kept creeping up throughout the meet, landing in third place after its second rotation, which was on vault. Emily Gylnn hit her career-high of a 9.825, and the vault team score was a 49.225.
After rotation three, where Denver scored a huge 49.500 on bars — its second-highest score on the event ever and highest at an away meet — the Pioneers found themselves in second place, 0.075 ahead of Alabama. Alabama’s third rotation was on floor, scoring a 49.025.
After the fourth and final rotation, the two teams found themselves in a tie for second place. Alabama came away with solid a 48.950 on vault, and Denver had a rocky competition on beam. Denver came away with five routines without falls, but a few wobbles from counted routines landed the team in a tie for second.
Georgia came in fourth place, totaling a 49.015 on beam, 49.100 on floor, 48.950 on vault, and 49.225 on bars. They had 9.875’s from both Haley De Jong on bars and Sabrina Vega on floor.
You can rewatch any of the routines from the NCAA matchup and any level 10 routines from the weekend on FloGymnastics at anytime. Look here to find all the individual NCAA scores of the meet.