Posted by Expect the unexpected — and plenty of Yurchenkos — when the NCAA gymnastics college semifinals kick off Thursday.
Eight of the nation’s best programs jostle for superiority amid the glow of the Dickies Arena starlight during the dual session.
It will be a showcase filled with celestial talents. LSU’s Haleigh Bryant, Oklahoma’s Jordan Bowers, Florida’s Leanne Wong and Utah’s Grace McCallum represent a portion of the cream of the crop in Thursday’s contest. They’re far from alone, however. The lowest-ranked team of the eight competing in the semifinals — No. 8 Stanford — has rallied off four-straight performances of 197.175 or better.
Suffice to say, there’s plenty to look forward to when the chalk drops on Thursday afternoon. Prepare for theatrics — and acrobatics — as the action kicks off from Fort Worth, Texas.
The Sporting News is tracking the top performances from Thursday’s NCAA gymnastics college semifinals from Dickies Arena. Follow along to see which gymnasts shined on the biggest stage in collegiate gymnastics.
MORE: Watch the 2024 NCAA gymnastics championships with Fubo (free trial)
Winners are in bold in each table.
49.3250
49.200
48.8125
49.1375
196.4750
49.3250
49.4750
49.5875
49.7250
198.1125
49.3625
49.5250
49.4125
49.4125
197.7125
49.2250
49.2500
49.3125
49.2875
197.0750
39.4750
Skylar Killough-Wilhelm
39.5500
All times Eastern.
11:00 p.m. – Here are the best individual scores from both session I and session II. Audrey Davis secured two wins for her and the Sooners, while Florida and Utah were the two programs to join LSU and Cal in the finals.
6:36 p.m. – Here are the individual event winners from session I. Session II gymnasts will need to best these scores to take the all-around or individual event titles.
6:32 p.m. – It’s official! LSU and Cal advance to the finals.
6:25 p.m. – What a way for Stanford to finish things. Anna Roberts scores a career-high 9.9500 on vault.
6:20 p.m. – LSU keeps on firing! KJ Johnson scores a 9.9500 on floor, the highest of the night.
6:04 p.m. – Team standings remain the same heading in to the final rotation. LSU and Cal are poised to win and advance, unless Stanford and Arkansas have near perfect rotations.
5:58 p.m. – Anaya Smith with a meet-high 9.9375 on vault!
STUCK ON THE BIGGEST STAGE‼️‼️ 9️⃣.9️⃣3️⃣7️⃣5️⃣, the best score of the day so far for @anayasmith_!!!
📲: ESPN2#NCAAGym /// #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/SelFM3CHsZ
5:53 p.m. – Haleigh Bryant doing Haleigh Bryant things. She scores a 9.9500 on beam for the highest score of the night.
5:32 p.m. – Now it’s LSU with the lead! Highlighted by Haleigh Bryant, the Tigers score three 9.9000+ for a .025 lead over Cal. It’s Stanford in third place.
Any time, any place. @haleighbryant3 anchors with a 9.925!
📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/XUVsBrFV2W
5:01 p.m. – After one rotation, it’s Cal that leads followed by LSU, Stanford and Arkansas.
eMjae wows us with a 9.9375!#GoBears🐻| #OneDayBetter pic.twitter.com/J6KR41ZN9C
4:41 p.m. – Stanford’s Ava Sorrento takes two falls on the bars. She finishes out her routine, scoring a 8.600, but the Cardinal will need to clean it up and drop that score to stay in the meet.
4:30 p.m. – It’s go time in Fort Worth. Or is it geaux time?
4:12 p.m. – Here’s what the team and individual rotations look like for both of tonight’s semifinals. As the highest-seeded teams, LSU and Oklahoma will rotate in Olympic order.
ICYMI the rotation order for today, here it is! #NCAAWGym pic.twitter.com/7FnCFUkke6
The NCAA women’s gymnastics championship will take place over three days and three sessions.
The semifinal sessions are on Thursday, April 18, and broadcast live on ESPN2. The final session will take place at 4 p.m. ET Saturday, April 15, and be broadcast live on ABC.
The ESPN family of networks will also provide live streams of singular events and special commentary from former Olympians and collegiate stars John Roethlisberger and Aly Raisman. There will also be a quad-box viewing option and a Spanish-language viewing option, all on ESPN+.
In addition, the crews’ commentary will be boosted by the use of “Tech Tools,” according to the network, including height and distance markers on vault, protractors for body angle and a height grid on bars, and what the network called a “split-o-meter” on beam.
Emily Dozier is an editorial intern at The Sporting News