#2 LSU gymnastics takes on #4 UCLA today in the Metroplex Challenge

National rankings by the events:

LSU:
Vault: 3rd
Bars: 2nd
Beam: 2nd
Floor: 2nd

UCLA:
Vault: 8th
Bars: 3rd
Beam: 5th
Floor:3rd

#14 Washington and NC State will also be there competing. This meet will be up on a podium so the equipment is much more bouncy. It will not be televised by be streamed by flo gymnastics. IMO its not worth the one month subscription. Meet starts around 6:46 P.M tonight. Edney will be a meet time decision if she will participate in the all around due to a hyper extended knee she experienced in warm ups vs Bama. She will be on bars and beam for sure either way.


Vault:

The entire week I constantly saw LSU push the envelope with upgrades to many vaults. Julianna Cannamela and Sarah Finnegan both practiced 1 1/2's on vault. So don't be surprised to see the brand new vaults on display later on today. LSU wants a minimum of 5 10.0 vaults by mid February. Lexi Priessman can compete a 1 1/2, DD is trying to be cautious so Lexi doesn't over do it. Ruby had a nice week of practice, she worked extremely hard, she felt awful about what happened last Friday. Edwards looks to improve her landing on her new vault. Edwards form in the air is phenomenal. UCLA can potentially be excellent on this event but they lack difficulty to put up major scores. Inconsistency is bad for UCLA on this event.

Bars:

We should continue to expect more of the same. Kirby or Dean may make an appearance extremely soon on this event. Both have been impressive in practice. LSU will likely put up more major scores in this rotation later. UCLA is phenomenal on this event. They are led by Olympians Madison Kocian and Kayla Ross. Lee for UCLA is incredible as well as the routine is stacked with difficulty and intricate skills not seen in the NCAA level. For UCLA to make a major push, they need to hit this event


Beam:

LSU had a very competitive practice on beam this week. Everyone looks more polished and less labored. Desiderio had some fantastic beam sets this week in practice. I would continue to expect to see Desiderio and Campbell in the 4 and 5 spots in the lineup. Both of these freshman will continue to improve on their scores. UCLA is excellent on beam as well, sometimes it can be a bit inconsistent but when they hit can put up some major numbers.

Floor:


Floor it will be very interesting to see what happens later. You will obviously continue to see Myia, Finnegan, Edwards and Kirby. Desiderio is currently bein pushed extremely hard, LSU needs her on this event. Lexi Priessman could be an option later. Routines in practice look excellent. LSU has held Priessman back here due to concern of injury for her. Lexi will never be 100% especially again. With the addition of Desiderio to the lineup, LSU potentially could add another 9.9 or 9.95 score. Cannamela looked excellent in practice this week so I would expect to see her back in the lineup later on today.

I am curious who the judges will be later on. The entire gymnastics world was dumbfounded by OU/Florida meet. Look for LSU to put up a 197.400-197.600 score. Usually scores are fairly strict at these meets, but it should be a fun one. I can update scores in this thread later.