Five team members and three replacements were named, with five of the eight having ties to OU:
Jake Dalton (OU)
Jonathan Horton (ex OU)
Danell Leyva
Sam Mikulak (Michigan)
John Orozco
Replacement athletes
Chris Brooks (ex OU)
Steven Legendre (ex OU)
Alexander Naddour (ex OU)
Link: USA Gymnastics
After 20 years at UGA, Jay Clark will join the LSU staff as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
Danell Leyva and John Orozco punched their tickets to London at the Olympic Trials on Saturday night. The rest of the team will be named tomorrow. Former OU Sooner Jonathan Horton was third, while OU's Jake Dalton tied with former Sooner Chris Brooks for fourth. Brooks rebounded from troubles in night one to post the third highest tally.
Former Illini Paul Ruggeri was 6th while current Illini CJ Maestas was 7th. Former Sooner Steve Legendre was 8th.
Michigan's Sam Mikulak, the highest scorer on night, could only compete on pommel horse after an ill-time sprained ankle. His injury shakes up the potential Olympic squad.
In the all important individual events, athletes sought to place in the top three as many times as possible in the final tally. Some gymnasts rebounded from problems during one of the four days of competition, while others had consistent efforts all four nights. Dalton won floor and vault to strengthen his bid. Former teammate Alex Naddour won PH, but had a few problems on the final night. Horton won rings, and was 2nd on PB. Leyva won PB and HB.
Link: USAG Release
World Champion Jordyn Wieber leads the field after the first day of the US Women's Olympic Trials. Gabby Douglas was 2nd and Aly Raisman 3rd. Rising star Elizabeth Price was 4th AA (2nd on VT, 5th on FX), ahead of Kyla Ross in 5th (touch down on her Amanar vault. 6th place Sarah Finnegan had the top mark on BB while McKayle Maroney had the top single mark on vault and the #4 mark on floor as she battles back from injury.
OU commit Brenna Dowell was 8th while Florida commit Kennedy Baker was 9th. Former Brown athlete Alicia Sacramone notched a top 3 mark on BB in her best effort, keeping alive her campaign for a specialist role. Former UCLA star Anna Li tied for the top score of the day on UB (with Ross), where she hopes to make an impression. Florida incoming frosh Bridget Sloan withdrew with an injury.
Danell Leyva powered to the lead after Day 1 at the Men's US Olympic Trials. John Orozco is 2nd, and Michigan's Sam Mikulak is third. Mikulak actually posted the day's highest AA tally, further bolstering his chances to be included on the squad. Former Sooner Jonathan Horton was fourth, just ahead of OU's Jake Dalton in 5th. Another former Sooner, Chris Brooks, is in 6th, with former Illini Paul Ruggeri in 7th. Former Cal gymnast Glen Ishino was 8th. Former OU star Steve Legendre had a strong day for 9th, as did Illini CJ Maestas.
But, with five strong AAers (including a solid top three), the contenders all sought to impress on their best events, in particular the pommel horse and Rings. On PH, former OU star Alex Naddour turned in the day's best score by 1.05 over the lowest score among the top three AAers. Dalton and Legendre each excelled on Floor and Vault, each posting big scores 16+ scores that would contribute to the team total. And vet Horton posted the 2nd highest score on rings, as did former Ohio State star Brandon Wynn.
Canada has named their Women's Olympic squad, and it includes several gymnasts with ties to the NCAA. Kristina Vaculik of Stanford led the qualification, and UGA incoming frosh Brittany Rogers had a strong Trials to earn an automatic spot. Victoria Moors, Dominique Pegg and Ellie Block complete the squad. LSU incoming frosh Jessica Savona is the first alternate.
Link: Gymn.ca
Cal has announced that Justin Howell has been promoted to Head Coach. He had been serving as an assistant under Danna Durante, who left to take the Head Coach position at Georgia.
Link: Cal Release
Jordyn Wieber defended her US AA title on Sunday at the VISA Championships. She took avantage of a fall by runnerup Gabby Douglas on beam to claim the title by just 0.15. Aly Raisman was third. A trio of first year seniors occupied the next three places: Kyla Ross, Elizabeth Price and Sarah Finnegan.
UF commit Kennedy Baker placed 8th AA to grab the last guranteed spot at the Olympic Trials (tied in score with Sabrina Vega). UF signee Bridget Sloan finished 10th AA, and was invited to the trial with six others: Brenna Dowell, Alicia Sacramone (ex Brown), Anna Li (ex UCLA), Rebecca Bross, Nastia Liukin and McKayla Maroney, who withdrew due to injury.
Individually, Sacramone won vault, Douglas won bars, and Raisman won beam and floor.
AU signee Abigail Milliet was 11th, Florida commit Grace McLaughlin 13th, Bama commit Amanda Jetter 14th, UGA signee Brandie Jay 16th, and OU commit McKenzie Wofford 17th.
Of the 15 men advancing to the Olympic Trials, 13 have NCAA ties. The members of the men's Senior National Team are:
Chris Brooks (ex OU)
Alex Buscaglia (ex Stanford)
Jake Dalton (OU)
Josh Dixon (ex Stanford)
Jonathan Horton (ex OU)
Glen Ishino (Cal)
Steven Legendre (ex OU)
Danell Leyva
CJ Maestas (Illinois)
Sam Mikulak (Michigan)
Alex Naddour (ex OU)
John Orozco
Paul Ruggeri (ex Illinois)
David Sender (ex Stanford)
Brandon Wynn (ex Ohio State)
John Orozco used a big 15.5 on Floor in his final event to edge past Danell Leyva and claim the US Men's AA title. Michigan's Sam Mikulak was third. Former OU star Jonathan Horton was 4th, while another former Sooner, Chris Brooks, tied current Sooner Jake Dalton for fifth. Former Illini Paul Ruggeri was 7th, with Cal's Glen Ishino in 8th. Former Stanford star Alex Buscaglia was 9th, with former OU star Steven Legendre having a rough day for 10th.
On the events, Dalton won Floor and tied Stanford's Sean Senters for first on vault. Former teammate Alex Naddour won PH while Horton was the top guy on Rings. Leyva held the top marks on PB and HB.
Link: USAG Results, Videos
Jordyn Wieber and Gabby Douglas are tied for the AA lead after the first day of the VISA Championships. The senior women are chasing one of eight spots in the Olympic Trials, or are trying to impress the selection committee enough in order to gain an invitation. Aly Raisman is third. New seniors Kyla Ross, Elizabeth Price and Sarah Finnegan are not far behind the lead pack as well. Ross posted the top mark on bars while Finnegan had the top mark on beam. Raisman was the top floor worker while McKayla Maroney blasted the best single vault of the day.
UF commit Kennedy Baker was 8th, holding the last automatic spot to the Trials. Gator incoming frosh Bridget Sloan was 10th AA, including a 5th on bars. Future teammate Grace McLaughlin was 13th, while AU commit Abigail Milliet was 14th. Bama commit Amanda Jetter was 16th, while UGA signee Brandie Jay was 17th and OU commit McKenzie Wofford was 18th.
Former Brown star Alicia Sacramone 2nd(t) on beam while former UCLA star Anna Lee placed 4th on bars.
Past, current and future NCAAers will be in action this week at the VISA (US) Championships. The final steps in the road to London will travel through St Louis, as various contenders jockey for spots on the final Olympic squad.
On the first night, the Senior Men competed, with Danell Leyva leading the way, just ahead of John Orozco, 91.85 to 91.8. World PB champ Leyva was first on that event, and tied for first on HB (with Illini grad Paul Ruggeri). Michigan's Sam Mikulak was third with a 90.55, just ahead of former OU stars Chris Brooks (1st VT) and Jonathan Horton (1st R). OU's Jake Dalton was sixth, and Cal grad Glen Ishino was 7th (1st on PH). Former OU star Steve Legendre was 1st on FX.
Link: Men's Results and Release
In the junior men's division, Donnell Whittenburg leads the 16-18 group while Marvin Kimble leads the 14-15 group. Illinois signee Max Mayr was fifth.
Link: USA Gymnastics Release
Denver will welcome seven athletes for 2012-2013: Emily Barrett, Rachel Feeken, Madison Kilchrist, Maggie Laughlin, Katie Menhinick, Emily Novotny and Morgan Tolman. The commits of all but Feeken were covered in prior news items.
Feeken, a L10 at LaFleur's Tampa, placed 2nd on UB and 51st AA at the 2012 L10 Junior Olympic Nationals. She also finished 17th AA at the Region VIII Regionals in 2011. Link: Video Channel
Link: DU Release
New UGA Head Coach has named Jay Hogue and Philip Ogletree as Assistants.
Hogue has spent the last two years as an assistant at Denver, and coached at the club level at Orlando Metro and Broadway Gymnastics in Florida. Hogue was the 2012 co-assistant of the year in the North Central region.
Ogletree has been an assistant the last twelve years at LSU. Ogletree is an UGA grad who was on the men's squad from 1980 to 1982. He was the Central Region assistant of the year in 2004 and 2005.
Link: UGA Release