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
By placing 11th AA at the European Championships, PSU's Felix Aronovich has surpassed the criteria set by his country's (Israel) Olympic Committee. He now qualifies to the 2012 Olympics, after having earned a spot at the Olympics at the Test Event in January.
Link: PSU Release
Graduating Oregon State star Olivia Vivian was the surprise winner of the uneven bars at the 2012 Australian Championships this past weekend. She posted a 14.5 with a 5.6 start value in the finals.
The 2012 Women's Junior Olympic Nationals were held in May 2012 in Virginia, showcasing some of the nation's top future gymnasts. The vast plurality of college gymnasts competed at the Level 10 ranks. In our experience, a Top 5 finish at the JO National meet usually translates into a high level of success at the NCAA level, barring injury or other unforeseen issues. However, a single fall can cause an athlete to fall well down the standings at the JO Nationals.
Here's a summary of the results and links to th available online video of the meet.
The Canadian Championships concluded with the event finals, made all the more important through the use of a point system to determine the Canadian Olympic squad. Stanford's Kristina Vaculik had an exceptional day, winning bars and beam, placing 2nd on floor and 4th on beam. UGA incoming frosh Brittany Rogers was 2nd on vault while former Oregon State star Laura Ann Chong was 3rd on bars.
Link: Results
At the finals of the National Open division of the Canadian Championships, Lory-Jing Robert won the AA title with ease, posting a 55.35, winning beam, while placing 2nd on floor, 4th on bars and 4th(t) on vault. MSU signee Nicola Deans was 2nd, including 1st on floor, 2nd on vault, and 2nd on beam.
Link: Results
Aly Raisman won the title at the US Classic on Saturday afternoon, posting a 60.35 to win the title. UGA signee Brandie Jay posted a 55.0 to claim 6th. Former UCLA star Anna Li posted a 53.5 for eigth, with a fall on uneven bars, her key event. Bama commit Amanda Jetter was 10th, with UF commit Grace McLaughlin in 11th. Former Arkansas star Casey Jo Magee posted a 40 in three events, and did not qualify to VISA's. OU commit McKenzie Wofford was just behind with a 39.8.
Link: Results
Stanford's Kristina Vaculik won her third Canadian AA title last night, solidifying her run for an Olympic team position. Close behind in a second place tie were rising star Victoria Moors and Dominique Pegg. Pegg struggled in preliminaries but came back strongly. LSU signee Jessica Savona was 4th, and UGA signee Brittany Rogers was 6th. Another UGA frosh-to-be, Anysia Unick, was 9th.
Link: Results
Lory-Jing Robert was the top AA finisher at the preliminaries of the National Open division at the Canadian Championships. MSU signee Nicola Deans was 6th AA.
Link: Results