Fred Richard of Michigan ended up at the top of the leaderboard after night one of two, at the USA Men's Olympic Trials.  This is key because the top AAer after the two days of competition will be automatically named to the Olympic Team, as long as he finishes in the top 3 of at least 3 events.  He had the top marks on FX and HB.  National Champ Brody Malone, formerly of Stanford, was 2nd, at 0.5 back, and within reach of the automatic slot.  Former Gopher standout Shane Wiskus was 3rd while Michigan's Paul Juda was 4th, further strengthening his bid.  Stanford's Asher Hong recovered from a poor showing at the US Championships to finish tied with former OU star Yul Moldauer, in the fifth highest scoring position.  Khoi Young of Stanford, who looked to be well set for one of the five spots available after finishing 3rd at the Championships, was just 12th AA today, with problems on, PH, a key event for the US.  He reportedly has been battling tendonitis in his knees, however, his high mark of the day came on VT.  Several specialists are in the mix, particularly on PH, due to the lower scores on that event from the top AAers.  

The Men's Olympic Team selection uses an established criteria, documented here:  LINK   Basically, the average or top 3 of 4 scores from the two days of the US Championships and Olympic Trials are used.  The highest combinations of team scores using the 5-4-3 and 5-3-3 formats are calculated.  If the Trials winner places in the top three of at least three individual event, they are placed automatically and the combinations are narrowed to just those containing the athlete.  Then a complicated series of rules based on those scores are used to narrow down the team.  However, the rules provide for additional qualitative and quantitative criteria to help separate out the potential teams, including past success on the international scene.    

Link:  USA Gym