Coming off the heels of the Pacific Rim Championships, the USA is showing the world how much depth they have in men's gymnastics. The U.S. men won 3 medals at the Moscow Stars World Cup event last weekend. Oklahoma freshman and 2010 NCAA All-American Alex Naddour took the silver medal on pommel horse (15.075). Illinois All-American junior Paul Ruggeri earned the bronze on [...more]
Next year, the 2011 Men's JO Nationals are going to be held in Long Beach, CA. This is a great thing, since JOs haven't been held west of Oklahoma City since 2004. California is a hotbed for men's gymnastics, and the fact that Region 1 won five individual event titles, an AA title, a regional team title and a club team title last weekend in Knoxville proves that out. The 2011 JO Nationals represent a great opportunity to generate some more much-needed interest [...more]
Today's Event Finals concluded the 2010 Men's JO Nationals. The big winners were Sam Mikulak and Colin Van Wicklen, who each won two individual event titles. Mikulak posted the day's highest score on floor (15.65) and vault (16.70). Van Wicklen as well won titles on floor (14.50) and vault (16.00). Level 10 (14-15) All-Around champion Jake Martin took [...more]
Sam Mikulak and Jesse Silverstein put on another show for the ages in today's Level 10 (16-18) All-Around finals. After Thursday night's showcase, we figured that would be hard to top. Well, they did it again. With four events in the books, a mere five tenths of a point separated the two. Both gymnasts set things up nicely by nailing their fifth events. Silverstein's outstanding 15.50 on rings was countered by Mikulak's explosive 16.75 on vault. Leading by 1.45 going into the final rotation, Mikulak undoubtedly knew he needed to do something special on parallel bars to have a shot at winning. After all, Silverstein was [...more]
Yul Moldauer, who trains at 5280 in Wheat Ridge, CO, posted the highest Level 9 qualifying score (84.05) at the 2010 Men's JO Nationals. Moldauer, who tallied the second highest AA score during the regular season, had a very consistent meet as he finished in the top 10 on all six events. He put up the second highest scores on high bar (13.65) and pommel horse (14.15). The heavy favorite going into this meet, [...more]
What amounted to a walk-off homer, Sam Mikulak needed to hit at least a 16.35 on his last event to tie Jesse Silverstein in the qualifying round at the 2010 Men's JO Nationals. Instead, he nailed it with a 16.40 on vault to win outright. Michigan-bound Mikulak must have been drooling when his team drew the opening assignment on [...more]
The 2010 Men's JO Nationals will commence on Thursday morning (May 6) in Knoxville, TN. The grueling four-day competition features two days of qualifying, as the level 10s will go at it on Thursday and the level 9s will compete on Friday. There are three sessions on each day and the gymnasts who had the top qualifying scores at regionals will be [...more]
