The 2018 Men's JO Nationals Gymnastics Championships concluded as usual on Mother's Day, featuring the Level 8/9 finals. Joshua Karnes (137.85) fended off a fierce challenge from runner-up Caden Clinton (137.45) to win the Level 9 Junior Elite 13 year-old division. Clinton posted perfect 10s on PH and SR in the technical sequences portion of the two-day contest to give himself a fighting chance to win. He came close with the only perfect scores of the weekend. Both victor and runner-up claimed three event titles to make it a clean sweep of the top prizes. Karnes earned event wins on [...more]
New Level 10 Junior Elite AA champions were crowned at the 2018 Men's JO Nationals Gymnastics Championships. Brandon Briones (140.15) tallied the highest two-day total among all the Level 10s to add another national title to his resume. Briones, last year's 16-year-old division winner, outlasted Riley Loos (138.10), Crew Bold (135.60), Dylan Young (135.10) and Jack Freeman (133.25). He added event titles on SR, PB and HB to complete his [...more]
The second day of competition at the 2018 Men's JO Nationals Gymnastics Championships was all about the Level 8s and 9s. Last year's Level 8 (age 12) JE champ Joshua Karnes left no doubt he is about to become the JE champ in the Level 9 (age 13) division. Karnes (80.30) tallied 13-plus on five of six events, earning the leading scores on FX (T1st-13.95), PH (13.45), SR (T1st-13.45), VT (13.45) and HB (12.90) to compile a substantial lead going into Sunday's technical sequences finals. Karnes has the lead over [...more]
Brandon Briones (age 17), Evan Davis (age 18), John Chou (age 16) and Taylor Burkhart (age 15) were the top finishers in the Junior Elite (JE) division at the 2018 JO Nationals in Oklahoma City. Briones (84.25) and 2nd-place finisher Riley Loos (83.00) were separated by only .85 after five rotations, but Briones put the optionals contest out of reach, ending on PH (13.70). He was a picture of consistency, posting scores of 14-plus on five of six events, earning top scores on PH, PB (14.25) and HB (14.15). Loos, also from Region 1, had a big day on [...more]
