The Men's JO Nationals are back on the west coast, with Reno, NV having the honor of playing host. Meet coordinators Tim Klempnauer and Roger/Debbie Baldwin always put on a great show. A major change to the format has the Level 8/9 (JO Division) reduced to a single-day competition. Otherwise, things will remain the same. A total of 14 gymnasts from the Level 8/9 JE division will earn Junior National Team honors based on their rank-order finish from [...more]
A terrific new gymnastics Code of Points app has hit the market! MAGCOP and WAGCOP will make searching for skills easy and fun. Designed by former All-American/All Big Ten Ohio State gymnast Seth Delbridge, the new app is now available in both iOS and Android stores.
Here, Delbridge describes his motivation for [...more]
Stanford hit the jackpot in this year's recruiting sweepstakes, landing three current members on the Junior National Team. Brandon Briones, Riley Loos and JR Chou will add to last year's class that included Brody Malone, Curran Phillips and Ian Gunther. All told, the Cardinal have signed four National Team members the last two recruiting cycles. Briones is easily the nation's top decorated Junior, sweeping the 2018 AA titles at JO Nationals and U.S. Championships, thus earning a trip to represent Team USA at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires (Gold-VT, 4th-AA). This group guarantees the Cardinal will be [...more]
An article entitled "The Future of Men's Gymnastics Is Not Well-Balanced" recently appeared in the New York Times. The fluff piece fed into the failed narrative that is part of the reason for the sport's relative unpopularity. The worst part of it was the reference to a lack of a "Magic Mike effect." The last time I looked, none of the major men's sports (Olympics or otherwise) are marketed via such an "effect." It does not exist. The only time in sports history when Magic and Mike coexisted as a marketing force was in the late '80s and early '90s -- Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. The double standard exhibited in the article is typical, of course. The author seems dumbfounded as to why Men's Gymnastics has not "captured the imagination of American spectators with the "male ogling" big business aspect inspired by [...more]
As evident from Day 1 competition, a six-for-six performance on Day 2 would absolutely guarantee Sam Mikulak his fifth U.S. championship. Mikulak left no doubt, punctuated by a stuck dismount on his final event (HB), he went six-for-six. His 87.75 on the day gave him a two-day total (172.90) that put him almost 5 points ahead of runner-up Yul Moldauer (168.15). Mikulak placed in the top 5 on all six events, winning additional titles on [...more]
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]
Toward the end of a big day of Men's Gymnastics, a huge upset was brewing in Iowa City late Saturday night. The last meet of the day produced the NCAA Men's season's biggest surprise. When the final scores were tallied, 10th-ranked Iowa (404.05) had polished off visiting 2nd-ranked Penn State (396.55) and Arizona State (376.15). The Hawkeyes posted their highest team score, fueled by team victories on four events. They established new season highs on SR (69.25) and PB (68.25). Austin Hodges (PH-14.05), Dylan Ellsworth (VT-14.80, PB-T1st-14.20) and Andrew Herrador (HB-13.60) were event winners for the home team. Ellsworth also established [...more]
