The old guard in U.S. men's gymnastics is alive and well. Four out of the top five all-around finishers at the U.S. Qualifier were crafty veterans. 2012 Olympian Danell Leyva, two-time Olympian Jonathan Horton and fellow veterans Chris Brooks and Brandon Wynn put up some impressive numbers. Leyva had the top scores on three events (FX-15.40, PB-16.10, HB-15.45), while Brooks launched an incredible early scoring rampage [...more]
The final day of the 2015 JO Nationals Men's Gymnastics Championships featured the Levels 8 and 9 Junior Elite and JO competition. Nikita Bolotsky was gunning for his second straight Level 9 all-around title but fell a point short. Vitaly Guimaraes, last year's runner-up to Bolotsky, turned the tables using top 5 scores on five events to seal the win. Bolotsky, despite winning event titles on [...more]
Four Level 10 junior elite all-around champions were crowned at the 2015 JO Nationals. Yul Moldauer won his second career JO Nationals all-around title, and also captured individual titles on four events (FX,SR,VT,PB). Moldauer won his first JO title back in 2010 (Level 9). This year he did it in a rather slim field for his age group (18), but for added measure, both his optional and technical sequences scores were easily the weekend's best among all the age groups. The icing on the cake was provided when Moldauer [...more]
The second day the 2015 Men's JO Nationals featured three sessions of combined Level 8 and 9 competition. The JO Elites went at it in the evening session. Last year's Level 9 (13) champ Nikita Bolotsky (82.70) is sitting in 3rd place behind last year's runner-up Vitaly Guimaraes (84.15) and David Pochinka (82.85). Guimaraes had four top 5 event finishes, including the day's top score on VT (14.10), giving him a slim lead going into Saturday's [...more]
The first day of men's gymnastics competition at the 2015 JO Nationals set up Saturday's slate of Level 10 finals. The opening two rounds on Thursday consisted of qualifying JO competition, while the evening session featured the JO Elites, the nation's top club gymnasts. The JO qualifiers will compete another day of exciting optional routines on Saturday, while the JO Elites will finish up with a comparatively tame round of technical sequences. While the finals will be highly competitive [...more]
Elite athletes in high school basketball and football celebrate a special day every year when it comes time to announcing where they will continue their student-athletic careers. It's called Signing Day. It's the day when sports-writing gurus throughout the country compile their list of signees and determine which colleges end up with the strongest recruiting classes. It's not a perfect science, but it certainly [...more]
Illinois hosted another match play format in a dual men's gymnastics meet against Stanford. The head-to-head contest ended up with Stanford on top (21-9), but they also prevailed on regular scores (440.30-420.40). The live webcast was very enjoyable to watch, as viewers were able to watch both teams competing on the same event. The scores were revealed after each two head-to-head competitors squared off. Whichever gymnast had the highest score, the winning team was awarded one point. In other words, the Cardinal won 21 out of 30 routines [...more]
LAS VEGAS, NV -- A just reward for his decade-plus elite men's gymnastics career, crowd favorite Paul Ruggeri turned two great nights of gymnastics into his first Winter Cup all-around title. Ruggeri (175.25) won out over Steve Legendre (174.70) and Donnell Whittenburg (174.50) in a hard-fought battle between two veterans and a rising young star. Rounding out the top five was another young star, Marvin Kimble (173.80), and Cal grad Donothan Bailey (172.05). A year ago at this meet, Legendre suffered a torn pectoral muscle that kept him out of action until [...more]
Here is some great information for all the Senior Men competing this weekend at Winter Cup, starting with U.S. Nationals. The first page has a link to the start list and a bunch of other info. Each gymnast has his own tab. Thanks to Shelli Koszdin for compiling this exhaustive list. [...more]
A robust class of club gymnasts has announced early commitments to the collegiate ranks. Among the top 2015-16 recruits are 2014 JO Nationals AA champion Alec Yoder and 2014 U.S. AA/SR champion Tristan Burke. Yoder, the bronze AA medalist at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games, will join Burke at Ohio State. 2014 U.S. PH champ/AA runner-up Yul Moldauer was the [...more]
