2014 is the year of the repeat for Sam Mikulak. In April, he led his Michigan Wolverines to their second-straight NCAA team title, and repeated his AA title. It wasn't easy, but he gutted out a Day 2 performance to outlast John Orozco and Jake Dalton for another repeat title at the U.S. Championships. Mikulak needed to crawl out of the hole he dug for himself on Day 1. He didn't exactly crawl out, though. It was more like being shot out of a cannon. His six-for-six 92.25 AA performance was [...more]
John Orozco posted the day's highest scores on PB (15.60) and HB (15.75) and also had top 5 scores on FX, PH and SR to end the day atop the leader board (90.75) at the 2014 U.S. Men's Gymnastics Championships. Orozco hit six for six, easily demonstrating his continued standing as one of America's top all-arounders. Jake Dalton also had five top 5 event scores, including the day's best FX routine (15.65). It was Dalton's first AA competition since last year's [...more]
Alec Yoder added to his budding resume in fine style this week at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China. Yoder captured a well-earned bronze medal in the all-around (82.80), with a consistent performance over the two-day competition. On top of that, he compiled the highest scores on PH (14.10) and HB (13.85) on day 2. Yoder earlier qualified for event finals on [...more]
LONG BEACH, CA -- It wasn't quite as dramatic as last year, but Marvin Kimble repeated as JE national AA champion (91.90), earning his third consecutive JO Nationals Level 10 title. Last season, of course, Michigan-bound Kimble tallied a mind-boggling 94.05 to begin a surge to his eventual selection to the Senior National Team this past February at Winter Cup. He also had a strong 2nd place finish in Saturday's compulsory session to cement his elite legendary status in [...more]
The surprising Air Force Falcons scorched their home gym for 439.70 points in their Sunday afternoon victory over UIC (407.65), nearly becoming the sixth team to join the 440 Club. Former long-time Junior National Team member Timmy Wang set another career high/Academy record in the AA (88.40). Wang, a prime recruit, has really sparked his team this season. Perhaps another thing has also lit [...more]
LAS VEGAS, NV -- A very strong 2nd-day performance, including improved scores on four events, propelled Chris Brooks to his first Winter Cup all-around title since 2010. Brooks scored 1.7 points higher on PB (15.55), and a full point better on SR (15.05) to compile a 2nd-day AA score of 89.05. In fact, eight of the top ten finishers improved on their prelimary round scores. Donnell Whittenburg scored 15-plus on three events (FX-15.60, SR-15.05, VT-15.15) to leapfrog into [...more]
A Junior is sitting on top of the leaderboard at the halfway mark of the 2014 Winter Cup Challenge. Not sure if a high school gymnast has ever won Winter Cup before, but Marvin Kimble certainly has a great chance. Kimble, despite taking a tumble on high bar, was the top-scoring all arounder (86.20) after the qualifying round. He had top-10 finishes on FX (7th-15.05), PH (9th-13.40) and PB (4th-14.85). Two tenths of a point separated [...more]
The 2014 Winter Cup Challenge will feature the top elite gymnasts in the country, along with several top Juniors who are invited to attend and compete alongside the Senior men. The Juniors were able to qualify as a result of participating in the Junior Division of the U.S. Championships last August. Normally, the Juniors are just happy to [...more]
Some big names topped the list of early signees in college MAG. It appears that Michigan will easily have the top-ranked recruiting class, as they signed Swiss Turners' super combo Marvin Kimble and Dmitri Belanovski and Azarian's Marty Strech. Swiss Turners had four gymnasts sign LOIs, which undoubtedly is the most of any club. Oklahoma signed only one gymnast, but it was a big one. As expected, the Sooners landed [...more]
Not sure if this is unprecedented or not, but USAG added three gymnasts to the Level 10 (15-16) Junior National Team. Johnny Jacobson, Kiwan Watts and Alec Yoder were added to the list of seven gymnasts who earned their spots via last month's U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Hartford, CT. Apparently, the age group changes in both international [...more]
