Jonathan Horton picked up where he left off Wednesday night, improving his all-around score by almost a full point, and held off Danell Leyva to successfully defend his U.S. Championship title. Horton posted a 91.30 to best Leyva's 90.00 in Friday night's competition in Hartford, CT. He hit on all six events this time and even improved his score on pommel horse (14.10). If not for his slightly watered-down high bar routine (14.90) and his lower score (compared to Wednesday's 15.30) on parallel bars (14.90), Horton would have scored [...more]
Jonathan Horton obviously brought his A-game to the first night of competition. He even hit his re-vamped pommel horse routine (13.95). Although he fell on his signature event (high bar... 14.20), he still posted a respectable 90.35, outlasting 2nd place finisher Danell Leyva by a full point. What a weird day, chock full of falls and mishaps. Brandon Wynn tore it up until his 12.35 on pommel horse. Still, this guy hit 15+ on three events to potentially force his hand on the selection committee. Wynn's 16.00 on rings, plus his impressive all-around performance, seems to make his [...more]
In Part 2 of our preview of the 2010 VISA U.S. Championships, guest blogger Matthew Rusk explores Glen Ishino, Steven Legendre, Danell Leyva, John Orozco, Paul Ruggeri, Alex Naddour, Kevin Tan, Brandon Wynn and Tim McNeill. Matthew leaves no stone unturned as he analyzes each gymnast's chances for making the 2010 World Team. As is customary for Matthew, he unveils his predictions for medal winners at VISAs and the makeup of the team that will represent the United States at the 2010 World Championships, which will be held October 16-24 in Rotterdam. [...more]
StickItMedia is once again pleased to have our brilliant young guest blogger Matthew Rusk analyze 12 of our top gymnasts vying for the highly coveted six spots on the 2010 U.S. World Championship team. Matthew outdoes himself in this, our 2nd annual installment. Only 17 and a resident of Houston, TX, Matthew is now a crafty media veteran, whose refreshingly candid, technical approach endears him to serious gymnastics fans. Part 1 of our series focuses on Jonathan Horton, Chris Brooks, Chris Cameron, Wes Haagensen, Kyle Bunthuwong and Joey Hagerty. In Part 2, Matthew will analyze the chances for [...more]
USA Gymnastics hosted a media tele-conference this morning featuring Jonathan Horton, Chris Brooks and Danell Leyva. The 45-minute conference offered the first soundbites from prominent gymnasts about Paul Hamm's comeback announcement. Horton and Brooks had nothing but glowing things to say about Hamm, and they expressed a lot of excitement about the [...more]
Paul Hamm has rocked the men's gymnastics community by announcing that he is back to training full time with aspirations of making the 2012 Olympic Team. While he definitely kept the door open to a potential return to the sport, his announcement will likely send shockwaves to our current crop of Olympic hopefuls. If his comeback is successful, Hamm will be America's only gymnast capable of scoring [...more]
High-scoring Jesse Silverstein picked up where he left off at May's JO Nationals by winning the final qualifier (88.10) for the 2010 VISA U.S. Championships. He also racked up the most points (96) as he posted the day's top score on rings (14.75) and had top-5 scores on parallel bars (15.05), vault (15.85) and high bar (14.25). Danell Leyva placed 2nd in the AA (87.70), while fellow Senior Team member Alex Buscaglia placed 4th (86.30) and compiled the second highest [...more]
USA Gymnastics recently posted the VISA USA Men's Qualifier participant list, and it is quite impressive. Predictably, the list for the Senior Division is especially outstanding. Heading that list are Sasha Artemev, Joey Hagerty, Danell Leyva, Alexy Bilozertchev, Thomas Kelley, Wes Haagensen, Ryan Lieberman, Josh Dixon, Alex Buscaglia, Aaron Fortunato, Phil Onorato, Kyson Bunthuwong, Bryan Del Castillo, CJ Maestas, Daniel Ribeiro and Jesse Silverstein. Current Level 10 (14-15) Junior National Team member Jacob Dastrup is also [...more]
Gymnastics fans are starting to come through. Cal's men's gymnastics program needs help now, like no other time. A Facebook fan site has been created by Cal gymnast Daniel Geri, and a donations site is up and running. While supposedly nothing definitive has been planned by the school, Cal officials make it no secret that several programs are on the chopping block, and that Title IX must be factored into the equation. This is a no-brainer, folks. If we want to keep men's gymnastics alive, [...more]
We've been hearing rumblings about the possible demise of the Cal Men's Gymnastics program. Even the women's program is also presumedly on the chopping block. In light of all the budget cuts and the state's overall fiscal degradation, both programs' subsidization is ruffling the tender feathers of the more militant, sports-averse members of the school's faculty. Apparently Cal's athletic department racked up a $1.7 million deficit this past year and received a loan from the school's general fund. We've heard that the guillotine is poised over [...more]
