Classics Guide

The beginning to the US elite season, the Secret US Classic, is almost upon us! Some of these gymnasts we have yet to see in 2014, and there are lots of big names. Classics is traditionally an unsteady meet for lots of gymnasts who use it as a testing ground for upgrades for the season. This year, there are just SO MANY juniors that nine- including Bailie Key, Nia Dennis, Norah Flately, Emily Gaskins, and Ragan Smith- will compete in the senior session! Sadly, Laurie's out with a new knee injury. So, here's who to watch, where to watch them, and the burning questions we will seek to answer on the second!

Juniors
Bailie Key: Obviously the junior with the biggest hype, and for great reason! Famously won every competition she entered last year and is set to achieve the same this year. One of the best beam workers in the world. The super exciting thing about Bailie is that everything she does looks incredibly easy. Tons of upgrade potential! Not to be missed ANYWHERE! Her routines are those to be re-watched on the USAG YouTube channel over and over again.
Questions to be answered: By how much will she win the junior title? Will we see the double layout and/or Dos Santos I we saw in her training videos?

Nia Dennis: Like Bailie, Nia is in her last year as a junior. Has beautiful work everywhere. Her DTY is among the best of the junior ranks. The air she gets on her releases rivals that Gabby got. She has the best standing Arabian on beam- ever! She also has gorgeous tumbling on floor and engaging choreography. The one thing that mars her performances is inconsistency. Not to be missed on vault and bars!
Questions to be answered: Can she keep it all together mentally? If she does, how close can she make this competition? Will she upgrade that double pike bars dismount?

Alexis Vasquez: Alexis is a junior from Chow's. She turns senior next year. She stands out from her teammates for having a nice block and her FTY is much better than teammate Norah's. Her beam is beautiful, and has a beautiful scale! She has nice bars work, but her routine is fairly simple and she had a meltdown on the event at last years Nationals, scoring only an 8.6. We will hope to see her with renewed confidence and fulfill her potential this year. Not to be missed on beam!
Questions to be answered: Will she still be competing an FTY with her imminent senior career? How well can she place on beam?

Norah Flately: Norah is another Chow's student. She has placed third in the all-around at the City of Jesolo Trophy and Pac Rims this year. She is known for her incredibly difficult and solid beam, the event on which I believe she is the best in the world. She also does lots of el-grip work on the uneven bars, showing a ton of potential for the future. She also has a gorgeous straight double layout. Her weak spot is vault, where her block keeps her work on that event from matching her other events. Not to be missed on beam especially, it will be one of the routines of the night! Her floor is one to watch as well.
Questions to be answered: Will any seniors be able to touch her beam score?

Emily Gaskins: Emily is the bright new star of CGA. She began in ballet, but switched after she saw gymnastics. Her background gives her gorgeous carriage and choreography. Her video from camp displayed a DTY, upgrading her vault from last year. Her floor made waves last year for it's wonderful balletic style and technique. Bars can be a weak spot for her, with problems with handstands. Not to be missed on beam and floor!
Questions to be answered: Will she have a new floor routine? If she does, will her style remain intact in its pure form? With a DTY, could she topple Norah in the all-around?

Ragan Smith: Ragan recently transferred from Northwind gymnastics to mega gym Texas Dreams. Based on the camp footage we see (I'm not a Gymnastike Gold member, so I don't know what she looked like in Jesolo) the change was great for her! Her bars have made huge improvements and she showed nice stalder work. Last year she had a super-duper cute floor routine to "Puttin' on the Ritz." She shows great potential to have a strong senior career. Not to be missed on beam and floor!
Questions to be answered: How will her standings improve after the gym change?

Christina Desiderio: Christina, a 2000-born, is a great new face for Parkettes. Unlike recent Parkettes prodigy Ebee Price, she has a weakness on vault. Her bars also leave a lot to be desired, but she has a gorgeous Tkatchev. Beam and floor is where her potential can be most clearly seen. Christina has the goods for a successful senior career, it all just has to come together. Not to be missed on beam!
Questions to be answered: How well can she do on beam?

Sydney Johnson-Scharpf: Sydney is famously daughter to former US gymnastics great Brandy Johnson. She is known for being a firecracker performer and really drawing in the crowd. The performance events are where she really shines. She was known for saying vault hurt her feet because she was so small! Not to be missed on beam and floor!
Questions to be answered: Have her bars improved at all?

Jordan Chiles: Jordan is a 2001 born, and as such, is not eligible for the Rio Olympics. She does, however, have difficult and stylish gymnastics. She has the potential to be a strong all-arounder, but lots of concern has been expressed regarding burnout. She showed huge upgrades at camp, including a 3 1/2 twist. She made the vault final at Jesolo this year. Not to be missed on vault and beam!
Questions to be answered: Will she actually show the crazy upgrades from her camp video? If she does, will she survive them without major injury?

Delanie Harkness: Delanie also is not age-eligible for Rio. Delanie comes from Twistars, the gym which gave us Jordyn Wieber. She took home the junior all-around, bars, and floor titles from JO Nationals this year. Her bars routine currently contains a standing transition, which will need to be changed for elite. She could definitely be part of a bright future for USAG! Not to be missed on floor!
Questions to be answered: How will her bars be now she has to change them for the elite Code? How will she be able to place on bars?

Shilese Jones: Another youngling, Shilese made a name for herself at JO Nationals after she performed the 1 1/2 twisting double tuck. This skill is super exciting and has yet to be included in to elite Code. Not to be missed on floor!
Questions to be answered: How will her new skill on floor help her on that event?



Seniors
Simone Biles: Simone is the reigning World all-around and floor champion, and so comes into this competition the odds-on favorite. She has, however, been struggling with her shoulder this year, and word is her bars will be less difficult than those from last year. Her vaults are unbelievable and she is stellar on floor. If she hits, no one can touch her. Not to be missed ANYWHERE!
Questions to be answered: Will her shoulder affect her performances? How strong is she heading into Worlds this year?

Kyla Ross: Kyla is known for her clean, precise gymnastics which lacks the difficulty of her competitors. She was a triple silver medalist at Worlds last year and is the nation's best bars and beam gymnast. Kyla had a back injury earlier this year which forced her to downgrade and caused her to be a bit sluggish earlier this year. In the private training video posted in May, a toe-on was seen directly connected out of her Pak. Not to be missed on bars and beam!
Questions to be answered: Will her difficulty be back to last year's level? Will she be able to hold onto a second-place spot? Will that toe-on amount to anything?

Brenna Dowell: Brenna earned attention last year when she debuted a new Tweddle in her bars routine, which she has now connected to an Ezhova! A new floor could be seen for her in the camp videos, and a change from "Sabre Dance" will be one welcome to many. She has an Amanar on vault and an awesome pike double front on floor. Beam is her vice, and she scored in the low 13s at American Cup this year. Not to be missed on vault, bars, and floor!
Questions to be answered: Will she be able to be strong enough on vault and bars to make a strong statement for herself in the running to Worlds? Can she get her beam together?

Peyton Ernst: Peyton is a strong all-arounder with talent on bars and beam. She has beautiful back flexibility which she displays in her floor. Peyton really doesn't have a weak event. She has a layout which may not be credited on beam. She has very elegant gymnastics and performs everything with ease. Peyton was last year's Classics beam champion. Not to be missed on bars and especially beam!
Questions to be answered: Can she make a strong enough showing on bars and beam to make a statement for Worlds selection?

Mykayla Skinner: Mykayla is known for her highly daring gymnastics though she often sacrifices execution. However, she has made great strides in this regard. She performs the very difficult Amanar and Cheng vaults and a laid out double-double. Bars and beam can cause big difficulties for her, however. If she can put it all together, she can definitely be in the top three in the all-around. Not to be missed on vault and floor!
Questions to be answered: How good will her block on vault be? Will she stay on bars and beam?

Madison Kocian: Madison makes her name among the American seniors for her strong bars set. She won the event earlier this year at Jesolo. She also has nice beam work, but can be dogged by inconsistency. Word from camp is that she has beaten Kyla earlier this year, but Brenna also beat Simone and Kyla last year, so who knows what that means. Not to be missed on bars!
Questions to be answered: If Kyla comes with her inbar stalders back, will Madison be able to take the the title ahead of her?

Alyssa Baumann: Alyssa is considered a contender for the Worlds team this year due to her strong beam, where the US has weakness this year. She won the silver on the event Jesolo this year. Alyssa also has a strong floor which could potentially take the first spot on the event in the team final. Alyssa came from nowhere last year to be in strong running this year. Not to be missed on beam!
Questions to be answered: Can she win the beam title? Can she have a strong enough showing on floor to make a case for the first TF floor spot?

Lexie Priessman: Lexie caused a stir earlier this month by leaving longtime gym CGA to train at Perfection Gymnastics. We last saw Lexie at Classics last year, and she was taken out of Nationals running due to injury. Lexie is known for powerful gymnastics on vault and floor, but also having slightly messy form. She had an Amanar as a junior, which she competed in Jesolo last year but not Classics. Her floor last year exhibited both a full twisting double layout and a double-double. Not to be missed on vault and floor!
Questions to be answered: What will Lexie display on vault? How has the gym change influenced her gymnastics? Can she make a strong statement for Worlds selection?

Amelia Hunley: Lexie's longtime teammate at CGA, Amelia is finally a senior this year after having been on the junior level for seemingly ever! Amelia also displays powerful gymnastics on vault and floor, but without the big-name skills of Lexie. She also has a very strong bars set, the event on which she won the National title last year. Beam is her weakest event, but she can score in the 14s when she hits. Not to be missed on bars and floor!
Questions to be answered: Despite her strong potential and talent, will Meals be left behind in the pool of talent? How will her bars fare against the likes of Kocian?

Maddie Desch: Maddie came in second in the all-around at the 2012 Nationals as a junior, but had a lackluster first senior year in 2013. In January, her camp video displayed many upgrades, such as a whip+double Arabian+stag pass and a Downie! At Jesolo, she came in last of the Americans who competed all four events, making several costly errors. She displayed her Arabian combo, but not the Downie. If she cleaned up, she could be scoring significantly higher. Not to be missed on floor, and her bars may be interesting!
Questions to be answered: Can she put together a solid performance and up her all-around standings? Can she put herself in Worlds contention?

Felicia Hano: Felicia made a gym switch earlier this year to Gym-Max. This makes her performance at Classics rather interesting. Last year at Nationals, Felicia had a terrible go of it on bars day 2 and had to pull out of the rest of her performances. She also has a new floor this year choreographed by Dominic Zito. Felicia displayed a strong DTY last year. Not to be missed on vault!
Questions to be answered: How has her gym change influenced her gymnastics?

Maggie Nichols: Maggie Nichols was a first year senior last year. Maggie was on the Jesolo team and came in third in the all-around. Maggie also competed in this year's Tokyo Cup. In her May camp video, Maggie displayed some very exciting upgrades, including a Seitz on bars and a Grigoras on beam. Her floor also displays a double layout. Not to be missed on floor, but an eye should be kept open for her upgrades!
Questions to be answered: Will she throw her upgrades from her camp video? Will they help her move up the standings and possibly help her Worlds chances?

Nica Hults: Nica has been a gymternet favorite for years, and is finally a senior this year! Nica is hunting for a bars and beam spot on the Worlds team this year. She can show inconsistency, somewhat surprisingly usually on bars rather than beam. On vault, she's not capable of high difficulty.Not to be missed on bars and beam!
Questions to be answered: Can she put up a strong performance on bars?

Rachel Gowey: I intentionally kept this Chow's pupil for last. Rachel made her international debut earlier this year at Jesolo and will be making her national debut at Classics! Rachel is the wildcard of the team without a doubt. At Jesolo, Gowey had some problems in her performances but was able to place fifth in the all-around. What makes her a real possible dark horse is what we saw in her camp video. Rachel had huge upgrades, including an Amanar and 3 1/2 twist on floor (however, these particular upgrades I would rather not see on a competition surface). If Rachel hits in the US season, all Worlds predictions go straight out the window. Rachel has the potential to really shake things up this year! An eye should be kept out for her everywhere!
Questions to be answered: Will she throw her camp upgrades? Will her knees survive if she does? What the heck will she do to Worlds contention?