Last night was Classics, the official start to the US Elite season. Finally! As with tradition, many gymnasts randomly scratched, such as Madison Kocian who decided to only compete bars and beam, we had two last-minute dropouts in the form of Peyton Ernst, who somehow was able to injure herself between arrival and the first training, and Lexie Priessman, who tore a ligament on her beam dismount in the evening practice, we had splats, and some big surprises to take titles. Overall, it was a fun day of gymnastics viewing!
Juniors
Despite the absence of Bailie Key, the junior fight was a major battle and explosive gymnastics was still on display. Plus, it led to a much more interesting battle for the title.
Classics displayed the huge well of talent the US has in its gymnasts who won't be old enough for this Olympic cycle. The US really has perfected a system to run out super-talented little ones who just need to make the improvements that come with time experience.
Jordan Chiles surprised by taking the title last night, despite not being age-eligible for Rio's 2016 Olympics. Jordan made waves this summer when this training video was released from the ranch showing huge upgrades in the works. Many worried for little Jordan's safety. However, Jordan only displayed her double Arabian and BHS+LOSO+LOSO series at Classics, so hopefully these are more long-term upgrades. She shows incredible talent and potential and is definitely one to watch. Jordan had a clean meet last night, with one of the top DTYs of the juniors. She is definitely a powerful gymnast, but has nice elegance and some nice basic dance displayed in her beam and floor which could definitely be built upon. Jordan shows potential on all four events, and we just hope her pacing is well handled.
Deanne Soza, who tied for third in the all around, is another exciting gem in the US junior landscape. She also boasts a DTY on vault, which is nicely performed. Deanne was the junior silver medalist last night on the uneven bars, which is a key event for the US. Her routine includes an Ezhova, which makes me very happy! Her Pirates of the Caribbean floor music makes her a gymternet favorite, and she performs nicely on the event. Her lowest scoring event last night was beam, but Deanne shows great potential there as well. She already has a front aerial+front aerial+side aerial connection, and she just shuffled on her front tuck and BHS+LOSO. Her BHS+BHS+double tuck dismount connection was stuck, but landed in a squat. She shows the grit needed for beam, she just needs more experience.
Twistars's new phenom, Delanie Harkness, made a great showing for herself last night. Her vault needs some work- she blocks at the very back of the table and has to pike down the landing. She shows great potential on all the other events, though, and Geddert has lots of time to work on vault. She was first in her age group on bars at JO Nationals this year, and she definitely showed promise yesterday. On beam, she fell on her aerial cartwheel, but otherwise looked very strong. Her floor was also clean, and I just love her ending choreography! Mostly, Delanie just needs to upgrade and gain experience.
Morgan Hurd, the adorable bespectacled little gem from First State, also was great on the podium last night. She showed wonderful composure. Her FTY was a bit wonky on the block, but she pulled it around. Her main problem on bars is missing handstands. Morgan also doesn't have a high bar to low bar transition, so she loses CR there. On beam, Morgan received a high 8.9 execution score. She had some wobbles throughout the routine but remained calm. Her floor was also beautiful and to the Game of Thrones music Grace Waguespack used last year! Her biggest problem was an uncontrolled first pass. Like Delanie, Morgan just needs to use her time wisely.
Maile O'Keefe also showed strong routines yesterday, despite not becoming senior until 2018. Her beam was one of the greatest of the night, and she placed sixth on the event with a 14.350. Maile also placed second on floor with her routine to Canadian favorite music "Torn." Maile placed sixth in the all around.
Plenty of other juniors from the first session put up memorable routines. Alexis Vasquez of Chow's turns senior next year and only competed on two events. Her FTY was very nice, but lacked distance from the table. Her bars, which I personally prefer to teammate Norah's, were solid and nicely executed. We will look forward to watching Alexis at Nationals later this month. Sydney Johnson-Scharpf was one of the fan favorites of this Classics. She didn't seem to have the same spark to me this year, especially on floor. Her beam had all her lovely skills, but a few wobbles throughout. Sydney's appearance at Nationals will be much anticipated. Christina Desiderio didn't have the meet of her life last night, but still placed eighth all around last night and there was plenty commendable. She competed a DTY on vault, which was landed with a significant knee bend which resulted in a step out of bounds, but it definitely looks workable. Bars has some work to be done, but she has a huge Tkatchev and good swing. Christina came to grief on beam last night here she had an uncharacteristic fall. She also debuted a new floor last night, and it was performed very well! I believe Christina has it in her and will make her splash in two years!
Some of the best juniors for 2016 competed in the senior session last night and had great performances. Emily Gaskins is another gymternet favorite due to her beautiful balletic style. Unfortunately, Emily fell in her floor routine, which she also showed inconsistency on in Jesolo earlier this year. Emily did not debut her DTY shown in her camp video, but received the highest score for an FTY of the juniors. Beam was her best routine of the night. She has a very nice Y-spin in the works, but wobbled on it last night. Other than that, it was a nice routine. She definitely has great potential on beam. Emily also did well on bars. She began with a shaky start, missing handstand on a Stalder full and struggling through a dead hang on a hecht transition, but she cleaned up afterward to have a nice rest of her routine.
Jazmyn Foberg was the surprise of the juniors last night. She placed fifth in the all around last night. Bars was easily her weakest event, where Jazmyn was too far on her Pak. She almost pulled it off as a cool Pak-clear hip connection, but she missed handstand and lost swing. She also needs to work on her handstands. Jazmyn also competed a DTY, but she underrotated the salto and had to stumble out of it. Her beam was her best routine of the day, and she scored a 14.250.
Ragan Smith is my personal favorite of the juniors from the senior session. She best embodied the splat-fest testing ground nature of Classics. Ragan tried a DTY on vault, but she was brought to her knees. Ragan also fell on a BHS+BHS+layout connection on beam. She also successfully added a double wolf turn and dismounted with a BHS+BHS+double pike connection, which was landed low. Ragan has shown great improvements on bars since last year. Her swing is much better. She still has some work to do, but I think she could turn into a good bar worker. Ragan was the junior floor champion last night with her adorable routine to "Puttin' on the Ritz!" It's very well choreographed and she completed all her skills successfully. She will definitely be one to watch at Nationals!
Gymternet favorite Norah Flately came in tied third last night. One thing that impressed me from Norah's gymnastics last night was her vaulting! She only compete an FTY, but it was much improved from her vault at Pac Rims! Her bars were solid, but she missed several handstands. I think she's ready for inbars, though! That is definitely a place where she could upgrade. Her floor also was a good effort and nicely performed, but she received a .3 OOB penalty. Norah won the beam title with a 15.100, but the really exciting thing is it wasn't a very good routine for her. Norah can do so much better, having broken many connections. That 15.100 could absolutely be shattered by Norah!
Nia Dennis, who was considered by many to be the favorite for the title, came away with the silver. She had a fall on floor, where she also had a fall at Pac Rims. She never had problems on floor before, so this is a bit worrying. Nia was in the top two on the other events, however. Her DTY resulted in a large hop back, but was very secure. She also came in second on beam, despite stumbling on her opening double wolf turn. her standing Arabian was, as always, flawless, and she also had a beautiful BHS+layout series. She showed great flexibility and maintained good fluidity and connections. Nia won the title on bars with her high-flying releases and great connections. She also upgraded her dismount to a double layout, which is great since she turns senior next year! Nia is definitely a shining star in USAG.
Seniors
Brenna Dowell had a really rough go of it last night. She only competed bars, and made major errors there. She has changed the composition of her routine, and I prefer this to her previous composition. She bent her knees on both her Ezhova and Pak. She chose not to finish her routine. It will be a red flag next to her name she really doesn't need. Her performance at Nationals will be critical for her.
Nica Hults only competed bars. She put up a solid routine, but placed sixth on the event. Her execution wasn't perfect, but since she has had some inconsistency on this event, it's probably best for her to have lots of experience. Beam will be the important performance for her.
Alyssa Baumann did not compete her full potential beam routine and scored only a 14.300. She missed quite a few of her connections and did not attempt her aerial front+aerial front+aerial cartwheel series. Beam was considered her ticket to Worlds, and so she will need to provide a more solid routine at Nationals. She did upgrade her vault to a DTY, so that is great for her.
Maddie Kocian only competed bars and beam last night because of her ankle injury. She scored a very high 15.400 on bars and placed second on the event. She had some leg separations, especially on her transitions, but was otherwise very clean. She also had a great stuck landing. This was definitely a great statement to make for Maddie. Beam did not go quite so well. As like last year, Maddie fell on her standing Arabian. She also had a large wobble on her front aerial, but settled down after there. She has beautiful work on beam but a lot of times she lets her mind get to her. She should really only compete bars and beam at Nationals if her ankle is this big a problem.
Amelia Hundley had a mixed senior debut. She of course had surgery, and so she did not have all of the work of before. Amelia was strongly downgraded on vault and floor. Her vault was only an FTY. None of her D scores reached a 6.0. Her best event was floor, where she scored a 14.250 to place fourth. She had a beautiful opening double layout. Amelia has also changed her floor music from last year. Sadly, Amelia's injury came at an inopportune time for her senior debut.
Mykayla Skinner had some issues yesterday on her pet events. On floor, Mykayla fell on her dismount, a full-in. After her Moors and double double, Mykayla did a 1 1/2 to double full. This seems a bit out of character, both the fall and the downgrade. We'll just have to wait and see with her. Mykayla also had a new floor routine. On vault, Mykayla one-armed her Cheng again. MYKAYLA, YOU HAD A CREDITABLE BLOCK EARLIER THIS YEAR! GET BACK TO THAT POINT!! She also no longer has her Amanar from Jesolo. Something seems fishy.... In stranger news, Mykayla was solid on bars and beam. Her bars were rife with deductions, but she did have nice swing. Her beam was solid, with only a few small wobbles. If she can get her strong events solid, Mykayla might be able to place in the all around at Nationals.
Maggie Nichols had a surprise third place finish at Classics. Her consistency was her key. Maggie's high score of the day was surprisingly a 14.700 on bars, despite an unusual stall on her Pak where she held a handstand-ish shape. However, she placed best on floor, where she came in third with a score of 14.300. One upgrade did sneak its way into her set, the Grigoras on beam.
The biggest surprise of the night was Ashton Locklear of Everest. Ashton only competed bars and beam, but made a huge splash on those events. She was the champion on bars last night with a monster score of 15.700. Her d-score is a 6.8, and last night she received a stick bonus for her impeccable landing. She also placed fourth on beam. This could put her name in the mix for Worlds, and I'm sure it got Martha talking!
Kyla Ross had a strong showing yesterday to come in second, but she still has room to improve. The big news regarding Kyla coming into Classics was an upgraded whip+double Arabian pass on floor, which Kyla competed without the following stag jump. However, she also competed it at the beginning on her competition, so one has to wonder whether her endurance will hold when floor is her last event, as it will most definitely be if she qualifies to the all around final at Worlds this year. Kyla had a very clean and stuck vault, but not as well executed as last year. Kyla also had a beautifully executed bars routine, but without her inbars. She has said that is a goal for Nationals. She also tied with Simone for the top score on beam. Kyla placed in the top three on every event, and definitely looked ready for the season.
Simone Biles cemented herself as the favorite for Worlds this year. She opened her competition with her official announcement that she is in fact not human with her floor routine. Her passes were a double double, Biles, double layout, and full in. Normally I would whine that now she had to add an aerial to her routine, but I legitimately don't care when those are the tumbling passes. She is seriously not human. Simone was able to score a 15.800 for her routine. Seriously, even with domestic overscoring, that is the Frankenstein of monster scores. Simone also places first on vault and beam. Her Amanar doesn't get quite the height of last year it appears, but it is still like a rocket off the table. Her Lopez was underrotated last night, so that will be something to watch for at Nationals. Simone displayed her packed routine on beam, but had a bit of a stumble on her BHS+LOSO+LOSO. This definitely has Worlds potential if it can be done cleanly, though. Her wolf turn was the best I've ever seen it. Simone had some trouble on bars, and she told us coming in at had taken a hit with her shoulder. She had a stall on her Weiler and didn't swing to horizontal on her Maloney, but she does appear to have worked on the little things such as keeping her legs together and her toes pointed. Even with some weaker bars work, Simone smashed the competition and the 60 barrier, scoring a 61.700. Also, like with Norah's beam, Simone has more to give, which is super exciting.
The biggest mystery coming into Classics was Rachel Gowey's performance. Would she blow everyone away with her Chow-trained upgrades? Would she crash and burn? Ultimately, she did neither. Rachel had a good performance, not astounding in either way. On her first event, Rachel stumbled back on her BHS+LOSO+LOSO, but calmed down for the rest of her routine to place third. Her triple twist dismount wasn't quite fully rotated, but the interior of her routine was great. On floor, Rachel debuted her 3 1/2 twist. She got it safely around, but she was also uncontrolled on the landing. She did have a beautiful Gogean, though, and the rest of her passes were well controlled. It was a bit low on difficulty though, but if she can control the 3 1/2, she should still score well. Gowey's bars were nice, but she did not score well. Her biggest problems were missed handstands and flexed feet. She will still go into Nationals as the wild card.
Looking ahead to Worlds...
Ultimately, Classics doesn't mean that much in the grand scheme of things. However, that doesn't mean they are inconsequential. Brenna now has a red flag by her name she didn't need, Mykayla has to prove herself when many thought she didn't before, and Ashton Locklear basically just threw herself a giant coming out party.
Simone and Kyla are locks for the team barring their own bad health. Simone has monster routines that will bring in huge scores and will likely walk away with at least one individual gold. Heck, she has the potential to walk away with three individual golds and a team gold. Kyla will bring stability, especially a stable beam routine, which is the weak spot of this year's US team.
On vault, the US could potentially be finding itself looking for strong workers. Simone should bring in the top score on vault both individually and of the team final, so that's definitely a great place to start. Earlier, the US was looking to be overrun with safe high-difficulty vaults. Now, that doesn't seem so strong. Rachel fell on vault last night, but if she can perform it consistently, it can definitely be an asset for selection. Mykayla has to BLOCK OFF BOTH HANDS AGAIN (seriously, what is up with her? why have her block and difficulty both devolved from last year?) but can put herself back into the top of the running again. Brenna didn't vault at Classics, but she was another potential strong vault this year. I will be an important event for her at Nationals, assuming she does compete the all around.
Bars was pleasingly strong at Classics. Kyla is of course glorious on this event. She will bring in a great score and her experience will be huge for Martha. She likely will take the team captain spot this year. Ashton Locklear now definitely has to be in the discussion and the back of Martha's mind. Her huge d-score can definitely help the team a ton. Maddie Kocian is also in great shape for a bars specialist spot. If Maddie doesn't end up doing the all around, I think it will be unlikely for both to make the US team due to Martha wanting to put up the maximum number of gymnasts per event in qualifications. If it is only one or the other, beam could make the difference. Peyton also could swing well on bars, and if she does well on beam, could take a UB/BB specialist spot for Worlds. Assuming she is okay for the rest of the season? Brenna did not do herself any favors yesterday, but if she can do her bars routine without imploding and competes well and vault, Brenna should be in good standing. Rachel had nice bars, but if she can't hit her handstands, she will be slaughtered, unfortunately, because this could be an event where she could contribute well otherwise.
Beam will be interesting. Kyla will again provide consistency here among a crop of some new gymnasts. Simone has proved dependable on beam, so she could definitely help the team this year on beam. With her upgrades, if she gets everything under control she can bring in a monster score. Rachel Gowey performed a strong routine last night despite a slight stumble on her acro series. If she can keep improving and pull it all together, Rachel could definitely make a strong statement for herself on beam. Alyssa Baumann needs to bring her difficulty back up and be consistent to make Nanning if the others will continue performing the way they did last night. Ashton Locklear made a case for herself on this event as well last night. A few more consistent performances on these two events and she could find herself on the team. Peyton also is one who could be brought for good beam work if she can prove consistency.
Floor is super strong for this team. Remember Kyla made the floor final in Antwerp! Simone likely won't be able to hit 15.800 internationally, but a score above 15.000 would absolutely be likely. She, at this moment, looks poised to repeat as floor champion. If Skinner can compete her set without major errors, she will be able to bring in a high score as well. Kyla scored well at Classics and made finals last year, so she could definitely be a team player her as well. Brenna could also be a good team player on floor if she does come back to do all around at Nationals. Rachel also has the potential for a good score despite low difficulty if she can bring her landings under control.
Alright, I feel like this will be wildly inaccurate, but here's a Worlds team prediction:
Biles, Ross, Gowey, Kocian, Skinner, Dowell
VT: Gowey/Dowell/Skinner, Gowey/Dowell/Skinner, Biles
UB: Dowell, Ross, Kocian
BB: Biles, Gowey, Ross
FX: Dowell/Skinner/Gowey/Ross, Dowell/Skinner/Gowey/Ross, Biles
Ultimately, unless Kyla and Simone both are physically unable to compete, the US should be able to stroll away with the gold.
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