My Junior Crushes: Ragan Smith and Christina Desiderio

The US, of course, has a fair army of talented young ones, but of course there are those you just notice the first time you watch and you can't keep your eye off of. For me, there are two of these gymnasts in the ranks of American juniors: Ragan Smith and Christina Desiderio.

Ragan Smith
For all the gymnasts who have been compared to Shawn Johnson since 2009, Ragan is the only one who actually evokes that comparison to me. Ragan is just totally adorable but also has the power in her skills and is especially strong on beam and floor. Her switch to Texas Dreams this year has proven beneficial in many ways, and I really think she has the potential to be a very successful and balanced all arounder.

I first came across Ragan after Classics last year when the gymternet's collective ears pricked up at the sound of the "Puttin' on the Ritz" cut formerly used by Ksenia Semenova and we dug up her floor from the endless posted videos.

Admittedly, it wasn't a love-at-first-sight reaction for me. I thought she was cute, but I didn't think she was too much of anything special. But something about her kept her name niggling at the back of my mind, and the more I watched, the more I enjoyed what I saw.

Bars is definitely her weakest event, but Ragan has made great strides here and I really think she has it in her to have bars viable for strong all around performances. Her bars last year had a LOT that had to be worked on, most prominently very labored swing and dead hangs. She also was unable to make it through a set without some sort of major errors in the US elite season.

While bars is still a problem area for Ragan, she's had some great improvement this year. Her swing has improved by leaps and bounds, and KZB has done a great job of capitalizing on her better work with Stalder variations. I'd like to hope she can add Chow and/or Maloney variations in her work. She still had big problems at P&Gs, but at Classics she had a clean set which was able to bring in a 13.650, her best bars score of her elite career (so far).

Vault saw a big upgrade for Ragan this year as she began vaulting a DTY. Her FTY from last year was certainly problematic, with loss of leg form and piking at her hips.

Her DTY was chucked at Classics and she fell to her knees, but at P&Gs definitely saw improvement. Day one was still fairly scary with it barely brought around, but day two's was much improved. That 9.00 E score was still fairly fishy, but her position in the air, leg form, and chest position on landing were all much improved. I'd like to see more attention given to that block, but I trust KZB with this one.

Beam is one of Ragan's specialty events and she could do great things. Her beam from Classics last year was incredibly steady and she had power and ability oozing out the entire routine. She lacked some amplitude in her dance skills, but she had nice position. She lacked some refinement everywhere, but she had all the goods for great beam work. She did well enough to score over 14.000.

Under KZB, Ragan's beam has only improved. She gained a lot of that polish she lacked last year while still having all the risk. Her beam followed Ragan's trend of improving throughout the season to earn a career high on day two, 14.550. She still had great confidence and steadiness, but her new skills provided some blips for her. I would like for her to go back to her nice switch half instead of the switch ring. Her sheep jump had definitely improved, though, and I am looking forward to her future beam work.

Floor is where Ragan really sparkles. I personally prefer her interpretation to Semenova's, but Semenova did compete in the 10-skills-count-for-your-D-score era. Her floor has very creative and engaging choreography and it suits her perfectly. As I said above, floor was where Ragan first slipped into my radar in 2013. The best performance of this routine last year was P&Gs day one, when she received 13.800 and had a very strong performance. Her tumbling lacked air time and amplitude, but her power was evident.

Day two of 2014 P&Gs was the best performance of her floor routine. She scored 14.650 for her dazzling routine which had great tumbling and musicality. Her performance has improved by leaps and bounds since last year. She's also done some big upgrading and has been able to harness that power into big tumbling with great amplitude.

Ragan is a tiny little pocket rocket but also has some really nice style. Texas Dreams has really helped channel her talent more efficiently into great skills and routines. Ragan's cuteness is what caught my eye at first, but she has a ton of talent and potential. Her charisma and charm makes her a fan favorite, and her power makes her a standout. Beam and floor are incredible for her, her vault can be great for her, and I know she has bars in her if she can keep working with her strengths. Ragan just has to keep cleaning up and she could be something incredible.

Christina Desiderio
In case you haven't been able to tell by the way I bring her up whenever US juniors are the topic, Christina is one of my favorite. In terms of pure ability, Christina is right at the top of the sizable junior pack. She has power, swing, and a great arsenal of skills. The one problem that clouds Christina's performance is her mind. She is wildly inconsistent, which culminated in her heartbreaking bars routine on day two of P&Gs. If she can get her mind under control, Christina will be a force to be reckoned with. Plus, she trains at one of the nation's top gyms!

Christina first slipped onto my radar last summer when I was watching videos of the juniors from the US season looking to scope out the talent, if you will. It was a much more love-at-first-sight reaction than I had for Ragan, and I knew I'd found a special gymnast.

Beam was where Christina first caught my eye. Unfortunately, Christina had issues with that event every competition in the season this year. She fell every time she competed in Classics and P&Gs, on her layout, sheep jump, and switch ring.

However, she still has some great skills and lots of good work. Beam is definitely her strong spot in terms of skill, and she could be absolutely great.
Her beam from Classics last year was unbelievable. She had impressive difficulty and nary a waver in sight, which shows she does have the confidence she needs, she just has to find it. Her work is beautiful and light- her jump series especially looks like she's being pulled up from the beam by strings. And her wolf turn work is some of the best!

Bars is generally Christina's lowest-scoring event, and unfortunately she is largely remembered there for her disastrous final routine of P&Gs this year which left her visibly devastated, but she has some good work there, especially her super high Tkatchev. She needs a good deal of cleaning up and has been unable to score higher than the low 13s, but Parkettes does have a pretty good record on bars.

Her bars day one of P&Gs this year definitely looked to be the best she's done so far to me. Her Tkatchev, if anything, looked higher and her form looked better than last year as well. Her only real problem was a flat transfer to the high bar, but it certainly didn't result in a dead hang. Her difficulty is a bit low, and I definitely think there is room to upgrade. I trust that she can put up solid bars routines next year and that what happened day two of P&Gs isn't representative of her typical bar work.

Vault saw a big upgrade for Christina this year when she joined the Junior DTY club. Christina had a really nice FTY which was nicely flighted. Her form wasn't perfect and had some leg separation and a little bit of piking, but it was a very solid vault and there were no major issues.

Her DTY definitely looks serviceable and I think she has good vaulting in her future. Her first two attempts were fairly underrotated and she landed with a very low chest. On day two of P&Gs, she fixed that problem well and in fact overrotated a bit. She just needs to figure out the right amount of power she needs to give her vault.

Like Ragan, Christina has lots of charisma on floor. She also has a really good amount of power, and her tumbling shows it. Her floor last year was relatively unexceptional in terms of skill level, but she still had a long three years before becoming a senior. All of her tumbling was good and powerful and clean, and she really enjoyed her performance. Also, while I HATE that a random aerial can fulfill the tumbling requirement, hers looks really cool.

This years floor routine is one big party. I love it! She also has done some good upgrading, including a big double layout! Her form is really good except for her 2 1/2 twist. She also has great amplitude on her leaps and a beautiful double turn. Her best performance of her new routine was day two of P&Gs, where she scored a super 14.450. Her routine is really entertaining, and it fits Christina so well!

I'm still weeping inside for that bars routine, because she was doing her best of 2014 all the rest of day two. Christina has what it takes, I know it! Confidence is all she needs. Her power is great, and her swing on bars is right where it needs to be. All her work is light and beautiful, but she's really powerful too, which is great. Her form is generally lovely, and she can work a crowd. Christina is a total package gymnast, and I only hope next year will see her stronger than ever!