The 2014 U.S. Classics went surprisingly without a lot of surprises for this point in the Olympic cycle and in the year. A few gymnasts brought new upgrades, but it was not crash after crash or fall after fall as it can sometimes be. Adding some of the future junior stars to the senior session was a great success, as it let many fans who don’t follow gymnastics as closely start to get to know some of the players on the road to Rio. Plus, they are just so cute! Let’s start with the seniors however.
Simone Biles of World Champions Centre began her bid to defend her World All-Around title with a bang. The Secret US Classics are just a warm up meet for the rest of the season. But Biles looked ready to win another all-around and floor title tonight. Competing what is probably the best floor routine she has ever done, she started the night with a whopping 15.8. That score includes a US only sticking bonus which added .2 to her score. She went on to rock a powerful first vault and managed to hold on to her second vault. She had a little rough start on bars, but came through with a great routine. She ended the night with a solid beam routine and easily won the all-around with a 61.7.
Simone Biles – Floor – 15.8
Simone Biles – Vault – 15.9
Simone Biles – Bars – 14.75
Simone Biles – Beam – 15.25
Kyla Ross of Gym-Max continues to be an important player in the world of US gymnastics. The undeniable team leader, she is one everyone can count on both on and off the floor. She started the evening by adding a new upgrade to her floor routine. It was actually nice to see Ross take a risk of competing something that is not yet perfect. That is exactly what the US Classics are for, but it left her with a slightly lower score than usual. Ross moved on to vault, where she competed her beautiful DTY and stuck the landing. A back injury earlier in the season has kept Ross from competing at as high of a difficulty level on bars as she has the last two years, but she holds on to every point with beautiful execution. A solid, steady, quintessential Ross beam routine easily clinched the silver for her, and helped her to break that 60 all-around score barrier with a 60.05
Kyla Ross – Floor – 14.6
Kyla Ross – Vault – 15.2
Kyla Ross – Bars – 15.0
Kyla Ross – Beam – 15.25
Maggie Nichols of Twin City Twisters took third with a 57.6. Nichols was steady on all four events, taking advantage of other athletes falls and falters. She looked clean and confident and competed very well.
Maggie Nichols Bars – 14.7
Maggie Nichols – Beam – 14.1
Maggie Nichols Floor – 14.3
Maggie Nichols Vault – 14.5
Rachel Gowey of Chow’s Gymnastics was very impressive. Making her senior elite debut at these Classics after being out for a year due to injury, Gowey made a splash. Beautiful long lines and the ever clean form that is the mark of all of Chow’s gymnasts made her a standout, and her difficulty on top of that make her a strong contender for this years world’s team. She fell on her amanar, but made enough of them during training that it would seem she will have the vault in time.
Rachel Gowey – Beam- 14.85
Rachel Gowey – Floor – 14.15
Rachel Gowey – Vault – 13.85
Rachel Gowey – Bars –
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Amelia Hundley of Cincinnati Gymnastics was a junior standout, and her senior debut has been long awaited. So it was a dissapointment to many fans that she was not shown during the broadcast at all. Hundley is a steady athlete on all four event, but really shines on floor. The calm girl becomes an animated performer.
Amelia Hundley – Floor – 14.25
Amelia Hundley – Vault- 13.9
Amelia Hundley – Bars – 13.8
Amelia Hundley – Beam – 13.5
Ashton Locklear of Everest Gymnastics missed most of last year with injuries. However, her incredibly clean lines and beautiful technique stood out clearly on bars. Her bars were some of the most impressive gymnastics of podium training, and brought in a huge score during the competition.
Ashton Locklear – Bars – 15.7
Madison Kocian of WOGA began the competition first up on her best even. Kocian has good all-around potential, but her real spot on a world’s team will come on bars. She did not disappoint, with a clean, difficult, fluid bar routine. However she fell off the beam and then scratched the rest of the meet sitting on the sidelines with ice on her ankle. Fans are hoping it’s nothing serious as it was the same ankle that kept her out of competition last year.
Madison Kocian – Bars- 15.4
MyKayla Skinner of Desert Lights Gymnastics has been working hard to improve her execution, form and artistry. Though she has a ways to go, you can definitely see the progress. Known as the daredevil of the US, she brings incredibly difficult skills to the table. However a fall on floor and lower execution scores all around left her out of the running for the podium.
MyKayla Skinner – Floor – 13.4
MyKayla Skinner – Vault – 15.0
MyKayla Skinner – Beam –
Brenna Dowell of GAGE sprained her ankle a few weeks ago and only planned to compete bars at this competition.
Brenna Dowell – Bars – 11.2
Check out the full results and watch all the routines in HD!
Beam Dreams 