Dalton and Ohashi Win 2013 AT&T American Cup

Mar 2, 2013 by Jennifer Teitell

We are three years away from the 2016 Olympics and the 2013 American Cup in Worcester, Massachusetts was the first major test on the road to Rio. The year following an Olympic games signifies a changing of the guard in Gymnastics, a time for new faces to step up and make a name for themselves on the international scene.

You can add Katelyn Ohashi and Jake Dalton to the legendary list of American Cup Champions.

Even though their names were absent from the original roster, Americans Katelyn Ohashi and Simone Biles made their senior international debut a memorable one. Ohashi won the title today with an all-around score of 59.199, a full point and half over American teammate Simone Biles who put up a 57.666. Ohashi and Biles were last minute replacements for Elizabeth Price and Kyla Ross, who withdrew because of injuries. Parkettes' Elizabeth Price, alternate to the 2012 US Olympic team, withdrew from the event due a hip injury. A member of the gold medal winning "Fierce Five", Kyla Ross pulled out this week with a heel injury.

No one questioned the talent of Ohashi and Biles, but how would they hold up under the pressure and the spotlight of a major senior international competition? A standout performance goes a long way to earning a spot on the world team and an opportunity to add your name to the prestigious list of American Cup Champions. Katelyn, the 2011 National Junior All Around champion, was coming off of a strong showing at the 2013 WOGA Classic where she posted a huge 15.8. Simone Bile's repertoire includes a win at the 2012 American Classic and a huge Amanar.

Ohashi began the competition on vault with a huge yurchenko double, one of the best vaults she's ever done, earning her a 14.9. Biles exploded of the vault table on her Amanar, scoring a massive 15.733

Ohashi struggled a bit on the uneven bars with a couple of form breaks on her Ono and inverts, but fought her way through, ending with a full in for a 14.566. USA's Simone Biles scored a 14.8 on her bar routine. This win was a major accomplishment for Biles who has improved dramatically on the event. Moving to the balance beam, Ohashi missed a few of her connections on beam, but nailed her layout full scoring a 15.33. Ohashi should be the one to beat on beam at this year's World Championships.

Biles was leading after two rotations but the perilous balance beam gave her problems and Biles went off the beam on her back handspring layout (to two feet). Biles fought back and ended her routine with a huge full-twisting double back. Biles made the skill look entirely too easy. Bile's score of 13.133 put Ohashi in the lead going into the final rotation.

Ohashi debuted with her new floor routine and it was a crowd pleaser. Ohashi 's routine included a big pike full- in and a gorgeous Memmel turn. Ohashi did some quick thinking on her last pass resulting in a two and half punch front. Ohashi was off on the two-and-a-half and took out the twist on the connecting layout and closed her meet with a score of 14.400.

Biles exploded on her opening tumbling pass with a huge tucked double-double and then came back with a ginormous double-layout. Her amplitude during the routine was outstanding but unfortunately had trouble on her landings resulting in a 14.00.

The future looks bright for both of these gymnasts and we will most likely see them later this year at the World Championships in Belgium.

Jake Dalton, 2012 NCAA All-Around champion and 2012 US Olympic Team Member, opened his competition with an amazing floor routine that included an arabian double front layout and triple full dismount. Dalton posted the top floor score of the day with a 15.700. The dreaded pommel horse was next for Dalton and he fought through the routine to earn a 13.333.

Dalton's Kasamatsu double full earned him the highest vault score of the day with a 15.433. Dalton posted a 15.033 on the parallel bars and closed out the competition with a spectacular high bar routine. Dalton dismounted with a double twisting double layout winning his first American Cup Title