Day 1 RECAP: Junior Women

Aug 15, 2013 by Jennifer Teitell

2013 U.S. Secret Classic champion, Bailie Key of Texas Dreams, leads the junior women's field after the first day of competition at the 2013 P&G Gymnastics Championships in Hartford, Connecticut.

The competition began with 2013 Secret U.S. Classic sliver medalist and current junior national team member, Amelia Hundley of Cincinnati, sticking her double twisting Yurchenko vault for a 14.8. First up on floor was the captivating Sydney Johnson-Scharpf, daughter and student of 1988 Olympian, Brandy Johnson. Johnson-Scharpf energized the arena with her expressive floor routine, scoring a 13.6. Meanwhile, new Texas Dreams elite, Grace Quinn, was the first competitor on beam. Quinn's solid routine earned her a 13.95. Teammate Baillie Key, performed next on beam. Key showed her trademark calmness and consistency with an impressive routine that included a solid back handspring, back handspring layout to two feet, switch leap half, a gorgeous switch ring, and a triple twisting dismount. Her only slight error was a small hop after her punch front. Key earned a 15.35. Key and Hundley are both striving to earn spots on the national team for a third consecutive year.

In the second half of rotation one, the crowd got its first look at Chow's newest and long-awaited elites, Norah Flatley and Alexis Vasquez, on bars. Flatley got off to a great start in her first U.S. Championships, hitting her bar routine and showing excellent el grip work into a jaeger, and a nice double layout dismount. Flatley received a 13.75. Vasquez followed on bars, also hitting her routine, which was similar to Flatley's, and sticking her full twisting double back dismount, for a 13.2.

On beam, Laurie Hernandez, the newest member of the junior national team, hit a beautiful, albeit slightly watered down, routine, that included a nice switch leap and switch half and back handspring layout stepout to side aerial. Hernandez received a 14.65.
On floor, national team member Nia Dennis of Buckeye, opened with her sky-high double layout and performed a difficult routine with an impressive 6.1 difficulty score, earning a 14.250.

On beam, Nica Hults of Texas Dreams hit her back handspring, back handspring layout and showed beautiful leaps and jumps, earning a 14.75.

On bars, national team member Polina Shchennikova of Tigar, showed her signature lines and pointed toes with a hit routine that included a toe on full to a Maloney and a blind change full, tkachev to a pak salto. Despite nearly hitting the bar on her full twisting double back dismount, she landed well and received a 14.2.

Also in the first rotation, Vanasia Bradley of Splitz and Felicia Hano of West Coast Elite showed great vaults, earning 15.1 and 14.9, respectively.

After the first rotation, Bailie Key led the junior field with 15.35 on beam, followed by Vanisia Bradley with 15.1, and Felicia Hano with 14.9. Amelia Hundley was in fourth place with 14.8, and Nica Hults was in fifth place, with 14.75.

Norah Flatley on beam at the 2013 U.S. Championships by Melissa Perenson

Highlighting the second rotation was Norah Flatley's clean, difficulty-packed beam routine. As at the Secret U.S. Classic, Flatley performed her signature front aerial-front aerial-side aerial combination, but did not immediately connect it to her switch leap-back pike combination. Flatley finished with a nice two-and-a-half twisting layout with a small step, earning 15.35, 0.15 better than her 15.2 at last month's Secret U.S. Classic, which had been the highest beam score of the entire competition.

On floor, Secret U.S. Classic floor champion, Laurie Hernandez, hit her energetic floor routine, opening with a double Arabian to stag leap and taking a few steps on her second pass, a full twisting double back in the piked position. Hernandez stuck her last pass, a double pike, to loud cheers from the crowd, earning 14.3..

In the second half of the first rotation, Nia Dennis performed a nearly stuck high double twisting Yurchenko, earning 15.2.

Nica Hults stuck her last tumbling pass on floor, a double pike, for 13.75.

Alexis Vasquez showed another solid beam routine for Chow's, with nice leaps and jumps and beautiful tumbling with a back handspring to two layout step-outs, and a two-and-a-half twisting dismount. Vasquez earned 14.6.

On vault, Sydney Johnson-Scharpf performed a clean full twisting Yurchekno with a hop.

Shchenninkova showed her long lines on beam for a nice routine, despite some wobbles, including on her switch ring leap and full twisting back handspring. Shchennikova dismounted with a clean double twist, earning 13.750.

On bars, Amelia Hundley hit a beautiful routine, showing nice stalder work, a sky high Ray (toe-on tkachev), and a stuck full twisting double back dismount. Hundley earned 14.550.

On floor, Grace Quinn mounted with a nice one and a half through to a triple twist and hit a nice routine for a 14.0. Also on floor, Bailie Key continued her momentum from her first rotation, hitting a clean floor routine that included a double Arabian to a stag leap, a one and a half stepout through to a triple full, stuck third pass, and a nice double pike dismount. Key received 14.8.

After the second rotation, Bailie Key maintained her lead, with a total of 30.15. Nia Dennis tumbled into second place with 29.45, just 0.7 behind Key. Amelia Hundley sat in third place, with 29.35. Norah Flatley moved up to fourth place with her strong beam routine, with a combined total of 29.1. Laurie Hernandez moved up to fifth place, with 28.95.   Only 1.2 points separated first and fifth place.

In the third rotation, Laurie Herandez performed a strong double twisting Yurchenko vault, scoring 14.8. Nica Hults followed with a nice one-and-a-half twisting Yurchenko, and upgrade from the full twisting Yurchenko she performed at the Secret U.S. Classic, scoring 14.2.

Nia Dennis performed on bars, recovering from a fall at the Secret U.S. Classic to hit her routine, including her sky high piked and straddled tkachevs, to which the crowd responded with near Gabby Douglas-like enthusiasm. She dismounted with a full twisting double back, earning 13.7.

Norah Flatley had a strong floor routine, despite stepping out of bounds on her punch front layout on her second tumbling pass. She earned 13.85. Alexis Vasquez followed with a hit routine showing off her flexibility in her Memmel turn and clean tumbling, including a stuck double tuck dismount, for 13.45.

Another highlight of the third rotation was MG Elite's Ariana Agrapides' double twisting Yurchenko vault, which received a huge 9.55 execution score, for a final score of 15.35. Agrapides posted the top vaulting score of the day for the junior women.

On floor, Polina Shchennikova grabbed the crowd's attention with an expressive routine, showing off her gorgeous flexibility, beautiful execution, and grace. Unfortunately, Shchennikova performed a textbook-perfect switch ring leap, but stepped out of bounds on her second tumbling pass, a double tuck. She received 13.1.

In the second half of the third rotation, Bailie Key continued hitting her events, with a strong, clean double twisting Yurchenko, scoring 15.1.

On beam, Amelia Hundley opened with a solid standing full twist, but looked tentative for the remainder of her routine. Hundley hit a solid handspring layout, but fell on her punch front to one foot. She recovered for her dismount, performing a nice two-and-a-half twist. Hundley scored 12.9.

On floor, despite a step out of bounds, Abby Paulson of Twin City Twisters, performed a charming, clean routine that had the crowd clapping along to her music. She earned 13.35.

At the conclusion of the third rotation, Bailie Key pulled further ahead of the pack, leading with a combined score of 45.25. Laurie Hernandez vaulted into second place after her strong double twisting Yurchenko, with a combined score of 43.75. Hernandez was 1.5 points behind Key, virtually guaranteeing Key a win. Nia Dennis stood in third place following her strong bar routine, with a total score of 43.15. Norah Flatley remained in fourth place following floor, with 42.95. Nica Hults returned to fifth position, with 42.7. Amelia Hundley dropped to sixth place following her fall on beam, with a combined total of 42.25.

In the final rotation, Alexis Vasquez was the first competitor on vault, where she performed a clean, stuck full twisting Yurchenko, scoring 14.1.   Polina Shchennikova followed with the same vault, with a small hop on her landing, scoring 13.8.

2013 Secret U.S. Classic bars champion, Nica Hults, had an unfortunate fall on bars on her in-bar stalder half turn, but recovered with a gorgeous Jaeger and nearly stuck full in dismount, scoring 12.45 on her last event.

Video by USA Gymnastics

Amelia Hundley recovered from her fall on beam with a floor routine that showcased her incredible tumbling, including a high double layout, a one-and-a-half twist to double pike, and stuck tucked double back. Hundley received roaring applause for her performance, along with a score of 14.5.

Leader, Bailie Key, continued her unflappable performance on bars, her last event, hitting a clean Jaeger and dismounting with a full twisting double back with a small step. Key scored 13.95.

On vault, Norah Flatley finished day one of her first U.S. championships with a slightly piked down full twisting Yurchenko, for a score of 13.8.

Nia Dennis completed day one on beam, where she performed a gorgeous, stuck standing Arabian, a solid layout stepout. Dennis unfortunately had a couple of large wobbles, including on her side somi, and took several steps back on her double tuck dismount, receiving a score of 14.05.

Laurie Hernandez finished her afternoon on bars, where she performed a high tkachev and Ray, finishing with a high full twisting double back. Hernandez earned a 14.25.
At the end of the first day of competition, Bailie Key led the field with 59.2. Laurie Hernandez held on to her second place spot with 58.0, 1.2 behind Key. Nia Dennis remained in third place with 57.2. Amelia Hundley and Norah Flatley were tied for fourth, with 56.750. Alexis Vasquez moved up to sixth place with 55.35. Nica Hults fell to sixth place with 55.15.

The highest event scores of the day were Agrapiedes' 15.350 on vault, Hundley's 14.550 on bars, Key and Norah Flatley's 15.35 on beam, and Key's 14.8 on floor.

The P&G Gymnastics Championships determine U.S. champions and the US junior and senior national teams. The current junior national team members are: Nia Dennis, Lauren Hernandez, Amelia Hundley, Bailie Key, and Polina Shchennikova. All are competing at the 2013 P&G Gymnastics Championships this weekend.

Watch for Gymnastike's coverage of day 1 of the senior women's competition later tonight; day 1 of the men's junior and senior competitions on Friday, August 16; day 2 of the women's junior and senior competitions on Saturday, August 17; and day 2 of the men's junior and senior competition on Sunday, August 18.

WATCH Video Interviews:
Bailie Key
Laurie Hernandez
Amelia Hundley
Nia Dennis
Norah Flatley
Ariana Agrapides