The 2015 Secret U.S. Classic was held last weekend and it is one of the first steps on the road to World Championships. The selection committee will be looking to select the World team based on many factors including consistency, composure under pressure, and execution, but a key element will be scoring potential. To look at this last factor, we will rank the difficulty scores from the gymnasts who competed at Classics. 

Many gymnasts are still looking to add more difficulty before Worlds and even before P&G Championships. However, these charts can still give you a general idea of how much difficulty a gymnast can successfully execute at this point in season. It is also important to note that these scores take into account the one tenth stick bonus. 

The Pan American Games team made up of Maddie Desch, Rachel Gowey, Amelia Hundley, Emily Schild, and Megan Skaggs did not compete at the Classics. There were also many gymnasts who did not compete all-around. Barring injury, all of these gymnasts will be looking to compete all-around at Championships 

All-Around

	Gymnast	Vault	Bars	Beam	Floor	All-Around	Place at US Classic
1	Simone Biles	6.3	6.2	6.7	6.9	26.1	1
2	Aly Raisman	6.3	5.8	6.6	6.5	25.2	5
3	Gabby Douglas	5.8	6.4	6.4	5.9	24.5	2
4	Bailie Key	5.8	6.2	6.0	6.3	24.3	4
4	MyKayla Skinner	6.5	6.0	5.5	6.3	24.3	7
6	Maggie Nichols	6.3	6.0	5.9	6.0	24.2	3
7	Alyssa Baumann	5.8	5.9	6.1	5.7	23.5	6
8	Kylie Dickson	5.8	5.5	5.2	5.3	21.8	11
9	Taylor Lawson	4.7	5.4	5.6	5.5	21.2	10
10	Lexy Ramler	4.7	5.7	5.5	5.2	21.1	8
11	Alaina Kwan	4.7	4.3	5.7	5.5	20.2	9

As expected, Simone Biles had the highest all-around difficulty score. However, less than a point behind is Aly Raisman. Third was Gabby Douglas and tied for fourth is Bailie Key and MyKayla Skinner. 

Vault

	Gymnast	Vault 1	Vault 2	D Score Total	Place at US Classic
1	MyKayla Skinner	6.5	5.8	12.3	2
2	Simone Biles	6.3	5.6	11.9	1

There were only two gymnasts who competed two vaults - Biles and Skinner. Biles performed an Amanar for a 6.3 and a Yurchenko half on layout half off for a 5.6. Skinner performed a Cheng for a 6.5 and a Yurchenko double full for a 5.8. 

Bars

	Gymnast	D Score	Place at US Classic
1	Madison Kocian	6.5	1
2	Brenna Dowell	6.4	8
2	Gabby Douglas	6.4	2
4	Polina Shchennikova	6.2	11
4	Bailie Key	6.2	3
4	Simone Biles	6.2	4
7	MyKayla Skinner	6.0	10
7	Maggie Nichols	6.0	5
8	Alyssa Baumann	5.9	7
8	Kyla Ross	5.9	15
11	Nia Dennis	5.8	6
11	Aly Raisman	5.8	9
13	Lexy Ramler	5.7	13
14	Kylie Dickson	5.5	16
15	Taylor Lawson	5.4	12
16	Lauren Navarro	5.2	14
17	Alaina Kwan	4.3	17

Madison Kocian led the D score rankings for bars with an impressive 6.5. It's worthy of noting that while Ashton Locklear performed bars and beam at the Classic, she did not recieve scores as she was in more of an exhibition role. Locklear had a 6.4 D score in the team finals competition at the 2014 World Championships. 

Beam

	Gymnast	D Score	Place at US Classic
1	Simone Biles	6.7	1
2	Aly Raisman	6.6	2
3	Gabby Douglas	6.4	3
4	Alyssa Baumann	6.1	10
5	Bailie Key	6.0	5
5	Kyla Ross	6.0	4
7	Maggie Nichols	5.9	5
8	Nia Dennis	5.8	7
9	Alaina Kwan	5.7	15
9	Madison Kocian	5.7	9
9	Lauren Navarro	5.7	8
12	Taylor Lawson	5.6	11
12	Sabrina Vega	5.6	14
14	MyKayla Skinner	5.5	12
14	Lexy Ramler	5.5	13
16	Polina Shchennikova	5.3	16
17	Kylie Dickson	5.2	17
18	Brenna Dowell	4.6	18

Biles had the D score high on beam with an incredible 6.7.  Raisman was right behind with a big 6.6, Douglas had a 6.4, then there were a few tenths before Alyssa Baumann who had a 6.1. 

Floor

	Gymnast	D Score	Place at US Classic
1	Simone Biles	6.9	1
2	Aly Raisman	6.5	5
3	Bailie Key	6.3	3
3	MyKayla Skinner	6.3	9
5	Maggie Nichols	6.0	3
6	Gabby Douglas	5.9	2
7	Alyssa Baumann	5.7	6
7	Sabrina Vega	5.7	11
9	Taylor Lawson	5.5	12
9	Alaina Kwan	5.5	7
11	Kylie Dickson	5.3	8
12	Lexy Ramler	5.2	10

Another amazing D score from Biles with a 6.9 on floor. Raisman was in second again with a 6.5 and there was a tie for third between Key and Skinner. 

Who do you think will increase their difficulty score the most between Classics and Championships? How much do you think the difficulty score plays into selection for Worlds? Tell us in the comments below!


Related:
Results: 2015 Secret U.S. Classic
Results: 2015 Pan American Games