Last night Olympians Kyla Ross and McKayla Maroney made a huge splash at the 2013 Secret US Classic with Ross taking home the All Around crown and Maroney posting the highest vault score of the night. In case you missed yesterday's competition, we are running through yesterday's highlight reel and cueing you up for the P&G Championships taking place in August.
The Return of the Olympians
The most anticipated routines of yesterday's competition came from 2012 Olympians Kyla Ross and McKayla Maroney, and the duo did not dissapoint. Maroney started her competition on the floor where she debuted both new choreography and tumbling passes. Despite stepping out of bounds on her opening pass, a double layout, Maroney completed a well-executed routine. The dance showed off Maroney's signature sass, and a stuck double arabian front demonstrated Maroney still possesses tumbling prowess. On the vault, Maroney competed both the famous Amanar and a Mustafina landing both with ease. A small hop forward on the landing, Maroney saw huge air time on the Amanar as has become custom for this athlete. Maroney earned a 15.6 for that performance, the highest vault score of the night.
Kyla Ross also captivated the crowd winning the All Around title at last night's meet. Ross started her campaign on the beam looking crisp and in control. Ross, who has trained consistently since the London Games, exuded confidence showing she clearly has not lost her mental edge. On the floor, Ross too debuted some new passes, a full-in and double arabian to stag among them. However, on Ross's last pass, she encountered some difficulty stalling out a double pike forcing her to put her hands down. Ross regained her composure on the vault performing a double twisting yurchenko with clean lines and a steady landing. Ross finished the competition on the bars, and she clearly saved the best for last. Ross floated through her release moves, a shaposh and a jeagar among them, and held her handstands with a definity that many fellow competitors lacked. The graceful double layout stamped the end of this routine, and secrued Ross the All Around title with a score of 58.65.
Kennedy Baker during Secret US Classic podium training. Photo by Scott and Emer Hults.
P&G Championships Qualifiers
For several athletes, the Secret Classic marked the last opportunity to qualify to the P&G Championships taking place August 15-18 in Hartford, CT. Qualification to Championships brings these athletes one step closer to being named to the National Team and grabbing one of the four coveted spots on the World Championship Team that will compete in September.
On the senior side, Kennedy Baker and Ariana Guerra both of Texas Dreams secured their postitions on the P&G roster at last night's event. Madison Desch of GAGE only performed on the balance beam last night, but her petition to Championships was granted, so she too will compete at Championships. Rounding out the senior qualifiers was Erin Macadaeg of San Mateo. For the juniors, Vanasia Bradley of Splitz Gymnastics, Nadia Cho of WOGA, Christina Desiderio of Parkette's, and Sydney Johnson-Scharpf of Brandy Johnson's Global Gymnastics all punched their ticket to the National Championship competition. They will return in August to fight for their position on the National Team.
The competition was far from tame in both the junior and senior sessions. From the juniors, Bailie Key of Texas Dreams fought through a stomach bug to snag the Junior All Around title. Key started the competition slated as competing only vault and bars, but after a strong warm-up on the floor exercise, Key decided to try for all four. Also in the junior session, Norah Flatley of Chow's Gymnastics showed true dominance on the balance beam. An incredible 6.4 difficult score, Flatley posted the highest beam score of the entrire meet with a 15.20.
For the seniors, Brenna Dowell officially joined the Amanar club nicely completing the skill to earn a 15.55, the second highest score of the night. MyKayla Skinner of Desert Lights performed the astounding double twisting double layout on floor. While Skinner did step out of bounds on the pass, the mistake in no way affected the splendor of the skill. Also on the floor, Lexie Priessman of Cinncinati Gymnastics and Simone Biles of Bannan's both went for high difficulty. Priessman won the event with a 14.8. Her routine featured all double flipping passes that included at least one twist, a double- double, and a full twisting double layout among the composition. Biles debuted an amazing double layout half and a double-double of her own, but ran into a few struggles on her dismounting pass a full-in where she fell to hands.
Throughout the night, Biles struggled missing a straddle tkachev on the uneven bars and putting her hand down on the beam in her wolf 1 1/2 turn. But Biles was hardly alone. As the Secret Classic occurs relatively early in the elite season, mistakes came across the board. Beam plagued the junior session taking down favorites Polina Shchennikova of TIGAR, Nia Dennis of Buckeye, Laurie Hernandez of MG Elite, and Alexis Vasquez of Chow's Gymnastics. The seniors saw troubles on the bars with Maggie Nichols and Skinner also falling from the event.
Even with mistakes, the gymnasts in both sessions showed true potential and the magnitude at which the sport is developing and continually evolving.
Martha Karolyi at the 2013 Secret Classic (c) Melissa J Perenson
What's Next?
From here, the athletes prepare for the P&G Championships where the National Selection Committee will name the Junior and Senior National teams who will move on to the National Training Camps. In the coming weeks, the gymnasts will return to training and perfect their routines to the best of their ability. At Championships, most althetes aim at competing all four events. McKayla Maroney expressed in her exclusive interview with Gymnastike that is indeed her goal for the competition. P&G Championships represent the next stepping stone in the long journey to Antwerp, Belgium for the 2013 World Championships.
Related:
- Watch Videos of the 2013 Secret US Classic
- Watch McKayla Maroney's return to competition at the Classic
- View 2013 Secret US Classic Photos
- View the full list of 2013 P&G Championships Qualifiers
The Return of the Olympians
The most anticipated routines of yesterday's competition came from 2012 Olympians Kyla Ross and McKayla Maroney, and the duo did not dissapoint. Maroney started her competition on the floor where she debuted both new choreography and tumbling passes. Despite stepping out of bounds on her opening pass, a double layout, Maroney completed a well-executed routine. The dance showed off Maroney's signature sass, and a stuck double arabian front demonstrated Maroney still possesses tumbling prowess. On the vault, Maroney competed both the famous Amanar and a Mustafina landing both with ease. A small hop forward on the landing, Maroney saw huge air time on the Amanar as has become custom for this athlete. Maroney earned a 15.6 for that performance, the highest vault score of the night.
Kyla Ross also captivated the crowd winning the All Around title at last night's meet. Ross started her campaign on the beam looking crisp and in control. Ross, who has trained consistently since the London Games, exuded confidence showing she clearly has not lost her mental edge. On the floor, Ross too debuted some new passes, a full-in and double arabian to stag among them. However, on Ross's last pass, she encountered some difficulty stalling out a double pike forcing her to put her hands down. Ross regained her composure on the vault performing a double twisting yurchenko with clean lines and a steady landing. Ross finished the competition on the bars, and she clearly saved the best for last. Ross floated through her release moves, a shaposh and a jeagar among them, and held her handstands with a definity that many fellow competitors lacked. The graceful double layout stamped the end of this routine, and secrued Ross the All Around title with a score of 58.65.
Kennedy Baker during Secret US Classic podium training. Photo by Scott and Emer Hults.
P&G Championships Qualifiers
For several athletes, the Secret Classic marked the last opportunity to qualify to the P&G Championships taking place August 15-18 in Hartford, CT. Qualification to Championships brings these athletes one step closer to being named to the National Team and grabbing one of the four coveted spots on the World Championship Team that will compete in September.
On the senior side, Kennedy Baker and Ariana Guerra both of Texas Dreams secured their postitions on the P&G roster at last night's event. Madison Desch of GAGE only performed on the balance beam last night, but her petition to Championships was granted, so she too will compete at Championships. Rounding out the senior qualifiers was Erin Macadaeg of San Mateo. For the juniors, Vanasia Bradley of Splitz Gymnastics, Nadia Cho of WOGA, Christina Desiderio of Parkette's, and Sydney Johnson-Scharpf of Brandy Johnson's Global Gymnastics all punched their ticket to the National Championship competition. They will return in August to fight for their position on the National Team.
Big Skills, Thrills, and a Few Spills
The competition was far from tame in both the junior and senior sessions. From the juniors, Bailie Key of Texas Dreams fought through a stomach bug to snag the Junior All Around title. Key started the competition slated as competing only vault and bars, but after a strong warm-up on the floor exercise, Key decided to try for all four. Also in the junior session, Norah Flatley of Chow's Gymnastics showed true dominance on the balance beam. An incredible 6.4 difficult score, Flatley posted the highest beam score of the entrire meet with a 15.20.
For the seniors, Brenna Dowell officially joined the Amanar club nicely completing the skill to earn a 15.55, the second highest score of the night. MyKayla Skinner of Desert Lights performed the astounding double twisting double layout on floor. While Skinner did step out of bounds on the pass, the mistake in no way affected the splendor of the skill. Also on the floor, Lexie Priessman of Cinncinati Gymnastics and Simone Biles of Bannan's both went for high difficulty. Priessman won the event with a 14.8. Her routine featured all double flipping passes that included at least one twist, a double- double, and a full twisting double layout among the composition. Biles debuted an amazing double layout half and a double-double of her own, but ran into a few struggles on her dismounting pass a full-in where she fell to hands.
Throughout the night, Biles struggled missing a straddle tkachev on the uneven bars and putting her hand down on the beam in her wolf 1 1/2 turn. But Biles was hardly alone. As the Secret Classic occurs relatively early in the elite season, mistakes came across the board. Beam plagued the junior session taking down favorites Polina Shchennikova of TIGAR, Nia Dennis of Buckeye, Laurie Hernandez of MG Elite, and Alexis Vasquez of Chow's Gymnastics. The seniors saw troubles on the bars with Maggie Nichols and Skinner also falling from the event.
Even with mistakes, the gymnasts in both sessions showed true potential and the magnitude at which the sport is developing and continually evolving.
Martha Karolyi at the 2013 Secret Classic (c) Melissa J Perenson
What's Next?
From here, the athletes prepare for the P&G Championships where the National Selection Committee will name the Junior and Senior National teams who will move on to the National Training Camps. In the coming weeks, the gymnasts will return to training and perfect their routines to the best of their ability. At Championships, most althetes aim at competing all four events. McKayla Maroney expressed in her exclusive interview with Gymnastike that is indeed her goal for the competition. P&G Championships represent the next stepping stone in the long journey to Antwerp, Belgium for the 2013 World Championships.
Related:
- Watch Videos of the 2013 Secret US Classic
- Watch McKayla Maroney's return to competition at the Classic
- View 2013 Secret US Classic Photos
- View the full list of 2013 P&G Championships Qualifiers
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