DAY 1 RECAP: Senior Men

Aug 16, 2013 by Jennifer Teitell

Sam Mikulak, leads the senior men's field after the first day of competition at the 2013 P&G Gymnastics Championships in Hartford, Connecticut.

2012 Olympians Jake Dalton and John Orozco started the competition on floor and pommel horse, respectively. Dalton opened with a huge Arabian double layout with a small hop. He had a small hop on his second pass as well, but rebounded with a clean, stuck third pass. He finished with a triple full with his chest slightly down and a hop. He received 15.3.

Trevor Howard of Penn State performed a clean vault, scoring 14.75.
Making his competitive debut after a serious knee injury last year, John Orozco hit a clean pommel horse routine, earning 13.5. Orozco has watered down his routines but plans to compete in the all-around.

Next on floor, Steve Legendre nailed his first pass, a double full punch double front. He then performed a gorgeous Arabian double layout with a full twist. He finished with a powerful Arabian double front, for a 15.9.

Michigan's Stacey Ervin, who petitioned to compete at the P&G Championships after missing out on the qualifier because of injury, stuck his double front vault to roaring applause, for 15.15. Ervin received a huge 9.45 execution score. Teammate Adrian de los Angeles followed with a clean vault, scoring 14.85. Next up, teammate and 2012 Olympian, Sam Mikulak, also hit his vault with just a small hop, for 15.2, with a tremendous 9.5 execution score.

Over on floor, Danell Leyva performed a clean Arabian double layout for his second pass and dismounted with a double layout that he landed slightly lower than he usually does. He scored 15.1.

picture by Melissa Perenson

Next, the Lord of the Rings, Brandon Wynn, took to his best event. Wynn impressed with incredible skills like a piked Azarian maltese, and dismounted with a stuck full twisting double layout, scoring 15.75.

Paul Ruggeri took to the floor next, where he opened with an Aribian double layout and followed with a piked double Arabian. Ruggeri stuck his last two passes to loud applause, earning 15.65.

At the conclusion of the first rotation, Steve Legendre led the field with his 15.9 on floor, followed by Brandon Wynn, with his 15.75 on rings. In third was Paul Ruggeri with 15.65 on floor, followed by Jake Dalton, with 15.3 on floor. Kanji Oyama was in fifth, with 15.25 on floor. Sam Mikulak and Alex Naddour were tied for sixth place with matching 15.2s on vault and rings.

Starting the second rotation, Steve Legendre fell at the beginning of his pommel horse routine, and struggled a little but stayed on for the remainder of the routine, receiving 13.0.

Trevor Howard performed a clean parallel bars routine for 13.85.

Alexander Naddour performed well on vault for 14.65. He had a terrific execution score of 9.15.

Next on pommel horse was 2012 Olympian Danell Leyva. Leyva hit his weakest, performing nice scissor handstands, but separating his legs on numerous skills and struggling on his dismount. Leyva earned 13.55.

Eddie Penev performed a huge floor routine with a 9.0 execution score, for a final score of 15.8, just a tenth behind Legendre.

Over on vault, Brandon Wynn performed a clean vault with just a small step, scoring 14.7.

Stacey Ervin showed a strong parallel bars routine with just a small hop on his tucked double back dismount, earning 14.65, with a 9.15 execution score.

After a strong floor routine, Paul Ruggeri moved to pommel horse, where he had some form breaks and struggled on his dismount, falling short of the handstand and taking a fall. Re-mounting the horse, Ruggeri finished strong, performing a clean closing sequence, including a hit dismount. Ruggeri received 12.25.

Adrian de los Angeles followed teammate Stacey Ervin with another clean routine, scoring 14.85.

Teammate Sam Mikulak followed with a huge, difficult parallel bars routine, dismounting to the loudest applause at the arena thus far. Mikulak earned 15.35

Next on pommel horse was Jake Dalton. Dalton performed cleanly but sat down on the horse near the midpoint of his routine and took a fall. Dalton finished strong on team USA's weakest event, with a clean dismount. He scored 12.45.

Next on rings was John Orozco. Orozco showed his strength on rings with a nice maltese, controlled handstands, and a clean dismount. Orozco has been training for only a few weeks and earned a 14.65.

Next on parallel bars, first-year senior, Akash Modi, performed a clean routine capped off by a huge full twisting double back dismount. Modi earned 14.8.

At the conclusion of the second rotation, Sam Mikulak jumped to first place following his excellent parallel bars routine, with a total score of 30.55. Brandon Wynn sat in second place, with 30.45. Eddie Penev was third with 30.05, followed by Steven Lacombe with 29.9, Alex Naddour with 29.85. Stacey Ervin was in sixth place with 29.85. De los Angeles and Legendre were in seventh and eighth places, respectively.

Danell Leyva started the third rotation on rings, where he performed a clean routine with a stuck dismount, earning 14.7.

Brandon Wynn next hit the parallel bars, another strong event for him [right?], performing skills including a healy, bell, and solid double pike dismount. Wynn scored 14.7.

Stacey Ervin, the evening's first performer on high bar, performed cleanly and hit his full twisting double layout dismount, for 13.85.

Next on vault, John Orozco performed a clean Kaz two and a half, landing well in the same arena where he tore his Achilles in 2010. He scored 14.2.
Paul Ruggeri next took to rings, hitting his routine with his trademark clean form, for a 14.100.

Next on high bar was Adrian de los Angeles. De los Angeles hit a solid routine, sticking his double twisting double layout for 14.6.

Alex Naddour next performed on parallel bars, earning 14.3.

Sam Mikulak wowed the crowd with a terrific high bar routine that included a Kovacs and Cassina, a new skill for him. He dismounted with a laid out double double, to deafening screams from the crowd, scoring 15.6.

Next on rings was Jake Dalton. Putting aside his fall on pommel horse, Dalton, a solid performer on rings, hit excellent positions on his strength skills and maintained a nice flow throughout the routine. Dalton stuck his double double dismount, for 15.15.

Following Dalton on rings was former Oklahoma University teammate, Steve Legendre. Like Dalton, Legendre moved on from his fall on pommel horse and performed a clean routine with a stuck double double. He scored 15.05.

Akash Modi next moved on to high bar, where he showed clean form and nice lines, along with a stuck double layout half in half out. Modi received 14.05.

Last up on high bar was Trevor Howard. Howard caught a laid out and straddled tkachev, along with a straddled tkachev with a half twist. Howard finished with a stuck full twisting double layout, for 13.35.

At the conclusion of the third rotation, Mikulak and Wynn maintained their first and second positions with scores of 46.15 and 45.15, respectively. Following a strong high bar performance, Adrian de los Angeles swung into third place with 44.3. In fourth was Alex Naddour with 44.15, followed by Steve Legendre with 15.05 and Donnell Whittenburg with 43.8. Stacey Ervin was in seventh place with 43.65, followed by Akash Modi, with 43.6.

At the beginning of the fourth rotation, Brandon Wynn performed a clean routine with one-armed giants and a stuck dismount.

Paul Ruggeri performed a half on, double twist off, landing outside the lines. Ruggeri also performed a powerful two-and-a-half twisting Yurchenko, also landing outside the lines. Ruggeri scored 15.05.

Adrian de los Angeles was next on floor, scoring 13.45 after some difficulties in his routine.

On one of his strongest events, vault, Jake Dalton performed a clean, powerful Kaz double for his first vault. Dalton performed a huge handspring double front, which he over-rotated, causing him to take some steps forward. Dalton received 15.25.

On floor, Olympic teammate Sam Mikulak peromed a clean routine but stepped out of bounds, scoring 15.35
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Steve Legendre followed Dalton with a huge tsuk double pike on his best event, vault. Unfortunately, Legendre, too, over-rotated his vault   For his second vault, Legendre performed a Dragulescu (handspring double front with a half), to his feet. Legendre scored 14.25.

John Orozco next competed on parallel bars, showing his clean form and nice swing. Orozco struggled on some handstands but landed his double pike well with just a small step, scoring 14.75. Leyva next had a small step back on his vault, scoring 14.7.

Over on high bar, Naddour peeled and fell off the bar, but finished with a stuck dismount for 13.5.

Next, NCAA floor champion, Trevor Howard hit his routine despite some low landings and dismounted with an Arabian double front, scoring 14.7.

After four rotations, Sam Mikulak and Brandon Wynn continued to lead the pack, with 61.5 and 60.2, respectively. Stacey Ervin was in third, with 59.4, followed by Donnell Whittenburg with 58.5. Akash Modi sat in fifth with 58.3, followed by Steve Legendre with 58.2. Jake Dalton and Danell Leyva were in seventh and eighth place, respectively.

Moving on to the fifth rotation, the pommel horse continued to cause trouble for the gymnasts. Adrian de los Angeles was the next to fall off the event, scoring 13.1.

Next on parallel bars was Paul Ruggeri, who mounted with a unique free hip, and performed well throughout the routine, nearly sticking his piked double back dismount. Ruggeri looked pleased with his performance, and scored 14.4.

John Orozco next went to high bar, where he performed a nice Cassina, laid out and straddled tkachevs with half turns, and a clean, slightly piked, full twisting double layout dismount with a small hop on the landing. Orozco scored 15.6.

Sam Mikulak next took to the pommel horse, where he appeared calm and maintained a good rhythm throughout the routine, hitting a nice set and dismounting to loud applause. Mikulak, who performed on pommels in London, scored 15.2.

Next on parallel bars was Jake Dalton. Dalton continued his comeback after pommel horse, performing cleanly and sticking his double pike to excited screams from the audience. Dalton scored 15.45.

Donnell Whittenburg performed well on high bar until putting his hands down on his double twisting double layout dismount. Whittenburg scored 13.2.

Next on pommel horse was Akash Modi, who swung well and maintained a nice rhythm, though had a little trouble on his dismount. Modi scored 13.95.

Over on parallel bars, Steve Legendre showed a nice bell and Healey, but shuffled his hands on his final handstand. He dismounted with a clean double pike, earning 14.2.
Brandon Wynn was next on floor, where he performed well but put his hand down on his last pass. Wynn scored 13.6.

Next on parallel bars was Danell Leyva. Leyva caught his hand in the wrong position after a peach element and slipped off the bar, taking an unfortunate fall. Leyva, the world champion on parallel bars, had some additional problems on the event, including sitting down his new double front dismount. He scored 13.75.

Next to fall on pommel horse was Stacey Ervin. Ervin finished strong and scored a 12.900.

After five rotations, Sam Mikulak and Brandon Wynn held on to their first and second place positions with 76.7 and 73.8. Jake Dalton jumped to third, with 73.6, followed by Alex Naddour in fourth with 72.45. Steve Legendre was in fifth with 72.4, followed by Eddie Penev in sixth with 72.3. Orozco and Modi were in seventh and eighth, respectively.

In the sixth rotation, Sam Mikulak hit a beautiful rings set, scoring 15.2.
Over on high bar, Jake Dalton caught his new release move and completed a nice dismount with a small hop, scoring 15.1.

Orozco moved to floor, where he performed wearing a knee brace and opened with a double Arabian, which appeared easy for him. Orozco, who had not yet performed on floor without extra mats since his injury, looked strong and had no trouble on his landings. Orozco dismounted with a two and a half twist, scoring a 14.400.

Naddour ended on his best event, pommel horse, where he performed an excellent routine, scoring 15.45.

Steve Legendre completed night one on high bar, where he performed a high Kovacs, hop full, and gorgeous triple back, which was a crowd favorite. He scored 14.7.

Leyva finished his evening on his other strongest event, high bar. Leyva, who competed in the high bar final at the 2012 Olympics, performed his trademark laid out Kovacs with an arm flare, along with piked Kovacs kicked out, Rybalko, and a laid out double twisting double back dismount. The crowd loved it. Leyva scored 15.3.

Brandon Wynn completed his evening on pommel horse, where he hit a clean, but simple, routine, scoring 12.9.

Paul Ruggeri performed well on high bar, performing his new Kolman, tkachev with half turn, but nearly fell over on a handstand and was forced to take an extra swing. He finished with a laid out double double with some trouble on the landing, scoring 13.800.

After the first day of competition, Sam Mikulak leads the field with a total score of 91.650. Dalton moves up to second with a 88.700 which put his 2.95 behind Mikulak. Alex Naddour is in third with a 87.9 followed by Josh Dixon in fourth with a 87.450. Steve Legendre was in fifth with 87.1, followed by Danell Leyva in sixth with 86.9. Wynn was in seventh with Orozco and Modi tied for eighth, each scoring a 86.65

Sam Mikulak tied with John Orozco for the top high bar score with a 15.600. Steve Legendre leads the way on floor with a 15.900 and Jake Dalton tops the field on parallel bars with a 15.450. Alex Naddour of Team Hilton Honors posted the highest pommel horse score with a 15.450. Brandon Wynn continued his dominance on the rings with the top score of 15.750 and Eddie Penev leads on vault with a 15.350.