The 2014 P&G Championships kicked off today with the first day of junior women competition. Jazmyn Foberg leads the juniors field with a 57.6 all-around. Emily Gaskins is second with a 57.0, Nia Dennis is in third with a 56.8, Norah Flatley is in fourth with a 56.55, and Ragan Smith is tied for fifth with Alexis Vasquez, both scoring a 55.55.

There were multiple falls today from some of the top gymnasts and it will be interesting to see how they perform on Saturday. Favorite Dennis had a fall on both bars and beam but still ended up third. Secret Classic champion Jordan Chiles had a fall on bars and looked shaky the entire meet finishing in 19th with a 53.75. 

 

Chiles was first up on bars and had a couple of unfortunate mistakes including casting over and coming off the bars. Deanna Soza opened with a beautiful double twisting Yurchenko taking a step back and scoring a 14.4. Grace Quinn was first up on floor and performed a clean routine for a 13.5. Smith also started on floor and had a great routine with only a couple small hops. Dennis had a great floor routine with big tumbling including a double layout and Arabian double front tying. Gaskins also started on floor and had a great routine with gorgeous dance for a 14.1. Abby Paulson started on beam with a layout layout series and two and half twisting dismount for a 14.1, a great start. Foberg had the high on vault with a big double twisting Yurchenko for a 14.6. 

 

Foberg was in the lead after the first rotation followed by Smith and Dennis tied for second.

 

In the second rotation, Dennis performed a great double twisting Yurchenko and almost stuck it for a big 15.1. Smith made her double twisting Yurchenko but landed a little short and had some form issues. Vasquez performed gorgeous pirouetting on bars and a clean routine for a 13.65. Foberg moved on to bars performing a big Shaposh half and Ray to Pak for a 14.4. Flatley was also on bars with a very impressive routine, her form almost perfect and received a 14.45. Gaskins performed a very clean double twisting Yurchenko for a 14.5. Chiles had a shaky beam routine but stayed on for a 13.7. Sydney Johnson-Scharpf had the beam high this rotation with a 14.2 and seemed to be smiling throughout her entire routine. 

 

After rotation two, Dennis took the lead followed by Foberg then Smith. 
 

Pictured: Nia Dennis, credit: Christy Ann Linder

Dennis moved to bars in rotation three and performed her signature huge release moves but landed short on her double layout and fell to her hands. Gaskins performed a beautiful clean bar routine for a 13.7. A highlight on beam was Vasquez who performed a gorgeous routine with a clean two and a half dismount for a 14.7. Also on beam was Foberg who hit a solid routine for a 14.2. Flatley moved on to beam where she had an extremely uncharacteristic fall on her sheep jump but still scored a 14.4. Chiles was on floor where she performed a solid routine with beautiful dance for a 14.0. Smith was in third heading into this rotation but fell on her Tkatchev and scored a 12.45. 

 

Foberg had the lead after rotation three followed by Dennis and Flatley. 

 

In the final rotation, Foberg finished her competition with a solid floor routine including a huge double layout for 14.4 and a 57.6 all-around securing her lead after day one. Chiles finished on vault with a double twisting Yurchenko but took a couple of steps back and received a 14.65. Flatley finished on floor opening with a whip to triple and nearly fell on her last pass but saved it for a 14.0 and 56.55 all-around. Gaskins had a solid beam routine for a 14.7 and finished with a great 57.0 good enough for second. Dennis finished on beam but fell on her standing Arabian, finishing with a 13.7 and 56.8 all-around. Smith also finished on beam with a solid routine scoring a 14.45 and 55.55 all-around. 

The juniors will compete again on Saturday, their final competition that will determine the 2014 junior national champion. 
 

Pictured: Emily Gaskins, credit: Christy Ann Linder