First Four Athletes Advance To 2018 Nastia Liukin Cup

The first four Nastia Liukin Cup qualifiers were named this past weekend.

Jan 8, 2018 by Becca Reed

First Four Athletes Advance To 2018 Nastia Liukin Cup

The first four Nastia Liukin Cup qualifiers were named this past weekend. Kylie Coen, Maya Bordas, Lali Dekanoidze, and Haleigh Bryant qualified to the prestigious competition, held March 2 in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Bordas and Coen qualified from the 2018 Alamo Classic in San Antonio, Texas, while Dekanoidze and Bryant qualified from the 2018 Atlanta Crown in Atlanta. FloGymnastics live-streamed both competitions, and you can watch video archives of the qualifiers plus other routine videos of the level 9s and 10s in the links below, and then read more about the qualifiers in the press release.

2018 Alamo Classic Video Archives

2018 Atlanta Crown Video Archives

Press release below via USA Gymnastics:

INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 8, 2018 – The ninth-annual Nastia Liukin Cup Series kicked off this past weekend with the Alamo Classic and the Atlanta Crown Invitational, where the first four athletes earned their spots to the 2018 Nastia Liukin Cup, scheduled for March 2 at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The Nastia Liukin Cup Series continues this weekend with the California Grand Invitational in Anaheim, California; CGA Coaches’ Spectacular in Covington, Kentucky; and the Tampa Bay Turners Invitational in Bradenton, Florida

Kylie Coen of Arlington, Texas/Empire Gymnastics, junior, and Maya Bordas of Austin, Texas/Capital Gymnastics Texas, senior, punched their tickets to the Nastia Liukin Cup at the Alamo Classic. Coen posted a 38.225 to take the junior title, while Bordas scored 38.150 as the top senior at the event. At the Atlanta Crown Invitational, Lali Dekanoidze of Charlotte, N.C./Southeastern, topped the junior all-around standings (38.500), earning her third-straight trip to the Nastia Liukin Cup. In the senior division, Haleigh Bryant of Cornelius, N.C./Everest Gymnastics, garnered a 39.000 to capture the senior all-around crown and secure her second trip to the Cup.

The Sears Centre Arena will host both the Nastia Liukin Cup and, on the following day, the AT&T American Cup, the USA’s most prestigious international invitational and part of the International Gymnastics Federation’s all-around World Cup series. 2017 World all-around champion Morgan Hurd of Middletown, Del./First State Gymnastics, and 2017 AT&T American Cup champion and World bronze-medalist Yul Moldauer of Arvada, Colo./University of Oklahoma, will represent the United States at the 2018 AT&T American Cup. The Elite Team Cup, a team event with many of the USA’s top junior men, wraps up the weekend’s events on Saturday evening.

The 36 participants in the Nastia Liukin Cup are selected through the Nastia Liukin Cup Series, which features 18 of the country’s top gymnastics invitationals held throughout the United States. A total of 18 junior and 18 senior gymnasts will advance to the Nastia Liukin Cup with one junior and one senior gymnast qualifying at each invitational. Senior athletes must be 16 years of age or older, and junior athletes must be 15 or younger. The age determination date is Dec. 31, 2018. The last Nastia Liukin Cup qualifiers will be determined at two invitationals held just two weeks before the Nastia Liukin Cup. The remaining invitationals participating in the Cup Series are listed below.