Juniors
1. Jazmyn Foberg
I never paid much attention to Jazmyn in the past, but with her performance today, she is definitely one I'll be watching! Last year, she didn't even qualify for championships, but now she is in the lead after day 1 with a score of 57.6! She has had some major improvements in her execution and difficulty since last years classics. Her bars routine was the one that stood out the most to me, her connections were phenomenal for only being a junior, they looked very close to being senior level. Some juniors struggle with the form and execution on bars, but Jazmyn is one who definitely doesn't. She had a slight leg separation on her pak salto but nothing major. She scored a 14.4. I'm excited to see how she does on day 2, I would love to see her take home the all around title for the juniors!
(I couldn't link it directly on here)
2. Emily Gaskins
Unfortunately for me, Emily is another gymnast I haven't watched much. But wow! This girl is beautiful and stunning on all events! She is so polished, and really focuses on her form. Even as a junior, she has a sort of senior look to her. Her floor routine has to be my absolute favorite routine out of all the juniors. It's just gorgeous. Her tumbling includes a tucked full in (small hop back), a 1.5 to a double back (tiny hop back), 2.5 twisting (hop back), and she dismounts with a clean double pike, earning her a 14.1. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of Emily in the future, and I think she will make a fantastic senior elite! Gaskins is in 2nd place with a score of 57.0
3. Morgan Hurd
Morgan may not be a gymnast with extreme difficulty, but she is only a junior and has plenty of time to improve her difficulty and execution. We first saw Morgan emerge into the elite scene at the 2014 Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup. She is 12 years old, and trains at First State Gymnastics, she is the first elite gymnast to come out of her club. At such a young age, I can already see that Morgan is a confident gymnast when competing. She isn't in contention for a medal right now, but as she gets older, she definitely has potential to be an amazing senior elite! She continues to be one of my favorite juniors to watch!
Morgan Hurd's Floor (13.0)
Seniors
1. Brenna Dowell- Bars (15.4)
I was holding my breath through out this whole routine. At the US Classic, she completely messed up the whole routine, and didn't even do her dismount. Due to an injury, bars is the only event Brenna is competing on right now. But she will be back to all around for the world selection camp! Brenna is an incredible bar worker, and even though she doesn't have the long lines and fluid movement like Kyla Ross or Nastia Liukin, she still makes her bar routine look wonderful. She reminds of Beth Tweddle from Great Britain, both amazing bar workers. I can't wait to see her bars on Saturday!
2. Ashton Locklear- Bars (15.85)
As I mentioned in my Secret Classic post, Ashton is a senior not many people have heard of before then, but she is definitely known now! This girl is incredible on bars! She has beautiful execution, lines, form, hit handstands, floaty releases, and perfectly pointed toes. I have to say, this routine is the best routine I've seen from the US team in awhile. With the USA really needing strong bar workers, I really want to see Ashton go to worlds! She is so far consistent on this event, and with a clean routine I can see her winning gold at worlds! I can't wait to see more of her in the future, and I would love to see her as an all around gymnast too.
3. Simone Biles- Beam (15.7)
Wow! 15.7 on beam is a huge score! As usual, Simone makes everything look so simple. She didn't have a perfect beam routine, there were still some wobbles and broken connections, but it was the best routine of the night. She ended the routine with a near stuck full in dismount. She also had another incredible floor routine, earning her a 15.650. She looks like she can literally just skip into her double double tumbling pass, this girl is insane. If she hits her routines tomorrow, she has the national champion title in the bag. As for the World team, I'm pretty sure Simone is a lock, but I would love to see her defend her 2013 title and win gold AA!
4. Veronica Hults- Beam (14.2)
Nica Doesn't have the most difficult routines in the world, so she doesn't score as high as other gymnasts. But she looks absolutely gorgeous on beam. She has such fluid movement, and nice beam choreography. She's only competing bars and beam, so unfortunately she isn't in contention for an AA medal. I've always loved watch her compete floor and beam, she's just such a beautiful gymnast. Also, she has great lines and again, has a very fluid movement on bars. I can't wait to see her beam routine in person for day 2!
5. Maggie Nichols
Maggie ended up in 2nd place at the end of day 1, and I really hope she can stay in the top 3 for day 2. Maggie doesn't post huge scores, but she is very consistent on all 4 events, and an all around pleasant gymnast to watch. These past few competitions, she has really proved herself as a strong all around competitor. Consistency is very important in this sport, so if she hits her 4 routines tomorrow, I would say she has a good chance at making the 2014 world team, and I would love to see her on it! Her highest score for day 1 was her double twisting yurchenko vault, she had just a small hop back, earning her a 15.050. She had a little struggle on her pak salto in her bar routine, but she fought through it and didn't let it effect the rest of her routine, scoring a 14.45
6. Amelia Hundley
As I've mentioned before, I love Amelia! She is in 7th place after day 1, but I think she hits all her routines tomorrow, she could move up to top 5. Her floor routine is one of my favorite floor routines to watch, I love her music, and her choreography is awesome, she really sells it to the audience. Throughout her routine she was going strong, and landing her passes very well, but on that last pass, her double back she crashed it and went out of bounds, causing her to only score a 13.250. I really hope she can hit this routine tomorrow and score better. She also looks good on bars, with good extensions and nice pointed toes. I would love to see her make the world team, but we'll see how she does on day 2 and at the selection camp, I would like to see her as at least an alternate.
I will do another one of my favorite routines and the highlights after day 2!
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