2014 P&G Championships Day 1- Highlights

The 1st day of competition at the 2014 P&G's has concluded for the junior and senior elites. I had to watch the competition online, but the commentary throughout the competition for both the junior's and the senior's was great from Samantha Peszek and Evan Heiter. For the 2nd day of competition, I will actually be in Pittsburgh to watch the seniors compete live, which I'm very excited for! So here are some of my favorite routines and girls from both sessions:


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!

Jazmyn Foberg's Bars routine

(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! 

Brenna Dowell's Bars

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

Maggie Nichols Vault

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!

My Thoughts on the 2014 Secret US Classic

So this past weekend was the 2014 Secret Classic for gymnastics. The Secret US Classic is one of two qualifying competitions for the P&G Championships. Gymnasts can qualify to championships at the American Classic, which is done at the National Team Training Center in Texas in July or they can qualify at the Secret Classic. Last year I was able to go to Chicago to see the classic in person, which was awesome, but this year I had to watch it online. So here are the highlights of the 2014 Secret Classic:


1. Jordan Chiles winning All Around in the Junior session
Jordan took home the 1st place AA title with a score of 57.350 in the junior competition. Jordan is 13 and a second year junior elite. She definitely has a lot potential in her career, and at such a young age I can already see the confidence she has when competing.I can't wait to see how she does at future competitions! Although she won't be eligible for the 2016 Olympics, she is one to watch for the 2020 Olympics!

Jordan Chile's floor routine (13.950)

2. Simone Biles winning All Around in the senior competition

I am so happy Simone won the AA title! Huge improvement from last years Secret Classic. Due to an injury, this is Simone's first competition since 2013 Worlds, where she became the world champion. Not only did she win the 1st place title, she won with an incredible score of 61.700, which is going to be very hard to beat! Simone has outrageous difficulty in her routines, and she knows how to keep good form and stick the landings in every skill she performs, which is what makes her such a great gymnast. I'm so excited to see how Simone does at P&G's! If Simone can hit all her routines at championships, she will more than likely make the world team this year. A lot can change in 2 years, but I'm still rooting for her to make the 2016 team. Not to mention her leotard was gorgeous! 

Simone Biles first vault-amanar (15.900)

3. Simone Biles' floor routine

I know I already talked about how much I love Simone, and how great she is, but I want to talk about her incredible floor routine! She had a huge difficulty score of 6.6. Her 1st pass was a double double, then the skill named after her (Double Layout half out), which she stuck! The 3rd pass was an amazing stuck double layout, I mean who has a DLO as their 3rd pass?! And while some elite gymnasts start with a full in, she dismounted with an outstanding full in! All her tumbling passes were pretty much perfect. Also, her new floor choreography is amazing, and unlike some gymnasts, her execution was great, and didn't let it suffer. Simone got an incredible score of 15.8 on her floor exercise! 

4. Ashton Locklear's Bars routine

Admittedly, I have never seen much of Ashton, and haven't really heard of her till this competition. She is a second year senior elite, but missed last season due to an injury. But this season, she has done pretty well so far, and I'm excited to see more of her in the future. Depending on how she competes at championships, I would say she has a shot at making the 2014 world team, maybe not in the all around, but she can definitely do bars, and that's an event the US needs help on, and I think she could also contribute on beam. She had an incredible score of 15.7, earning her the gold medal on bars, and also she placed 4th on beam with a score of 14.550.

5. Mykayla Skinner

Personally, I've always been a fan of Mykayla, but I know a lot people would disagree with me. She has incredible skills and tumbling, but her form and artistry has never been the best. She's a gymnast that chucks all these huge skills but lets everything else, including her consistency, suffer.  However, I think she has definitely improved her execution, and although she's still not the best in the artistry department, she's getting there! She still has room for improvement though. She ended up placing 5th AA, which is pretty good for her. With Maroney and Priessman being injured this season, she is in contention for the world team, but we'll see what happens at championships and the selection camp.

Skinner's beam routine (14.250)

6. Amelia Hundley's Senior Debut

Amelia has always been one of my favorite gymnasts to watch, and I'm very happy she is finally a senior elite! She had a great competition, and really proved herself as an all around gymnast, placing 6th. Her best event was definitely floor, and I'm loving her new choreography! I can't wait to see how she does at P&G's, and I would love to see her on the world team this year as well. 

And her leotard was stunning! 

14.250

7. Kyla Ross

Lately, Kyla has been 2nd to Simone, and even though this competition was no different, I'm impressed with her performance! Kyla placed 2nd AA with a score of 60.050, and tied for 1st on beam with a score of 15.250(next to Simone). Kyla has been another one of my favorite gymnasts since the 2012 Olympics, and I'm happy she got right back to competing and is trying for 2016. I'm excited to see what the future has in store for her. I think she is definitely in contention as an all around gymnast at worlds this year, and even though it's still 2 years away, I would love to see her on the 2016 Olympic team.

8. Nia Dennis

Nia is probably my favorite junior to watch. She ended up placing 2nd in the AA, with a score of 56.750. She gets amazing height on her releases on bars, and bars is definitely her strongest event. She won the bar title with a score of 14.450. Before the classic, I would have told you Nia was going to win the all around title since Bailie Key was not competing. She placed 2nd in the all around behind Bailie at Jeselo and the Pac Rims this year. Although she didn't get the gold medal AA, I'm impressed with how well she did at the competition, and I'm looking forward to watching her compete at the P&G Championships!

I couldn't get her bar routine to show up when trying to link the video, but here is her beam routine (14.450)

So those are my favorite highlights from this years Secret US Classic! I will probably do another one of these after the P&G Championships! 

Also, I just want to add-

- I was really disappointed when I found out Lexie Priessman had to withdraw from the Secret Classic this year due to an injury during podium training. She was the one I was most excited to see compete this year, and she was definitely in contention for the world team. Wishing her a speedy recovery so she can get back on the competition floor soon!

- Unfortunately Peyton Ernst wasn't competing this past weekend either, but I have been hearing she will be back for championships. Depending on how she performs, she could possibly have a spot at worlds.

- And of course, I really wish Mckayla Maroney was competing this season, but I'm glad she got the surgery she needed and hopefully she'll be back for the 2015 season! I miss seeing her sky high and perfect vaulting. I'm a huge Maroney fan, and I definitely want to see her in 2016!

- Lastly, I'm super excited to hear that Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman are back at training! I wish gabby came back this season, but I can't wait to see her and Aly back next season!