I thought that Kim Zmeskal rechoreographed new routines for her girls every year. WHY DOES BAILIE KEY STILL HAVE THAT MUSIC?!?!?!
Polina Shchennikova will make the national team this year if she doesn't headcase.
McKenzie Wofford is fierce as hell. Everyone better respect her for that.
I want Nastia Liukin to do well. Her beam is pretty but I'm VERY disappointed that she won't be competing bars.
Kyla Ross could earn her spot with her bars. I'm impressed with this tumbling pass, but honeychild has GOT to get some less horrible music.
I would guess that the Gedderts are just planning for consistency at this point. I therefore, am not overly impressed with World Champion Wieber.
When I heard that Anna Li was getting a new floor routine that she wanted to be college like, I didn't expect it to be this artistic. YAY. Her bars are of course, phenomenal as always. I love the new skill.
Elizabeth Price reminds me of Olivia Courtney in '08. Hopefully Marta will send her to a meet post Olympics. Could she win Classics in 2013? Possibly. She impresses me more and more each time I see her. Apparently she's got an Amanar that I have yet to find video of.
Did you hear that? That's the sound of me getting super excited about the legitimate US elite season starting up. I try to pretend that I know what I'm talking about when it comes to NCAA and Minor International competitions, but domestic meets are really my forte.
The American Classic will be held at the Ranch on May 5th at 10:30 AM. It's a super tiny version of the US Classics which serves as a qualifier to the US National Championships. A National Qualifier will be held today and tomorrow during which new elites may qualify to this meet.
So onto the important part: The Gymnasts. The Junior Field consists of 13 gymnasts who range from former National Team members to brand new elites. (Hopefully Aloyna, Polina Shchennikova's baby sister will be added to the lineup!)
Property of Greg Long
Highlighting the field are fan favorite Polina Shchennikova, with Nastia-eque lines and Simone Biles who reportedly definitely has an Amanar. Texas Dreams is sending juniors Peyton Ernst, Ariana Guerra and Macy Toronjo all of whom have a delightful presence when performing. Watch for Peyton's strong beam routine and Macy's style and pizzazz on floor. Ariana, who is the only former national team member in this division, won Vault and an All Around Silver Medal at the 2010 Top Gym competition.
Most of the competitors are girls who qualified to Classics last year but missed out on making Championships. Ashley Foss (North Stars), Nicole Lehrmann (Capital), Shannon McNatt (Stars), and Meredith Sylvia (Parkettes) fall into this category. Poor Ashley, who's actually a fairly strong gymnast, was outshone by her god awful leo last year, which most people connect her name with. Meredith, who you might have seen at the Nastia Liukin Cup this year, has four solid routines, when she hits. She earned a 14.8 at this year's WOGA Classic Elite Qualifier.
Amanda Huang who competed at the 2011 US Classics will also be competing this weekend, but you can learn more about her in tomorrow's "Fresh Face".
And then we'll talk about the newcomers.
Property of USAG
Lacy Dagen (Pictured Left) is a 1997 baby who competes for San Mateo Gymnastics. She's the Level 10 Region 1 Champ on Vault. She also won Westerns a few years back. She planned to compete at the American Classic last season, but scratched for an unknown reason. She did land herself on the National Team Training Squad though, so the National Team Staff must see potential in her.
Taylor Krippner competes for Cypress (home of Jonathan Horton & Caitlyn Atkinson) and most recently competed at the Region 3 Level 10 Championships where she placed 3rd on Beam. While she has some impressive skills, frankly, she just looks exhausted in every video I've seen of her. I wish her the best, and hope she does well this weekend!
Prop. of Skaggs Family
Megan Skaggs (Pictured Right) was a standout at last year's US Challenge on when she won beam in her division. She'll turn 13 this Monday, and competes for Gymnastics Academy of Atlanta. She attended the most recent development camp where she scored a 52.1 AA according to her website. She's the reigning Level 10 Georgia AA State champ on Vault and Floor. I was particularly impressed with her floor exercise where she seems to be getting close to sticking every pass and has one of the most gorgeous double turns I've seen in a long time in gymnastics.
All in all, expect to see most of these girls later in the season, perhaps a few will even make the national team. Tune in later today to see the Senior Preview!
After Polina Shchennikova posted a picture of everyone, including Rebecca at Camp, it appears that Marta has asked for things to be kept quiet regarding "big names".
(Was on Polina Shchennikova's FB)
This was a working camp. Girls verified individual skills and combinations and continued to work out. There were not winners of these verifications.
I will tell you, of all of the people who I've talked to, I've asked, "How are Becca & Nastia?" The consistent answer has been "working hard". I'm sorry guys, that's all I know. I've been trying I promise.
Here are updates on girls, as I receive them, in alphabetical order:
Simone Bilesis training an Amanar into a pit. It doesn't seem too far off.
Rebecca Bross has a knee brace on, but is working bars and doing a ton of conditioning.
Brianna Brownof CGA won the Physical Abilities Testing.
Nia Dennisis training a Double Twisting Yurchenko.
Ericha Fassbender was invited to camp but did not attend due to an injury just before camp.
Bailie Keyhas added a standing arabian on beam, and is training a Double Twisting Yurchenko. She's also training a BHS-BHS-LO, Shawn Johnson Style. (To 2 feet).
Lizzy LeDucis still recovering from elbow injuries that she sustained before moving to Zenith.
Nastia Liukin is "working out like crazy", verified skills on bars and is working beam and floor. She's been added to the National Team.
Katelyn Ohashi has the same bar set plus some new 1 hand pirouette work, like Onos.
Kyla Ross has no major upgrades on beam or floor yet. She's still got the Amanar, which looks good, and I'm not sure how her bars look.
Polina Shchennikovais training a BHS-BHS-5/2 beam dismount. She's also working a BEAUTIFUL L-Grip Endo to Jaeger! She has a minor knee issue, but nothing too serious.
McKenzie Woffordis reportedly training a tkatchev half into jaeger & a double double into pit on bars. HOLY UPGRADES!
All of the Texas Dreams girls look lovely on Bars and Beam.
Currently, I haven't heard about any girls going to Top Gym (begins 11/25).
Please don't ask "How is so-and-so?" You know everything that I know currently, and I will let you know more as soon as I find things out. More info will be coming later today.
Earlier this week, I had several people inform me that Rebecca Bross had been invited to camp. Until today, I was unsure if she was attending. However, a video on Polina Shchennikova's Facebook proves that she is at camp. (Thanks Rivka719 for the link!)
I've been told by a reliable WOGA source that Bross has been working some bars and doing a lot of conditioning. She's seen running with a knee brace in the video. I've also been told that Valeri likes his gymnasts "in the gym watching" even if they cannot actually participate.
If you were under a rock this summer, Bross dislocated her kneecap at the 2011 Visa National Championships on a Double Twisting Yurchenko Vault.
You can see an updated list of the girls at camp here.
It's expected that Top Gym Assignments will be given, along with another possible December competition.It's also possible that the Olympic Test Event team will be chosen at this camp, because as Jennifer stated in the comments, Nominative entries are due December 7th.
Here is the full list of camp attendees:
Kennedy Baker
Simone Biles
(Property of Gym Examiner)
Rebecca Bross Brianna Brown
Nichelle Christopherson
Bridget Dean Nia Dennis
Maddie Desch Brenna Dowell
Peyton Ernst Sarah Finnegan Amelia Hundley Brandie Jay
Elizabeth Price Lexie Priessman Kyla Ross Polina Shchennikova Mykayla Skinner
Kiana Winston
McKenzie Wofford
This list is based on conversations I've had with gymnasts/coaches & posts on twitter and other sites by gymnasts/coaches.
My guess is that it will be Junior National Team, Some Seniors and some extra invites.
The biggest shocks to everyone have been Amanda Jetter, who had pretty major surgery to repair her foot after complications with her Jesolo injury in Early September and Lizzy LeDuc, who was rumored to have dropped down to Level 10 after her move to Zenith.
Some comments on the McKayla Maroney Post, as well as on my Twitter prompted me to write this post about the National Team Warmup.
Many elite coaches swear on this. AOGC uses it (as McKayla told us), Texas Dreams does it on their Two-a-days, and John Geddert has said he uses it often as well. I'd suspect that more elite coaches use it than don't.
Gymnastike has a great video from Region 3 Camp about the Warmup:
After years of not being able to find a complete video of the National Team Warmup for years Beechurst10 came to the rescue! Here is a video of a modified warmup from 2007 TOPs A Camp. Below the video is a list of the exercises. It does not perfectly follow along with the video so don't expect it to. I'm not sure is this is modified for TOPs, if the warmup has changed since 2007 or both. Many of the exercises are in the video though.
Nica Hults and Nicki Shapiro (Sami's little sister who's going to be the best college gymnast EVER) are in this video (both in White), Polina Shchennikova is in Pink, and Bridget Dean is in Gold. Let me know if you find any other recognizable faces.
The owner of the video won't allow anyone to embed her video, but you can see a video of the warmup here.
Preparation Jump Rope (optional) Variation of jumping 5 minutes Walking Around Mat Head and wrist rolls 8-16 counts Shoulder circles w/bent arms 8-16 counts Arm swings Up, Down, Cross, Side 4 times each Trunk twists arms in opposition 8-16 counts Toe/Foot Stretches Ball of foot lifts R begins then switch, quick 8 times Top of toe lifts R begins then switch, quick 8 times Repeat 2 steps rebound, R begins 4 times Cardio Running Forward runs 3-5 passes Backward runs 1 pass Knee Lifts 1 pass Butt kicks 1 pass Prance, toes point, legs straight in front 1 pass Power skips using big arm swing 1-3 passes WalksHigh toe 8-16 counts Heel 8-16 counts
Splits Turn to R, R leg in front, stride stand, chest to knees 8 counts Deep lunge, toes pointing forward, back leg straight 8 counts Wider stride stand, R foot flexed 8 counts Deep lunge, toes pointing forward, back leg straight 8 counts L knee on floor, pull L foot to hip (Hamstring stretch) 8 counts Slide into R split, square off 8 counts Lift L leg, hold it with R hand 8 counts Release, L leg joins R in pike sit, turn over to knees Repeat lifting L leg to stride position From knee sit, step on L foot in lunge Move to R side lunge, L,R,L slide into side split 8 counts Wrist warm-up, top of hands, palms of hands - while in split Pull legs together and bridge, push thru shoulders 2-4 counts Tuck and roll 2 times Repeat
Conditioning On last roll, roll all the way up to: Straight jump, Tuck jumps (alternating) 5 each Roll back to back, crunches 25 Alternating V-ups 10 each Roll to R side for Arch ups 10 Repeat to L 10 Roll to tummy, Push-ups 15 Slide legs in to pike press, rebounds 5 each Kicks In lines, step R, kick L front, step L, kick R side, step R, kick L back, turn Repeat down the mat alternating legs Bend over kicks, touch floor with hands, kick R back straight then bend Repeat to L Report to personal coaches for additional warm-up and conditioning as time allows.
