Mikulak WINS P&G Championships

Aug 18, 2013 by Jennifer Teitell

Sam Mikulak is the senior national champion following two days of competition at the 2013 P&G Gymnastics Championships in Hartford, Connecticut after destroying the competition.

Heading into the first rotation, Olympian Sam Mikulak sat in first place, followed by Olympic teammate, Jake Dalton in second. Olympic alternate Alex Naddour was in third, followed by Josh Dixon in fourth. In fifth position was Olympic alternate Steve Legendre, followed by Olympian Danell Leyva, Brandon Wynn, and Olympian John Orozco in eighth.

In addition, seven juniors joined the senior field on day two. Based on their prior performances, they competed in the senior competition to try to earn spots on the senior national team.

In ranking order, the juniors were: Marvin Kimble of Milwaukee, Wis./Swiss Turners Gymnastics; Jacob Dastrup of Linden, Utah/U.S. Olympic Training Center; Yul Moldauer of Arvada, Colo./5280 Gymnastics; Anthony McCallum of Columbia, S.C./Hayden’s International Gymnastics Academy; Colin Van Wicklen of Magnolia, Texas/Cypress Gymnastics Academy; Yaroslav Pochinka of Plano, Texas/WOGA; and Bobby Baker of Lemont, Ill./Aerial Gymnastics Club.

Kimble and Dastrup had the top all-around scores for the junior elite 15-16 and 17-18 age divisions, respectively.

The first high bar routine of day two came from Danell Leyva, who competed in high bar finals at the 2012 Olympics. As on night one, Leyva performed his Yamawaki, trademark laid-out Kovacs with an arm flare, piked Kovacs kicked out, tkachev, and Rybalko. He dismounted with a laid out double twisting double back dismount with a small step, to a loud reception from the crowd. Leyva scored 15.6, three tenths better than his score on night one.

Next on rings, Sam Mikulak performed a clean routine, with just some minor trouble on his planche. He dismounted with a double double to earn a14.8.

Over on vault, Jake Dalton performed a Kaz double for his first vault, for 14.65, and a handspring double front for his second vault, scoring 15.0.

Next on rings was Lord of the Rings, Brandon Wynn. Wynn scored 15.75, with a massive 6.9 difficulty score.

Over on floor, John Orozco stuck his first pass, an Arabian double pike. He had a nice full in for his second pass, and completed a great routine for 15.15.

Paul Ruggeri brought the house down with his high bar routine, which included many releases and a gorgeous, stuck double twisting double layout dismount. He scored 15.25.

Steve Legendre next competed vault. He did a powerful Dragulescu for his first vault, with just a large step. Legendre landed his second vault, a tskuk double pike, but put his hand down. He scored 15.05.

On rings, Adrian de los Angeles performed well for 14.6.

In third place after night one, Alex Naddour next took to the high bar, performing a solid Kovacs and double double dismount, for 14.45.

At the conclusion of the first rotation of night two, Sam Mikulak and Jake Dalton retained their number one and two spots, with combined totals of 106.45 and 103.7, respectively. Josh Dixon moved up from fourth to third, with 102.75. Danell Leyva also moved up from sixth to fourth, with 102.5. Brandon Wynn jumped from seventh to fifth following his strong rings performance, coming in with 102.45. Alex Naddour dropped from third to sixth, with 102.35. Rounding out the top eight were Steve Legendre, with 102.15 and John Orozco, with 101.8.

At the beginning of the second rotation, Sam Mikulak started strong, with a Kaz one and a half. Mikulak watered down his vault slightly but executed and landed it extremely well, scoring 15.15.

Brandon Wynn then performed a strong, quick-twisting Kaz one and a half. He scored 14.95.

Paul Ruggeri next took to the floor. Performing two solid Arabians in the laid out and piked positions, Ruggeri continued to twisting passes, dismounting with a double double to raucous applause. He scored 15.8.

Over on pommel horse, John Orozco hit his routine, scoring 14.95.

Reigning NCAA floor champion, Trevor Howard, next performed on floor. Despite landing out of bounds on his second pass, Howard performed well, dismounting with a solid Arabian double front. He scored 14.7.

Next on parallel bars was Jake Dalton. Dalton had an error at the beginning of his routine and came off the bars. Dalton continued to struggle after remounting, but recovered quickly to perform a clean routine with nice lines and a strong, nearly stuck double pike dismount. He scored 13.85.

Over on floor, Alex Naddour hit his routine despite some form breaks, scoring 15.25 with a strong 9.05 execution score.

Danell Leyva next performed on floor. Leyva performed powerful tumbling, starting with a double twisting double layout, continuing with an Arabian double layout, on which he stepped out of bounds. He dismounted with a strong double layout, scoring 14.8.

Steve Legendre was up next on parallel bars. Legendre had some small struggles, but finished a clean routine with a stuck double pike dismount. He scored 14.6.

After two rotations, Sam Mikulak continued to lead with 121.6. Four points behind Mikulak in second place was Alex Naddour, with 117.6. After his fall on parallel bars, Jake Dalton fell to third, with 117.55, just 0.05 behind Naddour. Brandon Wynn followed in fourth with 117.4, and Danell Leyva was in fifth with 117.3. Tied for sixth were Steve Legendre and John Orozco, with 116.75. Also tied in eighth place were Josh Dixon and Paul Ruggeri, with 116.3.

Starting the third rotation, John Orozco hit a strong, well-executed rings routine, for 15.15.

Paul Ruggeri had a difficult time on pommel horse, scoring 12.95.

Continuing his streak of hit routines, Brandon Wynn performed a strong parallel bars set, for 15.1.

Jake Dalton next went to high bar, where he recovered from his fall on parallel bars, performing a connected tkachev gienger, layout tikachev with a half turn, Yamawaki, and a strong double twisting layout with a hop. He received a score of 15.2.

Night one pommel horse leader, Alex Naddour, next took to his specialty. He showed good rhythm and performed nice scissor handstands, a difficult full Kir, spindle, and a good dismount. He scored 15.6.

Steve Legendre next performed on high bar, where he performed both a piked and a tucked Kovacs and wowed the crowd with his triple back dismount. He scored 14.65.

Akash Modi was up next on parallel bars, where the crowd enjoyed his unique full twisting double back dismount.

Next on pommel horse, Dannel Leyva performed his excellent scissor handstands and hit his routine despite some leg splits and a struggle on his handstand in his dismount. He scored 13.6.

Sam Mikulak continued his strong two-day performance on parallel bars, hitting a gorgeous set ending with a beautifully stuck double pike dismount. He scored 15.55.

At the end of the third rotation, the top four remained unchanged: Sam Mikulak led the field with 137.15, followed by Alex Naddour with 133.2, Jake Dalton with 132.75, and Brandon Wynn with 132.5. Moving up to fifth was John Orozco, with 131.9, followed by Steve Legendre with 131.4. Danell Leyva was in seventh and Josh Dixon in eighth.

At the beginning of the fourth rotation, Jake Dalton took to the floor, one of his strongest events. Dalton opened with a huge, stuck Arabian double front, and continued to a whip to stuck Arabian double pike. Dalton continued to stick his side passes, and performed a nice rollout pass as well. Dalton dismounted with a beautiful triple twist, scoring a tremendous 16.1 with a 9.3 execution score.

Next, Dalton's former Oklahoma University teammate, Steve Legendre, performed on floor. Legendre, the leader on floor after night one, hit his incredible Arabian double layout full out, a nice roll-out pass, and an Arabian double pike dismount that was nearly a layout. Legendre had some small hops on his landings, but tremendous difficulty of 6.8, identical to Dalton's. Legendre scored 15.7.

Next on rings was Alex Naddour, who sat in second place after three rotations. He showed excellent strength and good control of the rings, dismounting with a unique one-and-a-half twisting double back. Naddour scored 15.6.

Next on vault, wearing his American flag knee brace, was John Orozco. Orozco competed a well-executed Kaz one and a half for his first competition back from serious knee surgery. He scored 14.1.

Danell Leyva followed on rings, showing nice strength, swing, and execution on an event that traditionally has not been one of his strongest. He dismounted with a small hop, scoring 14.1.

Next on high bar was crowd favorite, Sam Mikulak. Mikulak appeared to be visualizing his routine while awaiting his turn after a long TV delay. Mikulak performed his new skill, a Cassina, catching it and his Kolman. Mikulak dismounted with a laid out double twisting double back with a large hop forward. He scored 15.75, with a tremendous 7.0 difficulty score.

Paul Ruggeri was next on rings, dismounting with a solid one-and-a-half twisting double tuck, to loud applause, scoring 13.95.

The last competitor of rotation four was Brandon Wynn on high bar. Wynn began with a new skill, a Yamawaki with a half twist, and continued to a full Tak to Yamawaki, a Ribalko to a one-arm giant, and another one-arm giant. Continuing his hitting streak, Wynn dismounted with a huge, stuck full twisting double layout, scoring 14.95.

After four rotations, Mikulak continued to hold onto his virtually insurmountable lead, with 152.9, more than four points ahead of Jake Dalton, who moved up to the number two spot with 148.85 following his strong floor routine. Alex Naddour was in third with 148.8, followed by Brandon Wynn in fourth with 147.45. In fifth was Steve Legendre with 147.1, followed by John Orozco with 1146.0, Josh Dixon with 145.1, and Danell Leyva with 145.0.

At the beginning of the fifth rotation Steve Legendre performed on pommel horse, scoring 13.15.

Trevor Howard had a nice vault turn, scoring 14.85 with a 9.25 execution score.

Next on vault, junior competitor, Andrew McCallum, took a scary fall after his hand slipped on his block on the horse. McCallum, who competed a tsuk double tuck on the first day of competition, landed on the back of his head while flipping backward. A team of medical personnel attended to him and paused the vault rotation for some time before walked off the podium with some assistance.

Alex Naddour performed a clean a double twisting layout for his vault, scoring 15.0.
Next on vault was Danell Leyva, who charged down the vault runway but landed sitting down his two and a half twisting tsuk. He scored 13.8.

Sam Mikulak next performed a clean floor routine featuring excellent tumbling passes, including a beautifully executed roll-out pass and clean triple twist dismount. He scored 15.5.

Paul Ruggeri performed an excellent, nearly stuck Yurchenko half on, double twisting layout off, to roaring applause again. He scored 15.5, with a massive 9.6 execution score.

Next, Jake Dalton hit his pommel horse routine after falling on night one, for a score of 13.8.
Brandon Wynn performed on floor, continuing to hit his routines and showing a crowd-pleasing strength skill, and dismounting with a solid two and a half with just a small hop. He scored 14.85.

Over on parallel bars, John Orozco completed a good routine with a few struggles, finishing with a beautifully stuck double pike dismount. Orozco scored 15.35.

After five of six rotations, Sam Mikulak continued to run away with the national title, leading second-place Alex Naddour by 4.6 points. Mikulak had 168.4, while Naddour was at 163.8. Jake Dalton dropped to third with 162.65. Brandon Wynn remained in fourth, with 162.3. John Orozco followed in fifth with 161.35, and Steve Legendre was in sixth with 160.25. Stacey Ervin and Akash Modi were tied for seventh place with 159.0.

Beginning the last rotation, Alex Naddour performed on parallel bars, hitting nice handstands and dismounting with a double pike with just a small hop.
Next on parallel bars, Danell Leyva hit a clean routine with a new double front dismount. He scored 15.65.

Leader Sam Mikulak finished his championships on pommel horse, where he struggled with two falls. Despite scoring 13.0, Mikulak ran away with the national title.
Next, Paul Ruggeri completed a clean parallel bars routine, dismounting with a clean double pike dismount with a hop. He scored 14.75.

Jake Dalton followed with a strong rings routine, showing nice lines and a stuck dismount, scoring 15.0.

John Orozco finished his night on high bar, where he performed a solid Liukin, laid out tkachev half, straddled tkachev with a half twist, full Tak, and nearly stuck full twisting double layout. He scored 15.4.

Brandon Wynn finished on pommel horse, his weakest even, scoring 12.95.

Junior Marvin Kimble performed on high bar for his last event. Trying to earn a spot on the national team, Kimble performed a Tak, nice Liukin, half Tak, laid out tkachev half, and full twisting double layout with a small hop. He scored a 14.15.

Steve Legendre was next on rings, ending his day with a hit routine and excellent double twisting double back dismount. Legendre scored a 14.850

At the conclusion of day two, Sam Mikulak emerged as senior national champion, with a score of 181.4. Alex Naddour was in second with 178.5, and Jake Dalton was in third with 177.65. John Orozco moved up to fourth, with 176.75, followed by Brandon Wynn with 175.25. Steve Legendre was in sixth with 175.1, followed by Danell Leyva in seventh with 174.45. Battling his way back from night one, Paul Ruggeri tied with Akash Modi for eighth place, with 173.45

Event gold medalists were: Steve Legendre on floor, Alex Naddour on pommel horse, Brandon Wynn on rings, Eddie Penev on vault, and Sam Mikulak on both parallel bars and high bar.

Men's All-Around
1. Sam Mikulak, Ann Arbor, Mich., 181.400
2. Alexander Naddour, Queen Creek, Ariz., 178.500
3. Jake Dalton, Norman, Okla., 177.650
4. John Orozco, Colorado Springs, Colo., 177.050
5. Brandon Wynn, Columbus, Ohio, 175.250
6. Steven Legendre, Norman, Okla., 175.100
7. Danell Leyva, Homestead, Fla., 174.450
8. Akash Modi, Morganville, N.J., 173.450
8. Paul Ruggeri III, Manlius, N.Y., 173.450
10. Joshua Dixon, Colorado Springs, Colo., 172.950
11. Stacey Ervin, Ann Arbor, Mich., 172.550
12. Eddie Penev, Penfield, N.Y., 171.850
13. Donnell Whittenburg, Colorado Springs, Colo., 171.450
14. Adrian de los Angeles, Ann Arbor, Mich., 171.300
15. Marvin Kimble, Milwaukee, Wis., 170.900

Men's Floor
1. Steven Legendre, Norman, Okla., 31.600
2. Paul Ruggeri III, Manlius, N.Y., 31.450
3. Jake Dalton, Norman, Okla., 31.400

Men's Pommel
1. Alexander Naddour, Queen Creek, Ariz., 31.050
2. Luke Stannard, Urbana, Ill., 30.300
3. Michael Newburger, Columbus, Ohio, 28.750

Men's Rings
1. Brandon Wynn, Columbus, Ohio, 31.500
2. Alexander Naddour, Queen Creek, Ariz., 30.800
3. Michael Squires, Edmond, Okla., 30.400

Men's Vault
1. Sean Senters, Stanford, Calif., 30.750
1. Eddie Penev, Penfield, N.Y., 30.750
3. Paul Ruggeri III, Manlius, N.Y., 30.550

Men's P Bars
1. Sam Mikulak, Ann Arbor, Mich., 30.900
2. John Orozco, Colorado Springs, Colo., 30.100
3. Akash Modi, Morganville, N.J., 29.900

Men's H Bar
1. Sam Mikulak, Ann Arbor, Mich., 31.350
2. John Orozco, Colorado Springs, Colo., 31.300
3. Danell Leyva, Homestead, Fla., 30.900