Team USA continues to dominate Pac Rims, with the US men winning the team title on Saturday, 3/17/12, ahead of Japan and China.  Team USA's Chris Brooks won the senior men's all-around, and with Sam Mikulak second.  First-time international junior competitor, Akash Modi, won the bronze, behind Japan's Kaito Imabayashi and Koji Nonomura.  

All six members of Team USA will compete in event finals on Sunday, March 18, with two US gymnasts on nearly every event. 

The men's victory follows the women's sweep of the team and senior and junior all-around titles on Saturday, March 16.  For more on the women's performance, click here and here.
 

Courtesy of USA Gymnastics:

• Team Results
• Senior All-Around | Junior All-Around
• Event Finals Start Lists: SR | JR
• Official Kellogg's Pacific Rim Championships website

EVERETT, Wash., March 17, 2012 – The U.S. men's gymnastics team won the team gold medal at the 2012 Kellogg's Pacific Rim Championships at the Comcast Arena in Everett, Wash., after posting a 352.050 total score to Japan's 344.700 total. China finished in third, winning the bronze medal with a 343.250. Chris Brooks of Houston/Team Hilton HHonors (Cypress Gymnastics), and Sam Mikulak of Ann Arbor, Mich./University of Michigan, claimed the gold and silver medals in the all-around, posting 88.700 and 88.650, respectively. Koji Uematsu of Japan took home the all-around bronze medal with a score of 87.200.

"It's just an honor to be here. First and foremost, winning the team was the best part," Brooks said. "I was trying to hit my sets for the team, so winning the all-around was a bonus."

"Winning team gold was amazing – that was our number one goal coming out here. We're all so proud," Mikulak said. "I started to fall into a groove after rings, it was a pretty good meet."

The Americans took to the floor exercise in the final rotation. The team needed to average better than 12.9375 to pass Japanese, who competed in the first of two subdivisions. Akash Modi of Morganville, N.J./ Monmouth Gymnastic Academy, who won the junior all-around bronze medal with a 84.150, behind Japan's Kaito Imabayashi (84.900) and Koji Nonomura (84.400), started Team USA off with a 14.000.

"I didn't expect to win a medal," Modi said after the competition. "This is my first time competing internationally, and to win a bronze, is unreal."

Next, Sean Melton of Orlando, Fla./U.S. Olympic Training Center, scored 14.100. Then, Mikulak and Brooks posted scores of 14.550 and 14.850, respectively, to ensure the team gold medal and the top two places in the all-around. Jake Dalton of Reno, Nev./University of Oklahoma, anchored the U.S. squad, sticking an Arabian double layout mount for a 15.600 to further distance the USA from Japan.

"Our future looks bright. I'm very pleased with how our team looked tonight," said Kevin Mazeika, U.S. men's national team coordinator.

Team USA started their night on the pommel horse, posting a 53.950 total. Melton led the Americans off with a 12.900. Brooks had the team's highest score with a 13.850, followed closely by Mikulak with a 13.700.

In rotation two, the U.S. moved to the still rings where Dalton posted the team's highest score, a 15.150, dismounting with a tucked, double twisting double back. Brooks added a 14.650, performing an Azarian to cross and back uprise to Maltese, while Mikulak posted a 14.250.

The Americans exploded in the third rotation on the vault, posting a 64.150 team total on the event to take control of the competition. Dalton performed a Kasamatsu double twist for a 16.100. Mikulak's Kasamatsu one-and-a-half earned a 16.050, complementing Melton's nearly stuck, handspring double front leadoff effort (16.200).

On the parallel bars in rotation four, Melton started the team off strong, scoring 14.350 for a routine that included a peach half to peach. Second up, Modi performed a rare and difficult full twisting double back dismount to score 14.050. Mikulak and Brooks, who nearly stuck his double front dismount, added a pair of 14.850 scores, while Dalton posted a 14.650.

Again, Brooks and Mikulak provided the United States with a 1-2 punch on the horizontal bar in rotation five. Mikulak went first, soaring through the air on his Kolman release move and sticking his double twisting double layout dismount to post a 15.250. Brooks followed with a half Takamoto to layout Tkatchev and a layout Tkatchev with a half turn for a 15.650.

Competition at the 2012 Kellogg's Pacific Rim Championships conclude tomorrow with individual event finals for men's and women's gymnastics and trampoline competition.

The U.S. men will be back in action on tomorrow in the individual event finals, beginning at noon with the junior competition. The American athletes who advanced to the finals are as follows, in ranked order.

Juniors
Floor exercise: Melton, Kimble
Pommel horse: Modi, Kimble
Still rings: Kimble, Modi
Vault: Melton, Kimble
Parallel bars: Melton, Modi
High bar: Kimble, Modi

Seniors
Floor exercise: Dalton, Brooks
Pommel horse: Brooks, Mikulak
Still rings: Dalton, Brooks
Vault: Dalton
Parallel bars: Mikulak, Brooks
High bar: Brooks, Mikulak

The competition schedule is as follows.

Sunday, March 189 a.m. – Trampoline, Junior Prelims, Finals and Synchronized Competition 12 p.m. – Men's & Women's Gymnastics, Junior Individual Event Finals2 p.m. – Trampoline, Senior Prelims, Finals and Synchronized Competition6 p.m. – Men's & Women's Gymnastics, Senior Individual Event Finals7 p.m. – Synchronized Trampoline Competition

Held every two years, the Pacific Rim Championships were held in Honolulu in 2004 and 2006; San Jose in 2008; and Melbourne, Australia, in 2010. In 2010, the USA won both the men's and women's team titles and three of the all-around titles - John Orozco of the Bronx, N.Y./U.S. Olympic Training Center, junior men; Jordyn Wieber of DeWitt, Mich./Gedderts' Twistars USA, junior women; and Rebecca Bross of Plano, Texas/WOGA, senior women. Past all-around champions include the USA's Paul Hamm, Carly Patterson, and Nastia Liukin.