Night one of the senior men's 2014 P&G Championships was filled with Olympians and big skills. The night was very much centered around the National team members who competed tonight with their eye on making the Worlds team later this October in Nanning, China.

 

Donnell Whittenburg began the night with a superb rings routine, where he ended with a double twisting double layout, scoring 15.45. Olympian John Orozco performed a strong, clean rings routine, ending with a gorgeous, stuck 1.5 twisting double tuck. He landed to loud applause and a score of 15.15. Back from two years out of competition, two-time Olympian, Jonathan Horton, was next on parallel bars, performing a solid routine starting his competition with a 15.30. Lord of the Rings, Brandon Wynn showcased his super-human strength on his signature event, showing beautiful cross work and punctuating his routine with a full twisting double layout, earning 15.50 - just 0.05 ahead of Whittenburg. Recently married Olympian Jake Dalton continued a successful string of hit routines with a nice pommel horse set, despite a slight struggle on his dismount. He scored 13.50. Olympian and 2-time NCAA all-around and team champion, Sam Mikulak, was next on parallel bars. He had some uncharacteristic struggles, including a large step forward on his double pike dismount. He scored 13.55. Olympic alternate, Alex Naddour, Team USA's top pommel horse worker, competed a great set for the start of his competiton, scoring a high 14.60 - third highest score of the night.  

 

At the conclusion of the first rotation, Wynn led the field, followed by Whittenburg, Horton, Akash Modi, and Orozco.  

 

Danell Leyva started the second rotation by hitting a great parallel bars set, with a double front dismount.  The 2012 parallel bars world champion scored a huge 15.45. Orozco hit the front of the vault with bent arms, which caused him to lack height and form on his front handspring double twisting front layout. Despite this and a large step forward, he scored 14.55. Paul Ruggeri on vault performed a Yurchenko half on, layout double twisting front off beautifully with his signature clean execution. He scored a desereved 15.35, which was the second highest of the night. Whittenburg performed a new vault - a huge nearly stuck Dragulescu. The crowd erupted, and the judges rewarded his terrific performance with a well earned 15.65, and a 9.55 execution score. It was the highest vault score of the night. Mikulak next recovered from his errors on parallel bars by a jam-packed routine that earned 15.55, with a 7.0 D score.

 

After the second rotation, Whittenburg led the field, followed by Wynn and Leyva. Horton and Orozco were tied for fourth, followed by Ruggeri. 

 

Horton performed a good floor routine despite some struggles on his landings and stepped out of bounds on two tumbling passes. Over on parallel bars, Orozco completed a incredible routine with a stuck double pike dismount. He earned a the highest score of competiton on this apparatus with a huge 15.60 with a 6.9 D score. He receieved loud cheers from the excited crowd. Dalton next performed on vault, one of his strongest events. He did a clean Kas double, scoring 15.20. Mikulak next took to the floor, where he sat down his full twist to punch double front, but fought through an otherwise very clean routine that ended with a stuck triple full. Next, Leyva, who competed in high bar finals at the London Olympic Games, performed an excellent, 7.0-D score routine finishing with a stuck double twisting double layout. The crowd went wild, and his dad and coach, Yin Alvarez, let out his signature, enthusiastic "Yesooo!" cheer. Leyva scored 15.75. 

 

At the conclusion of the third rotation, Whittenburg retained his lead, followed by Leyva, Wynn, Orozco, Naddour, and Horton.    

 

Mikulak next took to the pommel horse, hoping to move past his fall on floor.  He hit a solid routine that featured nice flare work and a clean dismount. Ruggeri performed an impressive one-armed giant and a number of high-flying release moves that earned him a huge 15.70 for his solid performance. His score was the second highest of the night. Next, Dalton performed a solid parallel bars routine with a stuck double pike dismount, earning 15.25. Orozco continued his solid performances on high bar, where he performed a range of incredible releases and finished with a stuck full twisting double layout. Highest score of the night when to him with a 15.75.
 

After the fourth rotation, Orozco moved into the lead following his strong performance on high bar. Wynn moved up to second, followed by Whittenburg, Leyva, and Naddour.  

Ruggeri tumbled cleanly, opening with a laid out double Arabian and with minimal steps on his landings. He celebrated after his great performance and he was given a well deserved 15.60. On high bar, Dalton performed a great routine and celebrated his stuck dismount landing with a fist pump and a score of 15.70. Orozco performed on floor, showing a beautiful tucked double, a nice flair sequence, and ending with stuck tucked half in, half out. He scored 15.20.

 

Heading into the final rotation, the top four remained the same: Orozco, Wynn, Whittenburg, and Leyva. Dalton moved into the fifth spot.  

 

Dalton started off the last rotation on floor, one of his strongest events. He opened with a huge laid out double Arabian, followed by a whip to a piked double Arabian. He dismounted with a nearly stuck triple twist, earning the top score of the night with a 15.65. Horton next performed a strong double front vault that opened out nicely with a step forwards, scoring 15.10 with a massive 9.5 E score. Up next on vault was Mikulak, who was in seventh place heading into the final rotation. Mikulak performed a solid Kas 2.5, scoring 14.90. Rings standout, C.J. Maestas, on his signature event showed great strength and shared the highest score of the night with Wynn earning a 15.50.

 

At the conclusion of night one, Orozco retained his lead, followed by Dalton, Leyva, Mikulak, and Naddour. Despite the unlucky fall from defending National Champion Mikulak, he still placed an impressive fourth place. Due to his pre-competition nerves and time out due to injury, Horton has much room to improve and competed well for his first night back in competition. Dalton competed consistently earning his spot in the top three tonight and Leyva showed an excellent all around performance. Night two will be a test of mental strength under high pressure to either repeat or prove themselves in order to be a contender for the 2014 men's worlds team. USA has great depth this year with exceptional talent and packed routines that could help the team win that gold team title this coming October in Nanning, China. It will be a battle to the end to make those six spots.

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