Pictured: Sam Mikulak, photo credit: Christy Ann Linder

Sam Mikulak defended his national title and was crowned the 2014 Senior National Champion. Mikulak had a rough day one but an incredible day two and came from behind to take the title with a 180.65. He was never in the lead at any point in the competition but steadily climbed his way up to first place. John Orozco finished in second place with a 180.2 and Jake Dalton finished in third with a 179.85.

 

Four junior men competed in the afternoon session with the seniors: Marty Strech, Hunter Justus, Bobby Baker, and Anthony McCallum. The results for the juniors competition will be announced following tonight’s junior session. 

 

Jon Horton started with a huge handspring double front vault earning a 15.0. Justus started out his competition with a nice rings routine that included a stuck dismount for a 14.5. Dalton also started on rings and had an excellent set, scoring a 15.5. Strech had an impressive high bar routine with a stuck layout double double scoring a 14.2. Leyva hit a nice rings set for a 14.2. Brandon Wynn struggled through his pommel routine but stayed on for a 12.35. Orozco started on pommel where he struggled on a couple handstands but hit his routine nicely for a 14.55. Mikulak was up on p-bars and looked much stronger than day one, hitting his routine for a 15.45. Sean Melton started on floor with a great routine for a 14.55. Alex Naddour finished the rotation on p-bars with a great routine including a stuck double pike dismount for a 14.95.

 

After rotation one, Dalton took the lead followed by Orozco, Mikulak, Naddour, and Leyva. 

 

Horton moved to p-bars where he executed a clear routine for a 15.35. Justus moved to vault where he performed a big handspring double front for a 14.95. Donnell Whittenburg was on rings where he had a very strong routine ending with a stuck layout double double for a big 15.75. Dalton performed a big Kas triple but landed short and stepped to the side off of the mats and scored a 14.7. Wynn performed his always impressive rings set with perfect lines and a full twisting double layout dismount that he flared open to stick. Wynn received an incredible 15.9. Orozco followed on rings with a great set for a 15.55. Mikulak was next on high bar with a beautiful Cassina, Kolman, and stuck double double dismount for a 15.8. Ruggeri hit his rings set for a 14.4. Naddour struggled a big on his high bar set but finished strong for a 14.2. 

 

After rotation two, Orozco regained his lead pushing Dalton to second. Mikulak kept his third place spot followed by Leyva then Naddour.


Pictured: John Orozco, photo credit: Christy Ann Linder

 

Josh Dixon kicked off the vault rotation with a gorgeous round off half on layout double twist off for a 15.25. Wynn followed with a huge Kas two and a half stuck for a 14.9. Orozco went next and ended up tucking his front handspring double twisting front off and scored a 13.5. Ruggeri was also on vault where he hit a nice round off half on layout double twist off for a 15.35. Dalton moved to p-bars where he executed a clean routine for a 15.4. Junior McCallum had a great vault for a 15.5. Mikulak performed a great floor routine ending with a stuck triple twist for a 15.65. Leyva executed a clean p-bars set with a stuck double front dismount for a 15.8 with a 7.0 difficulty score. Horton was on high bar where he hit his routine that included a big Kolman for a 15.2. 

 

Whittenburg was the highlight of the vault rotation where he performed two huge vaults. Vault one was a big Dragulescu with a step back for a 15.3. Vault two was an incredible Tsuk full in that had huge height but he took a couple steps back. The score was not released as of the end of the competition.

 

After three rotations, Dalton took the lead followed by Mikulak, Orozco, Leyva, and Whittenburg. 

 

Dalton moved to high bar where he had a nice hit set for a 15.25. Orozco moved to p-bars where he made it through his routine but stopped in the middle and received a 14.75. Leyva missed a skill on high bar but recovered nicely and stuck his dismount for a 14.8. Mikulak hit an incredible pommel set for a 15.45. Horton executed a clear floor routine for a 15.15. Naddour hit his pommel routine for a 15.25. CJ Maestas performed a great set on rings for a 15.5, the same as his night one. 

 

The leaders after four rotations remained the same with Dalton in the lead. Mikulak was slowly closing the gap between his score and Dalton’s. 

 

Leyva started out rotation five on floor with a clean set for a 14.8. Orozco was on high bar where he executed a awesome routine with a big Liukin for a 16.1. Mikulak was first up on rings and he hit a big set under pressure, sticking his dismount and earning a 14.95. Naddour followed on rings with a 15.3. Ruggeri had a beautiful bar routine and earned a 15.55. Dalton moved to floor, one of his strongest events where he opened with a stuck layout Arabian double front and earned a 15.65.

Pictured: Jake Dalton, photo by Christy Ann Linder
 

Heading into the final rotation, Dalton had the lead by 1.05. Mikulak was second and Orozco was third. If the three earned the same scores on their final events as night one, the final results would be Mikulak, Orozco, then Dalton.

 

Naddour finished on vault but put his hand down and scored a 13.85. Ruggeri had a big floor set with a beautiful, stuck layout double Arabian and earned a 15.45. Whittenburg finished with a strong set on floor, sticking his final pass- a piked Arabian half out. Mikulak finished strong on vault with a big Kas two and a half and a small hop forward. Dalton was up right after Mikulak and hit his pommel routine but only had a 5.0 difficulty and scored a 13.1. Orozco was last on floor and needed 15.45 to beat Mikulak. He hit his routine but had a little trouble on landings, scoring a 15.0 to put him in second place all-around. 


At the conclusion of the competition, USAG announced the Senior National Team. Read the list here. They also announced two teams for upcoming international competitions. 


Worlds:

Pictured (L-R): Naddour, Whittenburg, Orozco, Mikulak, Dalton, Leyva. Photo by Christy Ann Linder