The Junior Olympic (J.O.) National Championships took place this past weekend in Des Moines, Iowa, where the top 7 gymnasts (in each age group, junior and senior) from the eight Regional Championships competed. For those who couldn’t be there, USA Gymnastics has uploaded some of the top routines from the competition on their youtube channel. We had a look and came up with a list of the top routines worth taking a look at, starting with the juniors.

Alyssa Al-Ashari (Twistars) - Uneven Bars

Twistars’ Alyssa Al-Ashari is a beautiful bar worker, with great lines and good form throughout - her legs are always locked together with toes pointed. Most notable is her stalder work, and she performs a high straddled Jaeger as her release move. We expect this routine to become even more impressive as she ups her difficulty in the next few years. Al-Ashari scored a 9.600 on this routine, the highest in the Junior A division.

Watch Alyssa's bar routine here


Kelsey Knox (Dynamo) - Balance Beam

Dynamo’s 13-year old Kelsey Knox is an impressive beam worker, due both to her beautiful choreography and her powerful acrobatic moves. Highlights from her routine include a back handspring step out into layout step out, layout step out - a tough series rarely seen at this level of gymnastics. She also demonstrates nice connections, including a side aerial into a sissone jump. Knox flows very nicely through the routine, hardly pausing at all, which is what the judges want to see. Knox scored a 9.65 on this routine, the highest in the Junior A division. Check out her routine below.




Chae Campbell (Metroplex) - Floor Exercise

Metroplex’s 13-year old Chae Campbell shows both flexibility and power in her floor routine. While many gymnasts struggled with hitting the full 180 degrees in their splits at this competition, Campbell had no trouble at all. Her split jumps throughout this routine show lots of height and range, demonstrating lots of energy outside of her tumbling. Her tumbling was also impressive, where she had great form and lots of power. Campbell scored a 9.625 on this routine, the highest in the Junior A division.

Watch Campbell's Floor Routine Here


Alexia Burch (Gym Nevada) - Floor Exercise

Gym Nevada’s 15-year old Alexia Burch showed off some beautiful choreography in her floor routine, which is set to powerful classical music. While she doesn’t perform the most difficult tumbling (although her opening double pike is huge), she performs every skill with great execution. The highlight of this routine is the choreography which really showcases Burch’s flexibility and ability to feel the music. She scored a huge 9.700 on this routine, the highest in the entire junior division.

Watch Burch's Floor Routine Here


Lauren Farley (WOGA) - Uneven Bars

WOGA’s 15-year old Lauren Farley’s bar routine is one of the most impressive in the J.O. field. She performs some tough skills, such as a piked Jaeger and a double front dismount, and she has superb form. She is especially good at hitting all of her handstands, keeping her toes point and her legs locked together. Farley has verbally committed to the University of Michigan for college. She posted a 9.625 on bars, tied with a few other gymnasts for the highest in the junior division. Check out her routine below.




Catherine Rogers (Epic Gym) - Balance Beam

Epic Gym’s Catherine Rogers performed an impressive beam routine, mainly because of her lovely form throughout. All of her movements in this routine are performed with such precision, and she keeps pointed toes and legs together on all her skills, including on her tumbling series. She also demonstrates some impressive connections, such as a switch leg leap into back tuck into split jump into wolf jump. Rogers scored 9.500 in the Junior D division on this routine. She has verbally committed to North Carolina for her collegiate gymnastics career.

Watch Rogers' Beam Routine Here




Related: 
Top Routines from JO Nationals: Seniors
Results: Junior Olympic Nationals 2015
These NCAA Teams Had the Best Meet at JO Nationals