Here is the final part in my series on reflecting on past National Championships. Read about 2013 below!


With 2013 being a post-Olympic year, there were a lot of new faces on the floor and only a few returning veterans. Kyla Ross and McKayla Maroney had decided to continue their training and were in attendance - Ross was competing All-Around still, while Maroney performed on vault and floor. Ross and Maroney had put together new floor routines, both of which received relatively high scores, particularly Maroney who received a 15.25 on Day 2. Maroney performed her Amanar with the same power that she always had, and Ross continued to impress on all four events, but was especially strong on bars.

New faces included Simone Biles, Madison Desch, Madison Kocian, Maggie Nichols and Peyton Ernst, to name a few. Peyton Ernst, a Texas Dreams gymnast, training with Kim Zmeskal, had actually placed 2nd behind Kyla Ross at Classics a few weeks prior. She had a couple of very strong routines, including on vault and bars, and ended up finishing 4th overall after two days of competition.

Madison Kocian, a WOGA gymnast, was also impressive, scoring highly on beam and bars on the first day of competition. She had an unfortunate step out of one of her tumbling passes on floor that day in which she rolled her ankle badly, and she ended up not competing on Day 2.

Though not new, Mykayla Skinner became a bit more well known in 2013. She had finished second on vault at Classics, behind Brenna Dowell. She did well at Nationals, although her scores were still not as high as many of the other gymnasts. Brenna Dowell was also not new to senior competition, but she certainly impressed at Nationals, finishing 3rd overall.

Simone Biles was the gymnast everyone was looking forward to seeing. She had already impressed at the American Cup (placing second in the All-Around) and Jesolo (placing first in the All-Around, as well as taking the beam, floor and vault titles). Her most notable routine was probably her beam routine on Day 1, when she performed her very difficult full twisting double tuck dismount and even stuck the landing. Biles and Kyla Ross had close scores throughout the competition, with Simone finishing Day 1 with just a 0.75 lead. On Day 2, Kyla Ross finished the competition on beam and would have needed a 15.45 to take the competition away from Biles. She performed one of her most exquisite beam routines, and if it hadn’t been for a slight wobble on her side semi and a hop on her dismount, she may have just taken the National title. Simone Biles was crowned National Champion that year, and went on to the World title as well.

 

Clearly, the US National Championships competition is an important one of the season - it will be interesting to see who comes out on top this year!


Related:
Read Part 1 featuring highlights from 2009 Nationals here
Read Part 2 featuring highlights from 2010 Nationals here
Read Part 3 featuring highlights from 2011 Nationals here
Read Part 4 featuring highlights from 2012 Nationals here