National Rankings: USA Women's Start Values

Sep 12, 2013 by Anne Phillips

Martha Karolyi applauds McKayla Maroney's 2013 competitive debut on vault. Photo by Melissa Perenson.

The 2013 USA women's World Championships Selection Camp is officially underway. Eleven athletes are competing for just four spots on the 2013 World Championships team. From there, the gymnasts will compete for individual World titles in Antwerp.

Along with important qualities like consistency, the selection committe will base team placement on scoring potential. So, let's take a closer look at the group's recent performances. As you should all know by now, elite gymnastics scores today are made up of two parts: the difficulty score (or start value), and the execution score (how well they performed the skills).

We analyzed the difficulty scores of each of the eleven gymnasts participating in the World Team Selection Camp by looking at their D scores from the 2013 U.S. Secret Classic in July and both nights of competition at the P&G Championships in August. Below are the rankings.

Vault Contenders (athletes competing two vaults)

Athlete / D Score Vault 1, D Score Vault 2 / Total of the Two

McKayla Maroney / 6.30 (Amanar), 6.0 (Mustafina) / 12.30 total

MyKayla Skinner / 6.40 (Cheng), 5.8 (yurchenko double) / 12.20 total

Simone Biles / 6.30 (Amanar), 5.60 (laid-out Podkopayeva) / 11.90

Top Vault Averages (from Classic and Championships)
1) McKayla Maroney, 15.70, Championships day 2 [Vault 1 Video] [Vault 2 Video]
2) Simone Biles, 15.475, Championships day 2
3) Mykayla Skinner, 14.875, Secret U.S. Classic

McKayla Maroney has proven herself to be the Queen of vault. She was able to hold off Simone Biles for the 2013 National Vault crown and will once again be the favorite for the 2013 World Vault title. Even though Mykayla Skinner boasts a Cheng and a higher total start value, Biles finished in second place by over a point after averaging a 9.4875 execution score. Biles' clean form and controlled landings will put her in contention for a World medal along with Maroney.

All Around Vaults

Gymnast / D Score

Mykayla Skinner / 6.40 (Cheng)

Simone Biles, Brenna Dowell, & McKayla Maroney / 6.30 (Amanar)

Kyla Ross, Peyton Ernst, Kennedy Baker, Abby Milliet, Maggie Nichols, Elizabeth Price, Maddie Desch / 5.80 (yurchenko double)

Biles' near-perfect Amanar gives a serious boost to her all around score. Brenna Dowell competed the Amanar for the first time at the Secret Classic and has proven very consistent with the difficult skill. Elizabeth Price's normal vault is an Amanar. However, she was returning from injury and only competed a double at Championships.

Uneven Bars

Gymnast / Highest D Score / Average Start Score (from Classics & Championships)

Kyla Ross / 6.40 (all 3 meets) / 6.40 avg

Elizabeth Price / 6.30 (Champs, day 2) / 5.75 avg

Simone Biles / 6.30 (Classic) / 6.166 avg

Brenna Dowell / 6.10 (Classic) / 6.0 avg

Kennedy Baker / 6.0 (Champs, day 1) / 5.933 avg

Peyton Ernst / 6.0 (Champs, day 1) / 5.866 avg

Abby Milliet / 5.90 (Classic) / 5.6 avg

Maggie Nichols / 5.80 (Classic) / 5.733 avg

Maddie Desch / 5.60 (Champs, day 1) 5.55 avg

Top 3 Total Bar Scores:
1) Kyla Ross, 15.500 (6.4/9.10) Championships, day 2 [video]
2) Elizabeth Price, 14.80 (6.30/8.50) Championships, day 2 [video]
3) Simone Biles, 14.750 (6.10/8.650) Championships, day 1 [video]

With the team's highest start value and clean execution, Kyla Ross won the 2013 National Uneven Bars title by two points! Ross was the only gymnast at P&G Championships to be awarded over a 9.0 in execution on the event. Her bar routine in Finals scored was worthy of a World medal.

Dowell unveiled an impressive new combination on uneven bars during podium training at the Secret U.S. Classic: a Tweddle release to back straddle over. However, she has yet to hit it in competition. If Dowell has gained consistency in this combination and hits her full set at Camp, this will boost her start score and her chances of making the World team. She finished third on bars at both Classics and Championships. Should Price make the World Team, this will be her key event.

Balance Beam

Gymnast / Highest D Score / Average Start Score (from Classics & Championships)

Abby Milliet / 6.40 (Classic) / 6.20 avg

Peyton Ernst / 6.30 (Classic & Champs, day 2) / 6.233 avg

Simone Biles / 6.20 (Classic) / 5.933 avg

Mykayla Skinner / 6.20 (Classic) / 5.80 avg

Maggie Nichols / 6.10 (Classic) / 5.80 avg

Kennedy Baker / 6.0 (Champs, day 1) / 5.866 avg

Kyla Ross / 6.0 (Champs, day 2) / 5.833 avg

Maddie Desch / 5.90 (Classic) / 5.70 avg

Brenna Dowell / 5.70 (Classic & Champs, day 2) / 5.60 avg

Top 3 Total Beam Scores:
1) Kyla Ross 15.250, (6.0/9.25) Championships, day 2 [video]
2) Simone Biles 15.00, (5.90/9.10) Championships, day 2 [video]
3) Peyton Ernst 14.90, (6.30/8.60) Championships, day 2 [video]

Abby Milliet has added numerous upgrades in the past year and holds the highest U.S. start score at 6.40. However, she has yet to nail the intricate routine in competition. Her highest score came on night one of Championships where she earned a 14.60 (6.30/8.40/-0.1). A fall on night two left her 8th place on the event.

Peyton Ernst of Texas Dreams proves valuable and steady on this event. She won the beam title at the Secret U.S. Classic with a 14.70 (6.30/8.40). Confidently hitting beam at camp will put Ernst in contention for the team.

Lastly, don't be fooled by Ross's low D score ranking. Thanks to consistency and clean execution, Ross was the 2013 National Champion on this event. She really hit her stride night two where she scored a 15.250. Ross and her coaches have been working very hard on beam since Championships to ensure she hits each of her connections in competition. With her calm demeanor, international experience, and clean execution, we expect to see Ross on the team and in the beam final at World Championships.

Floor

Gymnast / Highest D Score / Average Start Score (from Classics & Championships)

Mykayla Skinner / 6.40 (Champs, day 1) / 6.333 avg

Simone Biles / 6.20 (all 3 meets) / 6.20 avg

Brenna Dowell / 6.20 / Champs, day 2) / 6.066 avg

McKayla Maroney / 6.10 (Champs, both days) / 6.0 avg

Maddie Desch / 6.0 / (Champs, both days) / 6.0 avg

Kennedy Baker / 6.0 / (Champs, day 2) / 5.933 avg

Peyton Ernst / 6.0 / (Champs, day 2) / 5.90 avg

Kyla Ross / 5.70 (all 3 meets) / 5.70 avg

Maggie Nichols / 5.70 (all 3 meets) / 5.70 avg

Abby Milliet / 5.70 (Champs, day 1) / 5.633 avg

Top 3 Total Floor Scores:
1) McKayla Maroney, 15.250 (6.10/9.150) Championships, day 2 [video]
2) Simone Biles, 15.050 (6.20/8.850) Championships, day 1 [video]
3) Mykayla Skinner, 15.00 (6.30/8.70) Championships, day 2 [video]

Mykayla Skinner's 6.40 start value ties with the highest in the World this year by a female elite gymnast. 2011 World Floor Champion Ksenia Afanasyeva of Russia also competed a 6.40 at European Championships. Skinner's score comes from pure power tumbling. She impressively manages to compete a laid out double double and tucked double double together in one routine! Even still, she couldn't quite keep pace with Maroney and Biles who used cleaner execution to go 1-2 on the event. Just like on vault, Skinner finished third. We expect to see Maroney and Biles in the World Floor Finals.

Maroney's 15.250 on night two of the P&G Championships is the World's highest floor score in 2013, according to uncletimtalksmensgym.

Highest Potential All Around D Scores

Based on the event D scores shown above, IF these athletes hit their highest D scores in one competition, here is where they would rank in the all around for start value alone:

1) Simone Biles, 25.00

2) Mykayla Skinner, 24.60

3) Brenna Dowell, 24.30

4) Peyton Ernst, 24.10

5) Kyla Ross, 23.90

6T) Kennedy Baker, 23.80

6T) Abby Milliet, 23.80

8) Maggie Nichols, 23.40

9) Maddie Desch, 23.30

Maroney and Price have not competed all around in 2013.

Top 3 Total All Around Scores:
1T) Kyla Ross, 60.50, Championships, day 2
1T) Simone Biles, 60.50, Championships, day 1
3) Brenna Dowell, 58.450, Championships, day 1

While it's fun to analyze, the D score is only half the battle. Since these two summer competitions, the gymnasts have focused almost entirely on boosting execution scores. It will be interesting to see who shows up to camp with the cleanest, most difficult routines. Now that we've crunched the numbers, who would you put on your World team?