To kick off the Secret U.S. Classic weekend, Hopes gymnasts competed in the U.S. Challenge. Sunisa Lee of Midwest Gymnastics and Deanna West of WOGA claimed the all-around titles in their respective divisions.

 

Lee won the 10-11 age division while West won the 12-13 age division.

 

Lee qualified to Hopes earlier this year. In addition to becoming a Hopes elite, Lee also had a successful J.O. season. She won first on bars and in the all-around at Level 9 Westerns and is the 2014 Minnesota State Floor Exercise Champion. 

 

Her success on bars and floor was evident as she competed in the Challenge. She began her floor routine by showcasing her flexibility and included a few combos in her tumbling passes. Her floor routine earned fourth place in the 10-11 division while her bar routine placed first.

 

West is also a state and Western champion as she won beam at 2013 Westerns and floor at the 2013 Texas state championships. At 2013 Westerns, she also placed second on vault. Her talent on vault and floor were showcased at the Challenge as she won both vault and floor at the Challenge in the 12-13 division.

Results below via USAG.

10-11



12-13

Pictured: Simone Biles

The 2014 Secret U.S. Classic concluded this evening and Simone Biles was named the senior champion and Jordan Chiles the junior champion. Biles scored an impressive 61.7 in her first meet back since the 2013 World Championships. Kyla Ross placed second all-around with a 60.5 and Maggie Nichols placed third with a 56.7. Chiles had a great meet and scored a 57.35, followed by Nia Dennis with a 56.75, and there was a tie for third between Norah Flatley and Deanne Soza with 56.15s. 

 

Seniors

 

Simone Biles started out in the lead with a great floor routine including her big double layout half out scoring a 15.8. Madison Kocian started on bars with a beautiful routine ending with a stuck half in half out dismount for a 15.4. Rachel Gowey had a shaky start on beam with a couple of wobbles and a few steps back on her new triple twist dismount but still scored a 14.85. Kyla Ross started on floor with her new whip to arabian double front pass and hit a solid routine for a 14.6. Mykayla Skinner had a rough start on her best event, floor, where she made her lay out double double but fell on her full in and scored a 13.4. Maggie Nichols started on bars and had some great releases but had to muscle through some of her moves.

 

In rotation two, Ross started with a beautiful double twisting Yurchenko. Kocian moved to beam but had a fall and scored a 13.55. Skinner had a nice Cheng vault but didn’t perform her Amanar and did a double twisting Yurchenko instead. Alyssa Baumann had a solid beam routine with a beautiful standing arabian. Biles had a great Amanar that scored a 15.9 but she landed a little short on her second vault. Gowey was on floor where she performed her new three and a half twisting tumbling pass but had a couple shaky landings scoring a 14.15. 

 

In rotation three, Ross started with a gorgeous bar routine scoring a 15.0. Biles followed with a solid routine scoring a 14.75. Gowey performed her new Amanar on vault but landed short and put her hands back and scored a 13.85. Nichols had a great floor routine with a double layout and pike full in scoring a 14.3. Ashton Locklear had an incredible bar routine with beautiful lines and a big straddle Jeager, scoring an impressive 15.7.

 

In rotation four, Biles finished with a bang on beam. While her routine was not her best, it was enough to score a 15.25 and secure her first place finish with a 61.7. Ross finished strong on beam with a gorgeous routine and stuck double tuck dismount. Nichols finished with a solid double twisting Yurchenko. Gowey finished strong on bars with a beautiful routine scoring a 14.15. Nica Hults performed a beautiful clean bar routine for a 14.5. 

 

 

Juniors

 

Most of the juniors field competed this afternoon but because of the large number of junior gymnasts, eight juniors were selected to competed in the evening session with the seniors. Read the afternoon recap here.

 

Norah Flatley started off tonight’s competition with a Yurchenko full on vault for a 13.6. It was a solid start for her on her weakest event. Emily Gaskins also competed just a Yurchenko full for a 14.0. Jazmyn Foberg performed a double twisting Yurchenko for a 14.4. Nia Dennis had a solid start on beam and scored a 14.45. Ragan Smith had a rough start on beam with a couple of wobbles and a fall on her series only scoring a 13.35. 

 

In rotation two, Dennis had an unfortunate fall on her last pass on floor and ended with a 13.1. Smith made up for her beam with her fun, crowd pleasing floor routine scoring a 14.35. Gaskins moved to bars where she had some beautiful releases and ended with a nearly stuck double layout for a 13.75. Flatley followed on bars where she didn’t have her best routine, catching her Jeager close and stepping on her dismount, but still scored a 14.15. Foberg was in the lead after two with a solid bar routine for a 13.8. 

 

In rotation three, Dennis started with a big double twisting Yurchenko but had a big hop back and scored a 14.75. Smith followed with a double twisting Yurchenko but opened and put her hands down. Foberg continued to beam scoring a 14.25. Gaskins had a beautiful beam routine and scored a 14.4. Flatley followed right after on beam missing her series into jumps combination but finished the routine strong for a 15.1. 

 

Dennis finished strong on bars with a beautiful routine with her signature huge releases but hopped forward on her new double layout dismount, scoring a 14.45. Foberg finished on floor with a 13.7. Flatley finished on floor with her new whip to triple opening pass and scored a 13.6. 

 

While Dennis had a strong showing and the top score for the juniors in the evening session, it wasn’t enough to beat first session’s Jordan Chiles who took the all-around title for the juniors. 

The first session of the Secret U.S Classic began on an energetic note as fan favorite Sydney Johnson-Scharpf competed first on floor. Some of Johnson-Scharpf’s passes included an Arabian double front and a double pike. She paired her tumbling passes with the sassy and energetic choreography she’s known for.

 

Though Johnson-Scharpf’s floor is one to remember, Naydenov’s Jordan Chiles scored highest on floor in the first rotation with a 13.95. Chiles also had an Arabian double front along with a double full to front layout, a 1.5 to 2.5 and a double back.

 

Other highlights of the first rotation include Deanne Soza’s double-twisting Yurchenko, which scored a 14.4, and Maile O’Keefe’s beam routine, which scored a 14.35. 

 

Chiles, O’Keefe and Soza continued to dominate in the second rotation. On vault, Chiles competed a double-twisting Yurchenko with a hop back to earn a 14.9. On floor, O’Keefe stuck her double pike, which helped her get a 14.1. On bars, Soza’s routine, which included a tkatchev, a Ray and a full twisting layout, gave her a score of 14.2.

 

In the third rotation, gymnasts other than O’Keefe and Soza dominated. Auburn’s Shilese Jones vaulted a double-twisting Yurchenko for a score of 14.0. WOGA’s Rachel Baumann scored well on beam with a 14.45 while Parkette’s Christina Desiderio did the same on floor with a 13.9. Desiderio’s passes included a double layout, a full in, 1.5 to 2.5 and a double tuck. Chiles continued to be consistent with scores with a 14.100 on bars. The stuck full out dismount was the highlight of her routine.

 

To finish the junior session, Chiles solidified her top spot in the junior session on one of the toughest events, beam. Her routine included a back-handspring-layout-layout combo and a two and a half twisting dismount.

 

First-year elite and J.O. National Champion also Delanie Harkness ended the meet well on uneven bars where she competed a blind full to gienger, a tkachev and a tuck full out dismount for a 13.750. On floor, Chow’s Victoria Nguyen and Baumann both received a 14.000 for their floor routines. Nguyen’s passes included a triple full, a double pike and a double tuck. For Baumann, she began with a two and a half to front layout and ended with a double pike.