2009 Men’s JO Nationals: Day 4 Event Finals
Posted on 10 May 2009 by admin
The 2009 Men’s JO Nationals concluded today in Cincinnati with the individual Event Finals. World Cup’s John Orozco continued to dazzle as he incredibly won national titles on five out of six events to go along with his All-Around title. Orozco won on floor, rings, vault (tied), parallel bars and high bar. His 2nd place finish on pommel horse prevented a clean sweep in the Level 10 (14-15) age division.
SCATS’ Sam Mikulak also had a spectacular day by placing 2nd on rings, parallel bars and high bar, as well as taking 3rd on vault and 4th on pommel horse. Black Hills’ Dominic Morris won the pommel horse title and Hocking Valley’s Trevor Howard tied Orozco for the vault title.
LEVEL 10 (14-15) NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
- FX – John Orozco (World Cup) – 15.05
- PH – Dominic Morris (Black Hills) – 15.00
- SR – John Orozco (World Cup) – 15.40
- V – John Orozco (World Cup) & Trevor Howard (Hocking Valley) – 16.45
- PB – John Orozco (World Cup) – 14.70
- HB – John Orozco (World Cup) – 15.05
In the 16-18 division, Gym Nevada’s Jake Dalton dominated on his signature events, floor and vault, and also captured the high bar title. His 16.80 on vault was outstanding. Gold Cup’s CJ Maestas took the rings and parallel bars titles. His performance on rings was superb as his 15.95 was easily the highest score of the entire meet on that event.
AZ Flairs’ Alex Naddour was the other event winner as he posted the highest score on pommel horse with a top-notch routine. Naddour tallied the most points after finishing 2nd on floor and high bar and tying for 5th on vault. Jesse Silverstein from U.S. Development was also great on Day 4 as he captured 2nd place finishes on rings and parallel bars, 3rd place on high bar and 4th place on pommel horse.
LEVEL 10 (16-18) NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
- FX – Jake Dalton (Gym Nevada) – 15.00
- PH – Alex Naddour (AZ Flairs) – 15.35
- SR – CJ Maestas (Gold Cup) – 15.95
- V – Jake Dalton (Gym Nevada) – 16.80
- PB – CJ Maestas (Gold Cup) – 14.95
- HB – Jake Dalton (Gym Nevada) – 14.70
CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO OF THESE SIX WINNERS
The Level 9 division had two gymnasts each capture two event titles. South Coast’s Timmy Wang and Orlando Metro’s Sean Melton posted the highest scores on pommel horse, vault, floor and rings, respectively. All-Around champion Allan Bower from Xtreme and Hocking Valley’s Andrew Rickly won titles on parallel bars and high bar.
True to form, Bower accumulated the most event finals points as he also placed 2nd (tied) on vault, 3rd on pommel horse, 6th on high bar and 7th on floor. Bower, Melton and Wang will be among an impressive group moving up to level 10 next season and will greatly add to a very strong group of returnees to that age division.
LEVEL 9 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
- FX – Sean Melton (Orlando Metro) – 14.80
- PH – Timmy Wang (South Coast) – 14.55
- SR – Sean Melton (Orlando Metro) – 14.15
- V – Timmy Wang (South Coast) – 15.55
- PB – Allan Bower (Xtreme) – 13.85
- HB – Andrew Rickly (Hocking Valley) – 13.65
CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE EVENT FINALS SCORES
Queen City Gymnastics put on a great meet at a first-class facility. We hope that future JO Nationals competitions will receive greater media coverage, especially in the form of videos and webcasting. This great event generates a lot of interest, and what better way than to use current inexpensive technology to get the word out.
These gymnasts work their tails off year round, and they deserve much more than the scant coverage they currently receive. It would be great to see the governing body grant permission to media outlets, such as Gymnastike, to provide some in-depth video coverage. This is a priority if we wish to grow the sport of men’s gymnastics.
In the meantime, we encourage folks to submit YouTube videos to MeetScoresOnline (MSO) to be embedded in the scores they have posted for the now-concluded 2009 JO Nationals.
Congratulations are in order for all the competitors at this great meet: you all put on a great show! Best of luck to the 36 Level 10 gymnasts who qualified to compete at the VISA Championships in August.
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CHECK OUT OUR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH SOME OF THE WINNERS
