Brooks had a great meet, especially after dropping out of the recent Olympic Test Event in London.  He compiled the top scores on PB (16.00) and HB (15.40), while also posting 5th place numbers on FX (14.45) and SR (14.70).  Brooks appears to be healthy and raring to go for an Olympic Team berth.  Danell Leyva got off to a rough start on PH (11.55), but settled down to tie Brooks on PB (16.00) and earning the 2nd highest scores on FX (14.80) and HB (15.35).  Overall, Leyva fell three times and still finished in 3rd place (87.65).  He is definitely showing improvement on FX and SR, making him (and Orozco) a lock for the Olympic Team.

Paul Hamm competed in his first meet since 2008, and showed glimpses of his former self, but failed to qualify for Saturday’s finals.  He hinted in an interview with Gymnastike that he could compete again as early as next month’s Houston National.  Hamm was obviously frustrated with his performance, but was encouraged by the fact that he’s back in the game.

Taking a year off from vet school seems to be paying off for David Sender.  The sentimental crowd favorite put in a great day’s work and finished a very respectable 6th place (86.35).  Sender tallied the day’s top score on VT (16.25) and the 2nd best on SR (14.95).  He is now emerging as a credible threat to take one of the coveted 5 spots on the Olympic Team.

Another Stanford alum on the comeback trail also did well.  Sho Nakamori put up top 10 scores on 3 events (FX-8th-14.35, SR-9th-14.40, HB-9th-14.25).  His AA score of 86.05 was good enough for 8th place.

Other top scores for the day were Steven Legendre on FX (15.90) and CJ Maestas on SR (15.45).  10 club gymnasts ended up qualifying for Saturday’s finals (# of points scored in 20 point system).

• Jake Martin – (27)
• Chandler Eggleston (25)
• Yul Moldauer (19)
• Max Mayr (17)
• Marvin Kimble (17)
• Hunter Justus (15)
• Timmy Wang (11)
• Akash Modi (10)
• Jake Dastrup (9)

Top 10 event finishers for the clubbers were Chandler Eggleston (VT-2nd), Yul Moldauer (PH-8th), Max Mayr (PB-9th), Hunter Justus (VT-9th), Timmy Wang (PH-10th).

Top 10 Qualifiers based on 20 point system – 42 athletes qualify for finals:

1. Chris Brooks (85… 89.20)
2. John Orozco (81… 89.35)
3. Danell Leyva (72… 87.65)
4. Brandon Wynn (58… 87.00)
5. Sho Nakamori (54… 86.05)
6. Jesse Silverstein (54… 85.20)
7. Paul Ruggeri (53… 86.20)
8. Alex Buscaglia (52… 82.00)
9. CJ Maestas (51… 85.40)
10. Steven Legendre (50… 86.50)

Complete stats can be found here.

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Other notable scores for the Illini were tallied by Yoshi Mori (FX-15.00), freshman Mike Wilner (SR-15.20) and Phillips (PB-14.80).  Once again, World Team member Jake Dalton led the Sooners’ attack with his meet-high scores of 15.90 on FX, 15.30 on SR and 15.30 on PB.  He was the only all-arounder of the meet and put up an 88.40.  Another standout for the Sooners was Raymond White, who contributed a 15.20 on FX and 14.90 on VT.  Michigan was led by Sam Mikulak’s winning score on PH (15.00) and the freshman combo of Stacey Ervin (FX-14.70, VT-14.70, PB-14.60) and Adrian de los Angeles (FX-14.70, PB-14.70).

Special mention:  Paul Ruggeri’s two event titles enabled him to surpass Coach Justin Spring on the Illini’s all-time career list with 60 event titles.  No doubt he has plenty more to win!  In the above link, Coach Spring mentioned that Ruggeri’s routine was “watered down.”  Ruggeri later confirmed that with this tweet… “@RuggeriIII: @StickItMedia haha I was gassed and did endo full to mix instead of eagle and I took out a jam so I lost 4 tenths start value.”

Anne at Gymnastike has posted some great videos from the Illinois-Oklahoma-Michigan meet.

At the West Point Open, Penn State bounced back after last weekend’s loss to Michigan to sweep all six events in the seven-team field (Penn State-352.00, Temple-342.30, Army-326.20, Navy 324.00, Springfield-322.20, Arizona State-318.90, Brockport-247.30).  The stars for the Nittany Lions were Parker Raque (FX-15.30, SR-15.10, VT-15.00, AA-85.50), Tony Beck (PH-15.30), freshman Tristan Duverglas (VT-15.10) and Scott Rosenthal (SR-16.10).  The two-day meet concluded on Saturday with event finals.  Raque and Duverglas again posted the top scores on FX-15.10 and VT-15.30, respectively.  Miguel Pineda (15.10) wrested the SR title from Rosenthal, while freshman Craig Hernandez won his first collegiate event title on PH.  In his second meet, Hernandez is starting to fulfill his well-touted promise, and he did so in style.  His 15.65 is the nation’s top score so far, and it broke the school record of 15.60 previously held by Casey Sandy.

Notable scores were also posted by Navy’s Andrew Faulk (AA-84.60), Temple’s Adam Al-Rokh (AA-83.20), Taylor Brana (SR-15.00), Alex Tighe (HB-14.30) and Evan Burke(FX-15.10), Army’s Jonathan Hoey (PH-14.90), ASU’s Alex Gaudauer (SR-14.50) and Springfield’s Ryan Ponce (SR-14.90).

Of special note, the Brockport team deserves some link love here and some support!  The Golden Eagles are led by junior Ron Ayell0 and freshmen David Albaranes and Alec Chatterton.

Down on the Farm at the Stanford Open, the host team (348.40) won their 2nd straight meet over Cal (339.00), Nebraska (332.60) and Washington (251.20).  In what one team called “the meet of his life,” Eddie Penev accomplished just that, posting career highs in the AA (89.20), SR (14.50), PB (15.00) and FX (16.20).  Joining in the fun were James Fosco on SR (15.20), Gabe Alvarado (T-1st PH- 14.50) and Sean Senters on VT (15.00).  Freshman Brian Knott placed 3rd AA (84.90).  Top finishers for Cal were Donothan Bailey (AA-87.40, FX-15.40), Glen Ishino (T-1st PH-14.50, FX-14.80) and Daniel Culpepper (PB-14.50).  Leaders for Nebraska were Grant Perdue (FX-14.80, VT-14.70) and Andreas Hofer (AA-81.50).  Top scores in the elite division were posted by Bryan del Castillo (AA-86.90, FX-15.10, PH-14.40), Sho Nakamori (SR-15.00, PB-15.30) and Kyle Bunthuwong (VT-14.80, HB-15.10).  Akash Modi (88.70), Travis Gollott (84.00) and Andrew Botto (81.85) were the high scorers in the Level 10 club division.

Speaking of club competition, Marvin Kimble (Level 10 – 14/15) scored an outstanding 90.10 last weekend at the Swiss Cup.

Minnesota made the trek to Colorado Springs, where they posted a season-high team score (345.40) in their victory over Air Force (337.70).  Top performing Gophers were Zack Chase (1st-VT-14.70), Russ Dabritz (1st-PB-15.10), Josh Wokurka (1st-FX-14.70, T-1st-HB-14.40) and freshmen Ellis Mannon (1st-PH-14.50) and Steven Jaciuk (T-1st-HB-14.40).  Leading Air Force’s season-high team effort were Devin Menefee (1st-SR-15.00) and Mac Ritchie (T-1st-HB-14.40).

UIC hosted a dual meet, where visiting Iowa prevailed (332.10-325.20).  The Hawkeyes’ Javier Balboa put up a season-high AA (84.80) and a school record 15.00 on PB.  Anton Gryshayev added titles on PH (14.20) and SR (14.10), and teammate Broderick Shemanski took the HB title (14.20).  Dan Zerbel was the Flames’ top performer, as he won the FX title (15.10).  The Flames also claimed team titles on FX and PB.

Most teams this weekend either rested or gave limited lineup positions to Winter Cup-bound gymnasts, which is understandable since Senior National Team spots are up for grabs and because this is an Olympic year.  The college action will start back up in earnest in a couple of weeks, and look for individual and team scores to be on an upward trajectory leading up to conference and NCAA Championships.  I plan to attend Winter Cup to watch the Saturday night competition.  If you see a bearded tall, skinny guy either walking aimlessly along the runway, or standing up against the rail clutching a program in one hand and an iPhone in the other, please approach and say hello!

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“So, why was Paul Hamm, the Olympic all-around champion, who is competing in one-of-three ginormous pre-Olympic competitions, buried in USAG’s Jan. 23rd press release? Hamm was relegated to a brief mention in the sixth paragraph with zero mention of any past honors.”

Granted, Hamm had been slated to appear at previous Winter Cups, including last year’s, only to be unfortunately sidetracked by untimely injuries/surgeries.  By all indications, especially his recently posted video on Facebook, Hamm is ready to roll.  Nobody expects him to compete all six, and if he ends up doing two or three events, those attending next week’s competition in Las Vegas will not be disappointed.

Black went on to compare Hamm’s legal scrape to those of other athletes, some of which are now highly revered.

“The buzzwords of “arrest, assault, drunk and disorderly” do NOT represent the same “crimes” as those of Olympic diver Bruce Kimball, or the NFL’s Donte Stallworth, or track’s Marion Jones, and other high profile athletes charged and convicted of felonies… Do people think Olympic fighters and wrestlers are squeaky clean? Olympic gold medalist Muhammad Ali was a “draft dodger;” now a saint. Bode Miller went “old school” at the Olympics and partied hardy, and he is still skiing and winning races despite a ton of negative press.”

Quite frankly, while the state of U.S. men’s gymnastics is on an exciting upward trajectory, as Black rightfully points out, we need to “focus on the gymnastics, and on who are the five best American gymnasts to send to London to walk onto the podium come men’s team finals.”  If Hamm demonstrates he can contribute, whether it’s on two or three events or all six, he deserves a fair shot at being picked for the team.  What makes things more frustrating is that we can send only five gymnasts to London, which makes the decision-making process much more agonizing, both for fans and the selection committee.

Many people are disappointed in Hamm’s relative lack of public contrition, but he’s entitled to due process, and is undoubtedly following the advice of his attorney.  Some have either speculated or knowingly hinted at the possibility that Hamm was hung out to dry by friends that fateful night in Columbus.  Perhaps he was tossed into the cab to fend for himself.  This is not an excuse, but just another way to look at all the possible scenarios that evening.  He will eventually have his day in court, and all of this but the personal memory and YouTube video will remain.  Paul Hamm has produced a life-long body of work that commands respect.  It should not be spoiled by one bad night.  He still deserves respect and a completely fair shot at making the ’12 team. Whether or not he deserves that spot will be entirely up to him to prove.

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In what was anticipated as the day’s top match-up, #3 Oklahoma (353.15) upended #2 Ohio State (347.75) in Columbus.  The Sooners had a clean sweep of team event titles, and Jake Dalton won every event he touched except for pommel horse.  His 89.00 AA easily was the nation’s top score of the weekend, and he posted scores of 15+ on FX (16.25), SR (15.20), VT (15.00), PB (15.10) and HB (15.55).  The Sooners received significant contributions from freshmen Alec Robin (FX-14.90), Jacoby Rubin (PH-14.60) and Dylan Akers (FX-14.95) and Michael Reid (PH-15.00).  This enabled the Sooners to exceed last weekend’s team score by 10 points, and should propel them into the top of GymInfo’s rankings.  The Buckeyes were led by Blaize Monks (FX-15.20, HB-15.05) and freshmen Drew Moling (SR-15.20, HB-14.80) and Larry Mayer (VT-15.00).

Illinois notched the weekend’s second-highest team score (352.30), as they trounced improving Iowa (326.20) on the road.  CJ Maestas (86.80), Paul Ruggeri (86.20) and Tyler Mizoguchi (85.40) competed AA for the Illini, showing off their depth in that discipline.  Maestas (FX-15.60, PH-15.00, SR-15.60) and Ruggeri (VT-15.40, HB-15.80) put up some monster numbers, along with Mizoguchi (PB-15.20) and freshman Mike Wilner (SR-15.20), to lead the Illini attack.  Javier Balboa was the star for the Hawkeyes, as he tallied an 84.20 in the AA.

In a dual meet, Minnesota defeated UIC (339.40-321.30). The Gophers improved on their opening weekend team score and received strong performances from Russell Dabritz (SR-14.70) and freshman Kyle Banks (FX-15.00).  Banks, an underrated recruit with much upside, is turning into quite the recruiting prize for Coach Mike Burns.  The Flames were led by Dan Zerbel’s 15.30 on FX.  The Gophers put up a great highlight video from the meet.

In a 5-team meet hosted by Navy (309.80), Temple (330.80) dominated over a field that also included Springfield (308.00), William & Mary (307.90), and Brockport (204.80).  Temple’s Adam Al-Rokh (82.40) had the highest AA score over Navy’s Andrew Faulk (81.60) and William & Mary’s Daniel Potemski (79.50).

In the evening’s nightcap, Stanford turned the tables on Cal (345.60-340.45) in a dual meet at the Farm.  Eddie Penev was the Cardinal’s ironman, as he put forth a great effort on six events (88.55).  He also turned in the 2nd highest FX score of the weekend (16.00).  Freshman Brian Knott also competed AA (84.00) and tallied consistent scores across-the-board.  The Bears were led by Glen Ishino on PH (15.60… highest PH score of the weekend), Matt del Junco (PH-14.80… a career high and Donothan Bailey in the AA (84.85).  Just before the meet, Cal’s Dennis Mannhart was forced to withdraw due to an injury.  According to Coach Tim McNeill, Mannhart’s absence caused some disruptions in the Bears’ lineup, as they only competed four gymnasts on some of the events.  These two team will duke it out again next weekend, along with Nebraska, at the Stanford Open.

In a Sunday dual meet, hosted by Air Force, Nebraska (336.55) prevailed over the Falcons (331.75).  Highlights for the Huskers were Andreas Hofer in the AA (82.20), Eric Schryver on PH (14.70) and freshman Grant Perdue on FX (14.15).  The Huskers put this meet away early by winning the team title on PH by 4.5 points.

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Other top performances of the weekend were Penn State’s Scott Rosenthal on SR (16.30), Mikulak on FX (15.60), Glen Ishino on PH (15.00) and Stanford RS frosh Sean Senters on VT (15.20).  Speaking of vault, if you noticed a relative reduction in scores, it’s because of the new NCAA scoring rule that devalues the competitors’ start value by a full point.  Senters, who sat out last season with a knee injury, was featured in a great interview on the Stanford website.

Penn State was the highest scoring team by over 5 points (349.80).  This bodes well for the Nittany Lions, as they were without the services of All-American Miguel Pineda, Felix Aronovich and freshman Craig Hernandez. Penn State is going to be a force on rings, especially with Pineda in the lineup.  Nihir Kothari’s 15.80 was huge, helping boost the team rings score to 61.20.  The Lions have five guys on rings capable of hitting 15-plus. Expect the Lions to put up big numbers on pommel horse and floor as well.  This team will not only contend for the Big 10 title, but should also make a lot of noise at the NCAA Championships.

Without a doubt, though, it was a weekend dominated by low team scores, which has completely tweaked the college rankings.  Unlike the relative subjectivity of ranking college hoops and football, the current MAG ranking system is based strictly on scoring.  As it usually turns out, the highest scoring teams during the regular season, don’t always win the title.

With both teams less than full strength, Cal upended the defending national champs, Stanford, in the Bears’ home opener (340.90-334.80).  Meanwhile, at the Rocky Mountain Open, Oklahoma (343.70) opened with a win over much-improved Air Force (333.30) and Nebraska (331.30).  The Sooners shared six event titles at that meet.  Also competing were the athletes from the nearby Olympic Training Center… John Orozco, Andrew Elkind, Jake Dastrup, Josh Dixon, Jake Martin and Sean Melton.  Orozco put up an 87.50, that included a 15.40 on rings.

Week 1 top scores:

• AA:  CJ Maestas (Illinois-86.50)
• FX:  Sam Mikulak (Michigan-15.60)
• PH:  Glen Ishino (Cal-15.00)
• SR:  Scott Rosenthal (Penn State – 16.30)
• VT:  Sean Senters (Stanford-15.20)
• PB:  Syque Caesar (Michigan-15.50)
• HB:  Paul Ruggeri (Illinois-15.40)

The top club meet of the weekend was at the Windy City Invite, hosted by UIC.  This annual affair featured Saturday night’s collegiate action, and also a regional competition consisting of 6-man teams (Level 10) from most of the regions.  Ohio State (344.50) handled the six-team field by topping Illinois (341.90), Michigan (338.70), Minnesota (338.100), UIC (327.20) and Iowa (316.80).  Led by All-American Ty Echard (14.60), the Buckeyes had three gymnasts score over 14.00 on pommel horse.  Minnesota freshman Kyle Banks made a statement with his 15.00 on floor.  The Gophers show much promise and look to be much improved.

The top team in the regional competition was Region 5 (Bobby Baker, Alex Diab, Trevor Howard, Andrew Rickly, Michael Burns and Kevin Baker).  Posting the top optional scores were Connor Lewis (LV9-78.60), Michael Burns (L10-14/15-83.90) and Trevor Howard (LV10-16/18-86.00).  In the elite division, David Sender, who is taking a year off from vet school to train, posted an 85.15 to place 3rd behind ex-Buckeye Tai Lee (85.80) and Akash Modi (85.65).  Modi placed 3rd in the Level 10 (14-15) division at last summer’s VISAs and 2nd at JO Nationals.

In a battle of three of the top teams in the country, Swiss Turners came out on top over SCATS and Azarian at the Vitaly Scherbo Invitational in Las Vegas.  The scores from that meet have not yet been posted, but Swiss Turners’ Dmitri Belanovski won the AA (86.40) over SCATS’ Alex Powarzynski (83.40) in the 16-18 division.  In the 14-15 division, Azarian’s Marty Strech eked out the win (83.90) over Swiss Turners’ Marvin Kimble (83.30).  Swiss Turners coaches Andrei Kan and Alex Belanovski brought quite a large contingent from Wisconsin for this meet, and they were certainly impressive to watch.  A few notables sitting out this meet were SCATS’ Jesse Glenn and Kanji Oyama, along with Azarian’s Kevin Wolting.  No doubt all three will be ready to go in a few weeks at Winter Cup.

The inaugural Iron Cross Challenge took place in Tacoma, WA.  Proceeds from the meet benefit the Iron Cross Foundation’s scholarship fund.  Also, nearly 2000 meals were donated to the area’s local food banks.  Michigan commit Konner Ackerman easily posted the meet’s highest AA score of 86.10, and won every event except for rings.

The college action will have a full slate again this weekend, and here are some of the top matchups:

• Cal at Stanford (1/21)
• Oklahoma at Ohio State (1/21)
• Illinois at Iowa (1/21)
• Penn State at Michigan (1/21)
• UIC at Minnesota
• Air Force at Nebraska
• William & Mary, Temple, Springfield @ Navy Open
  

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Dmitri moved to the U.S. when he was six-and-a-half years old, and soon took up the sport at age seven.  He and his family have already started the process to become U.S. citizens, and they will achieve that dream in just a couple more years.  After already scoring high enough to qualify for the VISA U.S. Championships the past few seasons, Dmitri will soon be eligible to compete.

Alex was kind enough to provide some comments on his son’s development.  “I never thought my son would be a gymnast because I spent 20 years in gymnastics, and I thought it would be too difficult of a sport for him.  I remember my mom and dad were very worried about me when I was competing, and I didn’t want to become that worried parent.  When you compete, you’re less worried about yourself than your parents or coaches are.  Finally, he came to our gym and was asked to join the gymnastics team, so I agreed, just because I wanted him to become a strong kid.  But then he started to enjoy the sport and started to give me headaches from being worried so much.”

Dmitri has compiled exemplary competition results over the past several seasons.  Here are a few highlights:

• 2011 JO Nationals (Level 10 14/15) – 4th AA, 1st PB, 4th FX, 4th PH
• 2010 JO Nationals (Level 10 14/15) – 7th AA, 3rd PH
• 2009 JO Nationals (Level 9) – 5th AA, 4th PH, 6th PB, 2nd HB
• 2008 JO Nationals (Level 9) – 13th AA, 2nd HB
  

StickItMedia recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dmitri Belanovski, or if you’re on Twitter, @DimaBelanovski:

SiM:  What do you recall from your beginning days in gymnastics?

Dima:  What I recall from my beginning days in gymnastics is how I got started.  I always used to come into the gym to play around, because my parents worked there.  One day, one of the coaches asked me to join his class, so I decided to give it a try and ended up moving up to team and competing.  I also remember winning all around at my very first meet, and I still have the medal hanging up in my room right now.

SiM:  What is the best advice you’ve ever received, and what advice would you give to a young compulsory gymnast?

Dima:  The best advice I have received is to never give up, and that everybody has bad days and bad moments in their life.  This really motivated me to just keep working hard and to move on to the next practice if one practice goes badly.  I would give the same advice to a young compulsory gymnast.  If you can’t get a skill, just keep working at it and it will come to you eventually.

SiM:  Please describe your training experience at Swiss Turners (coaching & teammates).

Dima:  Training at Swiss is a really interesting experience.  We are really close with one another and are almost one big family.  Also, at Swiss we are very competitive with one another.  We always try to find a way to make a contest out of what we’re working on.  I find this very helpful, because we are pushing each other to do our best.  Win or lose, there are never any hard feelings.  At Swiss, we also like to joke around a lot, and we always try to have fun while getting our work done, of course. Another interesting experience is the coaching we have.  We have 3 coaches (Stacy Maloney, Andrei Kan, Belanovski) who all have different experiences with the sport of gymnastics, so you’re always getting a bunch of different corrections, or they all tell you the same correction so you know it’s important to fix.

SiM:  What are your biggest challenges to remaining highly competitive?

Dima:  My biggest challenges are staying healthy and constantly improving on my skills and routines.  I want to keep making my routines more difficult, but also perfecting the skills I have in the routines.

SiM:  What are your most difficult events, and why?

Dima:  The events most difficult for me are high bar and horse.  They are difficult for me because both events are hard to become consistent on.  High bar you have to learn how to catch your release moves consistently, and on horse you just have to learn how to stay on and fight through your routine.

SiM:  Who are your role models, and why?

Dima:  My role model is my dad.  Being my coach, my dad always knows what’s best for me and always knows what to do.  He has helped me so much with my gymnastics career, and has never given up on me.  My dad has taught me a whole lot about never giving up.  He always tells me to try my best, and if I do my job, things will turn out how I want them to turn out.  My dad also inspires me to be the best gymnast I can be, because he went to the 1996 Olympics, so I know that it’s not an impossible goal to go to the Olympics just like he did.

SiM:  What new skills do you plan to add next season?

Dima:  I have added a lot of new skills this year, but a few major ones that I have learned are double layout/whip two and a half on floor, straight body planche on rings, Kas full on vault and yamawakee on high bar.

SiM:  What are your goals for the remainder of your club career?

Dima:  My goals for the remainder of my club career are to keep making National Team, and to get top three in the all around.  Also, keep on making event finals at Nationals and win some events too.

SiM:  Do you plan to compete at the collegiate level?

Dima:  Yes, I do plan to compete at the collegiate level.  It would be an amazing opportunity to compete for any college.

SiM:  Please list three things you would do to help make men’s gymnastics more popular.

Dima:  Three things that I would do to make men’s gymnastics more popular are get it to be televised more on ESPN, make commercials about how great a sport it is and just tell people to come and watch a competition sometime to see if they like it.

SiM:  What are your proudest gymnastics and non-gymnastics achievements?

Dima:  My proudest gymnastics achievements are making the National Team multiple times and winning parallel bars at last years Nationals.  My proudest non-gymnastics achievement is getting good grades in school and always keeping up with my school work.

SiM:  Please describe your best interactions with the Hamm brothers.

Dima:  I’ve known the Hamm brothers since I first started gymnastics.  My best interactions with them was going bowling with them, my dad and Andrei when I was little.  Also, sometimes they would come to my house or Andrei’s house, so it’s nice to be able to talk to them outside of the gym and to see what kind of people they are outside the sport of gymnastics.

SiM:  How has it been to have parents who happen to be gymnastics coaches?

Dima:  I really like having parents that are gymnastics coaches.  They always know how to treat an injury, and they can relate to the problems you are having in the gym.  Also, they always know what you’re talking about, unlike a normal parent that you would have to explain the skills you’re doing at the gym, or to explain the scoring system.

SiM:  What is your favorite thing about walking into the gym every day?

Dima:  My favorite thing about walking into the gym everyday is seeing all my teammates that are like brothers to me and working hard to improve on all my routines.

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Mikulak got things rolling with his remarkable performance winning the 2011 NCAA all-around title as a freshman.  Though not achieved in the same calendar year, Mikulak won all-around titles at the 2010 JO Nationals (May), 2010 VISA U.S. Championships (August), and his NCAA title came in April 2011.  This was an historic grand slam!  All was going gangbusters for him, but a mishap on floor at last July’s Puerto Rico Cup resulted in two fractured ankles.  This prevented him from taking a crack at a potential Senior Division all-around title at VISAs and a berth on the World Team.  He is almost fully recovered, and will represent the U.S. at next month’s Olympic Test Event in London.  Mikulak most assuredly has a legitimate shot at making the ’12 Olympic Team.  ***1/1 Update***  Due to a “slight” wrist injury, Mikulak was forced to drop out of the Test Event.

After decisively winning his first VISA all-around title, Danell Leyva capped off his big break-out year with a World Championship on parallel bars.  Leyva was also in the running for an all-around medal and placed in the top 10.  Leyva is arguably the American men’s anchor, and is a shoo-in for a spot on the Olympic Team.  He continues to improve on floor, pommel horse, rings and vault.  Undoubtedly, Leyva is an Olympic medal contender on parallel bars and high bar.

After injuring his achilles tendon at the 2010 VISAs, John Orozco spent the rest of 2010 and most of 2011 rehabbing.  A big part of his recovery was spent at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, where he now trains, and this prepared him for his season debut at the Japan Cup in early July.  What thrilled his fans was that he transformed himself into a world-class talent on pommel horse… He scored a 15.35!  Though not fully recovered and competing only on four events, he put on quite a show and put up great numbers on those events, easily tracking 90+ if he had competed six.  Then it was on to VISAs, where he dazzled by placing 3rd behind Leyva and Jonathan Horton.  His second day score of 91.30 tied Leyva for the highest score for that day.  He was thus rewarded with a spot on the World Team, where he overwhelmingly justified his selection by placing 5th in the world and earned a spot in the event finals on high bar.  Orozco is yet another young gymnast virtually assured of an Olympic Team spot.

Featuring these three youngsters should by no means be perceived as a slight on any other of America’s fine young talent, nor any of our older veterans.  There are too many to list here, but you all know who they are.  But Mikulak (19), Leyva (20) and Orozco (19) probably best represent the emerging renaissance in U.S. men’s gymnastics.  Our budding talent pipeline is swelling, which bodes very well for 2012.  It’s a crying shame we’ll only be able to send five athletes to London. Yes, the U.S. men’s program is right on target.  As for 2016, it’s looking downright scary!

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Well, he did it.  He turned professional.  He, of course, is John Orozco.  His many fans will lament not seeing him compete collegiately, but we’ll see plenty of Orozco over the next several years.  Given his young age (19), he has plenty of time to pursue a college education, if he so chooses.  In the meantime, his Olympic dreams will dominate.  Given his personality, he ought to fetch some great endorsement deals, especially if he strikes gold in London.  At the recent National Future Stars competition in Colorado Springs, he volunteered his time to hold court with dozens of young gymnasts.  They listened to him talk about what it takes to be an elite athlete with rapt attention.  He loved doing it.  John Orozco is going to be a great ambassador for the sport.

More on Orozco… He was just invited to compete at the ’12 American Cup, which will be held on March 3 at Madison Square Garden.  This will be a special homecoming for Orozco, as the Bronx native will be able to compete in front of many local friends and family.  I would venture to say that Orozco’s selection is a great way to expose him to additional international competition, and was largely a just reward for his 5ht place AA finish at Worlds.  The American Cup is the first big international meet of the year.

Good news for Jonathan Horton.  His surgically repaired foot is healing up nicely, & he’ll be out of his boot probably around New Year’s.  The speed of recovery will depend upon how much scar tissue is present, but there is no doubt that Horton will be at full speed when it really counts.  He has a great attitude about it, and is using this temporary setback as an opportunity to improve on events such as pommel horse.

Be sure to check out Andy Thornton’s Christmas wish list… it’s a 4-part series.

There are some great videos being posted of collegiate gymnasts preparing for the upcoming season… Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa.

NCAA signings – A very strong ’12-’13 NCAA signing class emerged last month, and several more will be signed during the next signing period in the spring.  Among the notable signees were Jake Martin (Ohio State), Jesse Glenn (Army), Jon Deaton (Stanford), Max Mayr (Illinois), Trevor Howard (Penn State) and Kanji Oyama (Oklahoma).  Another stalwart from this class, Timmy Wang, is rumored to be bound for Air Force.  The service academies are lining up some superior talent, and appear to be heading for a more prominent position in the college ranks.  See our list of current/rumored signees. If you know of others, please let me know, and I’ll add them to the list… ron@stickitmedia.com

Hard to believe a new season has already started.  Some of the more noteworthy early meets were the Liukin Invitational, Pineapple Express and the Region 5 Cup. In January, the season kicks into high gear with top meets such as the Vitaly Scherbo Invitational, Windy City Invite, Rocky Mountain Open and the Stanford Open.

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Raisman and Wieber will more than likely make more than enough money to pay for their college educations with their relatively lucrative endorsement deals.  The only kicker is that they won’t be able to compete in college.  Instead, they’ll make some pretty good bank, and have a good shot at making even more if they score gold in London.  Obviously they both would have had successful collegiate careers, but there is no shortage of talented women to fill up the rosters.  Programs like Utah, Alabama, Georgia and Alabama have no trouble filling up their arenas, with or without former Olympians.

John Orozco is an interesting character.  Full of charm and a ton of talent, he strikes a different mold than does Olympic gold medalist Paul Hamm.  Not sure how much money Hamm made from endorsements, but it’s not enough to allow him not to have to work for a living the rest of his life.  Hamm’s image never graced a Wheaties box, either.  Orozco has a golden opportunity.  He is only 19 years old, and is nowhere near his peak.  It’s safe to say, barring injury, that he will compete in two Olympics, 2012 and 2016.  When Rio hosts the ’16 Games, he’ll be 23, arguably in his prime.

Given his outstanding Worlds performance, his Olympic podium chances are looking pretty good right now.  Wouldn’t that be something if Orozco were to bring home a medal or two?  With those medals safely tucked away, he could go on to win some NCAA titles the next four years on a full-ride scholarship at a big-time school.  Orozco would benefit greatly from the college experience, and it would set him up for life.  His last gymnastics hurrah could be another crack at a medal haul in Rio.  Then he could cash in all his well-earned chips.

Bottom line, my opinion is that Orozco would be a huge addition to NCAA Men’s Gymnastics, benefiting the sport and himself.  Not too many gymnasts get two bites at the Olympic apple, plus a stellar NCAA career.  I honestly believe he would end up loving the college experience.  I’m sure Jonathan Horton reminds him of that all the time.  No matter, though, whatever he does, he’s got the world by the tail.

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The early NCAA signing period is under way, and we’ll update this list as soon as we learn of new developments.  The ’12-’13 class is impressive, and should be one of the better ones in recent years.

Air Force – Timmy Wang (South Coast)

Army – Jesse Glenn (SCATS), Aaron Yoshizuka (SCATS)

Cal – Kevin Wolting (Azarian), Kevin Tran (Azarian) Travis Cameron (Stanford Jr.), Ryan Patterson (Stanford Jr.) TJ Bzoskie (Victory), Kevin Ko (Golden Bear), Kyle Zemeir (Top Flight)

Illinois – Max Mayr (Universal), Joe Peters (Parkettes), Logan Bradley (Bartlett’s)

Iowa – Emmanuel Monroy (WOGA), Del Orozco (Buffalo Grove), Matt Loochtan (Buffalo Grove)

Michigan – Konner Ackerman (Metropolitan)

Minnesota – Paul Montague (Swiss), Danny DiBenedetto (Daggett’s)

Nebraska – Sam Chamberlain (GTCO), Ethan Lottman (Cahoy’s), Austin Epperson (Elite Champion)

Ohio State – Jake Martin (Orlando Metro/OTC), Alex Johnson (OSU Boys)

Oklahoma – Kanji Oyama (SCATS)

Penn State – Trevor Howard (Hocking Valley)

Stanford – Jonathan Deaton (Daggett’s), Dennis Zaremski (World Cup), Kevin Baker (Queen City), Brandon Beckhardt (Hot Shots), David Frankl (U.S. Dev. Ctr.)

Temple – Aaron Meland (Apex)

*** 11/10 Update ***

The first two days of the early signing period have been really slow.  Ohio State’s signing of Jake Martin is an obvious sign of the new coaching regime’s recruiting prowess.  Martin, of course, trained at Orlando Metro under new OSU Assistant Coach Cas Suarez.  He is now training at the OTC for his final club season.  Gym fans are now wondering if OTC teammates Sean Melton and Jake Dastrup will eventually join him in a couple of years.

Illinois Head Coach Justin Spring has accomplished quite a recruiting haul by signing Max Mayr, Joe Peters and Logan Bradley.  This is, so far, the largest group landed by any team.  However, the early period lasts several more days, and many announcements are still to be made.

Jesse Glenn’s decision to attend West Point has raised many eyebrows.  He will be joining his older brother, Josh, who is currently a freshman.  This was a great decision by Glenn, who will be going to China next month to train for a week with a U.S. contingent that includes, Martin, Mayr, Timmy Wang, Jonathan Deaton and Trevor Howard.  Will Glenn’s West Point signing start a trend?

The lack of announcements so far, while not uncommon, is rather disappointing.  It sure would be a lot more fun if MAG was more like college hoops and football.  In those sports, signing announcements are made with much fanfare and publicity.  College MAG would be wise to treat their signings similarly, which would generate much-needed publicity and excitement for the sport.

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