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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Part 1 of this series will put the spotlight on Chris Brooks, Jake Dalton, Jonathan Horton, Glen Ishino, Steven Legendre and Danell Leyva.  The 2011 VISA U.S. Championships will take place next week (August 17-20) in St. Paul, MN.  According to the USAG website, the second day of the men’s competition (Friday, August 19) will be shown live on Universal Sports, along with an on-demand webcast on UniversalSports.com .  A delayed broadcast on NBC will air on Sunday, August 21 from 2:30-4:00pm EDT.  We hope you enjoy Matthew Rusk’s detailed analysis.

By Matthew Rusk

Each top men’s gymnastics team in the world has something to lay claim to.  China has, since a shockingly poor outing at the Athens Olympics, possessed the finest men’s artistic gymnastics team in the world.  Japan’s creditable team is catapulted by Kohei Uchimura, the Michael Phelps of gymnastics.  The all-around prowess of Germany’s trio of Philipp Boy, Fabian Hambuechen, and Marcel Nguyen is the envy of any team heading into a more all-around focused team makeup of five members next year.  Great Britain, a nation which didn’t even qualify a full team to Beijing, has made dramatic strides to become a dark horse contender for team medals this year and next.  Yet no country can quite claim to foster the sheer depth of the United States.  There are around a dozen athletes worth considering for the World squad this year.  Some stand far greater chances than others, but the internal competition is everywhere.  World and Olympic teams represent the finest product the team has to offer in accordance with the demands of the 6-3-3/5-3-3 lineups.  Although teams can only accommodate the best, the depth presented in the U.S. ranks can push those fortunate athletes who are successful to a level of skill they never thought possible.

As always, the Visa Championships are responsible for two things:  deciding a World team and crowning the best male gymnast in the country.  Competition for the AA title has grown into an unexpectedly hot race this year.  Few could have conceived Jonathan Horton not making a “three-peat” when he became the first man since Paul Hamm to win a World Championship AA medal back in October.  Despite a thumb injury, he would be triumphant once again at the American Cup in Jacksonville, where he took home his third American Cup trophy.  Yet two back-to-back competitions—the Glasgow World Cup and the Japan Cup—have been disastrous for the Olympic silver medalist and call into question his preparation for these Championships.  Much was made of Horton’s rivalry at last year’s Nationals with Danell Leyva, but Leyva, who finished over two points behind Horton, wasn’t at the level to challenge the reigning Champion.  This year he is, actually to the point of perhaps being considered the favorite.  Vast improvements on floor and vault, decent pommels, commendable parallel bars, and storied high bar work make the 19-year-old Leyva every bit a challenger to even a peaked Horton.  Yet, August 19th could come and go and neither man would be the winner:  both athletes could be upstaged by an even younger upstart.  John Orozco, featured in a Sports Illustrated article prior to tearing his Achilles at Nationals last year, is 18 years old and yet considered a dark horse contender in the all-around after an auspicious return to competition at the Japan Cup.  Orozco only competed four events in Japan—opting to sit out floor and vault—but those four events were by themselves making an assured case to name Orozco to the World team.  Floor and vault are big mysteries as those are the most worrisome events given his injury, but strong work on those coupled with the great routines he has shown elsewhere will suddenly put him in the hunt.

Amidst all of the strong contenders for the World team there will be one notable absence.  Paul Hamm, who was expected by many to make a formidable comeback effort, has been stalled by a multitude of injuries that will likely keep him out of competition until the Winter Cup in February 2012.  Hamm’s Olympic comeback will suddenly be in line with how he returned in 2008–during the Olympic year.  This was not the plan, but it is the only plan at this point that can work.  Hamm is an Olympic Champion, but that controversial victory in Athens was seven years ago.  Hamm will be 29-years-old in London, an age that is tempting to assume a specialist role.  Hamm back as the all-arounder he has proven to be, will get a spot in London, but for now he hasn’t proven anything in this comeback.  However, there is no need to worry, as the team will be just fine without Hamm.  The talent, depth, and internal competition are all there.  The team may not have medaled last year, but fourth is far better than the infamous 13th place of Aarhus.  Paul Hamm not being in the running to help team USA could be a blessing in disguise.  The team’s confidence and reputation gained from medaling without the help of Hamm is vital.  The United States can then prove they are not the Paul Hamm show, not the doormats for the women’s team, and not the lucky benefactors of other nations’ misfortune, but instead a world class team ready to bring home medals.

Chris Brooks (HB video from ’10 VISAs)

Overview: Tim Daggett has always voiced in his commentary how talented an athlete Chris Brooks is, while on the same token explaining how many injuries have derailed his career.  Prior to last year’s Visa Championships, Brooks injured his left ankle, his “good” ankle, for the silliest of reasons:  he tripped on a curb.  He ambitiously competed AA and it paid off:  he was finally named to his first World team at the age of 23.  Although his team failed to medal, Brooks competed well throughout the event and surprisingly qualified to the event finals on high bar instead of Jonathan Horton.  Brooks had surgery on both of his ankles following the event and thus withdrew from the Winter Cup, and, true to form, another injury had yet to come.  Brooks sustained an arm injury sometime this year, and his overall health (and recovery from his foot injuries) entering Nationals is unknown but dubious.

Pros: Brooks’s gymnastics is notable in that he mixes the power necessary for floor and vault and the dynamic swing required for parallel bars and high bar.  Brooks has trained a Dragalescu vault and is capable of breaking 15’s on floor and parallel bars, but his true forte comes on high bar, which was praised by the BBC commentators at Worlds for its originality (the set includes a Yamawaki to Gienger and a Tkatchev ½ to mixed grip).  One of the better competitors on the American team, he was consistent in Rotterdam aside from pommels during team finals.  He also held his own during an intense and competitively stacked high bar final, finishing 6th.  Brooks’s reliability on his specialty apparatus is competitive with anyone on the U.S. team, and he has proven he can fight through injury to make a major team.  Brooks has only competed once this year—at the Houston Invitational in March—so the expectations on him entering these Championships are meager.

Cons: A Dragalescu vault is unlikely at this competition considering Brooks’s foot problems have caused him to favor front landings on floor.  Any short landings on Dragalescu vaults put tremendous strain on an athlete’s feet and Achilles as well, and Brooks is especially prone to this with the laundry list of foot problems he has had throughout the last year.  Brooks’ foot problems are evident just by the fact that he can’t point them—they resemble dead fish during his routines—and backward landings from such a difficult vault seem unreasonable given the state of his injuries.  With so many athletes potentially doing 7.0 vaults at Visas—Dalton, Horton, Legendre, Maestas, Wynn among them–Brooks could be the odd man out even with such a vault.  Brooks has nothing to contribute on rings and his work on pommels prompted him to joke at Worlds that the gymnastics skill he would most like to learn is “pommel horse.”  Brooks hasn’t proven TF potential on floor since he posted a 15.55 on the event at the American Cup, and his work on parallel bars and high bar is already filled by the apparent three locks:  Horton, Leyva, and Orozco.  Orozco’s return has especially spelled bad news bears for Brooks, as Brooks’ strengths on parallel bars and high bar have been rendered useless to the team.  Furthermore, his work on floor and vault has not yet proven to be necessary.

Outlook: Brooks walked on to his first World team battling injuries, but this year it seems he might be even more beat up.  What is certain, however, is that Brooks’ competition is stiffer, and he will need to have the meet of his life (particularly on FX/VT) to secure a place on the team because his work on his best events can be matched or surpassed.  A top AA ranking is crucial for Brooks to sway the committee in naming him to the team, but such will be difficult even at top form:  Brooks has one mediocre event (SR) and one terrible (PH) in tow.  Since he can’t make the team via PH or SR, Brooks is basically banking on a top all-arounder to bomb or withdraw so he can snag a spot on the team.  Pulling off such a task is tricky, because all-arounders have many more routines that they would need to perform poorly.  Brooks hasn’t been talked about much in discussions for the World team because, sadly, four good but unspectacular events are doubtful to cut it, particularly when his health is so in question.

Jacob Dalton (video highlights from ’11 American Cup)

Overview: Although the rising junior at OU will not be considered a veteran competitor at the Visa Championships, Jake Dalton has had plenty of experience already.  Strong vaults at the 2009 Visa Championships and at the subsequent camp enabled Dalton to be named to the 2009 World squad after (very predictable) withdrawals from Sasha Artemev and David Sender surfaced.  While the experience was not what Dalton had hoped for—he finished 20th in qualifying on vault—it was a great opportunity for him to get his feet wet.  Yet it has taken a freshman NCAA season, a disappointing Visa Championships last year, and a failure to reclaim a spot on the World team to have ignited Dalton’s competitive fire.  Called upon as a last-minute replacement during the 2011 American Cup, Dalton well exceeded expectations by finishing third.  Entering Visa Championships, Dalton is a strong threat, albeit not a lock, to make the World team and his fate will be decided by his specialty apparatus:  floor and vault.

Pros: Jake Dalton and Steven Legendre are in all likelihood fighting for the same spot on the World team.  Steven Legendre has been hit-or-miss on floor at the Visa Championships the last two years.  Thankfully for Legendre, his considerable scoring potential on the event when he does hit has meant no one has been there to rival him, but this year will be different.  Dalton can score in the mid-to-high 15’s on floor (depending on the panel) and his routine includes a spectacular layout double Arabian.  Yet it’s his consistency that can win him a spot on the World team, as can his Tsuk triple vault, or even his work on parallel bars.  Dalton is stronger than Legendre on parallel bars and has proven he can stick his Tsuk triple.  A shaky competitor last year, Dalton was not thought to be a viable candidate for major teams down the road, but a victory at Winter Cup (defeating Danell Leyva) and a third place finish at American Cup (defeating three of the top eight finishers at last year’s Worlds) have asserted his status as a worthy team member.

Cons: Men’s artistic gymnastics in the United States has lately been notable for its infamous pommel workers.  Dalton hasn’t helped matters with his pitiful work on the event:  a 12.033 at American Cup was his score for a hit routine.  And that was nothing.  He would go on to score a 9.85—which wouldn’t have even been good enough for pommel gold in Sydney and just barely enough in Athens—at the NCAAs this year, and in spite of largely strong routines elsewhere he finished 11th.  Dalton will never be used on pommel horse in a TF situation during his lifetime, but his weakness on the event does have its consequences.  Such a weakness is doubtful to let him contend for a national AA title this year, and in such a subjective call for deciding a World team a lower all-around ranking will not help Dalton stand out in the manner he wants to.  Dalton’s pommel weakness could also clash with the weakness on the same event by Brandon Wynn.  Dalton and Wynn both being on the team is not an ideal situation for the committee, as one has to go up in prelims and basically post a sub-12 score that is (hopefully) dropped.  Such a situation isn’t impossible, but Dalton could find himself in this predicament and must rely on strong scores elsewhere to justify his spot.  Dalton’s case, while strong early in the year, has dwindled somewhat—more due to the improvement of his rivals than any fault his own.  Wynn gave a clinic on rings at the Puerto Rico Cup, and Legendre’s dislike of non-AAI floors wasn’t in the least bit showcased at Japan Cup, where his stellar 15.8 on that event bested all other scores on the apparatus, even Uchimura’s.  While many athletes have had opportunities to compete overseas since the conclusion of the NCAA season, Dalton has strangely been left home except for the Stella Zakharova Cup in May, where he was far from his best and not the top AA finisher for the United States (Alex Naddour).

Outlook: While all-around rankings can help or hurt an athlete’s chance for making a World team, Dalton will miss a World team much more due to inconsistency on floor and vault than continued problems on pommels.  Inconsistency on floor and vault—pommels might be a different matter–is not likely, based on Dalton’s competitive record this year.  Although Dalton has weak vaults from time to time, his Tsuk triple is much improved and he has been more successful with it this year than Steven Legendre has with his Dragalescu.  Dalton has been consistently great on floor and good on parallel bars, and he has even expressed confidence in performing events that aren’t his forte during a recent Universal Sports interview.  Wynn has trained a Dragalescu, but if not performed here Dalton retains his advantage on Wynn by his contribution on floor.  Sam Mikulak, whose vault score bested both Dalton’s and Legendre’s during the team finals of NCAAs, is injured and doubtful to steal a spot away from Dalton.  Dalton’s own exclusion from some international competitions this year is a mystery, but based on the Universal Sports interview this doesn’t seem to be of worry:  Dalton mentioned nothing about an injury and voiced that he had even upgraded since American Cup.  So long as Dalton’s consistency remains intact, a spot on a second World team—this time a far more pivotal spot than before—should be his.

Jonathan Horton (video highlights from ’11 American Cup)

Overview: Jonathan Horton is the most storied competitor of the men’s event, yet his gymnastics has been uneven this year and actually all throughout his career.  At times his career’s rollercoaster of inconsistency has been great—a silver medal in Beijing with a routine he hadn’t trained—at others, disastrous—Horton’s splatfest during the AA of 2009 Worlds put him in 17th place.  For a while, after those ill-fated Worlds, it had appeared that Horton’s consistency was emerging.  Even a silver medal at the 2010 American Cup was a step in the right direction, and he built on that with a second national title.  Although his team failed to medal in Rotterdam, Horton became the first American man in seven years to win a World all-around medal.  A third victory at the American Cup would come the following spring to the two-time Olympic medalist, in spite of him having to compete while still recovering from injury.  Unfortunately, recent all-around performances at the Glasgow Grand Prix and the Japan Cup have emulated the 2009 Worlds Jonathan Horton.  The Visa Championships have lately been a great competition for Horton, and for his own psyche he needs this event to go well.  Horton always speaks confidently in interviews, and he has made it no secret that he aims to win an Olympic all-around regardless of the massive roadblock in his way.  Yet, Horton’s confidence cannot be tested through interviews, but rather it has to be seen on the competition floor.  If it is not, forget Uchimura.  Horton will instead find himself looking up the podium at another athlete being crowned the best male gymnast in the country.

Pros: A dynamic, aggressive gymnast, Jonathan Horton is experienced at 25 years of age, and unlike his adversaries, he knows how to win a national title:  he’s done it twice.  In all likelihood, Horton will be on the World team in spite of recent poor performances; the committee will let him have a clean slate and will likely still name him even if he’s not at top form.  The main goal for Horton in St. Paul is to win a third National title, something which hasn’t been done since Paul Hamm in 2004.  What makes Horton a dangerous threat for winning yet another title is that his competitors don’t know what to expect.  There are mysteries regarding his vault—whether his Dragalescu will finally come to fruition—and his high bar—whether his promised 16+ scoring routine will materialize.  But such mysteries aren’t just limited to skills.  Horton is a volatile competitor, but as mentioned before, the result of that can be awe-inspiring.  His recent competitions could fire Horton up to a level Dalton, Leyva, Orozco, et al cannot match.

Cons: How a meet starts for Horton will likely be how it ends.  Once Horton is off on the wrong track in an event it is not a common sight to see him resurrect himself all in one day.  Often times it is not just the day, but rather the event itself.  At 2009 Worlds Horton bombed in the all-around only to follow it up with two falls during the high bar final.  Just a month ago at Japan Cup Horton had some less than ultimate scores on vault and parallel bars followed by a catastrophic 12.65 on high bar.  His 11th place all-around finish would only worsen the trend.  Although how much Horton will improve for this competition is unknown, the other athletes have left several questions of their own.  Orozco is being billed as an AA threat but hasn’t even shown vault and floor.  Leyva has never entered this event as a favorite to win.  The competitors don’t know what all to expect from each other and Horton is no exception.  Horton’s good competitions often feature five hit routines and one miss.  In a two-day event that is two misses, and while two misses might have been fine in 2009 it could spell disaster in 2011.  Leyva is a far more dangerous threat than he was last year, and Orozco just needed an average of 14.85 on vault and floor at Japan Cup to have reached 90 in the AA.  Horton can continue to control his destiny when it comes to winning national titles, but with just one flawed set, that privilege is gone.

Outlook: A critical event for Horton is rings.  Even this event was scored under par at the Japan Cup, but it is the cushion that gives him an advantage for a National title.  Horton is considerably stronger there than Orozco and (especially) Leyva, and since this is not an inconsistent apparatus, Horton can put several tenths, perhaps a full point more with just one routine, into the bank here.  Those tenths are necessary, particularly with Horton’s weakness on pommel horse.  Horton described Japan Cup as a “reality check” in a recent USAG team conference call, and this can be believed.  Horton has lately not bombed on home soil and has two national titles to show for it.  Horton can improve dramatically in a short period of time—his consistency can also evaporate in a blink, but that’s another matter thankfully not applicable to now.   Such an instance of improvement should happen at this time with the important bulk of the competitive season yet to arrive.  But Horton has to believe it will happen—that he can win Nationals—against the toughest field of the quad yet.  Expressing that he can win through words is simply not good enough.

Glen Ishino (PH video from ’10 VISAs)

Overview: When gym fans think of an Ishino they are bound to think of Allyse, Glen’s sister, who was an alternate on the 2004 Olympic team and, who just finished her collegiate career at Stanford.  Glen has the potential to do what his sister never did—become an Olympian—but for now, in spite of having a strong opening to his 2011 NCAA season, he will be a bubble athlete.  Ishino was 6th AA in 2009 and 5th AA in 2010, and at the beginning of the year looked as if he would have a chance to break into the medals.  Ishino scored a 90.3 in his first meet of the season, but a back injury sustained during the warm-ups of the Winter Cup sidelined him.  Ishino still wasn’t on call by the time of the NCAA Championships, where he finished 9th AA, and he only competed one event at the National Qualifier (PH) where he fell.  Such instances have whittled away the expectations for Ishino entering this competition, but his prowess on pommel and potential prowess as an all-arounder make him a candidate for a World team if he is prepared to produce two days of creditable gymnastics.

Pros: Ishino has long been considered an ideal talent for the United States team with his polished gymnastics, strength as a pommel worker, and, best of all, abilities as an all-arounder.  Ishino has been a rising star in an inauspicious time for the Cal Berkeley gymnastics team.  The Cal team, after having been almost certain for extinction, was reinstated back in May to tremendous rejoice of the entire gymnastics community.  Ishino, who will enter his senior year in the fall, is perhaps the premier talent of the team.  He is one of the best pommel workers in the country, yet, unlike some of the nation’s strictly pommel specialists, Ishino’s gymnastics aren’t defined by one event.  Ishino has posted scores of 15+ on every event in NCAA competition this year and has proven himself TF worthy on FX, PH, PB, and HB.  If you are a fan looking for high difficulty scores in an athlete, Ishino won’t deliver, but in terms of execution scores he can be stellar.  A high bar routine at his first NCAA meet of the season earned him a 9.6 E-score (15.9 overall).  And, even in terms of difficulty, Ishino posted a 6.7 D-score (w/bonus) on PH at the recent National Qualifier.

Cons: Ishino took his time to come back to the NCAA Championships, which were over two months after he became injured at Winter Cup, but he did not compete up to par.  Subsequently, when international assignments were announced, he was not chosen for any.  Ishino has been good at the last two Visa Championships, but not good enough, and the lack of any recent international competitions, a strong Winter Cup, or a strong NCAAs will prevent judges from giving Ishino any favors in St. Paul, nor will he be able to rely on past events to hold his case if he is to perform below his potential.  The event’s use of the bonus system for difficulty scores will not help Ishino, and even bonuses applied for execution are meager and only given when the difficulty bonus is met.  A good but not great AA ranking and good but not great rankings on the individual events—regardless of how his scores would differ internationally—didn’t convince the selection committee of even naming him as an alternate last year, and the committee could be hard-pressed to decide differently this year with so much depth in the country.

Outlook: Ishino is a tremendously talented athlete with unfulfilled potential.  The form and health he is in, preparing for Visas, is in question—he only did one event at Qualifier—but Ishino is a contradiction of sorts for the selection committee even when healthy.  He is an athlete the committee very much wants to perform well, but a weak, or even adequate, competition here will sever the committee’s faith in him needed to put him on a World team.  Ishino has not put in an all-around performance since NCAAs, so the focus isn’t on him and this is probably a good thing.  John Orozco’s comeback hasn’t helped Ishino’s chances but it hasn’t necessarily hurt him too much, either:  any good PH worker who can do other events is automatically in consideration for the team.  With many athletes including Horton, Leyva, Orozco, Dalton/Legendre having nearly (or completely) locked-up positions, the team is likely to take a rings worker, but beyond those five the last spot should contribute a pommels set and perhaps some sets on other events ( floor and rings possibly).  The last worker might not even be needed so much on those events, especially floor, but Ishino can do multiple events in team finals and, best of all, can contribute on pommels.  Tim McNeill could be an ideal candidate for this position, but he’s returning to competition after a year away and is said to not be in top form.  Alex Naddour is a solid all-arounder but doesn’t contribute any routines that are TF worthy beyond pommels.  This U.S. team can use Ishino, but in St. Paul he has to be healthy and has to deliver strong sets on rings, floor, and pommels especially.

Steven Legendre (FX video from ’11 Moscow Stars)

Overview: The 22-year-old powerhouse on floor and vault has just wrapped up his time competing for Oklahoma University, where he tied with Jonathan Horton for the most individual NCAA gymnastics titles (six) in OU’s history.  Even so, Legendre’s claims for a spot on the World team seemed shaky until his AA performance during day two of last year’s Visa Championships solidified his spot (he ranked 2nd on the day and 6th overall).  His Rotterdam performance was uneven—he had a fall on vault during prelims and a fall on floor in event finals—but he proved his worth to the team with a strong floor set in TF and a surprisingly high AA ranking of 15th during prelims.  Legendre had a relatively disappointing final NCAAs this year—OU was beaten by Stanford, he didn’t medal in the AA, nor did he take home any event titles.  This didn’t matter in terms of international assignments, however, as Legendre was given two (Stella Zakharova Cup and Japan Cup) and earned another (Moscow World Cup) through the FIG.  A recent showing at Japan Cup proved his worth on floor considerably but not nearly as much on vault, and with Dalton in his corner, Legendre has to put forth a great performance at this event.

Pros: Much has been made about Legendre’s frequent failures on floor during event finals:  two have occurred at World Championships and another one surfaced at the Moscow World Cup in May.  Yet, in terms of team finals, Legendre has been largely consistent and team USA’s top floor scorer at both the 2010 Worlds and 2011 Japan Cup (during TF).  Legendre has a Dragalescu in his arsenal and has even trained a Tsuk double pike.  Legendre is not the worst the country has to offer on pommels—nor is he terrible on the other events—and he has proven that he can keep up with some of the best in the country in terms of the all-around.  Legendre has considerably more experience than Dalton with four NCAA Championships, four Visa Championships and two World Championships vs. Dalton’s two NCAAs, two Visas (as a senior), and zero Worlds.  Legendre has competed plenty internationally and seems to have gotten used to the equipment at the Japan Cup, which could prove vital come October.

Cons: Legendre has not been attempting his 7.0 vault as much as Dalton has over the course of the year, nor has Legendre’s been as consistent.  Dalton is superior to Legendre on parallel bars and the committee will be hard-pressed to consider using Legendre beyond floor and vault.  On floor, Legendre’s power is considerable but his form not the most polished, and he has not put together two clean FX sets at a Visa Championships since 2008.  On vault, a score of 15.95 at Japan Cup was hardly bad, but can be outdone by Dalton with his mostly consistent Tsuk triple.  Mikulak’s injury barely opens the door for Legendre, as Dalton is Legendre’s primary obstacle for a spot on the team.  With Leyva’s improvement on floor and Orozco not showing a routine yet, the third floor spot can feasibly be covered within the team’s first five chosen members (presumably Horton, Leyva, Orozco, Dalton, rings specialist).  Having both Legendre and Dalton on the team is doubtful, as the United States has other options to bring for a strong pommel set, whereas floor isn’t an issue.

Outlook: If the committee has a change of heart at Nationals and decides the team should be stacked on rings—which is not a bad strategy, because rings is the most assured event (well, not during last year’s NCAAs, but anyway)—Legendre’s chances do go up because having Dalton and Wynn on a team presents a problem in prelims as both men are deplorable on pommel horse.  If Wynn (and Horton) have Dragalescus ready for Nationals, and if C.J. Maestas’s Tsuk Double pike is also there, then the Legendre vs. Dalton scenario could be decided just by floor, with Legendre having the upper hand because of his ability to at least not embarrass himself on pommels.  All of this is hypothetical, though, and Legendre’s issue is consistency through two days of competition.  Legendre’s inconsistency on floor at Nationals can’t happen again with Dalton being a rock on this event.  With Maestas’ and Wynn’s vault statuses unknown, Legendre’s consistency on his Dragalescu should still come into play, and Dalton has the edge on that event, too.  While Dalton has the upper hand in this race, to say it is a done deal is not true.  USAG still has interest in Legendre—they picked him and not Dalton for Japan Cup—and Legendre proved last year that he was a worthy team member.

Danell Leyva (FX video from ’11 Japan Cup)

Overview: Leyva finished a strong second at last year’s Visa Championships, yet as an all-arounder he had yet to hit his stride internationally until last month’s Japan Cup.  Leyva had performed quite well in prelims in Rotterdam, hitting six for six and qualifying to the final in 12th place.  Yet, at the end of the final, Leyva finished 18th, and his will to improve was showcased in July in Tokyo when he placed third in the all-around, handily defeating world AA medalists Daniel Keatings and Jonathan Horton.  And the result of his all-around finish in Tokyo was not to do with his best event, high bar, where an unusually sluggish set during the competition only scored a 15.0, but rather because of his work on floor and vault.  Tremendous improvements on the events have shown Leyva to be emerging into the real deal as an all-arounder and will essentially lock up his position to attend another World Championships.  Leyva has had intentions to win the National title the last two years, but this is the year that he can do so on his own terms.

Pros: Leyva’s third place finish at the Japan Cup is significant not only in its result but also for placing even with sizeable room for improvement.  Leyva’s score on high bar was nearly a full point higher in team finals, as was true for his mark on pommel score.  If Leyva had combined his best scores from TF and AA at the Japan Cup, his score would have been a brilliant 90.95, easily good enough for silver at last year’s Worlds.  Leyva could feasibly compete up to five events in team finals.  Parallel bars and high bar are a given.  A pommel score at Japan Cup of 14.4 was his best yet internationally.  If U.S. doesn’t have three 7.0 vaulters Leyva could even fill a spot there.  A score in the high 14’s internationally on floor is absolutely creditable, and a weakness on rings makes no difference with the United States’ relative strength there.  Leyva’s substandard form has improved, and necessary upgrades on certain apparatus (like vault) have come.  Leyva is now not merely the “kid with the crazy coach,” but a serious contender for a national title in St. Paul.  Coming up just short last year, Leyva’s desire to win could be the strongest of all.

Cons: Leyva lacks Orozco’s pommel ability and Horton’s formidable ring work.  Both men can easily lead Leyva by over a point on their respective events, particularly with the bonus system in play.  High bar, Leyva’s best event, could end up not making up deficits on other apparatus.  Orozco scored just 0.3 under Leyva at Japan Cup there, but Horton is the greater concern if he can put a top set together, because in the recent USAG conference call he promised a routine that will score 16+.  Leyva’s floor at Japan Cup had some of the sharpest landings one could have, and yet he still couldn’t break on 15.  A 16+ on vault could be a fluke:  he scored only 15.5 in TF, and training videos of the vault hardly indicated that the Tsuk 2 1/2 would score 16+ in competition.  It’s much different for one to being considered a serious threat for a title as opposed to merely being an “outside threat,” and Leyva has yet to experience entering this event as the favorite for the title.  Gymnastically, his form still leaves something to be desired and his weakness on rings not yet improved.  Being the most reliable piece of apparatus, rings is missed potential for Leyva, as his stronger events are far more prone to error.

Outlook: Based on the Japan Cup, Leyva is the favorite to win in St. Paul because, unlike Horton, he has his consistency intact (to a degree), and, unlike Orozco, he has been doing six events.  Having a potential AA score around 91 in an international competition is excellent, and while Leyva may not benefit from the bonus system as much as Horton can, he can still do some damage there:  Leyva can get 0.3 bonus on high bar (putting his D-score at a 7.5) at Visas, and he also received D-score and E-score bonus on parallel bars at Winter Cup.  Leyva has performed well at Visas the last two years, although neither time well enough to match Horton.  At this point, Leyva can win the title just as easily as he can lose it.  This is a great statement, as Leyva has never been capable of winning a national title without considerable help before.  How Leyva will do in St. Paul is pivotal in determining how strong his competitive mettle really is.  Horton’s hit sets last year prompted Leyva to deliver one of the best competitions of his career, and it could be Horton and Orozco performing well which gives Leyva his first title.

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No fewer than four Ohio State grads were under consideration for the Ohio State head coaching job.  Among them was last season’s interim coach Blaine Wilson.  Sharipov, though an OSU outsider, has sparkling coaching credentials, and comes to OSU after a successful assistant coaching stint at Oklahoma.  No official word yet has come yet from Ohio State regarding Wilson’s status, but it doesn’t appear that he will remain on staff.  As of today, Wilson and Doug Stibel are listed as assistant coaches on the OSU website.  Speculation about the selection of Hamm remains rampant.

Developing…

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Coach Spring was absolutely giddy when talking about the addition of Maestas at the recent men’s JO Nationals in Long Beach.  While the Illini will definitely miss gymnasts like Daniel Ribeiro and Chad Wiest, the addition of Maestas certainly will add a completely new dimension to the team, and will greatly bolster their chances of winning the NCAA championship next season.

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The big winners of the day, winning two event titles each, were Level 9 all-around champion Marty Strech (PH,HB) and Trevor Howard (FX,VT).  The remaining titles were divvied up among 14 gymnasts.  In some of the more impressive performances, from a scoring perspective, were Craig Hernandez on pommel horse (15.05), Mike Wilner on rings (15.65) and Trevor Howard on vault (16.50).  Hernandez, who will compete for at Penn State next season, hit his difficulty-packed routine for the third time during the competition.  His start value was an amazing 16.30!  No doubt he’ll be favored to earn All-American status at next year’s NCAA meet.

Junior Level 10 all-around champ Sean Melton surprisingly didn’t win any event titles, but he came awfully close on floor, and then on vault until Lee Grogan edged him out.  Jake Martin, another multiple event qualifier, also came close on vault and high bar.  He was leading on high bar (14.40), but was upended when Jesse Glenn, the day’s last competitor came up big with a winning effort of 14.60.

I was privy to a lot of jovial banter between the college coaches this weekend, and I was impressed by the amount of discussion about academic qualification, and I’m sure you can read between the lines.  Listen up, young gymnasts!  If you end up being good enough to compete at the collegiate level, you better have good grades and test scores.  These coaches know quite a lot about the boys coming up through the club ranks, and a lot of it concerns personalities and academics.  The college admissions process is quite thorough, and let’s face it, the less a coach has to worry about an athlete’s academics, the better.  I was also impressed about how much they knew about the young clubbers’ gymnastics abilities.  Anybody can spot a great gymnast, but it takes something special to be able to identify potential and hidden talents in relatively obscure gymnasts.  It just goes to show that the coaches are watching, listening and talking about a lot of young gymnasts.

Here are the individual event champions.

Level 9:

• FX:  Emyre Cole (Go For It) – 14.20
• PH:  Marty Strech (Azarian) – 13.55
• SR:  Josiah Eng (Swiss) – 14.80
• VT:  Fabian DeLuna (WOGA) – 15.65
• PB:  JJ Litster (Arete) – 13.90
• HB:  Marty Strech (Azarian) – 13.85

Level 10 (14-15):

• FX:  Chandler Eggleston (High Point) – 15.15
• PH:  Akash Modi (Monmouth) – 14.45
• SR:  Marvin Kimble (Swiss) – 14.85
• VT:  Lee Grogan (Champions) – 16.15
• PB:  Dmitri Belanovski (Swiss) – 14.15
• HB:  Danny DiBenedetto (Daggett’s) – 14.05

Level 10 (16-18):

• FX:  Trevor Howard (Hocking Valley) – 15.55
• PH:  Craig Hernandez (Buffalo Grove) – 15.05
• SR:  Michael Wilner (GymSpot) – 15.65
• VT:  Trevor Howard (Hocking Valley) – 16.50
• PB:  Adrian De Los Angeles (SCATS) – 15.00
• HB:  Jesse Glenn (SCATS) – 14.60

Click here for complete results.

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What was lost on most of those in attendance is the fact that De Los Angeles won the title in his home town of Long Beach.  He is a senior at Milliken High School and will be attending Michigan in the fall on a full-ride gymnastics scholarship.  No doubt he is now the most decorated and prestigious high school athlete in this town known for its athletic excellence.  Furthermore, it’s a sad state of affairs that not one major local media outlet was in attendance to cover this remarkable achievement, when they cover other young local athletes in other sports who have achieved not nearly as much.  Let’s hope they catch up on this story in the coming days.

Runner-up Martin qualified on four events (FX,PH,VT,HB), and led all qualifiers on high bar.  Michigan-bound Stacey Ervin qualified on three events (FX,VT,PB) and was the top qualifier on floor.  Jesse Glenn qualified on high bar, while Trevor Howard was tops on vault and also qualified on floor.

1. Adrian De Los Angeles (SCATS) – 176.15 (87.35/88.80)
2. Jake Martin (Orlando Metro) – 175.35 (87.55/87.80)
3. Stacey Ervin (Mills) – 173.15 (86.55/86.60)
4. Jesse Glenn (SCATS) – 173.10 (87.95/85.15)
5. Trevor Howard (Hocking Valley) – 172.10 (85.85/86.25)
6. Jonathan Deaton (Daggett’s) – 171.85 (84.80/87.05)
7. Nicholas Hunter (GymWorld) – 171.30 (84.95/86.35)
8. Brian Knott (Chelsea Piers) – 171.50 (85.05/86.10)
9. Donnell Whittenburg (Ultimate) – 169.80 (83.90/85.90)
10. Kanji Oyama (SCATS) – 169.55 (85.20/85.90)

Sean Melton cruised easily to the all around title in the Level 10 (14-15) division.  Melton’s second day score of 88.10 was more than enough to beat Akash Modi and Marvin Kimble.  He was last year’s runner-up to teammate Jake Martin in the same division.  Melton tallied the top scores on pommel horse, vault and parallel bars.

1. Sean Melton (Orlando Metro) – 176.85 (88.75/88.10)
2. Akash Modi (Monmouth) – 172.20 (87.70/84.50)
3. Marvin Kimble (Swiss) – 171.30 (84.55/86.75)
4. Dmitri Belanovski (Swiss) – 171.00 (85.95/85.05)
5. Timmy Wang (South Coast) – 170.05 (84.30/85.75)
6. Yul Moldauer (5280) – 168.50 (86.00/82.50)
7. Hunter Justus (Cypress) – 166.70 (83.05/83.65)
8. Kiwan Watts (River City) – 166.70 (84.05/82.65)
9. Allan Bower (Xtreme) – 166.55 (83.20/83.35)
10. Andrew Rickly (Hocking Valley) – 166.20 (85.05/81.15)

First year Level 10 Marvin Kimble put in a gutsy performance, as he exceeded his first day’s score by 1.2 points.  Teammate Dmitri Belanovski also impressed with his steady, consistent execution.  Kimble qualified for event finals on five events (FX,PH,SR,VT,PB), and had the highest scores on rings.  Belanovski qualified on four events (FX,PH,SR,VT).  Monmouth’s Akash Modi was sparkling over the two days, qualifying on five events (FX,PH,SR,VT,PB).  While Melton left no doubt throughout the competition, only 2.2 points separated 2nd through 5th places.  Melton’s margin of victory was a staggering 4.65 points.

In the day’s nightcap, Marty Strech and Tristan Burke had a virtual replay of last night’s Level 9 qualifier.  Tonight, Burke carried a lead of 1.2 points into the final event.  The only problem for him, though, was that he was finishing up on high bar, while Strech was ending on his best event, vault.  Both gymnasts finished up at almost the exact same time, and the crowd had to wait for the scoreboard to put up both scores.  As the scores flashed, Strech’s 15.25 was more than enough to overcome the 12.75 posted by Burke.  Last year’s runner-up to Yul Moldauer earned his first national title.  Strech was amazingly consistent as he hit 11 for 12 over two days.  His 85.15 in today’s session was a season high and the top Level 9 AA score in the country this season.  He also qualified for event finals on every single event.  The difference between Strech and the rest of the field was clearly his performances on pommel horse and vault.

1. Marty Strech (Azarian) – 168.45 (83.30/85.15)
2. Tristan Burke (WOGA) – 167.15 (83.00/84.15)
3. David Jessen (Rise) – 164.85 (81.05/83.80)
4. Alex Diab (Premier) – 163.00 (81.50/81.50)
5. Davis Grooms (Champions) – 162.25 (81.55/80.70)

The action concludes on Sunday afternoon with event finals.  The top 6 qualifiers on each event and from each age group (Levels 9 & 10) will compete one at a time in front of an appreciative audience.  Scores from the previous two rounds do not carry over.  The qualifiers will be starting over from scratch, which makes things a lot more interesting.  Each winner be declared a national champion!

An amazing stat is SCATS had three gymnasts place in the top 10… De Los Angeles, Glenn and Oyama.  Congratulations to Coaches Grigor Chalikyan and Albert Avchian.

Finally, a huge announcement will likely be made on Tuesday, which the men’s gymnastics world will find very interesting.

Click here for complete results.

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Nicholas thoroughly describes for us what a typical day is like for young Chinese gymnasts, who have been selected to live, study and train at a famous sports school.  His boys trained for ten days alongside these young Olympic hopefuls.  As you will see, it’s not all fun and games, as the young Chinese boys literally “train like their lives depend upon it.”  In a joint presentation with Gymnastike, the Bocks tell their very interesting story via this site, while Gymnastike is providing the video footage taken by the Bocks.

Many thanks to the Bock family (Nicholas, wife Jennifer, Cameron and Evan) for sharing their thrilling experience:

Seeking Perfection in China

Last summer, we spent 10 days training gymnastics at the Shi Cha Hai Sports School, which is located in the heart of Beijing China.  The school is one of the most famous sports schools in China, producing several Olympic gold medalists in gymnastics, in addition to many other sports.  The school was like a mini college campus, with dorm rooms for students and guests, dining halls, classrooms and separate buildings, or “Sports Halls” for badminton, ping-pong, volleyball, martial arts and gymnastics.  They even had a small jogging track with tennis courts in between.

When we arrived at the gymnastics hall for the first time, we were not impressed with the facilities.  The floor was old, the high bar was rusty, the mats were old and torn, and climbing rope was not a rope at all, but an old long wooden pole, dangling from the ceiling.  Being jet-lagged, we just watched the Chinese boys train.  What we saw was unlike anything I had ever seen before.  And after about 30 minutes, I knew why the Chinese dominate so completely.  With the help of our coach, Guonian Wu, who was once a Chinese National team member, as well as a Chinese National team coach, we were given permission from the head boys coach, a long time friend and teammate of Guonian’s, to videotape.

During the summer, the boys (ages 9-11) will train 7 hours each day, except Sunday (3 1/4 hours in the morning, with a 2-hour break, and another 3 3/4 hours in the afternoon).  Here was the schedule, which was exactly the same every day:

8:30am

• Warm Up (30 minutes)
• One 1/2 mile warm-up jog
• Two 200-yard sprints (1 minute rest in between sets)
• Ten 25-yard sprints (20 seconds rest in between sets)

9:00am

• Stretching (15 minutes)
• Left leg splits, right leg splits, middle splits, pancake, pike, wrist, ankles, calves, shoulders (about 30 seconds each)

9:15am

• Parallel Bars (60 minutes)
• Jump to under bar swings, kip to manna or v-hold, pike press, swings, pirouette, front tuck off.

10:15am

• High Bar (60 (minutes)
• Back giants, blind change, front giants, pirouette, back giants, layout fly away.

11:15am

• Floor (30 minutes)
• Front handspring step out, front handspring, front tuck
• Round off, back handspring, back handspring, back tuck

11:45am

• Lunch

2:00pm

• Stretching (15 minutes)  Same as morning.

2:15pm

• Pommel (60 minutes)
• Circles on pommel buck / mushroom

3:15pm

• Rings (60 minutes)
• Swings

4:15pm

• Vault (30 minutes)
• Front tucks from a springboard to stacked mats
• Round off, back layout from a springboard to stacked mats

4:45pm

• Conditioning (60 minutes)
• 3x (15 wall ladder leg lifts & 20 floor push ups)
• 3x (1 pole climb, 10 spotted p-bar handstand push ups)
• 3x (5 floor stalder presses, 10 back tuck sticks on 8” mat)
• 3x (20 p bar dips, 20 chicken flaps, 5 pull ups)
• 3x (back raises on pommel – while holding a 10-lb weight)
• 1x (front and back body hold – between blocks, with weights)
• 1x (60 second floor handstand)
• Low Parallel Bars – pike press contest

There were a few things that we learned about Chinese gymnastics during our trip.  The entire country works on a type of tiered system, starting at the local level, then state, regional and finally national.  Periodically, coaches from the higher levels visit gyms and competitions to observe and recruit talent.  Once chosen, two things typically happen.  First the boys are taken from their homes and they move to state-sponsored sports schools, where they live, study and train.  Most of the boys come from underprivileged families, and as such, are provided with a monumental upgrade in living conditions.  This is a huge opportunity for them, and they learn from a very early age that training like their lives depend upon it will be viewed as an honor to their country.  Not doing so jeopardizes their continued involvement, which may not be an attractive alternative.  Second, coaches are paid if their gymnast is selected to go to the next level.  So every coach is extremely motivated to produce excellent gymnasts.  In addition to recruitment bonuses, coaches are paid when their gymnasts earn 1st place in any event or all around at every competition.  To my knowledge no bonuses are paid for anything other than 1st place.  With a motivated gymnast and a motivated coach, progress seems certain.

At the Shi Cha Hai Sports School, there were three different boys coaches with their own group of boys, ranging in ages from 9 to 11.  Our group had 6 boys.  Each coach had very different styles, and very different workouts.  Our coach was nice to the kids, but very vocal, relentlessly focused on every detail.

Each day started the same:  The coach would arrive exactly on time, pull out his stop watch, and say, Go!”  The boys started jogging.  Being punctual myself, I found it interesting that during the ten days we were there, the coach was never late and never early, impeccably on time and on task.  The boys, however, were always a few minutes early to everything.  It was evident that tardiness was non-existent.  The first thing I noticed about the jogging/running/sprints was these kids were in incredible shape, and they all gave it 110%, every time, every turn, on everything.  Once the track work was finished, we walked about 5 minutes to the gym, and the kids immediately started their stretching routines.  There was no wasted time at all.  All the kids stretched at the same time, and even though they only spent about 15 minutes stretching, it was thorough.  Also, I noticed nothing distinguishably different between the boys in terms of their flexibility.

Once stretching was finished, the boys moved to parallel bars.  It was interesting to note, that not once were the bars ever adjusted, even though the kids were different heights.  Each kid would perform under bar swings that went above the bar on the backswing and above the bar in the front swing.  They then did a glide kip to V or manna for 3 seconds, and then a pike press.  During our entire stay, I never saw one straddle press, ever.  The parallel bar swings were done in such a way as to drive as tight and fast as possible to handstand, but stopping on a dime, with a totally stretched shoulder position.  Similarly, the front swings were fast and almost every boy went at least to 45 degrees above horizontal.  It was rare if I saw heels ever come apart, or legs ever bend.  And for the entire hour, each boy repeated this sequence: underbar swings, kip, press, swings, dismount.  Each kid probably went at least 10 times.  Occasionally, throughout the week, during the last 10 minutes or so, the 11-year old boys worked on giants.

On high bar, I was fascinated at the perfection of the form, and the beauty of the body lines during front and back giants.  For the entire hour, each kid took a turn, doing about 5 front giants, pirouette, back giants, an occasional blind change, and an occasional layout flyaway.  During the last ten minutes, the 11-year old boys worked endo, stalder, and free hip.  One 10-year-old boy was working on blind change, and the coach wanted it exactly at 12 o’clock.  The gymnast had been doing it at 11 o’clock, pretty good.  But not to the coach.  Not only did the kid do blind changes for an hour, but then the coach made him do them for another hour while all the other kids moved to the next event.  The coach kept shaking his head, kindly but disapproving, and finally told the boy to go back to his dorm room for the day.  The boy was working extremely hard, and once dismissed, the boy gave no emotional response, he just left.  Incidentally, we never saw any complaints, back talk or bad attitude once during our entire stay.

The floor training was pretty straightforward, they only worked on two passes:  round off, back handspring, back tuck and front handspring step-out, front handspring, front tuck.  I was intrigued at how the coach would comment on every small detail.  Even if no deductions existed, the coach wanted it to look a certain way, with a certain flair or style that was exceptional.  Each part of every skill was done with virtuosity.

The pommel training was wonderful to watch.  Each kid had his own floor pommel buck or mushroom, and each did circles, with the occasional Russian, or spindle.  The only thing that was worked on for the entire hour was body tightness, elevation in front support and rear support, and speed.  As my boys did their circles, they occasionally added some flairs, and I was surprised to find out that not even the 11-year boys had ever done a flair.  They were fascinated to see that boys their age were doing them.  The Chinese spend a lot more time on basic skills, until they are perfect.

As we moved to rings, the only thing the boys did were swings, and the occasional inlocate and dislocate.  During the hour, the boys did sets of 10 swings at a time, but with two ring towers and six kids.  That was a lot of sets, and we saw some pretty good swings.

During the vault portion, the boys did standard front tucks from a springboard to stacked mats, and then round offs to back layout.  There was no resting during the 30 minutes and the boys really worked up a sweat.  The coach later said that they use this also as a cardio workout.

After all this, doing an hour of conditioning was probably the most impressive, considering everything they packed in the last hour.  It was incredible to see the stamina of these young boys.  I was particularly impressed by the third set of strength skills, where the boys do 5 floor stalder presses in a row (3 second handstand, 3-second straddle L-hold, repeat) – and the form was flawless.  But then to do 10 back tuck sticks, from a soft 8-inch mat (and each had to stick, otherwise they had to start over) – I finally saw the Chinese boys get tired!  And the best part was that after the conditioning was over, the boys would have a pike press contest on the low parallel bars.  Yes, one kid did 30!

During our trip, we were fortunate enough to watch a regional 10-year old “event final” competition.  Each event had 4 judges that were positioned at all four corners of each apparatus – except vault, which had two judges.  Interesting that we did not see any parents at all, simply coaches and other officials that were there to recruit to the next level.

The highlight of our trip came on the last night when Coach Wu planned a very special private dinner with Yang Wei, the 2008 Olympic All-Around Gold Medalist.  Also joining us was his coach, Yang Wei’s wife, whose name was also Yang, and their newborn, whose name was Yang Yang Yang.  My boys thought that was hilarious.  We had a wonderful time, but I still have no idea what we were eating.  Coach Wu, said not to ask.  Yang Wei and his coach reminisced about the history of his training from a young boy to Olympic champion, as we asked him question after question.  One answer he gave me was surprising – I asked how it felt to be a national hero, and role model to so many in his country.  He said he did not think of it that way, more that he felt it was his duty, and all the Olympic champions tell the same thing to the younger, up and coming talent – to take the same responsibility of honoring your country with hard work, and with the hard work, good things will maybe come, and Olympic glory does not come during the Olympics, but during the long, tireless hours seeking perfection.

Click here to watch the video at Gymnastike.

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South Coast’s Timmy Wang tallied a career high of 87.45 to outlast Martin’s teammate Sean Melton (86.85) in the 14-15 division.  Azarian’s Kevin Wolting and Hocking Valley’s Drew Moling tied for 2nd place (85.85) in the 16-18 division, and 3rd place went to Buffalo Grove’s Craig Hernandez (85.30) to pace what was probably the highest-scoring field of the season.  Moling’s teammate Trevor Howard impressed with his winning vault (16.70) and Hernandez easily had the weekend’s most impressive pommel horse routine (15.30).  Indy School of Gymnastics’ Ellis Mannon had an outstanding long, flair-filled pommel horse routine as well (14.65).

Note:  The scores for the AA/Event finals session have not been posted.

Here are the top Level 10 AA scores:

• Jake Martin (Orlando Metro) – 88.70
• Timmy Wang (South Coast) – 87.45
• Sean Melton (Orlando Metro) – 86.85
• Drew Moling (Hocking Valley) – 85.85
• Craig Hernandez (Buffalo Grove) – 85.85
• Jake Dastrup (Arete) – 84.25
• Trevor Howard (Hocking Valley) – 83.70

Azarian’s Marty Strech had no trouble outlasting the field to win the Level 9 title (83.10) over Arete’s JJ Litster (81.15).  Strech gained most of his scoring separation with his big scores on vault (15.40) and rings (14.20).

Some observations at the meet:  Orlando Metro is arguably the nation’s most traveled club team.  They have already competed in Chicago at Windy City, and they’ll be hitting the tarmac again when they head for the Houston National in two weeks.  They are undoubtedly the Gonzaga of men’s club gymnastics.  They will travel anywhere, anytime to compete against the best.  Those guys must be racking up some serious frequent flyer miles.

It was great running into Black Hills Level 10 Logan Melander, who founded the Iron Cross Foundation (ICF) a few years ago.  The ICF is a great charitable organization that was founded to help young gymnasts defray training costs to keep them in the sport.  Melander, always with a smile on his face, had a great meet and advanced to Sunday’s AA finals.  According to his Mom (Karen), the ICF will be putting on their first invitational meet, Iron Cross Challenge, next January 14-16 at the Tacoma Convention Center in Tacoma, WA.  The hope is to eventually draw significant collegiate competition to what will become an annual event.  Meet registration fees will be contributed directly to the ICF Scholarship Fund for men’s club gymnastics.

There were many Junior National Team members in the field, and they immediately flew to Colorado Springs on Monday to take part in a week-long training camp.

A total of five gymnasts competed in the newly created (last season) Future Stars division.  These gymnasts compete specially designed routines, roughly similar to the ones they compete during the Future Stars qualification process and national competition.  When they compete on pommel horse, the pommels are removed.  Comparing the number of competitors this season to last, it appears the program is increasing in size and popularity.  Region I is pioneering the Future Stars division.

Finally, the webcast was a success.  I talked to many parents in the stands who commented that they had many friends and family members enjoy watching the action.  Although there was no real-time scoring and commentary, the video quality was very good, and it was easy to identify the gymnasts.  Overall, the Palm Tree Classic was a rousing success.  Many gymnasts and parents commented that they would like to return next year.

Click here for all the results for the 2011 Palm Tree Classic.

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The meet had several highlights, including Winter Cup champion Jake Dalton’s floor, vault and all-around routines.  Dalton showed a lot of poise and style as he seemingly had no problem holding on to his lead throughout the competition.  Danell Leyva was mesmerizing on parallel bars and high bar.  He fought mightily to remain in contention on both days.  Alex Buscaglia was outstanding on high bar, and it was great to see such a routine full of elements.  Daniel Ribeiro demonstrated why he continues to be America’s best on pommel horse.  Sho Nakamori showed that he is well on his way back from a very nasty knee injury.  It would be great to see him in title contention at VISAs in August.  Illinois’ loss is Colorado Springs’ (OTC) gain, as CJ Maestas put up great two-day numbers to immediately become an intriguing factor in determining the make-up of our international contingent.  He completely dominated the still rings competition, winning the title by 1.25 points.  Maestas’ performance was rewarded with his selection to the Senior National Team.

It was also very cool to see some young collegiate freshmen starting to make their mark at the elite level.  Michigan’s Sam Mikulak is obviously one of our best vaulters, and he backed that up with two very strong days.  He is nursing a dislocated finger, so he should be back to doing all-around in time for the Big 10 championships.  Stanford’s Cale Robinson is going to be a force on floor and vault.  Among the new faces on the Senior National Team will be Jesse Silverstein.  He is very fun to watch, as his gymnastics are very clean and efficient.  Andrew Elkind was also rewarded with a spot on the team.

The big disappointments, of course, were Paul Hamm’s recent surgery and Jonathan Horton’s injury that prevented them from competing.  Ohio State’s Brandon Wynn was a late scratch and Glen Ishino peeled off high bar during warm-ups and had to be carted out of the arena.  Ishino appeared to have aggravated his back, which is reportedly a similar injury that he suffered about this time last year.  That was a real shame, since he was contending for the all-around title.  Paul Ruggeri landed awkwardly on his first vault (first event for him last night), and was helped out of the arena as well.  The Illini star has reportedly dodged a bullet and will probably end up with a sprained ankle.  Ruggeri looked great in warm-ups.

On a personal note, the evening’s highlights for me were meeting several gymnastics parents for the first time and meeting several of the gymnasts I have interviewed over the past couple of years.  I got a huge kick out of meeting Coach Yin Alvarez for the first  time.  He greeted me like I was a long-lost uncle, and was kind enough to introduce me to his beautiful wife Maria.  Meeting Eddie Umphrey for the first time reminded me why I subscribe to his Twitter feed.

StickItMedia’s next big meet will be the 2011 Palm Tree Classic, hosted by Azarian Gymnastics February 19-21 in Aliso Viejo, CA.  If you happen to be in Southern California that weekend, don’t miss it.  The venue at Soka University is one of the finest around for gymnastics.  Yes, this meet will once again feature a live webcast!

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• 2006-07 – National Future Stars Development Team
• 2008-09 – Junior National Team (Level 9)
• 2010-11 – Junior National Team (Level 10 / 14-15)

• 2008 JO Nationals – 12T All-Around (Level 9)
• 2010 JO Nationals – 3rd All-Around, 1st VT, 2nd PB
• 2010 VISA U.S. Championships – 4th All-Around, 1st VT, 3rd FX

Rewarded for his remarkable achievements over the years, Ervin was recently signed to a full ride gymnastics scholarship to the University of Michigan, where he will headline an impressive recruiting class next fall.  Ervin will battle it out with a strong group of Level 10 (16-18) gymnasts this coming season.  Undoubtedly Ervin will be one of the favorites to win national championships on floor and vault.  Being a strong all-arounder, he will definitely be in the hunt for all-around titles at JOs and VISAs.

Ervin is no stranger at the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center.  He was on the Junior National Team as a Level 9 and is a current member of the Level 10 (14-15) Junior National Team.  The addition of Stacey Ervin to the Michigan roster in 2012 is a serious recruiting coup for Coach Kurt Golder.  The last two years have been recruiting gold for Golder and the Wolverines.  Ervin and company will definitely keep Michigan in the national title hunt in the years to come.

StickItMedia recently had the pleasure of interviewing Stacey Ervin:

SiM:  How did you become interested in gymnastics?

Ervin:  A friend in kindergarten had taught himself how to do a back handspring and I tried it myself.  After I learned that I could do it, I would do back handsprings everywhere I went.  Then I taught myself how to do back tucks off of elevated objects, and when my mom realized how dangerous the things I was doing were, she put me into gymnastics so I wouldn’t hurt myself.

SiM:  What have been the biggest highlights of your gymnastics career?

Ervin:  Winning my first State Championship, winning Region 5 championships, making level 9 and 10 National team, winning the National Vault title in 2010, and competing for the Junior National Team in Lilleshall, Great Britain.

SiM:  What was it like training and competing recently in Lilleshall?

Ervin:  Training and competing in Lilleshall was by far the most amazing gymnastics experience I have had.  Working with the team was great because we kept the energy and support high in both practice and competition.

SiM:  What skills have you been working on that you would like to compete during the upcoming season?

Ervin:  FX: Double-Double lay out, Hypolito, Front double twist punch 1 3/4 roll out.  PH: Sivado, Scissor to handstand, D flops, and E dismounts.  SR: All strength skills, Lay out Yamawaki, and Double front pike dismount.  VT: Kasamatsu 1 1/2 twist, and Handspring Double front.  PB: Peach to handstand, Honma, Double front dismount, and Belle.  HB: Tak 1/2, Kovacs, Geinger, Full-in lay out, and quast.

SiM:  What will you miss the most when your club career is over?

Ervin:  The thing I’ll miss most after my last year of club gymnastics is my team members, and my coaches.  I’ve been with my team members for 7 years now and they’re some of the best friends I’ve ever had, and my coaches have been nothing but helpful and supportive as long as I’ve been with them.

SiM:  What have been your biggest obstacles and challenges to remaining highly competitive?

Ervin:  Staying focused and training smart.  When I’m not focused in the gym, I don’t perform my skills well and it’s frustrating, and that ties in with working smart.

SiM:  Which events challenge you the most, and why?

Ervin:  High bar and pommel horse.  I think that’s because I feel like I’m more of a power gymnast and those events require more finesse and rhythm.  I’ve been working harder on those events so they aren’t as weak anymore.

SiM:  What have been your proudest gymnastics and non-gymnastics achievements?

Ervin:  My proudest gymnastics achievements have been making level 9 and 10 National Teams and competing for the U.S. in Lilleshall, Great Britain.  My proudest non-gymnastic achievements have been making honor roll every semester, except one, and making my high school’s homecoming court.

SiM:  Who are your role models, and why?

Ervin:  My Mother and Father, because they work very hard so I can pursue my dreams.  All the Senior National Team members, because they work hard and that pushes me to better myself so I can be as good, if not better, than them someday.

SiM:  What have been the highlights of your college recruiting process?

Ervin:  Being at the University of Michigan.  The team was very inviting and hardworking in the gym, and the school has a beautiful campus and an outstanding academic reputation.

SiM:  What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

Ervin:  The best advice I’ve ever received is this:  “It’s easy to be average, but you must work harder and sacrifice more than others to become great and accomplish your highest goals!”

SiM:  If you could go back in time and start over in gymnastics, what would you do differently?

Ervin:  If I could go back, I would do skills without fear that have blocked me before and perfect my basics so I would have an extremely solid base to build better skills from.

SiM:  What are your gymnastics and academic goals for the next five years?

Ervin:  My gymnastics goals for the next five years are to make National Team every year and go to a World Championships and Olympic games.  In college, I want to win the National Team title and individual events.  My academic goals over these next five years are to stay above a 3.6 grade point average in my last year of high school, and all throughout college.

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

Ervin:  My favorite thing about walking into the gym every day is getting the chance to do the sport I love and getting the opportunity to better myself and do more than others think is possible!

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