Jonathan Horton picked up where he left off Wednesday night, improving his all-around score by almost a full point, and held off Danell Leyva to successfully defend his U.S. Championship title.  Horton posted a 91.30 to best Leyva’s 90.00 in Friday night’s competition in Hartford, CT.  He hit on all six events this time and even improved his score on pommel horse (14.10).  If not for his slightly watered-down high bar routine (14.90) and his lower score (compared to Wednesday’s 15.30) on parallel bars (14.90), Horton would have scored above 15.00 on five events.  His scores of 16.20 on rings and 16.05 on vault were outstanding.  Horton simply solidified his current standing as America’s top all-arounder.

Leyva made it tough for Horton over the two days, and ended up hitting on all twelve events.  He was spectacular on parallel bars, besting the field on that event, and placed very close behind Chris Brooks and World Team alternate Paul Ruggeri on high bar.  His performance sealed his 2nd consecutive selection to the World Team, and firmly entrenched him as very reliable all-arounder with all sorts of upside potential.

Friday night, Brandon Wynn improved his scores on every event except on floor to take the 3rd spot, a full two points over Chris Brooks.  Glen Ishino rounded out the top 5 with a solid second day of competition.  Wynn is now well established as America’s best on rings with a 2-day total of 32.25.  His overall consistency successfully demontrated why he deserved his spot on the World Team.  Chris Brooks’ dazzling performances on vault, parallel bars and high bar enabled him to punch his ticket to Worlds.  His 2-day total of 31.25 was good enough to win the high bar title.  Steven Legendre followed up his Wednesday score on vault with an identical 17.05.  He is one of the few vaulters in the world right now capable of hitting a score over 17.00, and that is why the U.S. team will need him on floor and vault in Rotterdam.

Chris Cameron earned the sixth and final World Team spot primarily with his steady work on floor, pommel horse and rings.  The selection committee was also busy handing out international assignments for the upcoming Pan-Am Championships.  Those winning slots were Alex Buscaglia, Dylan Akers, Bryan Del Castillo, Glen Ishino, Jake Dalton and Wes Haagensen.  The Pan-Am event takes place August 30-September 5 in Guadalajara.

Both Junior and Senior National Teams were selected in a very busy day put in by the selection committee:

Juniors (14-15)

• Adrian De Los Angeles (SCATS)
• Stacy Ervin (Mills)
• Sean Melton (Orlando Metro)
• Jake Martin (Orlando Metro)
• Kevin Ko (Golden Bear)
• Timmy Wang (South Coast)
• Jonathan Deaton (Daggett’s)

Senior (16-18)

• Sam Mikulak (SCATS/Michigan)
• Dylan Akers (Cypress)
• CJ Maestas (Gold Cup/Illinois)
• Cale Robinson (Premier/Stanford)
• Wyatt Aycock (Orlando Metro/Nebraska)
• Jacoby Rubin (Buffalo Grove)
• Jordan Valdez (Champion)

Seniors

• Chris Brooks
• Alex Buscaglia
• Chris Cameron
• Jake Dalton
• Bryan Del Castillo
• Wes Haagensen
• RJ Heflin
• Jonathan Horton
• Glen Ishino
  
• Steven Legendre
• Danell Leyva
• Tim McNeill
• Alex Naddour
• Paul Ruggeri
• Brandon Wynn

All-Around Results

Individual Event Results

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