U.S. men’s gymnastics action is about to heat up again.  The 2009 Men’s National Qualifier will take place on Saturday, July 11 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO.  The athletes will arrive this week with training sessions taking place on July 9-10.  Saturday’s competition will be divided into two sessions.

The National Qualifier is mostly designed to determine qualifiers to next month’s VISAs in both the Junior and Senior divisions.  Any gymnast who is 16 or older may enter the qualifier with the intent of qualifying to the Senior Division at VISAs.  Also, any eligible gymnast may enter to qualify for either the 14-15 or 16-18 Junior division at VISAs.  In other words, any age eligible Level 9s from this past season may enter the qualifier to qualify for a spot in the 14-15 age group at VISAs, or any age eligible 14-15 or 16-18 may enter if they failed to qualify at JO Nationals.

The top 18 finishers in each age division (14-15 & 16-18) at the 2009 JO Nationals have already qualified.  The top 6 finishers in the Junior Division at the National qualifier will qualify for VISAs, with those top 6 being comprised using the rank order of all-around results from both 14-15 and 16-18 divisions combined.

Some pre-qualified Senior Division gymnasts will be competing as well:

• Evan Roth – Cal
• Steven Legendre – Oklahoma
• Chris Brooks – Oklahoma
• Joey Hagerty
  

Here are three of last season’s Level 9 gymnasts attempting to qualify for the 14-15 Junior Division:

• Sean Melton – Orlando Melton
• Jacob Dastrup – Arete
• Andrew Botto – San Mateo

Approximately 42 gymnasts from each division will compete at VISAs.  Again, the top 6 Junior Division finishers (both age groups combined) from the National Qualifier will qualify for VISAs.  The top 21 qualifiers in the Senior Division will advance to VISAs, plus all pre-qualified gymnasts and any approved petitions.

This should be a great event.  Good luck to all!

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