Random Thoughts on Men’s Gymnastics – 03/09/10
Posted on 09 March 2010 by admin
The 2010 Tyson American Cup boiled down to who kept it clean. Russia’s Maxim Devyatovskiy did just that, and by hitting all six events, he took home the prize. The former Russian bad boy seems to be coming into his own, after winning the 2009 Champions Trophy and placing 5th at the World Championships. He did have some help after Jonathan Horton tanked his parallel bars set and with Chris Brooks’ awkward fall on pommel horse. Horton was well on his way after his 14.10 on pommel horse removed his only pre-conceived obstacle to the title. His 15.80 on rings and 16.05 on vault seemed to make it a foregone conclusion, given that parallel bars and high bar are two of his power events. All it took was an uncharacteristic slip on parallel bars and the resulting score of 13.70 to open the door for Devyatovskiy.
Chris Brooks posted the day’s highest scores on floor (15.55), parallel bars (15.35) and high bar (15.80) to place third (89.90) behind Horton (90.15) and Devyatovskiy (90.60). Although he only scored 13.10 on pommel horse, it was his sub-standard score on rings (14.25) that did in Brooks. Otherwise, he likely could have taken home the title. Brooks is really proving that he belongs on the world stage, especially coming off his strong performance in winning last month’s Winter Cup. Germany’s Fabian Hambuechen ended up in 4th place with an 89.00. The defending champ clearly wasn’t feeling it and was obviously not in the best of shape. Still, this was a great meet with a very impressive field.
Stanford proved that last week’s 361.40 against Michigan was no fluke. The Cardinal hung a 361.65 on yet another top-ranked team, Oklahoma (360.30), to position themselves at the top of GymInfo’s weekly rankings. Stanford had an absolute field day on vault with a staggering five gymnasts posting scores of 16.00 or higher. The Sooners’ Steven Legendre (88.85), Alex Naddour (88.35) and Jake Dalton (88.25) had the top three AA scores, but it was Stanford’s all-around depth that made the difference.
Third-ranked Illinois (357.50) had no problem disposing of Iowa (346.60), as sophomore Tyler Mizoguchi tallied a season-high 88.85 in the AA. Paul Ruggeri tied his career high on high bar (16.10) and also won on parallel bars (15.30). Luke Stannard won his second pommel horse title in a row with the nation’s second-highest score so far (15.70). Stannard and Daniel Ribeiro are once again leading the Illini’s dominance on the horse.
Fifth-ranked Ohio State (351.80) beat back a slumping Cal (346.00) in their dual meet in Columbus. Now that Cal has a healthy Glen Ishino (89.05) and Dennis Mannhart (88.20) fully engaged in the rotation, it appears that the Bears are having issues with Kyle Bunthuwong and Bryan Del Castillo. Nevertheless, the Buckeyes are showing signs that they think they belong in the NCAA title hunt. Brandon Wynn won yet another rings title (16.00) and Steven Spencer posted one of the season’s highest scores on pommel horse (15.40). Ohio State is ranked second on that event behind Illinois.
The top club meet of the weekend was the 2010 Houston National Invitational. Some of the top clubs competing there were Cypress, Buffalo Grove, WOGA, Queen City and Bartlett’s. In the Open Team Cup, the team from Japan prevailed over USOTC and Buffalo Grove. Some of the top elite competitors included Alexander Shatilov, Jake Bateman, Alexy Bilozertchev and Andrew Elkind.
USAG announced their spring international assignments. Jonathan Horton and Danell Leyva will represent the USA at the Paris-Bercy World Cup event (April 6-12). Chris Cameron, Steven Legendre, Leyva and Tim Gentry (alternate) are going to Melbourne, Australia for the Pac Rim Championships (April 23-May 2). The Junior Team will be represented by CJ Maestas, John Orozco, Dylan Akers and Sam Mikulak (alternate). This will be the first international assignment for Akers.
