PHOENIX (August 7, 2026) – Women’s competition kicked off Friday at the 2026 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships with a tight all-around race among seniors, where Skye Blakely (Frisco, Texas/University of Florida) and Claire Pease (Sunnyvale, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics) lead the field. Addalye VanGrinsven (Champlin, Minn./Pacific Reign Gymnastics) has a firm hold on the junior lead after the first day of women’s action at Mortgage Matchup Center.

Tight race for senior title

Blakely and Pease posted matching all-around scores of 55.600 to lead the senior field, followed closely by first-year senior Charleigh Bullock (Spotsylvania, Va./Capital Gymnastics National Training Center) in third with a 55.400.

Blakely joined Reese Esponda (Shenandoah, Texas/World Champions Centre) and Olympic gold medalists Jade Carey (Phoenix, Ariz./Oregon State University Training Center) and Hezly Rivera (Oradell, N.J./WOGA Gymnastics) with top single-vault scores of 14.200 in the all-around. Blakely and Pease also tied for the second-highest uneven bars score (14.200), with Pease also second on beam (13.900).

In apparatus standings, Bullock claimed the top score on uneven bars with a 14.250, followed by Blakely and Pease with their 14.200 scores. Rivera was best on balance beam (14.300) en route to a fourth-place all-around standing (55.000), while Carey led on vault with a two-vault average of 14.000 (14.200, 13.800) and was fifth in the all-around (54.400). Esponda notched the top score of the night on floor exercise with a 14.450 and was sixth all-around (54.100).

VanGrinsven comes up big in junior competition

On the junior side, VanGrinsven has a healthy lead on the rest of the field, leading the all-around with a 53.150 and on floor with a 13.600. She sits atop the all-around table nearly two points ahead of second-place Eva Doherty (Virginia Beach, Va./World Class Gymnastics), who scored a 51.200 and had the highest bars score (13.150), and Kylie Smith (Loveland, Ohio/Cincinnati Gymnastics) in third (51.150).

Amia Pugh-Banks (Newport News, Va./World Class Gymnastics) is the vault leader with an average of 13.800 (14.200, 13.400), while Anslee McCauley (Marietta, Ga./Georgia All-Star Gymnastics) holds the same title on beam with a 13.400.

The USA Gymnastics Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships resume Saturday, August 8 with the final day of men’s competition. Junior titles and National Team spots will be determined beginning at 10:30 a.m. MST, followed by the senior men at 4:30 p.m. MST, where the National Team and this year’s senior World Championships team will be named later in the evening.

The junior men will be streamed live on the USA Gymnastics YouTube channel, while the senior session will broadcast live on NBCSN and stream on Peacock. Live scoring will be available on the competition website in addition to ScoreCat and MeetScoresOnline.