Maxim Devyatovskiy and Rebecca Bross

WORCESTER, Mass., March 6, 2010 – Rebecca Bross of Plano, Texas, and Maxim Devyatovsky of Russia won the women’s and men’s all-around titles, respectively, at the 2010 Tyson American Cup, the United States most prestigious invitational, at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. Alexandra Raisman of Needham, Mass., and Jonathan Horton of Houston both finished second, with the USA’s Chris Brooks of Houston claiming the men’s bronze.

With the USA finishing one-two in the women’s all-around, Bross easily took the title with her 60.550, with Raisman posting a 58.900. Rounding out the top three was Venezuela’s Jessica Lopez with a 56.500. Ariella Kaeslin of Switzerland and Yuko Shintake of Japan were fourth (56.050) and fifth (56.000).

“I am very proud of myself,” said Bross, who was the all-around silver medalist at the 2009 World Championships. “I just wanted to go out and hit, and I did that. It’s still early in the season, so I’m just ready for the rest of it now. It was amazing to watch girls from my gym (Nastia Liukin and Carly Patterson) win this event and then go out and see what they accomplished, and I just hope the string continues for me.”

For the men, Devyatovsky scored a 90.600 total, finishing 0.450 ahead of Horton’s 90.150. Brooks tallied an 89.900 for a third, edging out defending champion Fabian Hambuechen of Germany, who had an 89.000. Daniel Keatings of Great Britain finished fifth at 88.650.

“I am very, very glad to have won,” said Devyatovsky. “It was important to me because in 1986, 24 years ago, an athlete (Alexei Tikhonkikh) from the former Soviet Union and my hometown was a winner of the American Cup and an American girl (Kristie Phillips) won at that competition as well. So I am very glad!”

He added, “I was in the exact position during the 2007 American Cup. I was leading the competition going into high bar and I missed my routine. I tried not to think of my previous mistakes today when I was going on high bar. I’m glad I hit my routine this time and won the meet.”

Bross posted the highest score on three of the four apparatus, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Her Yurchenko double-full vault earned a 15.100. On the uneven bars, she executed a clean routine sticking a tucked, full-twisting double-back dismount for a 15.300. A nice standing Arabian and a double Arabian dismount yielded Bross a 15.300 on balance beam. Finishing on floor exercise, Bross opened with a front handspring layout front, double front on her first tumbling pass, and her 14.850 sealed her all-around title. Bross trains at WOGA.

Raisman executed a beautiful stuck double Arabian dismount for a score of 15.050 on balance beam. She landed a Yurchenko double full vault to earn the highest women’s vault score at 15.150. On floor exercise, she opened with a one-and-a-half to double Arabian tumbling pass and her routine earned a 14.700. She also scored a 14.000 on uneven bars.

Competition photos by John Cheng

“It was great to go out there and compete in front of my friends and family,” said Raisman, who trains at Brestyan’s American Gymnastics. “Until I saw all the signs, I didn’t know there were that many girls from my gym here, so it made it even more special to have all that support.”

Horton, who trains at Cypress Academy, began the competition on pommel horse where he executed a clean routine to score a 14.100. He then delivered a solid floor routine to earn a 15.150. His strong, smooth rings routine included a Yamawaki to planche back uprise to Maltese bounce to iron cross to earn the top still rings score of 15.800. He earned his highest event score, a 16.050, on his vault, a front handspring double front. Horton struggled on the parallel bars and netted a 13.700, which dropped him into second going into the final rotation. On the horizontal bar, Horton completed a series of release moves, including a layout, tuck, and full twisting Kovacs, to score a 15.350.

“I felt good all day, even on parallel bars,” said Horton, who is the reigning U.S. all-around champion. “I killed the end of my routine after I came off. I just slipped, and I should have paid more attention and re-chalked after Devyatovsky. It’s ironic I messed up on parallel bars because it is usually one of my best events.”

Devyatovsky completed the same vault as Horton, a front handspring double front, to earn a 15.900. On parallel bars, he landed a double-back dismount to score a 15.100. Executing a clean horizontal bar routine with solid invert work and a stuck landing clinched the title for Devyatovsky with a score of 14.850.

Brooks saved the best for last. His horizontal bar routine was loaded with difficulty, including a layout double-twisting, double-full dismount, to garner the highest score on the apparatus at 15.800, which moved him into third place in the all-around. His high bar score bested those of the reigning Olympic silver and bronze medalists, Horton and Hambuechen. Brooks had the highest scores of the event on the floor exercise, parallel bars and horizontal bar. His scores on the other events were: 15.550, floor exercise; 13.100, pommel horse; 14.250, still rings; 15.850, vault; and 15.350, parallel bars.

“It was awesome a great learning experience,” said Brooks, who won the 2009 Winter Cup Challenge all-around. “I am proud of how, when I fell behind, I was able to pull it together. On pommel horse, my hand slipped, and then I struggled a little bit on rings. I thought to myself, ‘There are three more events and let’s get it back together.’ And, I did, especially on parallel bars and high bar. It was awesome to compete with Jon and support each other. It was a great overall experience.”

Background information

DCU Center: A multi-purpose arena and convention center uniquely designed to accommodate the needs of any size group from 15 to 15,000, the DCU Center is owned by the City of Worcester and managed by SMG, the world’s leading private management and developing firm for public assembly facilities. Headquartered in Philadelphia, SMG provides management services to over 200 public assembly facilities internationally and also offers food and beverage operations through SAVOR… Catering by SMG. For more information, please visit www.dcucenter.com.

Tyson Foods, Inc.: Founded in 1935 with headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas, Tyson Foods, Inc. is the world’s largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef and pork, the second-largest food production company in the Fortune 500 and a member of the S&P 500. The company produces a wide variety of protein-based and prepared food products and is the recognized market leader in the retail and foodservice markets it serves. Tyson provides products and service to customers throughout the United States and more than 90 countries. The company has approximately 107,000 Team Members employed at more than 300 facilities and offices in the United States and around the world. Through its Core Values, Code of Conduct and Team Member Bill of Rights, Tyson strives to operate with integrity and trust and is committed to creating value for its shareholders, customers and Team Members. The company also strives to be faith-friendly, provide a safe work environment and serve as stewards of the animals, land and environment entrusted to it.

2010 Tyson American Cup
DCU Center
Worcester, Mass.
March 6, 2010

All-around final results

Women
1. Rebecca Bross, Plano, Texas, 60.550
2. Alexandra Raisman, Needham, Mass., 58.900
3. Jessica Lopez, Venezuela, 56.500
4. Ariella Kaeslin, Switzerland, 56.050
5. Yuko Shintake, Japan, 56.000
6. Elisabeth Seitz, Germany, 55.550
7. Dominique Pegg, Canada, 55.150
8. Elsa Garcia, Mexico, 53.900

Men
1. Maxim Devyatovsky, Russia, 90.600
2. Jonathan Horton, Houston, Texas, 90.150
3. Chris Brooks, Houston, Texas, 89.900
4. Fabian Hambuechen, Germany, 89.000
5. Daniel Keatings, Great Britain, 88.650
6. Koji Yamamuro, Japan, 86.850
7. Jorge Hugo Giraldo Lopez, Colombia, 86.200
8. Flavius Koczi, Romania, 85.200