LONG BEACH, Calif., May 10, 2014 – Four men claimed Level 10 Junior Olympic all-around national titles today at the 2014 U.S. Men’s Junior Olympic National Championships at the Long Beach (Calif.) Arena. The championships wraps up tomorrow with two sessions of Level 8 and 9 competition. Junior elite athletes will perform technical sequences, beginning at 8:50 a.m. PT. Then Junior Olympic division athletes will perform a second round of optional routines at 2:25 p.m. PT.
The champions determined today are listed below.
Junior Olympic, 18 years old
Desert Gymcats’ Pierce Davis posted a 161.200 total to win the all-around title. Zachary Reiger of Gym World Central followed him with 156.850 in second, and Mark Treybal of GK Gymnastics was third at 155.850. The event champions were: A.J. Sandburg of Swiss Turners, floor; Ryan Lemezis of Premier West, pommel horse; Treybal, still rings; Anthony Mills of MAG, vault; Davis, parallel bars; and Malik DePasquale of Flying High, horizontal bar.
Junior Olympic, 17 years old
Nathan Goff of Gym World Central earned the all-around crown, scoring a 165.700. Tristan Duran of USGDC, 165.350, and Fletcher Braunton of Black Hills, 163.200, finished second and third, respectively. Max DeFrees of Metro grabbed the floor crown. Harry Mclellan of USGDC was the champion on the pommel horse and vault. On the still rings, Dennis Milton of International GA took home top honors. Duran won the parallel bars, while Goff topped the high bar standings.
Junior Olympic, 16 years old
Derek Gonzalez of Prestige Gymnastics earned a 161.900 to grab the top spot in the all-around. Matthew Wagner of TGR, who also took the floor and pommel horse titles, was second at 161.450, and Isaac Xiong of 5280-North was third, 160.000. Josiah Eng of Swiss Turners won the still rings title, and Jake Brodarzon of Eastern National took the vault crown. Xiong added the parallel bars crown to his haul, while Salto’s Lukas Texeira earned the top spot on the horizontal bar.
Junior Olympic, 15 years old
Favian Valdez of USGDC posted a 165.650 to win the all-around title. Teammate Andrew Bower was second with 161.250, followed by Ben Provost of Daggett’s at 160.400. The event champions were: Basil Szechinski of CPD, floor; Michael Paradise of Premier West, pommel horse; Jacob Light of Parkettes, still rings; Valdez, vault; Domenic Sciulli of International GA, parallel bars; and Thomas Miretta of West Coast, high bar.
Tickets may be purchased at the Long Beach Arena ticket office.
The U.S. Junior Olympic National Championships is one of the national championships of USA Gymnastics, the sport’s national governing body in the United States. Many Junior Olympic champions have gone on to make the U.S. National Team and represent the United States in international competition and/or to compete in collegiate gymnastics. All of the members of the men’s medal-winning 2004 (silver) and 2008 (bronze) U.S. Olympic Teams, as well as the 2012 Olympic Team, are former Junior Olympic National Championships participants. Past participants include Paul Hamm, 2004 Olympic all-around champion; Jonathan Horton, 2008 Olympic horizontal bar silver medalist and 2010 World all-around bronze medalist; and Danell Leyva, 2012 Olympic all-around bronze medalist.