© John Cheng

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 18, 2017 – Yul Moldauer of Arvada, Colo./University of Oklahoma, claimed the 2017 Winter Cup Challenge all-around title tonight inside the Westgate Las Vegas Resort. Akash Modi of Morganville, N.J./Stanford University, was second, followed by Allan Bower of Mesa, Ariz./University of Oklahoma.

Moldauer and Modi traded the lead throughout the night with Moldauer coming out on top in the final rotation after posting a 14.500 on the pommel horse. His other event scores were: 14.800, floor exercise; 15.000, still rings; 14.600, vault; 15.000, parallel bars; and 13.000, high bar. He posted a 171.750 two-day total in the all-around. Modi was close behind with a 171.050-combined total, while Bower rounded out the top three with a 169.900.

2016 Olympic alternate Donnell Whittenburg of Baltimore, Md./U.S. Olympic Training Center, was fourth (167.450), while Donothan Bailey of Mission Viejo, Calif./U.S. Olympic Training Center, finished fifth, totaling 166.000 in the all-around.

Moldauer also took individual honors on still rings and parallel bars, scoring 30.100 and 29.300, respectively, over the two days. Eddie Penev of Rochester, N.Y./U.S. Olympic Training Center, won the floor exercise title with a 29.950 total. 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Alex Naddour of Gilbert, Ariz./USA Youth Fitness, is the pommel horse champion, totaling 30.100. Anthony McCallum of Columbia, S.C./University of Michigan, took top honors on the vault with a two-day score of 29.850, while 2016 Olympian Chris Brooks of Houston/U.S. Olympic Training Center, posted the top score on high bar at 29.550.

Performances at the 2017 Winter Cup Challenge will help determine the 15 men who will comprise the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team through the 2017 P&G Gymnastics Championships in Anaheim, Calif., Aug. 17-20. Following the two-day competition, the top four ranked all-around athletes will automatically qualify for the 2017 senior national team. The Men’s Program Committee will select up to eleven more gymnasts from the participants at the Winter Cup Challenge. The members of the 2016 Olympic team, plus the alternates, will automatically retain their spots on the national team provided they earn National Points on both days of competition.

Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Its mission is to encourage participation and the pursuit of excellence in the sport. Its disciplines include men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling, acrobatic gymnastics, and group gymnastics (known internationally as Gymnastics for All). For more information, log on to www.usagym.org.