CINCINNATI, Ohio, May 9, 2009 – Region 1 won all three Junior Olympic division regional titles at the 2009 U.S. Men’s Junior Olympic National Championships at the Duke Energy Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. The event features competition in regional team, all-around and individual events. All-around finals are scheduled for May 9, with individual event finals on May 10.

Here’s a quick look at how the regional teams finished, along with the top all-around finalists for each level. The levels are determined by skill level, and Level 10 is split into two age groups, 14-15 years old and 16-18 years old.

  • Junior Level 10, 14-15 – Region 1 won the title with a team total of 423.450, with Region 7 and Region 5 finishing in second (416.500) and third (410.500) place, respectively. Region 1 had the highest team scores on floor, vault, parallel bars and high bar and tied with Region 7 pommel horse. Region 7 had the highest team score on still rings, followed by Region 1. John Orozco of World Cup Gymnastics in New York had the highest prelim all-around score in this division, followed by Sam Mikulak, Adrian de los Angeles and Jesse Glenn, all of SCATS HB. Metropolitan’s Konner Ackerman rounded out the top five qualifiers to the all-around finals.

  • Senior Level 10, 16-18 – Region 1 claimed the division title with 435.300. Region 3 barely edged out Region 5 for second place, 431.800 to 431.750. Region 1 had the highest team score on pommel horse and vault, with second-place rankings on floor and still rings. Region 3 had the best team performance on vault, while Region 5 tallied the top team scores on floor, rings and horizontal bar. Alex Naddour of USA Flairs in Arizona earned the leading all-around score in the prelims with 89.350. Rounding out the top five in prelim all-around scores are: Christopher Stehl of Cypress Aced in Texas, second; Jake Dalton of Gymnastics Nevada, third; and Masayoshi Mori of New Hope in California and Christopher Turner of West Coast Olympic in California, tied for fourth.

  • Junior Level 9 – Region 1 captured the division’s regional title with 411.150 points. Region 5 was second at 396.350. Region 8 was third at 395.200. Orlando Metro’s Sean Melton finished atop the all-around prelim rankings with 84.500 points. The top five all-around finishers in the prelims were: Allan Bower of Xtreme in Arizona, second; Timothy Wang of South Coast in California, third; Jacob Dastrup of Arete in Utah, fourth; and Jeffrey Frantom of Gymcats in Nevada, fifth.

The state breakdown by region is:

  • Region 1 – Arizona, California – North, California – South, Hawaii and Nevada
  • Region 2 – Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington
  • Region 3 – Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas
  • Region 4 – Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin
  • Region 5 – Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio
  • Region 6 – Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
  • Region 7 – Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia
  • Region 8 – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee
  • Region 9 – Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming

The Junior Olympic National Championships are a qualifier for Level 10 gymnasts to the Visa Championships (Aug. 12-15 in Dallas), where the national teams for both age groups are determined. The top gymnasts in Level 9 are named to the Junior Olympic National Team.

All-around finals are May 9, with Level 10 (ages 14-15) at 10 a.m., Level 10 (ages 16-18) at 2:30 p.m. and Level 9 at 7:15 p.m. Concluding the Men’s Junior Olympic National Championships are the individual event finals for all levels on May 10 at 12 p.m.

Tickets may be purchased at the Duke Energy Center. Single-day passes on competition days are $19 for adults, and $17 for senior citizens age 65 and older and for children ages 7-12. All-session ticket packages are $75 for adults, and $65 for senior citizens and children ages 7-12. Admission is free for children age 6 and younger. Discounted all-event passes are available on the event’s Web site.

To advance to the Junior Olympic National Championships, gymnasts competed in state and regional championships and qualified based on their all-around or multiple-event scores, or through regional allotment. For more information on the event, which is hosted by Queen City Gymnastics, click here.