LAS VEGAS, Feb. 3, 2010 – 136 men will compete in the preliminary rounds of the 2010 Winter Cup Challenge, Feb. 4-6, at the Las Vegas (Nev.) Sports Center. The field includes three 2008 Olympians, five members of the 2009 World Championships team, nine members of the senior national team and 12 members of the junior national team. The gymnasts are vying for 15 spots on the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team through the 2010 Visa Championships. The Winter Cup competition schedule is: preliminary rounds, Feb. 4 – 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.; and final round, Feb. 6 at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at the venue.

2008 Olympic horizontal bar silver-medalist and 2009 U.S. all-around champion Jonathan Horton of Houston looks to add a Winter Cup all-around title to his accomplishments, while his 2008 Olympic team bronze-medalist teammates Alexander Artemev of Lakewood, Colo., and Kevin Tan of Fremont, Calif., make their first return to competition since the 2008 Olympic Games.

Four of Horton’s 2009 World Championships teammates are competing, including Tim McNeill of Falls Church, Va., the 2009 World all-around seventh-place finisher and pommel horse finalist and the reigning U.S. all-around silver-medalist; Danell Leyva of Miami, the World horizontal bar fourth-place finisher, U.S. horizontal bar co-champion and the 2009 Winter Cup all-around silver medalist; Oklahoma teammates Jake Dalton of Sparks, Nev., the 2009 U.S. vault champion; and Steven Legendre of Flower Mound, Texas, a 2009 World floor exercise finalist and the reigning U.S. and NCAA floor champion.

Three other members of the current senior national team are also in the field: Stanford’s Alexander Buscaglia of Oak Brook, Ill., and Tim Gentry of Plano, Texas; and Ohio State University’s Brandon Wynn of Voorhees, N.J.

2009 U.S. junior all-around champion John Orozco (14-15) of the Bronx, N.Y., leads 11 junior national team members who are hoping to break into the senior national team ranks. Three members of the Junior Pan American Team that won the team silver medal are also in the field – C.J. Maestas of Corrales, N.M., who won the Pan Am still rings gold medal and the silver medal in the all-around; Samuel Mikulak of Newport Coast, Calif., Pan Am floor exercise silver medalist and vault bronze medalist, and U.S junior (14-15) all-around silver medalist; and Jesse Glenn of Northridge, Calif., the U.S. junior (14-15) vault champion.

The remaining junior national team members are: U.S. junior all-around silver-medalist Jesse Silverstein of Suffern, N.Y.; 2009 U.S. junior (16-18) pommel horse champion Dylan Akers of Kingwood, Texas; 2009 U.S. junior (16-18) floor exercise and pommel horse silver-medalist Wyatt Aycock of Orlando; 2009 U.S. junior (14-15) vault and high bar silver-medalist Jake Martin of Oviedo, Fla.; 2009 U.S. junior (14-15) still rings bronze-medalist Maximilian Mayr of Miami; 2009 U.S. Junior Olympic all-around silver-medalist Sean Melton of Orlando; 2009 U.S. junior (16-18) all-around bronze-medalist Christopher Turner of Fremont, Calif.; and 2009 U.S. junior (16-18) horizontal bar champion Jordan Valdez of Louisville.

Four-time U.S. tumbling champion Kalon Ludvigson of Pocatello, Idaho, is competing in his first artistic competition on vault and floor exercise.

Ten men will qualify for the team using the National Team Points System, and the remaining five will be selected by the Men’s Program Committee from among Winter Cup participants and athlete petitions. The top 42 gymnasts, according to the Men’s Program Committee’s points ranking system, will advance to the final competition, along with the top three gymnasts on each apparatus. The all-around and individual event champions will be determined via a combined two-day score.

For all information on the Winter Cup Challenge, including start list, the points ranking system used for advancement to the final round, as well as the one for determining the national team, click here.

2010 Winter Cup Competitors
(arranged alphabetically)

Dylan Akers, Kingwood, Texas/Cypress Academy
Shaun Antonio, Rio Rancho, N.M./Eagle Ridge Gymnastics
Alexander Artemev, Lakewood, Colo./5280 Gymnastics
Wyatt Aycock, Orlando, Fla./Orlando Metro Gymnastics
Donothan Bailey, Lake Forest, Calif./Azarian Gymnastics
Alan Banker Jr, Rush, N.Y./Upstate Gymnastics
Riley Barclay, Tempe, Ariz./Sun Devil Gymnastics Club
Aristo Barrera, Miami, Fla./Universal Gymnastics Inc.
Alexander Barrera, Miami, Fla./Universal Gymnastics Inc
Jake Bateman, Kingsport, Tenn./USOTC Gymnastics
Charles Baysinger, Nashville, Tenn./Sun Devil Gymnastics Club
Danny Beradini, Lake Forest, Ill./Buffalo Grove Gymnastics Center
Andre Berry, Hempstead, Texas/University of Minnesota
Alexy Bilozertchev, Hilliard, Ohio/OSU Boys Team
Scott Bloomfield, Wallingford, Conn./Temple University Men and Boys
Josh Bradley, Omaha, Neb./Sun Devil Gymnastic Club
James Brochero, Colombia*
Chris Brooks, Houston, Texas/University of Oklahoma
Tory Brown, Portland, Ore./United States Air Force Academy
Jonathan Buese, Gainesville, Fla./University of Iowa Men’s Team
Wasef Burbar, Chicago, Ill./Buffalo Grove Gymnastics Center
Evan Burke, New York, N.Y./Temple University Men and Boys
Alex Buscaglia, Oak Brook, Ill./Stanford University
Syque Caesar, Port Saint Lucie, Fla./University of Michigan
Kent Caldwell, Charlotte, N.C./University of Michgan
Chris Cameron, Winter Haven, Fla./University of Michigan
Christian Carmona, Elmhurst, Ill./Aerial Gymnastics Club
Zachary Chase, Woodinville, Wash./Cascade Elite Gymnastics
Harris Coleman, Gainesville, Fla./University of Minnesota
Tyler Croteau, East Swanzey, N.H./Temple University Men and Boys
Russell Dabritz, Rowley, Mass./University of Minnesota
Jake Dalton, Sparks, Nev./University of Oklahoma
Adrian De los Angeles, Long Beach, Calif./SCATS Gymnastics
Cameron Deer, Houston, Texas/Houston Gymnastics Academy
Bryan Del Castillo, Laguna Niguel, Calif./University of California – Berkeley
Josh Dixon, San Jose, Calif./Stanford University
Ty Echard, Carroll, Ohio/The Ohio State University
Andrew Elkind, Cherry Hill, N.J./USOTC
Micah Elofson, Minneapolis, Minn./Twin City Twisters
Tyler Evans, San Jose, Calif./Springfield College
Cameron Foreman, Iowa City, Iowa/Stanford University
Aaron Fortunato, Bedford, Ohio/University of Minnesota
Alex Gaudaur, Clovis, Calif./Sun Devil Gymnastic Club
Tim Gentry, Plano, Texas/Stanford University
Joshua Glenn, Northridge, Calif./SCATS Gymnastics
Jesse Glenn, Northridge, Calif./SCATS Gymnastics
Phil Goldberg, Dalton, Ga./University of Michigan
Christopher Graham, Houston, Texas/Houston Gymnastics Academy
Matthew Greenfield, Villanova, Pa./Penn State University Gymnastics
Frank Grillo, Henderson, Nev./Vitaly Scherbo School of Gymnastics
Eric Haeussler, Redwood City, Calif./Houston Gymnastics Academy
R.J. Heflin, Storeham, Mass./Houston Gymnastics Academy
David Henderson Jr, Crosby, Texas/USOTC Gymnastics
Craig Hernandez, Libertyville, Ill./Buffalo Grove Gymnastics Center
Matt Hicks, Colorado Springs, Colo./Colorado Training Center
Joseph Hodges, Webster, N.Y./Rochester Gymnastics Academy
Jonathan Horton, Houston, Texas/Cypress Gymnastics
Trevor Howard, Columbus, Ohio/Hocking Valley Gymnastics Center
James Jindra, Fairfax, Va./Capital Gymnastics National Center
Spencer Johnson, Colorado Springs, Colo./Cypress Academy of Gymnastics
Thomas Kelley, Libertyville, Ill./University of Michigan
Benjamin Ketelsen, Lancaster, Ohio/University of Iowa Men’s Team
Vladislav Klurman, North Miami Beach, Fla./Penn State University
Seung Tai Lee, Orlando, Fla./Ohio State University
Steven Legendre, Flower Mound, Texas/University of Oklahoma
Danell Leyva, Miami, Fla./Universal Gymnastics
Ryan Lieberman, Lake Forest, Ill./Stanford University
Brian Liscovitz, Hillsborough, N.J./University of Illinois
Kalon Ludvigson, Pocatello, Idaho/Team Revolution
C.J. Maestas, Corrales, N.M./Gold Cup Gymnastics
Ian Makowske, Redding, Conn./University of Michigan
Allan Malone, Cookeville, Tenn./Temple University Men and Boys
John Martin, Gainesville, Fla./Stanford University
Jake Martin, Oviedo, Fla./Orlando Metro Gymnastics
Maximilian Mayr, Miami, Fla./Universal Gymnastics
Ryan McCarthy, Zionsville, Ind./University of Michigan
Patrick McLaughlin, Shrewsbury, Pa./Temple University Men and Boys
Tim McNeill, Falls Church, Va./USOTC Gymnastics
Sean Melton, Orlando, Fla./Orlando Metro Gymnastics
Edward Mesa, Cooper City, Fla./Universal Gymnastics
Sam Mikulak, Newport Coast, Calif./SCATS Gymnastics
Nash Mills, Coto De Caza, Calif./USAF Academy
Tyler Mizoguchi, Houston, Texas/University of Illinois
Christopher Mooney, Freeland, Md./Temple University Men and Boys
Yoshi Mori, Irvine, Calif./University of Illinois
Alexander Naddour, Mesa, Ariz./University of Oklahoma Men’s Program
Philip Onorato, Plano, Texas/The Ohio State University
John Orozco, Bronx, N.Y./World Cup Gymnastics
Craig Padera Jr, Winfield, Ill./University of Illinois
Dominic Palange, Hudson, Mass./Universal Gymnastics Inc
Richard Pariseau, North Brookfield, Mass./USOTC Gymnastics
Michael Partizpanyan, Glendale, Calif./Glendale YMCA
Daniel Potemski, Round Rock, Texas/Cypress Academy of Gymnastics
Alex Powarzynski, Murrieta, Calif./SCATS Gymnastics
Sean Regan, Libertyville, Ill./The Ohio State University
Adam Reichow, Eden Prairie, Minn./University of Minnesota
D.J. Repp, Albuquerque, N.M./University of Minnesota
Daniel Ribeiro, Chestnut Ridge, N.Y./University of Illinois
John Robinson, Charlotte, N.C./University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Cale Robinson, Harriman, Tenn./Premier Athletics Knoxville No
Scott Rosenthal, Clearfield, Pa./Penn State University Gymnastics
Evan Roth, North Woodmere, N.Y./UC Berkeley
Jacoby Rubin, Buffalo Grove, Ill./Buffalo Grove Gymnastics Center
Paul Ruggeri III, Manlius, N.Y./University of Illinois
Mel Anton Santander, Southborough, Mass./University of Michigan
Christopher Schaaf, Houston, Texas/Cypress Academy of Gymnastics
Kyle Shanahan, Monument, Colo./University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Jesse Silverstein, Suffern, N.Y./US Gymnastics Develop Center II
Ian Skurdal, Eugene, Ore./United States Gymnastics Academy
Sam Softich, Pasco, Wash./Washington Men’s Gymnastics
Steven Spencer, Pleasanton, Calif./The Ohio State University
Joshua Spencer, Springfield, Mass./Springfield College
Luke Stannard, Waukegan, Ill./University of Illinois
Andrew Stover, Fullerton, Calif./University of Illinois at Chicago
Alex Strait, Katy, Texas/Champions Gymnastics
Charlie Tamayo, Cuba*
Kevin Tan, Fremont, Calif./Penn State University Gymnastics
Alexander Tighe, Brookfield, Wis./Temple University Men and Boys
Christopher Turner, Fremont, Calif./West Coast Olympic Gymnastics Academy
Joel Uptmor, Lebanon, Ohio/USAF Academy
Jordan Valdez, Louisville, Colo./Champions Gymnastics
Nick Virbitsky, Harrisburg, Pa./Penn State University Gymnastics
Kyle Voissem, Milwaukee, Wis./University of Illinois at Chicago
Mario West, Laurel, Md./Preston Gymnastics
Chad Wiest, Butler, Pa./University of Illinois
Calvin Wilkerson, Henry County, Ga./Sun Devil Gymnastic Club
Tyler Williamson, Lake Forest, Calif./University of Illinois
Colton Wulf, Rapid City, S.D./5280 Gymnastics
Brandon Wynn, Voorhees, N.J./Ohio State University

* International Guest athletes approved by the Men’s Program Committee