History repeated itself as two of the best American gymnasts won their fifth All-Around championships at the USA Gymnastics National Championships at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts (USA). But the buzz was, of course, more about Simone Biles than Sam Mikulak.
Biles dominated the U.S. field as she has never done before, not just winning her fifth American All-Around title, but winning each of the four apparatus titles! Only one event was close:
- Vault: Biles 31.125 +2.050 vs. 29.050 for Shilese Jones
- Bars: Biles 29.400 +0.100 vs. 29.300 for Riley McCusker
- Beam: Biles 30.100 +1.450 vs. 28.650 for Kara Eaker
- Floor: Biles 29.150 +0.850 vs. 28.300 for Jade Carey
There is very little doubt that Biles is the world’s top gymnast, but the American depth behind her in Boston was impressive. Reigning World Champion Morgan Hurd finished second at 113.300, ahead of Riley McCusker (112.750) and Grace McCallum (111.6), all over 111 points for the double All-Around. McCusker was the only one in the top six who improved her score on Sunday,
Hurd’s secret in winning the world title was her consistency; same in Boston. She finished 4-3-4-3 in the Vault-Bars-Beam-Floor. McCusker placed 8-2-3-7 (tie) for third, but with plenty of room for improvement. McCallum finished 3-6 (tie)-5-4 for fourth; that’s impressive depth that will be critical for the Worlds team competition.
Defending national champ Ragan Smith continued to show the effects of the right ankle sprain from last year’s World Championships and finished 10th overall. Her best apparatus placement was a seventh on the Vault.
Biles won her fifth American title, adding to the four in a row she won from 2013-16. She’s now no. 2 on the all-time U.S. women’s championships list; only Clara Schroth Lomady won more: six in 1945-46 and from 1949-52.
Worth noting: the women’s Junior division had three strong performances from Leanne Wong (112.250), Kayla DiCello (111.200) and Sunisa Lee (111.050). Keep those names in mind for 2019 and 2020.
In the men’s division, Mikulak led the field after the first All-Around session on Thursday at 85.150, but was less than perfect on the Pommel Horse (fall) and High Bar (fall). But his Saturday session was outstanding at 87.750 and with excellent performances on all six of the events. He won the double All-Around with a total of 172.900 points, well ahead of defending champion Yul Moldauer (168.150) and Oklahoma’s Allan Bower (166.950).
“I have to say this is probably my favorite one that I’ve won so far because I feel like I’m in a different place in my confidence in my gymnastics,” said Mikulak, 25. “Being able to ride this going into World Championships will definitely set me off feeling a little bit more confident.”
While Mikulak was nursing injuries in 2017 and missed the Nationals, Moldauer won his first title, but now he was the one fighting assorted injuries in 2018. He stood only sixth after Thursday’s round, while Stanford’s Akash Modi was second at 84.100. But on Saturday, Moldauer rebounded with the second-highest score of the day – only Mikulak was better – piling up 85.450 points to pull into second place and earn a spot on the U.S. National Team.
“I felt I had something to prove after Thursday’s performance,” said Moldauer. “That’s why you have to have a reset button. You’re going to have a rough day but you can’t hold on to that. You’ve got to come forward from it. However you’re going to react is how you’re going to perform in the future. Just knowing that I could reset and come out here and perform how I wanted to perform helped my confidence.”
Mikulak now own five U.S. championships, tying him with Blaine Wilson (1996-2000), George Wheeler (1937-41) and Frank Cumiskey (1934, 1936, 1945-47) for third on the all-time U.S. list behind Makoto Sakamoto (six in 1963-66, 1968 and 1970) and Alfred Jochim. He won seven titles from 1925-30 and in 1933.
The first seven finishers earned spots on the national squad; the World Championships team will be picked from a camp in September and others may be invited. The 2019 World Championships are in Doha (QAT) from 25 October-3 November. Summaries:
USA Gymnastics National Championships
Boston, Massachusetts (USA) ~ 16-19 August 2018.
(Full results here)
Men:
All-Around: 1. Sam Mikulak, 172.900 (85.150 + 87.750); 2. Yul Moldauer, 168.150 (82.700 + 85.450); 3. Allan Bower, 166.950 (83.850 + 83.100); 4. Donothan Bailey, 166.800; 5. Alec Yoder, 166.550; 6. Akash Modi, 165.550; 7. Cameron Bock, 163.200; 8. Colin van Wicklen, 163.050.
Floor: 1. Mikulak, 29.100; 2. Moldauer, 28.750; 3. Kanji Oyama, 28.650; 4. Bower, 28.350; 5. Modi, 28.300; 6. Gage Dyer, 28.250; 7. Bailey, 28.150; 8. Jacob Moore, 28.050.
Pommel Horse: 1. Yoder, 29.850; 2. Bower, 29.200; 3. Ellis Mannon, 28.850; 4. Mikulak, 28.600; 5. Bailey, 28.050; 6. Modi, 27.950; 7. Moldauer, 27.300; 8. Bennet Huang, 27.200.
Rings: 1. Trevor Howard, 29.200; 2. Alex Diab, 28.950; 3. Moldauer, 28.650; 4. Mikulak, 28.600; 5. Donnell Whittenburg, 28.550; 6. Sean Melton, 28.500; 7. Bower, 27.600; 8. Yoder, 27.550.
Vault: 1. Anton Stephenson, 29.550; 2. Moldauer, 29.150; 3. Van Wicklen, 28.900; 4. Melton, 28.700; 5. tie, Bailey and Mikulak, 28.650; 7. Modi, 28,600; 8. Bower, 28.400.
Parallel Bars: 1. Mikulak, 29.550; 2. Bailey, 27.550; 3. Moldauer, 28.100; 4. Yoder, 27.950; 5. Howard, 27.800; 6. Cameron Bock, 27.750; 7. Bower, 27.550; 8. Genki Suzuki, 27.400.
High Bar: 1. Mikulak, 28.400; 2. Bailey, 27.550; 3. Van Wicklen, 27.000; 4. Suzuki, 26.950; 5. Modi, 26.850; 6. Robert Neff, 26.800; 7. Shane Wiskus, 26.600; 8. Bock, 26.500.
Women:
All-Around: 1. Simone Biles, 119.850 (60.100 + 59.750); 2. Morgan Hurd, 113.300 (57.00 + 56.300); 3. Riley McCusker, 112.750 (56.050 + 56.700); 4. Grace McCallum, 111.650; 5. Shilese Jones, 109.850; 6. Jade Carey, 109.700; 7. Kara Eaker, 109.650; 8. Trin Thomas, 109.600.
Vault: 1. Biles, 31.125; 2. S. Jones, 29.050; 3. McCallum, 29.000; 4. Morgan Hurd, 28.800; 5. Jordan Chiles, 28.750; 6. Carey, 28.400; 7. Ragan Smith, 28.250; 8. McCusker, 28.200.
Uneven Bars: 1. Biles, 29.400; 2. McCusker, 29.300; 3. Hurd, 29.150; 4. Thomas, 27.900; 5. Alyona Shchennikova, 27.750; 6. tie, McCallum and S. Jones, 27.550; 8. Shania Adams, 27.500.
Beam: 1. Biles, 30.100; 2. Eaker, 28.650; 3. McCusker, 28.500; 4. Hurd, 27.650; 5. McCallum, 27.500; 6. Thomas, 27.000; 7. Adams, 26.850; 8. R. Smith, 26.750.
Floor: 1. Biles, 29.150; 2. Carey, 28.300; 3. Hurd, 27.700; 4. McCallum, 27.600; 5. Eaker, 26.950; 6. Thomas, 26.800; 7. tie, McCusker and S. Jones, 26.750.
National Junior Championships
Men:
All-Around: 1. Brandon Briones, 158.350; 2. Riley Loos, 158.150; 3. Spencer Goodell, 156.550.
Floor: 1. Vitaliy Guimaraes, 27.750; 2. Loos, 27.400; 3. Briones, 27.300.
Pommel Horse: 1. Loos, 26.300; 2. Mike Fletcher, 25.750; 3. Briones, 25.150.
Rings: 1. tie, Briones and Goodell, 26.500; 3. Loos, 26.200.
Vault: 1. Guimaraes, 28.750; 2. Goodell,28.500; 3. tie, Loos and Kevin Penev, 28.150.
Parallel Bars: 1. tie, Fletcher and Curran Phillips, 25.750; 3. Briones, 25.600.
High Bar: 1. Briones, 25.850; 2. Angel Leon, 25.300; 3. Goodell, 25.250.
Women:
All-Around: 1. Leanne Wong, 112.250; 2. Kayla DiCello, 111.200; 3. Sunisa Lee, 111.050.
Vault: 1. DiCello, 29.650; 2. Wong, 29.350; 3. Skye Blakely, 28.900.
Uneven Bars: 1. Lee, 29.550; 2. Wong, 28.600; 3. DiCello, 28.300.
Beam: 1. Konnor McClain, 28.150; 2. tie, Lee and Ciena Alipio, 27.900.
Floor: 1. Wong, 27.250; 2. Blakely, 26.500; 3. DiCello, 26.000.
