Gymmin' Miel!

The Junior and Senior Women's Artistic Gymnastics fields for the 2014 P&G National Championships have been announced. The Championships will take place from the 21st to the 24th of August at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A total of 16 Seniors and 37 Juniors are set to compete. At the 2013 P&G Championships, Simone Biles won the Senior All Around title over Kyla Ross and Brenna Dowell, and most recently Biles dominated at the Secret U.S. Classic topping the Senior All Around, Vault and Floor Exercise standings and tying with Ross for the Balance Beam high score. Ashton Locklear absolutely dominated on the Uneven Bars. Ross finished second in the All Around standings with Maggie Nichols finishing in third. Jordan Chiles high scored on the Vault on the way to taking out the Junior All Around title over Nia Dennis. Norah Flatley and Deanne Soza tied for third place. Dennis was top on the Uneven Bars with Flatley topping the Balance Beam standings. Ragan Smith of Texas Dreams Gymnastics was the high scorer on the Floor Exercise. It should be an absolutely fantastic competition!!

SENIORS:

JUNIORS:

Lexie Priessman has withdrawn from the competition at the P&G Championships due to an Achilles Tendon strain. Best wishes for a speedy recovery! Full recap and the results of the Junior competition will be upcoming as I have had to spend most of the day at the hospital with my housemate who chose to fall off a ladder - long story! McKayla Maroney will only be competing Vault and Floor Exercise, whilst Elizabeth Price is only competing Vault and Uneven Bars. I am yet to see a leotard from the Senior Women that I don't like. Was a bit iffy on Kyla Ross' but it has grown on me, McKayla Maroney's leotard still to grow on me. Poor Ebee had a tough day at the office on the Uneven Bars, but lovely to see her compete despite being on the comeback from injury. Fabulous Beam routine from Simone Biles too. Wowsers McKayla Maroney just pulled out one hell of a Floor routine! MyKayla Skinner had a Beam routine she would probably rather forget, counting two falls. Solid Floor routine for Erin Macadaeg. A few balance checks in the routine for Madison Kocian but a nice set. At the halfway mark in the competition, Kocian leads over Biles with Peyton Ernst in third. Upon reflection McKayla's leo has grown on me. 9.500 Execution score for Kyla Ross' vault. Solid floor routine for Brenna Dowell. Ernst falls on her acro series on the Beam. A few problems in Mykyla Skinner's floor routine, but that was a solid effort. Kocian falls on her triple twist, rolls her ankle. No idea how she finished her routine after that. Gutsy. Maroney - massive step on the landing of the Amanar. Another huge step on the landing of the second Vault. With one rotation to go, Biles takes the lead over Ross and Abigail Milliet. Kocian is scratching Vault. Super Cheng from Skinner. Beautiful floor routines from Ernst and Guerra. Massive Amanar for Biles, second Vault is a Yurchenko half on, Layout half off. Rock solid Bars set for Ross. And at the end of the first day of competition for the Senior Women, Simone Biles leads over Kyla Ross and GAGE's Brenna Dowell. Maroney topped the Vault, Ross the Uneven Bars, and Biles on the Balance Beam and Floor Exercise.

RESULTS:

TWO VAULTS:

1. McKayla Maroney (All Olympia AOGC) (15.700, 15.300) 15.500
2. Simone Biles (Bannon's Gymnastix Inc.) (15.800, 15.000) 15.400
3. Mykayla Skinner (Desert Lights Gymnastics) (15.100, 14.600) 14.850

Seven of the Senior Women competing at the 2013 P&G National Championships competed as Seniors at last year's events (Kyla Ross, Elizabeth Price, McKayla Maroney, Kennedy Baker, Brenna Dowell, Mykayla Skinner and Abigail Milliet). Lexie Priessman, Madison Desch and Simone Biles went 1, 2, and 3 respectively in the Junior All Around at the 2012 Championships. At the recent Secret U.S. Classic, Kyla Ross won over Texas Dreams gymnast Peyton Ernst, with Dowell finishing in third. McKayla Maroney dominated on the Vault, Ross won the Uneven Bars, with Ernst earning the high score on the Balance Beam and Priessman outclassing the field on the Floor Exercise. 

There are so many big names in the Junior field and really I could mention them all, just like I could with the Seniors. However this year's Secret Classic saw Bailie Key win the All Around over Amelia Hundley and Veronica Hults. Hults was the Uneven Bars champion with Nia Dennis, Norah Flatley and Lauren Hernandez earning the Vault, Balance Beam and Floor Exercise honors respectively. 

The Junior Women get the Championships underway on the 15th of August at 1.00pm (local time) with the Seniors competing at 7.30pm. They then return to the XL Center on the 17th of August, with the Juniors competing at 2.00pm and the Seniors competing at 7.30pm.

SENIORS:

JUNIORS:

• Ariana Agrapides (Bayville, New Jersey/Monmouth Gymnastics - MG Elite)
• Alyssa Baumann (Plano, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics)
• Vanasia Bradley (Lincoln Park, Michigan/Splitz Gymnastics)
• Jordan Chiles (Vancouver, Washington/Naydenov Gymnastics Inc.)
• Nadia Cho (Plano, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics)
• Bridget Dean (Fort Myers, Florida/Orlando Metro Gymnastics)
• Nia Dennis (Westerville, Ohio/Buckeye Gymnastics)
• Christina Desiderio (Hackettstown, New Jersey/Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center)
• Lauren Farley (Dallas, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics)
• Norah Flatley (Cumming, Iowa/Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute)
• Ashley Foss (Towaco, New Jersey/North Stars Gymnastics Academy)
• Molly Frack (Nazareth, Pennsylvania/Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center)
• Emily Gaskins (Coral Springs, Florida/Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy)
• Felicia Hano (San Gabriel, California/West Coast Elite Gymnastics)
• Lauren Hernandez (Old Bridge, New Jersey/Monmouth Gymnastics - MG Elite)
• Veronica Hults (Coppell, Texas/Texas Dreams Gymnastics)
• Amelia Hundley (Hamilton, Ohio/Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy)
• Sydney Johnson-Scharpf (Groveland, Florida/Brandy Johnson's Global Gymnastics)
• Bailie Key (Montgomery, Texas/Texas Dreams Gymnastics)
• Alexandra Marks (Cushing, Oklahoma/Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy)
• Lauren Navarro (La Verne, California/Charter Oak Gymnastics)
• Samantha Ogden (Allen, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics)
• Abby Paulson (Coon Rapids, Minnesota/Twin City Twisters)
• Grace Quinn (Arlington, Texas/Texas Dreams Gymnastics)
• Lexy Ramler (St. Michael, Minnesota/Kidsport LLC)
• Melissa Reinstadtler (Brick, New Jersey/Rebound Gymnastics Inc.)
• Emily Schild (Huntersville, North Carolina/Everest Gymnastics)
• Polina Shchennikova (Arvada, Colorado/The International Gymnastics Academy of The Rockies)
• Megan Skaggs (Marietta, Georgia/Gymnastics Academy of Atlanta)
• Ragan Smith (Dacula, Georgia/Northwind Gymnastics Center Inc.)
• Deanne Soza (Orem, Utah/Arete Gymnastics)
• Alexis Vasquez (West Des Moines, Iowa/Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute)
• Grace Waguespack (Longwood, Florida/ACE Gymnastics)