Kieryn Finnell
The American Classic, held in Katy, Texas over the weekend, provided the second and penultimate chance for WAG competitors to qualify to this year’s national championships, with a total of 12 gymnasts earning the scores required to make it.
16-year-old Myli Lew won the senior all-around title with a 51.550 to earn a spot by just over half a point, while 15-year-old junior world championships alternate Kieryn Finnell, who previously qualified to nationals at the Winter Cup in February, won the junior title with a 52.850.
Prior to this event, 20 senior gymnasts had already qualified to nationals through other means – members of last year’s world championships team, national team camps, this year’s Winter Cup – so the field here was a bit weaker as a whole, and with a number of mistakes affecting some of the stronger competitors, it meant only two athletes were able to reach the 51.000 all-around score, with Dulcy Caylor joining Lew after getting exactly the number needed.
Caylor previously earned her two-event score on vault and floor at the Pan Ams trial meet, and she actually came up a tenth and a half short of her all-around score here, but she was able to petition her floor score to get the bump she needed.
Rounding out the top eight behind Lew and Caylor were Michelle Pineda in third with a 50.550, Avery Moll in fourth with a 50.400, Amelia Disidore and Eveylynn Lowe tied in fifth with a 49.950, Malea Milton in seventh with a 49.500, and Brooke Pierson in eighth with a 49.450. Though Disidore missed out on her all-around score, she was able to earn her three-event score after exceptional performances on vault and beam as well as a hit routine on bars. If she can hit floor at the U.S. Classic next month, she should pretty easily be able to upgrade to an all-around spot.
Most notably missing out was Olympic alternate and worlds medalist Kayla DiCello, who only competed two events here in her return to elite competition for the first time in nearly a year. DiCello had a great day with a strong Yurchenko full on vault and a solid beam set that earned the third-best score of 13.0, but she fell just a tenth and a half short of the two-event requirement. I don’t think it’ll really be an issue for her, as she’s currently attending the national team camp and could get in that way, and if not, she’ll have a pretty strong shot at the U.S. Classic assuming she comes back with an all-around program.
Also missing out was national team member Alicia Zhou, who finished ninth with a 49.300 and won the silver medal on floor, but unfortunately had a rough go on bars and will hopefully come back with a stronger performance next time.
The senior field included two international guests, including Mélanie De Jesus Dos Santos of France, who is currently training at World Champions Centre, and Paloma Mintcheva, a WOGA gymnast who now represents Bulgaria and has qualified to world championships.
De Jesus Dos Santos was exceptional, posting the top scores on bars and beam, with her beam routine one of the best she’s ever done. She was solid and precise on every skill, with just one tiny wobble and a bit of a short landing on the double pike, but it otherwise looked like a world medal-worthy routine, and her score of 14.1 is her highest on that apparatus in nearly four years.
The junior field was a bit more exciting and had a greater level of depth overall. Prior to the American Classic, only eight athletes at this level had qualified to nationals, with another eight gymnasts coming within a point of earning the required 50.000 at the Winter Cup, so it was clear we’d see a ton of talent here, and the field didn’t disappoint.
Just behind Finnell with the gold were Tatum Drusch with a 52.200 to earn the silver medal and Claire Pease with a 52.100 for bronze. Drusch had a Yurchenko 1½ on vault to post the top score there with a 13.5, and she was otherwise solid and consistent across the other three apparatuses, kind of quietly but confidently coming in ahead of some of the other athletes who were a bit flashier. Pease went for a Yurchenko double, but didn’t quite have the power and ended up pretty short on the landing, but she showed a difficult and well-performed bars set and had a stunning performance on beam, putting up the top score of the meet there with a 13.65.
In a close fourth was Reese Esponda, who was a highlight of the meet for me. She by far had some of the competition’s biggest tumbling on floor, opening with a double double to put up a 13.0 to lead on this event, and she also had a standing full and side aerial to layout stepout on beam. Her Yurchenko full on vault and a few little deductions here and there on bars held her back compared to the top three, but she still managed a 51.800 all-around to easily earn her nationals score.
Also exciting to watch was the performance from Isabella Anzola, a 13-year-old who started out her season at a Hopes 13-14 qualifier, but after nearly sweeping the competition with a 49.000 in the all-around, she opted to move directly into elite. Anzola came just a couple of tenths away from earning her nationals score at the Winter Cup, but she had no problem getting in here, performing absolutely stunning work on beam to tie for the top score with a 13.65, and despite her age, she otherwise showed incredible composure, earning a 51.350 to finish fifth.
Rounding out the list of qualifiers were Maliha Tressel in sixth with a 51.300, Ally Damelio in seventh with a 50.900 (her bars were out-of-this-world, earning the top score with a 13.85 after sticking her double front dismount), Sage Bradford in eighth with a 50.650, Nicole Desmond in ninth with a 50.100, and Camie Westerman in 10th with a 50.050.
Results from the competition are available here, and you can view the full list of athletes who have qualified to classics and nationals on our U.S. elite tracker.
Next up for Team USA is the U.S. Classic in Hoffman Estates, Illinois from August 4–5, which will serve as the final qualifier for nationals, which take place from August 24–27 in San Jose, California.
Article by Lauren Hopkins
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By: Lauren
Title: Lew, Finnell Win American Classic, 12 Qualify to Nationals
Sourced From: thegymter.net/2023/07/09/lew-finnell-win-american-classic-12-qualify-to-nationals/
Published Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2023 00:03:23 +0000
