Photo Gallery: Junior Women | Senior Women (Coming Soon!)
Full Results: Junior Women | Senior Women
Senior Event Winners: VT – Jade Carey (28.5), UB – Claire Pease (28.550), BB – Hezly Rivera (28.7), FX – Reese Esponda (28.900)
Junior Event Winners: VT – Amia Pugh-Banks (27.450) UB – Sydney Williams (26.050), BB – Anslee McCauley (25.950), FX – Addalye VanGrinsven (27.3)
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PHOENIX — It was a battle until the final rotation, with WOGA teammates Hezly Rivera and Claire Pease neck-and-neck throughout the entire day. Rivera, who entered Day 2 in fourth place, trailing the leaders by six tenths, needed four hit routines if she wanted any chance at the title.
Rivera hadn’t led the competition all weekend, but heading into the final event, vault, she held a six-tenth lead over Pease. All she needed to do was land her vault to secure the win.
“I wasn’t watching [the scores]. I knew it was close because, obviously, Day 1, but I was not paying attention at all,” Rivera told the media after the meet. “I looked at my scores and then looked down… just trying to, like, keep my head in the game and focused.”
When all was said and done Rivera posted a 56.950, the highest all-around score of her career thus far, to claim back-to-back senior national all-around titles – a testament to her ability to put past mistakes behind her and fight until the very end. “I think it just shows how strong I am mentally, because physically everything is there,” Rivera said. “You can’t really do this without having a strong mentality.”
Rivera also claimed the beam title, an event where she posted one of the highest difficulty scores of the entire competition (6.1 Day 1 and 6.2 Day 2). She was also the only athlete to score above 14 on beam on both days of competition.
Silver medalist Claire Pease, who held a share of the lead with Skye Blakely after Day 1, arguably had two of the best meets of her career back-to-back. Her 55.600 from Day 1 and 55.200 from Day 2 are the second and third highest all-around scores of her career, behind only her Pan American Trials score from earlier this year. With a Cheng upgrade on vault, we have to wonder if Pease could have been standing atop the podium in Phoenix (she was only six tenths behind – the Cheng would have given her the advantage over Rivera in terms of difficulty). But she didn’t go home without a gold medal! Pease topped the field on uneven bars with a combined total of 28.550 and a dismount that looked much improved in terms of consistency.
Taking home the bronze in the all-around was first-year senior Charleigh Bullock. Bullock boasted the highest difficulty score throughout the two days of competition on bars (6.2D), which helped her snag another bronze medal in her senior national debut. Placing third all-around here in Phoenix definitely made a statement that she’s not just a bar specialist for the U.S.; she can contribute to a team score on any event and can be relied upon to hit two complete meets back-to-back!
U.S. Classic champion Reese Esponda continued to make her case for the U.S. World team by finishing fourth all-around. Additionally, she won the floor title, an event where she has the highest difficulty in the U.S. (6.0D), with room to upgrade! Esponda told All Things Gymnastics after the meet that she hopes to upgrade to a whip + full-twisting double layout and a barani + double tuck + layout step-out later this year! Could a world medal be in her future?
Olympic Champion Jade Carey rounded out the top five in the all-around with a combined total of 108.750. Carey has her long-term goals in mind and therefore didn’t show her full difficulty in Phoenix. However, she still won the vault title with a double twisting yurchenko and Lopez that look very upgradeable and took home the bronze medal on floor. Carey is the kind of athlete that always peaks at the right time and we’re eager to see what she brings to World Selection camp next month.
Skye Blakely, who had a share of the lead after night 1, unfortunately couldn’t repeat on Day 2. Blakely started the meet with a fall on floor and ended the night with two falls on beam, dropping her to 7th in the all around.
“I am proud. Am I a little irritated? I am. Because I know I can compete better than what I did today,” Blakely told the media after the competition. “There’s still a part of me that knows, like, ‘C’mon, Skye, we can be a little bit better.’ But again, that’s that learning experience that helps you grow.” Blakely took home the silver on uneven bars.
In the junior competition, it was all Addalye VanGrinsven. The leader after Day 1, there was no doubt that VanGrinsven could stand atop the podium as Junior National All-Around Champion with a repeat performance. Despite having a fall on bars on Day 2, VanGrinsven had the difficulty and clean execution across the board to have a nearly three-point cushion when all was said and done. In fact, her combined total of 105.1 was the only total in the junior division that would have put her in contention for the senior national team, something she’ll have the opportunity to do next season.
VanGrinsven also took home the floor title with a newly upgraded routine that includes a gorgeous double layout and tucked full-in in the second pass.
The vault title went to powerhouse Amia Pugh-Banks, who was the only junior to throw a double-twisting Yurchenko (27.450). Sydney Williams, the reigning junior Pan American uneven bars champion, took home gold on the event in Phoenix with a combined total of 26.050. Rounding out the event titles was Anslee McCauley, who led the way on beam throughout the competition with a combined total of 25.950.