2013 Secret Classic

For being the year after the Olympic games, I was impressed with the difficulty level and amount of unique skills being thrown at this competition. Although there were a lot of falls and mistakes, this is only the first meet in the summer elite season and I'm sure Nationals will go a lot smoother.

Photo Credit: Triple Twist Gym Blog

In the junior session, it was great to see all the up and coming talent and future stars of USA Gymnastics. As many expected, Bailie Key of Texas Dreams won the all around title despite being sick and almost withdrawing from the all around competition. CGA's Amelia Hundley took 2nd, while Texas Dreams Nica Hults took 3rd. Some highlight routines were Laurie Hernandez and Amelia Hundley on floor and Norah Flatley on beam. Laurie literally lights up the arena when she's on floor and Amelia had a phenomenal routine that was very clean. I also want to give a shout out to the other Monmouth girls, Jazmyn Foberg, and Ari Agrapides. It was their first major elite meet and they did well. Agrapides, who won the American Classic a few weeks ago is fantastic on vault..she scored a 15.100. Foberg just missed qualifying to Nationals by 5 tenths, but she along with her teammates have a great style and such an elegant look to them. I was also extremely proud of Vanasia Bradley and Sydney Johnson Scharpf, my two favorites that had yet to qualify to Nationals. They both easily qualified with scores of 52.950 and 52.550 respectively. Vanasia actually went into the last rotation in 7th, but a fall on bars put her into 16th in the final standings. For her first elite meet on podium, after a shaky start to her elite career, Vanasia did very well.

Photo Credit: Triple Twist Gym Blog

In the senior session, there were mistakes coming from almost everyone, but again the skills being thrown almost make up for that in my opinion. Simone Biles, who many expected to win, had a very rough meet. Simone had a fall on her first 3 events and withdrew from vault in the final rotation. Simone did have a really good floor routine though, all the way up until her last pass. I think it's one of the best we've seen from her besides for the fall. Abby Milliet also really stood out to me, she has gorgeous lines and is fantastic on bars and beam. Even though she fell on beam, she still managed to score a 14.200 and place 4th. Doing the mental math, Abby would have easily placed 3rd had she not fallen on beam. Of course, as everyone knows, Kyla Ross and Mckayla Maroney were in attendance. Kyla won the all around with a 58.650 and that was counting a fall on floor. Maroney as expected won vault, and placed 3rd on floor. Another thing everyone should take note of is Lexie Priessman. She's the reigning junior National Champion and started her senior career out a little rough, but she really pulled through and had a great meet here! Lexie didn't do the all around because she hurt her ankle, but props to her for getting it together and having a great meet. Other girls that impressed me were Brenna Dowell, who showed several new skills at this competition and Mykayla Skinner, who didn't have a great all around competition, but she threw some difficult skills that the crowd loved and placed 2nd on vault after nailing a cheng and a double twisting yurchenko.

Overall, I still think this was a great meet. We enjoyed watching it live and I applaud all the girls (mostly in the senior division) for performing in a pressure filled situation with obnoxious screaming fans, freaking out every time Kyla or Mckayla moved. I found myself getting distracted by the noise so I can't imagine what the gymnasts were going through.

You can watch all the routines I mention above here and here.

You can check out all the photos we took from the meet here. Just make sure that if you use a photo, you give us credit.

If you want to hear about our experience as fans, you can read those stories here and here.