We had SOOO much fun at the US Classic over the weekend (aside from the whole getting home after dark thing last night and then having to get up early for work today...
). We didn't get there in time to catch the HOPES competition (traffic in Chicago is
right now due to all the construction all over the place) but we did catch the junior elites and they were pretty great overall (there were quite a few big errors but I think a lot of that was nerves). My favorite junior, Lavi Crain, qualified to US Nats and a local girl who trains at CGA with my young cousin, Ella Kate Parker, also qualified so that was awesome for them. The future is bright if these girls can get some of their nerves under control!
The two sessions of senior women were both awesome. From the first session, I was super impressed with Joscelyn Roberson. Watch out for her at US Nats...she was pretty rock solid overall (aside from bars where she had a mishap on a geinger) and her beam routine was JAM packed with difficulty. I was also impressed with Zoe Miller (her UB routine was amazing!), Charlotte Booth, Kelise Woolford, and Nola Matthews from that first group. Lots of really good routines in that first group!
The second group was the one with all the big names in it but some of the other girls shined too. Simone was just incredible and we were RIGHT next to the vault so I had an amazing view of hers (and I loved her little dance with Jordan at the end, LOL). It was SO freaking good!
Aside from the shakiness on the bars, she looked so solid and steady on her other three events and I loved her FX routine! It was just so good to see her back again and I also noticed that aside from a few moments right before she competed when she was in her zone, she was in great spirits talking to the other girls and laughing with them on the sidelines. Welcome back Simone!
I was also impressed with Suni (her vault was GORGEOUS in person) and I'm so proud of her for getting out there and doing so well after her difficulties with her health. She fell twice while practicing her wolf turn in the warmups so to see her nail it cold during the actual beam routine shows just how tough she is as a competitor! She also seemed in really good spirits and I saw her chatting it up with the other college girls at various points throughout the evening. She did warm up on bars and looked amazing but after qualifying easily with her other two events, I don't blame her for scratching UB in the end (although selfishly, I was hoping she would compete so I could see her routine!). I cannot wait to see her at US Nats when she will (hopefully) do all four events!
I should have taken some notes because we saw so many great gymnasts and now it's all blurring together. I LOVED Jordan's energy and while she wasn't perfect, she did look very strong on all of her events. Jade was a rockstar on beam. I am in awe of how consistent Leanne has gotten now....competing so much for FL has done wonders for her confidence (her Bharwaj on the UB was AMAZING) and I loved seeing her back in elite! Kayla seemed nervous but didn't have any major errors that I remember and I think she's gonna be super ready for US Nats. I loved seeing Kaliya Lincoln who had a fabulous meet (her FX was great) and Tiana S. didn't have the cleanest meet but I did like her style of gymnastics and hope she can do better at US Nats. The second session was definitely the stronger of the two with cleaner routines but overall it was a very enjoyable day of gymnastics and I think US Nats is gonna be pretty awesome!
We were sitting right behind where Chellsie and Alicia were there watching the competition and after wearing heels on the first day of competition on Friday, they had flats and sneakers respectively on during the senior women's sessions, LOL
I would also like to say a personal thank you to Simone for having Laurent on the podium with her during vault because the eye candy was much appreciated by this fan who was super tired by that point of the evening.
BTW-We weren't able to stay for the entire men's event on Sunday because we had to drive home but we did catch most of the first session and it was SO chaotic that I can barely remember anything! Here are some random thoughts though: Pommel Horse was a bear to most of the guys all day, I was super happy for Paul Juda to have a solid overall meet after all his injury troubles, Asher Hong looked about as ready for a season as you can be at this point (aside from his own fall from the PH), Yul's upgrades on HB are going to be awesome when he hits the routine cleaner, Shane Wiskus was also pretty solid on all his events, Stephen N. did an amazing PH routine and he may be the only top name who didn't have a mishap on that event, there were quite a few top name guys who didn't do the AA but it seemed like the events they skipped were ones that they're already good on so they didn't need to show those in this competition, Donnell Whittenburg had an up and down day but his HB upgrades were awesome, and I had NO clue that Asher's brother was competing in the junior AA competition until I was home and saw the results on social media. Not sure how I missed that while watching the meet but like I said before, the men's session was just chaos overall so it was super hard to follow everything, LOL
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They're the worst of the kpop fans, even more psychotic than BTS Armies.
The parody is brilliant!
