Leyva tops Horton to take first national title

"The Olympics," Leyva finished. "Definitely. Then the Olympics."

 

Step one accomplished. Leyva hit six-for-six to deprive reigning champion Jonathan Horton his third consecutive title Friday night. Horton's fall on high bar in the fifth rotation made Leyva the de facto champion going into his last event, much to the displeasure of both men.

 

"I was a little sad when Jon fell, because I wanted us both to have a great meet, and for me to come out on top," Leyva said afterward.

 

He almost got his wish. Horton ate into Leyva's 2.1 point lead from the first night by hitting his pommel horse routine and then successfully performing his new vault -- a very difficult handspring double front with a half twist. Horton looked so strong that halfway through the meet Leyva's lead had dwindled to a mere tenth of a point, making it a dead heat going into the last three events. 

 

Horton was the one to crumble, falling on his Cassina release right off the bat on high bar. But he came back on his last event, delivering one of the best floor routines he's done in several years to score 15.25. It wasn't the victory he wanted, but Horton, who has struggled to stick his landings on floor, at least accomplished that.

 

When he was done on floor, Horton waved to the crowd, then pointed directly at NBC commentator Tim Daggett, who has given him grief about not nailing his landings on floor.

 

"It's gymnastics. That's all I can say," Horton said. "Things like that happen and I'm just going to do what I can to keep building my confidence and make sure I'm 100 percent and everyone can count on me to do that routine perfectly during the team competition at Worlds." 

 

With Horton and Leyva well out front, the battle for third place played out between five talented athletes with specific strengths and weaknesses. The winner was 18-year-old John Orozco, who made an early exit from this meet last year after he tore his Achilles on vault.

 

Orozco has since modified his vault -- "no more Yurchenkos for me!" he laughed -- but his comeback from Achilles surgery has been slower than he would have liked, and he was greatly watered down on the power events here. 

 

There was one advantage to being injured, however -- Orozco used the time he would have spent tumbling and vaulting to transform his worst event, pommel horse, into one of his best. Doing so, he may have made himself indispensible to a World team that will likely still be somewhat lacking on pommel. 

 

Orozco's main competition for third place was 2010 World team member Chris Brooks, who turned in a stellar routine on high bar but fell again on his new Dragulescu vault as well as on pommel horse to finish fourth. Brooks said he was most pleased with his rings routine, which he called one of the best he'd ever done. 

 

As for vault: "I did everyhting I could," Brooks said. "I'm definitely putting a lot more time and effort into that and fixing the landing." 

 

Orozco secured third by hitting his pommel set, along with everything else.

 

"I never expected to land in the top three," a grinning Orozco said after the meet. "I came into this competition trying to correct big mistakes I had on Wednesday, trying to focus on hitting my routines. I guess that worked for me." 

 

Powerhouses Jake Dalton (fifth) and Steven Legendre (sixth) impressed on their best events but, like Brooks, were both mediocre on pommel horse. Oklahoma's Alex Naddour, seventh, was by far the most impressive on pommel horse, winning the event over Ohio State's Ty Echard and Orozco.

 

Dalton, who was celebrating his 20th birthday, upstaged Legendre to win the national titles on floor and vault. Both have incredible difficulty, but Dalton execution tends to be superior. 

 

Ohio State's Brandon Wynn, a member of the 2010 World team, won rings but was lackluster on several other events and finished ninth. Leyva easily won the titles on parallel bars and high bar. 

 

For now, both Leyva and Horton Both men will tell you helping the U.S. team is as much a goal as beating each other. The big goal is a World team medal, and both feel it's possible. That's one reason why Horton was first on the scene to congratulate Leyva after his high bar routine. 

 

"This is what I'm talking about -- Team USA!" Horton exclaimed as they hugged. "Hey," he said, pointing at Leyva when they separated. "You're my teammate."