The Winter Cup Challenge, which begins today in Las Vegas, Nev. is the Groundhog Day of gymnastics meets. It's a a time when members of the U.S. men's team and those who would like to be members of the U.S. men's team emerge from their gyms after a couple months hibernation from competition to see if they can still stay on the apparatus in a meet.
Winter Cup is exciting because it is not as exclusive as the U.S. Championships, and gives gymnastics fans a shadow of an idea of what to expect from their favorite gymnasts later on during the year. But it is also a prime opportunity to scope out new talent. Up for grabs: Fifteen spots on the U.S. National Team, good through August's U.S. Championships.
This year's edition features both old talent (in the form of 2008 U.S. Olympian Kevin Tan, who has not competed since Beijing), current leaders (yes, Jonathan Horton, we're looking to you), new depth (Danell Leyva and Tim McNeill) and wildcards (2008 Olympian Sasha Artemev, who is consistent only in his inconsistenty in domestic competitions.)
The preliminary round is Thursday, with finals on Saturday night. A complete list of competitors can be found at USA Gymnastics. But here are are a few to watch this weekend:
Jonathan Horton, Cypress Gymnastics Academy. Horton, the highest profile member of the U.S. men's team, is coming off a disappointing World Championships and lingering questions about whether he'll ever be able to get it together on pommel horse. A clean six-for-six here would go a long way toward restoring faith in Horton as the U.S.'s best shot for medals in international competitions in 2010. Horton himself is probably looking at it as a test run for next month's American Cup, where he'll be going against some of the best in the world.
Tim McNeill, USOTC. McNeill, a former NCAA champion for Cal, moved to the U.S. Olympic Training Center at the beginning of the year to work with Vitaly Marinitch, who has already done wonders for McNeill's 2009 World Championships teammate Wes Haagensen. One of McNeill's biggest selling points is his prowess on pommel horse, something most of his fellow National Team members are considerably lacking.
Sasha Artemev, 5280 Gymnastics. Has a year away from competition made Artemev more consistent? Artemev, who himself has admitted to making more mistakes in U.S. competitions than he does abroad, will be making his first appearance as a competitor since a back fracture sidelined him in 2009. Artemev was supposed to compete late in the year, didn't in order to rehabilitate his back.
Sasha Artemev, 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials Day One, Pommel Horse:
Kevin Tan, Penn State University. Tan, now an assistant coach at Penn State, is possibly the best U.S. rings specialist since Blaine Wilson. But he hasn't competed since the 2008 Olympics. This weekend, the question will be whether he's still got it.
Chris Cameron, University of Michigan. The Wolverine junior is a leader on the team that is currently ranked no. 1 in the U.S. Individually, Cameron is ranked in the top five on floor, pommel horse, rings and in the all-around. If Cameron does as well among the U.S.'s top non-NCAA gymnasts, this will be a breakout meet for him.
Jake Dalton, University of Oklahoma. He's currently ranked no. 2 in the NCAA in the all-around, but Nevada's Dalton outtwists everybody on vault and is no slouch on floor either. Dalton was sick at the 2009 World Championships, but simply being in London with the U.S. team had to be a marvelous learning experience. At just 18, he's likely going nowhere but up.
Steven Legendre, University of Oklahoma. The Sooner junior was the top gymnast in the NCAA in 2009 and if healthy will challenge to be the top of the collegiate standings this year too. Competing in the floor finals at the 2009 World Championships cannot have hurt his confidence, either. Like Dalton, he's capable of incredible difficulty.
Danell Leyva, Universal Gymnastics. His fourth-place finish on high bar was the best result the U.S. men brought back from the 2009 World Championships. Not bad for a guy who turned 18 at the end of October. Leyva, who competed more this winter than many of his U.S. team counterparts, should do well here, setting the stage for strong finishes later this year.
Paul Ruggeri, University of Illinois. He's been ranked no. 1 in the all-around in the NCAA for the past several weeks. He's won two NCAA titles on high bar. He tumbles a laid out Arabian double front on floor. How will he stack up with Horton and co.?
John Orozco, World Cup Gymnastics. Time is on his side. After winning the Junior national crown last year as a 16-year-old, Orozco finished 11th in the senior division at the U.S. Championships. He has a lot of difficulty, including the full-twisting double back he used as a parallel bars dismount last August. He hasn't had a meet yet where he hasn't been exciting to watch.
John Orozco, 2009 U.S. Championships Finals, Parallel Bars:
Jesse Silverstein, U.S. Gymnastics Development Center II. Second in the 16-18-year-old age group at the 2009 U.S. Championships. Silverstein has very good execution and daredevil skills, but has not shown the ability to control them. But that was last summer. This is now.
Sam Mikulak, SCATS. Often the number two finisher to U.S. Junior champion Orozco in recent years, Mikulak will be looking to come into his own here.
C.J. Maestas, Gold Cup Gymnastics. This promising young gymnast, not even in college yet, is a showman a la Horton. Look out for him in the future.
Kalon Ludvigson, Team Revolution. Ludvigson isn't even an artistic gymnast, but never mind. So long as the 2009 U.S. tumbling champion adds deer jumps between all his tumbling passes the judges won't even know the difference. Ludvigson is expected to show something on vault as well.
Charlie Tamayo, Cuba. The 2001 World vault bronze medalist is an internet sensation because of his extraordinary -- even among elite gymnasts -- abilities. (How many people do you know who can do a standing half in half out?) Although most of Tamayo's Youtube heroics have been done into a foam pit, the 31-year-old is capable of wowing the crowd. But will he hit whatever super difficult skills he decides to show?
Awesome gymnastics by Charlie Tamayo:
Notes: A few names who aren't on USA Gymnastics's start list for this competition include 2008 Olympian Joseph Hagerty, who won the 2009 Winter Cup, and 2008 Olympian Raj Bhavsar. National team member Glen Ishino, who was injured during the warmup of a Cal-Stanford meet a couple weeks ago, is not on the list, and neither is his U.S./Cal teammate Kyle Bunthuwong. Cameron Rogers, the 2009 U.S. Junior champion in the 16-18-year-old division, is not listed either.
Follow Gymnastics Examiner Blythe Lawrence on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GymExaminer.
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