If they gave Olympic medals for the best teams on each event, the U.S. would be in the hunt for gold on floor.
Floor was the most impressive event Winter Cup earlier this month. A full half of the recommended routines below come on floor, despite the lack of artistry that is more the fault of the code than the gymnasts themselves.
Ian Makowske, prelims, floor: This Michigan gymnast did one of the cleanest exercises on floor. Makowske looks fairly powerful but obviously perfers twisting to flipping. He twists well. This routine is also worth seeing for his oh-thank-goodness reaction when it's all over. Watch it here.
Danell Leyva, finals, parallel bars: Leyva has now made two World high bar finals, but I fully expect him to be in the top eight on this event come Tokyo. His is a difficult, unique routine and so well practiced that I have no doubts he'll hit in competition. Watch it here.
Steven Legendre, finals, vault: One of the better Dragulescus ever to be performed. It is so well done that you even question whether Legendre touched that right hand to the ground ever so briefly. Which he did (and I didn't see before the fifth time I watched the video.) Check it out here.
Joey Hagerty, finals, floor: A new, much more look-at-me floor routine than Hagerty has performed in the past. Hugely powerful and easy-looking full twisting double layout to open. He follows up with a handspring front double full to an airy front layout full. His toepoint is as good as ever, too. Watch it here.
Cale Robinson, prelims, floor: Anyone who does an Arabian double front as a side pass instantly gets their routine on this list. Watch it here.
Josh Dixon, finals, floor: Dixon, a Stanford standout, earned his place on the national team with routines like this one. Note the fantastic stick on his 2.5 to front tuck full and the especially soft landings on all of his passes. Impressive. Watch it here.
Jake Dalton, finals, vault: One of the better Tsuk triples ever to be performed. Watch it here.
Joey Hagerty, finals, pommel horse: Rather than go into seclusion or show up at meets, warm up and not compete, Joey Hagerty has had kind of a public struggle since being the surprise member of the 2008 Olympic team. He's looked injured or out of shape at various meets in 2009 and 2010, but he's done his routines and gotten through. As 2011 dawns, however, he seems to be getting better (just look at that new floor exercise) and is poised to come on strong this year. He has some of the best execution in the country, especially on pommel horse, which is another reason you can't count him out. Watch that set here.
Jake Martin, prelims, floor: What a refreshing routine. Martin, who competed as a junior in 2010, is tall compared to many of his elite peers, but he has an elegant look and very clean gymnastics. Being tall doesn't seem to hamper his power much either -- he opens with an Arabian double pike and closes with a nice triple full. The reason I really like this routine, however, is that he does a few fairly easy but crowd-pleasing skills in between his tumbling -- a full-twisting piked Shushunova, and a side aerial. Men's floor needs more of that. Watch it here.
Jesse Silverstein, finals, parallel bars: He just makes it look easy. Watch the routine here.
Note: Daniel Ribeiro's pommel work might be the best the U.S. has had since Sasha Artemev (who did compete at Winter Cup but looked dolorously out of shape). Unfortunately, pommel is the only event Ribeiro is likely to be used on at a major international meet. This leaves the powers who select teams to weigh whether Ribeiro is worth carrying if all he can do is pommel, no matter how much he may help the Americans on that event.
Note: RJ Heflin is a lankier guy who doesn't look particularly powerful but spins like a top in the air after and takes about two steps into his tumbling passes. Beautiful roundoff, triple full to end this routine.
Note: Ringman Gentry has added a double double layout dismount, giving him a little extra bonus on this routine.
Note: You don't often see it in men's gymnastics, but Illinois's Tyler Mizoguchi had a near wardrobe malfunction after his double double tuck off high bar. He landed and quickly had to hike up his pants.
Comments
Maybe you didn't notice but Steve actually puts his hand down after his dragalescu vault other than that it was very nice. Wouldn't tthat be considered a fall?
Actually I didn't notice! -- Blythe
You should add this ring routine to the list. I've never heard of this guy, but his strength positions on rings are really good. No false grip at all. His swings and dismount need some work, but I was really impressed with the strength.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgSGlVzTKgo
Oh, that's Anthony Ingrelli from the University of Nebraska! Definitely one of the best ringmen in the country -- he wins almost every time he competes rings for Nebraska. Great positions! -- Blythe
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