I had the huge honor of witnessing the P&G Nationals in person this year. I loved seeing all the leotards sparkle under the lights this year, seeing double tucks and double layouts being done right in front of me. It was amazing. Some of the gymnasts stood out though.
1. Simone Biles- You guys should've been expecting this. Simone ALWAYS stands out. The thing that amazed me is that she won by 5+ points even after she fell on her floor on Night #1. This truly proves that Simone can come back like that. She proceeded to stick all four vaults she performed at P&Gs, leaving co-competitor MyKayla Skinner, in the dust. Simone was on fire after that mistake, she wasn't going to let one measly fall shake her game
2. Laurie Hernandez- Laurie was out last year with an injury, and watched from the stands as her teammate Jazzy Foberg won the 2014 Junior Championships. She was happy for her teammate, of course. But she wanted to win the next one, and she did with attitude on floor, huge vaults, high flying releases on bars, and technical precision on beam. Now I had met Laurie, and she is perhaps the sweetest girl ever. Not to mention her leo. GORGEOUSNESS.
3. Aly Raisman- Aly was amazing at Nationals. She did fall on her layout to split leap series on beam, but she recovered on the rest of the events and ended up winning the floor title because of Simone's fall. But, she deserved it because of her consistency on the event during both nights, and I couldn't have been a prouder Superfan.
4. Grace Quinn- We all know that Classics was rocky, but for this particular girl, all four events were. SHE struggled whether it be an out of bounds on floor or a fall off the beam. She did not have the best meet. But Grace didnt let it defeat her. She marched into the gym the very next day, trained for all of the 3 weeks she had and didnt have a fall. She had bobbles, but no falls this time. I was so proud of Grace because she didnt let a bad competition get the best of her. GO GRACE.
5. Maggie Nichols- This girl wasnt on my radar till Nationals. But I had a front row seat to her awesomeness. She amazed me when she led the way AHEAD OF SIMONE for the first three rotations of the competition. She then proceeded to take second place, it was true amazingness!!!!!!
6. Abigail Walker- This little girl is new to the scene and she is ADORABLE. Although she isnt eligible for Rio this upcoming year, shes definitely a force for Tokyo in 2020. She is adorable. And fun fact: shes 14. Which, if you've seen this girl in action, you wouldn't believe that she is over 9!
7. MyKayla Skinner- MyKayla Skinner has been getting a ton of hate on the Gymternet, unjustified hate!!! They're saying her form is god-awful, well people if you were doing a double twisting double layout, would your legs be pencil straight?! Anyway, MyKayla had a good meet, her bars were better than they usually are. She worked hard to have good form! Her form really is improving, but unfortunately, a haters gotta hate. I'm just sad it has to be on this amazing gymnast.
8. Deanne Soza- Any gym fan knows that Deanne recently had a rare and bad eye infection. This kept her from doing gymnastics and competing at major competitions. This was heartbreaking because Deanne was a truly good gymnast!! She was sidelined. But her eye got better and she was then back in the gym! She competed at Nationals, making it her second meet back. Even though she had some iffyness, I was proud of Deanne because she got back up there and performed to the best of her abiities. And who just comes back perfect from an injury/setback? I think Deanne did just fine.
9. Kyla Ross- Kyla had a rough championships, she didnt place in the all around top ten, unfortunately. But Marta's unrelenting faith in her got her onto the National Team. Kyla did fall on her double front dismount off bars (After a beautifully hit Bhardwaj). The whole audience gasped. But she made up for it on the beam with a perfect routine, this made the audience gasp even louder than when she fell! We all knew Kyla was consistent and could hit it out of the ballpark, but she came back after a major fall and amazed us all, including, the selection panel, proving to them "Hey, I'm still in the mix, dont count me out just yet"
10. Jazzy Foberg- Unless you either arent a gym fan, or have been under a rock for the last year. Jazzy Foberg won the National Championships last year. She had the pressures of having her teammate back this year. Nevertheless, Jazzy had a remarkable performance and was racing neck and neck with her teammate, Laurie Hernandez. But after stepping out of bounds three times, which proved to be costly, the title went to Laurie, with Jazzy nipping at her heels in second. Which meant that MG Elite went one and two!!!
11. Lauren Navarro- Lauren Navarro impressed me at Nationals, she wasnt one of the frontrunners, but she had very nice routines with a lot of attitude
12. Ragan Smith- Ragan has been in the junior scenes since she became a junior! She is known to be a little firecracker on the floor! She dances, leaps, and tumbles across the floor like a firecracker! Her tumbling is high difficulty, and the whole Gymternet, even the Russian stans, love her. Some are saying that she isnt ready for Rio because she turns senior the year of the Games, but Kyla Ross turned senior the year of London and she rocked it like a Superstar! But I do agree with them on some level, if Ragan doesn't make the 2016 team, she will be there in 2020 as a team captain!
13. Sydney Johnson Scarpf- Sydney, most known for her floor and considered to be a specialist proved she could do AA and do it well. She did have a mistake, but she got right back up and finished. And her floor, as per use, was brilliant.
14. Bailie Key- Bailie won the junior title in 2013, but 2014, just like her runner up, Laurie Hernandez, was injured last year. But when she was all healed, she was a senior gymnast! At her first Nationals, Bailie came out in a unique leotard and showed us that she was still here. I was proud of Bailie, she certainly came back strong!
15. Morgan Hurd- Morgan has always been a favorite of mine. She has a lot of style on all of the events and makes me happy to be a fan! I fully expect her to make the 2020 team!!!!!!
So those are the 15 gymansts who impressed me at Nationals and who I hope to see in years to come!
