Shamah, Uemura lead junior men at halfway point of national championships

TAMPA, Fla. (August 18, 2022) – Juniors David Shamah (McKinney, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics) and Kai Uemura (Chicago, Ill./Lakeshore Academy of Artistic Gymnastics) lead their respective divisions after the first of two days of men’s competition at the 2022 OOFOS U.S. Gymnastics Championships at Amalie Arena.

Uemura (80.120) was the only athlete to break the 80-point mark Thursday afternoon. At the midway point, he leads the all-around in the 16-year-old division and holds high scores on parallel bars (13.969) and horizontal bar (14.390). Meanwhile, Shamah’s 79.506 topped the all-around standings in the 17-year-old division, and his 14.840 led the way on parallel bars.

Kiran Mandava (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Academy of Gymnastics) and Preston Ngai (Elk Grove, Calif./Elevate Gymnastics Academy) sit second and third in all-around of the 16-year-old division behind scores of 78.315 and 76.443. In the 17-year-old age group, Chase Davenport-Mills (Johns Creek, Ga./Roswell Gymnastics) earned a combined 77.892 and sits second, followed by Zachary Green (San Jose, Calif./Stanford Boys Gymnastics) who rounded out the top three with a 77.836.

Mandava led all 16-year-old competitors on pommel horse (13.611) and vault (14.150 ). Preston Ngai (Elk Grove, Calif./Elevate Gymnastics Academy) took the top spot on still rings (13.369), and Cooper Kim (Grand Ledge, Mich./Capital City Flips Gymnastics) set the bar on floor exercise with a 13.817.

Green’s 13.419 landed him atop the horizontal bar leaderboard in the 17-year-old division. Alexandru Nitache (Knoxville, Tenn./GymTek Academy) had the highest vault score of the afternoon with a 15.016, while Solen Chiodi (St. Paul, Minn./Mini-Hops Gymnastics) paced the field on floor exercise with a 13.811. Ty Jordan (Morrison, Colo./5280 Gymnastics) led the way on still rings (13.576), and Kyle Walchuk (Howell, Mich./Infinity Gymnastics Academy) earned top marks on pommel horse with a 13.040.

Men’s competition continues tonight with seniors in the arena at 7 p.m. ET. Junior women take the floor for the first time tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. ET followed by senior women at 7 p.m. ET.

Fans can follow the action with live scoring at myusagym.com. Visit usgymchampionships.com for more information.