Hong tops seniors; Uemura, Roman lead junior men’s fields at Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships
- Day 1 Results: Jr. 16-Year Olds | Jr. 17-Year Olds | Senior | Sr. 10-Point Results
- Photo Galleries: Junior | Senior
- Videos: Webcasts/Broadcasts | Jr. Routines | Sr. Routines
SAN JOSE, Calif. (August 24, 2023) – Junior and senior men opened competition Thursday at the Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships at SAP Center, where local favorite Asher Hong (Tomball, Texas/Stanford University) leads the senior men and Kai Uemura (Chicago, Ill./Lakeshore Academy) and Nathan Roman (Poway, Calif./Agility) lead the Junior 17 and Junior 16 fields, respectively, after the Day 1 session.
Hong in the lead
Following session 1, Hong is currently No. 1 in the senior men’s all-around with a cumulative score of 85.615, just ahead of Yul Moldauer (Arvada, Colo./5280 Gymnastics) in second with an 85.548 and Fred Richard (Stoughton, Mass./University of Michigan) in third with an 85.469. Current event leaders include Khoi Young (Bowie, Md./Stanford University) on floor exercise (14.650), Stephen Nedoroscik (Worcester, Mass./EVO Gymnastics) on pommel horse (15.457), Donnell Whittenburg (Baltimore, Md./Salto Gymnastics Center) on still rings (15.261), Curran Phillips (Naperville, Ill./EVO Gymnastics) on parallel bars (16.147) and Richard on horizontal bar (15.105). Kameron Nelson (Evans, Ga./Ohio State University) was the sole athlete to compete two vaults and scored a combined 13.950 (13.950, 13.950).
Uemura has banner day
Uemura sits atop the Junior 17 all-around leaderboard with a score of 83.394, ahead of Kiran Mandava (Cypress, Texas./Cypress Academy of Gymnastics) with 79.743 and Xander Hong (Tomball, Texas./Cypress Academy of Gymnastics) with 78.130. Uemura had the top scores on pommel horse (14.790) and high bar (14.042) to help propel him to a commanding lead. Gage Kile (Des Moines, Iowa/Emerge Academy) had the top score on floor (14.252), Adam Lakomy (Roselle Park N.J./Sunburst Gymnastics) was best on rings (13.311), David Ramirez (Nipomo, Calif./Central Coast Gymnastics) and Wade Nelson (Santa Ana, Calif./SCATS Gymnastics) led on vault (14.705), and Hong leads on parallel bars (13.788).
Roman on top of 16
In Junior 16 competition, Roman sits in first in the all-around with a score of 78.864 after posting the highest scores of the session on floor (13.561) and parallel bars (13.711). Danila Leykin (Bradenton Fla./EVO Gymnastics) ranks second all-around with a 78.370 and also leads on pommel horse (12.717) and high bar (14.026), while Ty Roderiques (Knoxville, Tenn./GymTek Academy) was third all-around with a 74.959 and ranked first on vault with a 14.305. On rings, Justin Park (San Diego, Calif./Agility) had the best score with a 13.217.
The women take the floor for their first day of competition on Friday, with juniors at noon PT and seniors at 5 p.m. PT. The men will be back in action Saturday, August 26 for their second day of competition, where national titles and teams will be determined by combining scores from both sessions.
Fans can watch a replay Day 1 of senior men’s competition Saturday, August 26 at 7:30 a.m. PT /10:30 a.m. ET on CNBC.