2013 Secret Classic

I'm finally getting to write a post about the Secret Classic that took place last Saturday!

I was super excited for this Classic, in a different way than in the past two years. In 2011 and 2012 it was all about the gymnasts perfecting their routines and seeing who would make that London Olympic team. Starting off a new quad is totally different. There is so much new talent, a new Code of Points, and new routines and skills. Everyone is just really debuting those new routines and skills, so for me, it's less about perfection and more about getting out there and making some mistakes so they know what they need to improve on.

I entered a contest by the girls from Triple Twist, to predict the podium for both Juniors and Seniors. For the Juniors, I picked Bailie Key, Amelia Hundley, and Norah Flatley (in that order). For the Seniors, I chose Simone Biles, Kyla Ross, and Lexie Priessman (in that order).

JUNIORS

Gold - Bailie Key (Texas Dreams)

Silver - Amelia Hundley (Cincinnati Gymnastics)

Bronze - Veronica Hults (Texas Dreams)

My Junior podium prediction was actually pretty good!

Bailie impressed me on every apparatus, most especially Vault and Beam. I also think her Uneven Bars routine could have a lot of potential as well! Amelia had a very consistent competition scoring wise. My favorite events for her were her bars routine and most especially her floor. I love loved her double layout!! I'm super proud of her!! I haven't really followed or seen much on Veronica Hults, however, I loved her beam and bars routines in this competition!

Individual Event Winners

Vault - Nia Dennis (15.250)

Uneven Bars - Veronica Hults (14.550)

Balance Beam - Norah Flatley (15.200)

Floor Exercise - Laurie Hernandez (14.650)

Other thoughts: There are so so many exciting Juniors that I love!! Norah Flatley has SO much potential. She looks like a mini Shawn Johnson on the beam! I can totally see it. Her other routines will come with time and she is going to be unstoppable someday. Same with Sydney Johnson-Scharpf. Laurie Hernandez reminds me of a firecracker! Just so much energy! And of course the top All Arounders (Bailie, Amelia, and Victoria) were absolutely wonderful as well! I cannot wait to watch these ladies develop their routines/skills and move up to the Senior level throughout this quad.

Seniors

Gold - Kyla Ross (Gym-Max)

Silver - Peyton Ernst (Texas Dreams)

Bronze - Brenna Dowell (GAGE)

Clearly, my senior podium was a bit more off. I was not aware that Lexie wasn't competing the All Around because of an injury, and Simone had an uncharacteristically bad meet; I really did think she would beat Kyla and that's saying a lot because Kyla is my favorite!

Peyton led after the first two rotations, but Kyla had great rotations on both Vault and especially Uneven Bars, and she ended up taking the title. Kyla started out on beam, and she delivered a consistent routine. I saw a couple new connections, I don't know if she is planning to add more by Nationals. Her new floor exercise is AMAZING! I love the new music even though I loved the Phantom music too. She has upgraded a lot on Floor, her double arabian to stag was just incredible! Unfortunately, she fell/hands down on her last pass, and that was definitely reflected in her score. She executed a perfect DTY on vault, and was Uneven Bars champion with a huge 15.400! Brenna's highlight was definitely vault, putting up a huge 15.550, second only to McKayla Maroney's 15.600.

Individual Event Winners

Vault - McKayla Maroney (15.425)

Uneven Bars - Kyla Ross (15.400)

Balance Beam - Peyton Ernst (14.700)

Floor Exercise - Lexie Priessman (14.800)

Other thoughts: I am very happy that Maddie Desch qualified for the P&G Championships with her Balance Beam routine. I absolutely adore Simone Biles, and I know she will have better days. The skills and her routines definitely look awesome though, the falls and mistakes are just what hurt her. The difficulty is definitely there. I'm sad that MyKayla Skinner had a bad meet as well, but I'm super happy that she got silver on the vault and also I LOVE her beam routine. McKayla Maroney's floor exercise was good enough to win her a bronze medal on that apparatus. She looks AMAZING, and I love her double layout!! Lexie's floor exercise is also STACKED. It's absolutely incredible!!

Favorite Leos

I decided that after every meet, I'm going to share my top 3 leo loves with you all.

Here they are for this meet ...

3. Simone Biles

2. Kyla Ross

1. McKayla Maroney

Very excited for Nationals, can't wait!