Brooks wins all-around title at the 2014 Winter Cup Challenge

600

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 22, 2014 – 2012 Olympic team alternate Chris Brooks of Houston/Team Hilton HHonors (Cypress), earned a two-day total of 174.850 in the all-around at the 2014 Winter Cup Challenge today inside the Riviera Hotel & Casino’s Royale Pavilion in Las Vegas to win the all-around competition. Donnell Whittenburg of Baltimore, Md./U.S. Olympic Training Center, 173.150, and Sean Melton of Orlando/Ohio State University, 173.000, rounded out the top three in the all-around standings.


Following the conclusion of the competition, Brooks, Whittenburg, Melton and Joshua Dixon of Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Olympic Training Center, were added to the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team. The three additional athletes chosen for the National Team by the Men’s Program Committee were Marvin Kimble of Milwaukee, Wis./Swiss Turners, Akash Modi of Morganville, N.J./Stanford University and Jonathan Horton of Houston, Texas/Team Hilton HHonors (Cypress) (petition accepted).


Brooks, the 2010 Winter Cup champion, started the night with a solid effort on the pommel horse and scored a 13.900. In rotation two, he dismounted the still rings with a one-and-a-half twisting double back for a 15.050. He performed a sky-high front handspring double front on vault in the third rotation and scored 14.800. Brooks earned his highest score of the day, a 15.550, on the parallel bars and followed that with a 15.350 on the high bar. In the final rotation, he executed an Arabian double pike and front layout to double front for a 14.400 and the title.


With a laidout, double-twisting double dismount, Whittenburg got his competition started with a 15.050 on the rings. He performed a handspring double front on vault in the second rotation and posted a 15.150. He also recorded scores of 14.400, parallel bars; 13.900, high bar; 15.600, floor exercise; and 13.050, pommel horse.


Melton took the bronze medal in the all-around, posting his highest score of the day on the vault with a 15.300 for his handspring double front. His other scores were 13.750, parallel bars; 14.800, high bar; 14.900, floor exercise; 13.750, pommel horse; and 14.350, still rings.


Eddie Penev of Penfield, N.Y./Stanford University, and Alec Robin of Calabasas, Calif./University of Oklahoma, tied for the floor exercise title with a two-day total of 30.900. Craig Hernandez of Libertyville, Ill./Penn State University, won the pommel horse, 28.600. 2013 World bronze medalist Brandon Wynn of Columbus, Ohio/Team Hilton HHonors (U.S. Olympic Training Center), took the rings title with a 31.100 total.


Penev also took a share of the vault title, tying Chandler Eggleston of Jamestown, N.C./University of Illinois, with matching 30.450 totals. Akash Modi of Morganville, N.J./Stanford University, won the parallel bars with a 30.750 two-day score. 2012 Olympian John Orozco of The Bronx, N.Y./Team Hilton HHonors (U.S. Olympic Training Center), posted the highest total on the high bar, a 30.800.


Performances at the 2014 Winter Cup Challenge will help determine the 15 men who will comprise the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team through the 2014 P&G Gymnastics Championships in Pittsburgh, Pa., Aug. 21-24. The six members of the 2013 World Championships squad, plus the two World alternates, retain their spots on the national team. The remaining seven spots will be determined based on the following criteria: the top two ranked all-around athletes who are not already on the senior national team; two based on the National Team Points System; two athletes selected by the Men’s Program Committee; and one selected by the national team coordinator.

For information on the points ranking system used for determining the national team, go to www.usagym.org.