Paul Ruggeri III, known for his “always the bridesmaid” status for his repeated role as alternate for major U.S. international competitions, is finally having his day in the sun as this year’s Winter Cup champion.

Consistency was the name of the game for Ruggeri, who managed clean routines across both nights of competition to secure the gold in what was otherwise a pretty messy meet. In addition to his all-around win, Ruggeri also earned vault and high bar titles as well as the bronze medal on floor.

His high bar routine was especially incredible on the first night, coming in with a 6.8 D-score and an exceptional performance, including a Cassina (which looked a little piked), Adler half to layout Tkatchev, and double-twisting double layout dismount. In finals, the routine was quite a bit messier, though he was awarded an insane 7.0 start value. It’s definitely a Worlds finals-worthy routine…I don’t think anyone else in the U.S. can come close.

He topped the vault with a Yurchenko half-on, double full off, and despite going out-of-bounds on the Tamayo (an arabian layout double front) in his finals performance on floor, he was otherwise excellent and showed nice control in his press handstands, 2.5 to front full side pass, 1.5 to front double full, and full-in. His difficulty on pommel horse and rings made the two events his weaknesses, though he finished well on both, aside from some steps on his rings dismount.

In second place was Steven Legendre in his comeback performance after being out with injury since last year’s World Cup. His floor was a standout routine, earning him the event gold in addition to silver on vault and bronze on rings. He managed a 6.9 start value (bumped up to a 7.0 during finals after sticking his piked double arabian) after competing a huge double full to double front as his opening pass as well as a Tamayo, 2.5 to front full, and double arabian side pass.

On vault, Legendre stuck his handspring double front in finals for a huge 9.7 execution score, and he looked super clean on rings, showing great focus and control throughout his routine in addition to sticking his tucked double double dismount during finals.

In third place, Donnell Whittenburg looked to be at his best on parallel bars, especially in finals, where he earned a 15.4 for a pretty clean routine that included a double front dismount, helping him to the silver medal on the event. Whittenburg also managed a 4th place finish on rings as well as 5th place on floor, showing great difficulty on both but needing to work a bit on execution on both.

Most notable was Sam Mikulak’s surprise top all-around finish during finals, where he earned an 87.850 to best Ruggeri. Mikulak, who is preparing for the American Cup in two weeks, competed only three events during prelims, and though he didn’t have any falls, his high bar routine was a mess from start to finish, including extra swings and a kip cast to regroup after his Adler full, bent legs on a giant, and landing his double-twisting double layout way short.

His finals routine was basically the opposite, and the rest of his day was solid as well, aside from a couple of falls on floor (he sat the double front after his front full and also missed his air flairs). Many of his other routines weren’t necessarily the most difficult, though he was insanely strong in his form, especially on pommels. I’d say there’s some work to do before American Cup, but he’s definitely on the right track.

Alec Yoder also gets some major recognition. The 2014 Youth Olympic Games bronze all-around medalist finished 8th in Las Vegas and showed his worth to the future of the U.S. program on pommel horse, where he picked up a bronze medal after showing super clean execution with some of the highest difficulty in the meet (his start value is 6.2). Yoder’s execution overall was pretty fantastic, though his difficulty across the board needs a bit of work. Still, he’s young, and right now it’s all about his promise for the future.

On the first night of competition, 2012 Olympic all-around bronze medalist Danell Leyva had a mostly messy meet, including two high bar falls (on his layout Kovacs and then his layout Tkatchev) and a fall on his piked double arabian on floor in addition to form issues throughout. He cleaned up quite a bit for finals, adding nearly three points to his all-around score (his high bar routine was markedly improved and came in at a 7.1 D-score), but clearly showed that he needs a lot of work before he can be competitive internationally.

Except on p-bars, of course. He was great on the event both days, winning the gold medal by three tenths. He wasn’t perfect – there were multiple minor form issues during prelims and noticeable flaws in finals – and like everything else, he needs to do some work, but overall he was the clear standout here, and capped off his prelims routine with a stuck double front to huge cheers from Yin.

Two-time Olympic medalist Jonathan Horton was greatly anticipated in his return after a less-than-stellar showing at nationals last summer. He seemed short on both his difficulty and execution throughout. Even when he has some relatively big skills – like on floor, rings, and high bar – he really struggles with hitting as cleanly as he needs to hit (or hitting in general, as he did have a couple of falls). Rings has some potential but he seems to lack endurance, and vault is an exception…he’s doing a handspring double front there, and while it’s definitely not as strong as it could be (he cowboyed the flips and took large steps both nights), it was his best event finish, tying in 10th place with Akash Modi.

Following the meet, the men’s program committee named the U.S. senior national team for 2015 through the P&G Championships this August. The members and alternate on the 2014 World Championships team – including Jacob Dalton, Danell Leyva, Sam Mikulak, Alex Naddour, John Orozco, Paul Ruggeri III, Donnell Whittenburg – retained their spots. The remaining eight members were determined based on performances at the Winter Cup as well as petitions, and include Allan Bower, Donothan Bailey, Marvin Kimble, Steven Legendre, Akash Modi, Kevin Wolting, Brandon Wynn, and Alec Yoder.

You can watch every video from prelims and finals on the USA Gymnastics YouTube channel. Full results are available on The Gymternet.

Article by Lauren Hopkins
Photo thanks to USA Gymnastics