Kayla DiCello

The American Classic, which begins tomorrow, offers a second-to-last opportunity for most of the athletes hoping to qualify for national championships, coming to San Jose, California later this summer.

Hosted at Stars Gymnastics in Katy, Texas – also home to the national team camps for WAG competitors – a total of 22 seniors and 30 juniors who have qualified to the elite level are registered and expected to compete, along with a few dozen Hopes athletes looking to qualify to next month’s Hopes Championships. While most of the top athletes who have already earned a ticket to nationals elsewhere are skipping this meet, the list includes tons of talented gymnasts who have the potential to make it to the next level.

Leading the senior field is Kayla DiCello, a 2020 Olympic alternate and 2021 world bronze medalist who skipped worlds trials last year to begin her NCAA career at the University of Florida, and she’s joined by fellow national team members Dulcy Caylor, Madray Johnson, and Alicia Zhou, along with international guests Mélanie De Jesus Dos Santos of France and Paloma Mintcheva of Bulgaria.

Neither DiCello nor Zhou have qualified to nationals yet, though Johnson should be set already based on her performance at the Pan Ams trials camp, which earned her a spot on the gold medal-winning Pan Ams team, while Caylor earned her two-event score on vault and floor at the same camp, though likely will want to upgrade that to all-around status here.

To qualify as an all-arounder, seniors must earn a 51.000 total score, but if they miss out, they’re eligible to qualify on either three events (which requires a score of 39.000) or on two events (requiring a 26.400). So far, in addition to Johnson and Caylor, there should officially be around another 18 seniors already moving on, either having qualified automatically after making the worlds team last year, or through the Winter Cup or national team camp performances over the past few months.

In comparison, only eight juniors have qualified to nationals so far, so the field here should see tons of competition, especially among those who got close but ultimately missed out at the Winter Cup, like Claire Pease, Isabella Anzola, Reese Esponda, Addy Fulcher, Nicole Desmond, Sage Bradford, Carly Weinberg, and Charleigh Bullock, all of whom came within a point of the 50.0 required score in Louisville.

If gymnasts do not make it to nationals here, those invited to next week’s July camp could potentially have another chance there, but the majority of athletes will only have one final shot at the U.S. Classic.

For the Hopes athletes, the top 18 athletes in both the 13-14 and 11-12 age divisions who reach the required scores (45.000 and 43.500, respectively) will move on to Championships, held in conjunction with the U.S. Classic in August.

The Hopes athletes will kick things off this weekend, with the 11-12 age group competing tomorrow, July 8, at 10:45 am ET, while the 13-14 age group will take the floor at 3:45 pm ET. The junior elite session will then begin at 7:45 pm ET, while the senior elites will compete Sunday, July 9, at 10:45 am ET.

You’ll be able to watch each session live on FlipNow and live scores will be available at MyUSAGym. A full list of competitors for all sessions is below.

SENIORS
Dulcy Caylor Chloe Cho Norah Christian Mélanie De Jesus Dos Santos* Kayla DiCello Amelia Disidore Leigh Anne Elliott Madray Johnson Avery King Myli Lew Eveylynn Lowe	Annalisa Milton Malea Milton Paloma Mintcheva* Avery Moll Ella Murphy Marissa Neal Brooke Pierson Michelle Pineda Christiane Popovich Kelise Woolford Alicia Zhou

*International guest

JUNIORS
Isabella Anzola Sage Bradford Sophia Buechler Ly Bui Charleigh Bullock Cora Burke* Payton Chandler Lavi Crain Ally Damelio Lailah Danzy Nicole Desmond Tatum Drusch Reese Esponda Kieryn Finnell Addy Fulcher	Catherine Guy Cambry Haynes Jazmyn Jimenez Ayla Miller Adele Ossi Ella Kate Parker Claire Pease Jazlene Pickens Lacie Saltzmann Jolyn Sicat Valeros Maliha Tressel Tyler Turner Carly Weinberg Camie Westerman Trinity Wood

*Has not yet qualified elite

HOPES 13-14
Paityn Adams Iyla Adkins Aaliyah Campos Vivienne DeWater Kennedy Emerling Celia Frith-Carvalho Sadie Goldberg Amy Gonzalez Quinn Harris Greta Krob Sophie Kung Coco Lazaridis Isla Lazzari	Kaitlin Marcussen Ellie Mayer Gabbie Mitchell Addie Oiler-Velez Natalia Pudelko Lila Richardson Hadassah Ruiz Kirsten Santana Lauren Supnet Aki Tanda Gabi Ursu Grace Wickham Finley Young

HOPES 11-12
Brynley Applegate Tiraia Ballard Brooke Bazan Emmy Cunningham Nancy Cuoco Alden Dante Eva Doherty Sadie Drake Elsie Flores Alessandra Gaines Lilly Ganatos Brianna Heath Charlotte Henk Maya Kosarikova Daisy Lesperance Keiran Lunde	Stevie-Rose Mack Anslee McCauley Bria McClain Jaysha McClendon Annabel Melnyk Olivia Mhire Amariah Moore Diana Ochieng Amia Pugh-Banks Danica Sedacca Kylie Smith Ansley Stevens Cassandra Tan London Thomas Savannah Weinland

Article by Lauren Hopkins