Isabella Alban

The first U.S. elite qualifier of the 2026 season took place at the Vegas Cup in Nevada yesterday, where five athletes qualified to the senior and junior elite levels.

In the senior field, Lila Richardson of Metroplex had the highest all-around score of 50.550, surpassing the elite requirement by just half a tenth to become the sole qualifier at this level. Richardson, who turned 16 earlier this week, did her best work on beam to put up a score of 13.550, and she also did well on floor, earning a 12.8.

Former junior national team members Ally Damelio of San Mateo and Camie Westerman of Hill’s were the next best all-arounders with scores of 50.050 and 47.200, respectively, though both fell short of earning senior elite scores. Damelio, who had the best floor score of the competition with a 13.100, is already qualified to elite thanks to her performance at nationals last summer, but Westerman will have four more opportunities to get her score before the Winter Cup.

A total of 27 juniors competed in Las Vegas, with four ultimately getting their elite scores, including Avery Haines of First State with a 50.450, Sofie Davtyan of WOGA with a 48.850, Jaysha McClendon of Carters with a 48.800, and Sage Stiggers of WOGA with a 48.700.

Two juniors who missed their elite scores are age-eligible for the Hopes 13-14 division, so both Jazzy Saravia and Nora Greenfield have that option on the table, but Saravia had a 48.050 here so I think she’s likely to get her elite score in the future, as are a few others who came pretty close here as well.

The top qualifier in the Hopes 13-14 field was Isabella Alban of Royal Gymnastics, who actually had the highest score of the entire competition with a 50.600. Previously, gymnasts who entered this division and earned elite scores were able to bump up to the junior level if they wanted, but due to new modifications to the code this year, Alban and others who earned junior-level score – Agnes Song of Legacy Elite with a 49.100 and Kaleah Hamilton of Royal Gymnastics with a 48.500 – will remain in Hopes unless they decide to attempt junior qualification at a future competition.

The other Hopes 13-14 qualifiers were Lexie Santella of Airborne with a 48.000 and Toryn Marrs of WOGA with a 47.150, while the list of Hopes 11-12 qualifiers includes Charlie Marshall of Royal Gymnastics with a 49.600, Cynthia Gutierrez of Top Gymnastics with a 49.450, Fabiola Montes Roque of WOGA with a 47.100, Sae Hyun Yu of Airborne with a 46.400, Emerie Granda of Pearland Elite with a 46.250, Claudia Lasak of Legacy Elite with a 45.350, and Brielle Smith of WOGA with a 45.050.

I’m really excited to see more from Marshall and Gutierrez, both just 11 years old and surpassed the Hopes 11-12 qualification score by about five points. Marshall recently made waves when she qualified to the Nastia Liukin Cup in her first-ever Level 10 meet, while Gutierrez’ highest-level meet prior to the Vegas Cup was Level 8 Regionals last spring, which she won.

For more information, check out the complete results, and to see a list of all athletes who have qualified to the elite level and to national championships, check out our U.S. elite tracker.

Article by Lauren Hopkins