Briones wins junior 17-18 all-around title at 2018 U.S. Gymnastics Championships

BOSTON, Aug. 18, 2018 – Brandon Briones of Gilbert, AZ/Aspire Kids Sports Center earned the junior men’s 17-18 division all-around title, with a three-way tie of Justin Ah Chow (Atlanta, Georgia/Universal Gymnastics), Fuzzy Benas (Houston, Texas/EnRich Gymnastics and Dance Academy), and Isaiah Drake (Los Angeles/Gymnastics Olympica USA) for the 15-16 division all-around title at the 2018 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, the national championships for men’s and women’s gymnastics. Held at the TD Garden, the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, part of the Team USA Summer Champions Series, presented by Xfinity, wraps up tomorrow with junior and senior women’s gymnastics at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively.

Briones earned 80.000 points on day 2 to move from fourth to first to win the junior men’s 17-18 all-around title with a two-day total of 158.350. Day 1 leader Riley Loos of El Dorado Hills, California/Technique Gymnastics dropped to second with a total of 158.150, and Spencer Goodell of Tigard, Oregon/University of Oklahoma rounded out the top 3 for the 17-18 group with a score of 156.550. For the 15-16 division, Ah Chow, Benas, and Drake all scored 155.350 points across the two days of competition to tie for the title. The individual event winners are listed below.

15-16 Division

  • Floor exercise: Benas, 27.150
  • Pommel horse: Khoi Young, Bowie, Md./Sportsplex Gymnastics, 26.850
  • Still rings: Benas, 26.650
  • Vault: Zachary Martin, Elk Grove, Calif./Elevate Gymnastics Academy, 28.850
  • Parallel bars: Ah Chow, 26.600
  • Horizontal bar: Taylor Burkhart, Morrison, Colo./5280 Gymnastics, 26.000

17-18 Division

  • Floor exercise: Vitaliy Guimaraes, Arvada, Colorado/University of Oklahoma, 27.750
  • Pommel horse: Riley Loos, El Dorado Hills, California/Technique Gymnastics, 26.300
  • Still rings: Briones and Goodell, 26.500
  • Vault: Guimaraes, 28.750
  • Parallel bars: Curran Phillips, Naperville, Ill./Prairie Gymnastics Club, and Mike Fletcher, Nashua, N.H./University of Illinois, 25.750
  • Horizontal bar: Briones, 25.850

Event scores for top three in junior all-around

    15-16 years-old

    • Justin Ah Chow: 155.350, all-around; 25.750, floor exercise; 25.150, pommel horse; 25.750, still rings; 27.750, vault; 26.600, parallel bars; 24.350, horizontal bar.
    • Fuzzy Benas: 155.350, all-around; 27.150, floor exercise; 23.950, pommel horse; 26.650, still rings; 28.350, vault; 24.050, parallel bars; 25.200, horizontal bar.
    • Isaiah Drake: 155.350, all-around; 26.700, floor exercise; 25.500, pommel horse; 24.600, still rings; 27.750, vault; 25.650, parallel bars; 25.150, horizontal bar.

    17-18 years-old

    • Brandon Briones: 158.350, all-around; 27.300, floor exercise; 25.150, pommel horse; 26.500, still rings; 27.950, vault; 25.600, parallel bars; 25.850, horizontal bar.
    • Riley Loos: 158.150, all-around; 27.400, floor exercise; 26.300, pommel horse; 26.200, still rings; 27.950, vault; 25.100, parallel bars; 25.000, horizontal bar.
    • Spencer Goodell: 156.550, all-around; 27.100, floor exercise; 24.150, pommel horse; 26.500, still rings; 28.500, vault; 25.050, parallel bars; 25.250, horizontal bar.

    In-venue activities
    The following is a quick overview of the fan activities available on the concourse on competition days. For the most up-to-date and complete information, go to usgymchampionships.com.

    • GK selfie station. Fans will have the opportunity to take photos in GK’s selfie station
    • Merchandise. Fans can purchase everything gymnastics, including event-specific tees, GK leotards, other apparel, and more at the merchandise booth.

    Thirteen of the 16 2008 Olympians and alternates will be in Boston: women – Shawn Johnson East, Nastia Liukin, Chellsie Memmel, Samantha Peszek, Bridget Sloan and alternates Jana Bieger and Ivana Hong; and men – Raj Bhavsar, Joey Hagerty, Jonathan Horton, Justin Spring, Kevin Tan and David Durante, alternate. Alexander Artemev, Corrie Lothrop and Alicia Sacramone Quinn were unable to attend the August 19 recognition.

    2018 marks the 10th anniversary of the 2008 team’s 10-medal performance at the Olympic Games, which at that time was the USA’s most medals since the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and at a non-boycotted Olympic Games. The medal tally of 10 included two gold, six silver and two bronze.

    The women and men won the silver and bronze team medals, respectively. The individual medalists were: Liukin – all-around gold, uneven bars and balance beam silver and floor exercise bronze; Johnson East – balance beam gold and all-around and floor exercise silver; and Horton – horizontal bar silver.

    2008 is the only time the United States has won team medals at consecutive Olympic Games for both the men and women. Liukin and Johnson became the first U.S. women to go one-two in the all-around. The U.S. women won eight total medals (two gold, five silver and one bronze), topping China’s six. Liukin tied the U.S. gymnastics record of five Olympic medals at one Olympics set by Mary Lou Retton (1984) and matched by Shannon Miller (1996) and later by Simone Biles (2016).

    Event information
    The championships determines the men’s and women’s U.S. champions and U.S. National Teams for the junior and senior elite levels. The championships also will serve as part of the selection process for the U.S. Team for the 2018 World Championships.

    Single-session and multi-session ticket packages are still available. All prices are per ticket or ticket package and vary in price due to location and session.

    • Single-session tickets, Aug. 19: Single-session tickets range in price from $29-$300.
    • Women’s Gymnastics Final Day Package, Aug. 19: both junior and senior sessions, $99-$169.

    The 2018 U.S. Gymnastics Championships is part of the 2018 Team USA Summer Champions Series, presented by Xfinity. The champions series showcases numerous Olympic sports throughout the season, highlighting the year-round quest of Team USA athletes to compete at the Olympic Games.

    Ways to follow the action
    The Olympic Channel, NBC Sports and NBCSN are carrying live coverage of the four days of senior competition. All eight competitive sessions, as well as podium training, will have livestream coverage. All times are subject to change.

      Television
      Aug. 19 – Women’s gymnastics, 8 p.m. ET, NBC – LIVE

      Webcasts
      USA Gymnastics hosts livestreams of four podium training sessions on Wednesday, Aug. 15, and the four junior sessions live at usgymchampionships.com/live. Fans can catch all the senior division action via NBC Sports online at NBCSports.com/Live, or through the NBC Sports app which is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. All times are Eastern and subject to change. All times are Eastern and subject to change.

    All media information (results, bios, historical information, start lists, etc.) is provided on our website, usgymchampionships.com, during competition week. Live scoring will be available at myusagym.com.

    History
    Smith and Moldauer won the women’s and men’s 2017 U.S. all-around titles, respectively. The roster of former U.S. all-around champions is a veritable who’s who of gymnastics, including: women – Simone Biles, Jordyn Wieber, Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, Carly Patterson, Courtney Kupets, Shannon Miller, Dominique Dawes, Kim Zmeskal and Mary Lou Retton; and men – Sam Mikulak, Jonathan Horton, Paul Hamm, Blaine Wilson, John Roethlisberger, Tim Daggett, Mitch Gaylord, Peter Vidmar and Bart Conner.

    While Boston played host to the 2008 U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Championships, 2018 marks the event’s debut at the TD Garden and the first time Boston has staged the national championships for both men’s and women’s gymnastics. In addition, Boston was the site for the 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team Trials and several post-Olympic gymnastics tour events.

    The U.S. Gymnastics Championships traces its history back to 1897 for the men and 1931 for the women.

    Background

    • TD Garden. TD Garden, owned and operated by Delaware North, first opened its doors to the public on September 30, 1995. In the 20-plus years since, the venue has generated more than $365 million in direct economic impact to the Greater Boston region from its major national events alone, not including its high-profile Bruins and Celtics tenants. The arena has played host to countless marquee events, including the Democratic National Convention, NHL All-Star Game, NCAA Frozen Fours, NCAA Women’s Final Four, U.S. Olympic Trials – Gymnastics, U.S. Figure Skating Championships and ISU World Figure Skating Championships among others. Delaware North, owner and operator of TD Garden, is one of the largest privately-held hospitality and food service companies in the world. Founded in 1915 and owned by the Jacobs family for more than 100 years, Delaware North has global operations at high-profile places such as sports and entertainment venues, national and state parks, destination resorts and restaurants, airports, and regional casinos.
    • Team USA Champions Series. The Team USA Champions Series, presented by Xfinity, is composed of both a summer and winter season, showcasing elite U.S. athletes year-round through broadcasts on NBC, NBCSN, and the Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA. America’s elite athletes are always in season. The champions series was created to help showcase their year-round quest to make Team USA and compete at the Olympic Games.
    • USA Gymnastics. Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. The organization is committed to creating a culture that empowers and supports its athletes and focuses on its highest priority, the safety and well-being of the athletes. USA Gymnastics has already taken specific, concrete steps to strengthen its safe sport policies and procedures. The organization’s disciplines include men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling, acrobatic gymnastics and gymnastics for all (formerly known as group gymnastics). For more complete information, log on to usagym.org.