Eight great pommel horse workers from the 2010 Winter Cup…

Alex Naddour Pommel Horse 2010 Winter Cup

He won this event after both days at the Winter Cup…yet ANOTHER OKLAHOMA GYMNAST making a big name for himself!  Between Chris Brooks, former Sooner Horton, Steven Legendre, Jake Dalton, and now Naddour, Oklahoma may be putting together the most impressive college dynasty in USA gymnastics history.

Daniel Ribeiro Pommel Horse 2010 Winter Cup

NICE!!!  That first sequence – a full kehr and then almost immediately a full stockli – has to be one of the coolest sequences I’ve ever seen.  His 15.2 on this routine was the single highest pommel horse score at Winter Cup…definitely a specialist to continue to watch out for.

Steven Spencer Pommel Horse 2009 NCAA Championships (Winter Cup routine not available)

What a fast-paced and exciting routine!  This routine actually placed 2nd at the 2009 NCAA’s – just 0.1 behind the gymnast we just saw, Daniel Ribeiro.

Luke Stannard Pommel Horse 2010 Winter Cup

Maybe not the best form, but some of the trickiest Russian sequences I’ve ever seen.  I counted how many total Russians he did in this routine (both on the end and as part of travels)…I came up with 12.5!  If we add in the full spindle too, that’s 13.5 full turns in one pommel horse routine.  He has GOT to be dizzy after that!

Chris Cameron Pommel Horse 2010 Winter Cup

Amazing flair work!!!  That’s so refreshing to see because it’s pretty rare nowadays…he does some amazing flair combinations on floor as well. DEFINITELY a gymnast to watch out for.

Craig Hernandez Pommel Horse 2010 Winter Cup

This kid is from Buffalo Grove in Illinois and still in high school.  I think pommel horse is by far his best event, and this is beautiful to watch.  He totally reminds me of a Russian gymnast up there.  I can’t BELIEVE he didn’t fall off there at the end – that was an incredible fight on one pommel!

Mel Anton Santander Pommel Horse 2010 Winter Cup

He scored 0.6 higher the second day, where I’m sure he didn’t have that break after the Russians, but I don’t have that video.  Still a good body line and potential.

Dylan Akers Pommel Horse 2010 Winter Cup

He’s a member of the USA Junior National Team (16-18 year-old division) and won pommel horse at the 2009 Junior U.S. Championships.  He put together two solid routines at the Winter Cup to place 7th on this event.

WOW…overall, what a phenomenal improvement from 2008!  This group of guys blows the 2008 Olympic Trials guys out of the water on this event…exactly what our team needs.  I really hope that Artemev and McNeill can continue to be strong in the all-around (although Artemev seems a little questionable right now), so that we can end up using one or two of these guys more as pommel horse specialists.  This is a great sign for USA men’s gymnastics