Moldauer, Smith win AT&T American Cup titles
- Results: Men’s All-Around | Women’s All-Around
- Photo Gallery
- Video: All Routines | NBC Broadcast | International Feed
NEWARK, N.J. March 4, 2017 – Ragan Smith of Lewisville, Texas/Texas Dreams, and Yul Moldauer of Arvada, Colo./University of Oklahoma won the women’s and men’s titles at the 2017 AT&T American Cup, the USA’s most prestigious international invitational and part of the International Gymnastics Federation’s all-around World Cup series, at Prudential Center in Newark, N. J. The United States’ Akash Modi of Morganville, N.J./Stanford University, finished third in the men’s competition, while Riley McCusker of Brielle, N.J./MG Elite, placed fifth in the women’s competition. Competition concludes tonight with the 2017 Elite Team Cup at 6 p.m. ET.
In the men’s competition, Moldauer earned a 85.931 to take the title followed by Ukraine’s Oleg Vernaiev at 85.699. Modi was third at 84.398. For the women, Smith won her first AT&T American Cup title with a total of 56.099. Asuka Teramoto of Japan was second at 54.231, and France’s Melanie De Jesus dos Santos finished third (53.899).
- Women’s all-around medalists: Smith, first; Teramoto, second; De Jesus dos Santos, third.
- Smith, champion, scores: vault, 14.433; uneven bars, 14.400; balance beam, 13.266; floor exercise, 14.000; all-around, 56.099.
- Teramoto second place, scores: vault, 13.766; uneven bars, 13.766; balance beam, 13.633; floor exercise, 13.066; all-around, 54.231.
- De Jesus dos Santos, third place, scores: vault, 13.466; uneven bars, 13.300; balance beam, 14.233; floor exercise, 12.900; all-around, 53.899.
- McCusker, fifth place, scores: 13.766; uneven bars, 13.100; balance beam, 12.600; floor exercise, 13.500; all-around, 52.966
- Men’s all-around medalists: Moldauer, first; Vernaiev, second; Modi, third.
- Moldauer, champion, scores: floor exercise, 14.566; pommel horse, 14.000; still rings, 14.300; vault, 14.466; parallel bars, 14.866; and horizontal bar, 13.733; all-around, 85.931.
- Vernaiev, second place, scores: floor exercise, 13.300; pommel horse, 14.700; still rings, 14.633; vault, 14.433; parallel bars, 15.033; and horizontal bar, 13.600; all-around, 85.699.
- Modi, third place, scores: floor exercise, 13.833; pommel horse, 13.466; still rings, 14.066; vault, 14.200; parallel bars, 15.033; and horizontal bar, 13.800; all-around, 84.398.
Moldauer quotes:
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On becoming American Cup Champion:
“It’s very shocking but I’m very honored.”
On competing with Akash Modi while their college teams are facing off against each other tonight:
“We set that aside. Akash is a great guy. We had a lot of fun, we roomed together and we trained together, we cracked jokes together. It was nice rotating with him throughout the meet. We made each other relax when we got nervous, so it was great.”
On his best routine of the day:
“I’d say it was either high bar or pommel horse. High bar I’ve been struggling a little bit and then pommel horse I feel like I swung pretty good today and I haven’t felt that good in a while.”
Modi quotes:
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On today’s performance:
“Everything wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t exactly how I wanted it to be but I stuck with it through some bad parts and did exactly what I wanted to do.”
On competing with Yul Moldauer while their college teams are facing off against each other tonight:
“It was awesome. I get along with Yul really well and I think we made it feel like this was our house. This was our gym and we were here to show what we can do. I love competing with Yul.”
On his best performance today:
“Definitely parallel bars. I love that routine, it’s one of my favorites. It’s one of the ones I pride myself on my ability to do, and I really showed off the best of my ability.”
Smith quotes:
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On becoming American Cup Champion:
“It’s amazing to add my name to that list especially since my coach [Kim Zmeskal] did it also. Now she has a gymnast who has done it with her.”
On her best routine of the day:
“I’m proud of my bar routine that I did today. I thought it was really clean.”
McCusker quotes:
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On today’s performance:
“It definitely wasn’t the best and it wasn’t what I’ve been doing in practice,” she said. “I had jitters here and there. . . I know I will do much better next time.”
2017 A&T American Cup
Prudential Center
Newark, N.J.
Women’s all-around
1. Ragan Smith, USA, 56.099
2. Asuka Teramoto, Japan, 54.231
3. Melanie De Jesus dos Santos, France, 53.899
4. Kim Bui, Germany, 53.632
5. Riley McCusker, USA, 52.966
6. Xie Yufen, China, 51.599
7. Tisha Volleman, Netherlands, 49.266
8. Emily Whitehead, Australia, 48.399
9. Amy Tinkler, Great Britain, 39.566
Men’s all-around
1. Yul Moldauer, USA, 85.931
2. Oleg Vernaiev, Ukraine, 85.699
3. Akash Modi, USA, 84.398
4. Bart Deurloo, Netherlands, 80.165
5. Eddy Yusof, Switzerland, 80.164
6. Ryohei Kato, Japan, 80.065
7. Sun Wei, China, 80.032
8. Sam Oldham, Great Britain, 79.399
9. Lukas Dauser, Germany, 75.999
The impressive list of former American Cup champions includes: Simone Biles, Bart Conner, Tim Daggett, Gabby Douglas, Paul Hamm, Jonathan Horton, Shawn Johnson, Danell Leyva, Nastia Liukin, Sam Mikulak, Shannon Miller, Carly Patterson, Mary Lou Retton, Kurt Thomas, Peter Vidmar, Jordyn Wieber and Kim Zmeskal-Burdette. Past sites for the American Cup include: New York, N.Y. (1976-80, 1982-84, 2004, 2008, 2012); Ft. Worth, Texas (1981, 1996-98); Indianapolis, Ind. (1985); Fairfax, Va. (1986-90, 2003); Orlando, Fla. (1991-94, 2000-02); Seattle, Wash. (1995); St. Petersburg, Fla. (1999); Uniondale, N.Y. (2005); Philadelphia, Pa. (2006); Jacksonville, Fla. (2007, 2011); Hoffman Estates, Ill. (2009); Worcester, Mass. (2010, 2013); Greensboro, N.C. (2014); Arlington, Texas (2015); and Newark, N.J. (2016-17).
Background information
- USA Gymnastics. Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Its mission is to encourage participation and the pursuit of excellence in the sport. Its 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 www.usagym.org.
- AT&T American Cup. The 2017 AT&T American Cup, a FIG World Cup event, is one of the most prestigious international invitational events and features an all-around format. The list of former champions comprises some of the sport’s best-known names, including Jordyn Wieber, Nastia Liukin, Jonathan Horton, Bart Conner, Paul Hamm, Shawn Johnson, Shannon Miller, Carly Patterson, Mary Lou Retton and Peter Vidmar. For more information, go to attamericancup.com.
- International Gymnastics Federation. The International Gymnastics Federation is the governing body for Gymnastics worldwide. It is the oldest established international sports federation and has participated in the Olympic Games since their revival in 1896. The FIG governs seven disciplines: Gymnastics for All, Men’s Artistic, Women’s Artistic, Rhythmic, Trampoline, Aerobic and Acrobatic Gymnastics. It counts 148 national member federations and boasts a 30-person staff at its international seat in Lausanne (SUI), home of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
- Prudential Center. Prudential Center is a world-class sports and entertainment venue located in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Opened in October 2007, the state-of-the-art arena is the home of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) three-time Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils, Seton Hall University’s NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball program, and more than 175 concerts, family shows and special events each year. Ranked in the Top 10 nationally by Pollstar, Billboard and Venues Today, Prudential Center is recognized as one of the premier venues in the United States, and welcomes 1.75 million guests annually. For more information about Prudential Center, visit PruCenter.com and Facebook, and follow @PruCenter on Twitter.
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