Ragan Smith cruises to title at P&G Gymnastics Championships

ANAHEIM >> Ragan Smith of Lewisville, Texas/Texas Dreams Gymnastics, was already soaring in rarified air heading into the second session of the P&G Gymnastics Championships on Sunday at Honda Center.

Then, Smith, 17, went out and bested her already-superb score of 57.400 on Saturday, with a score of 57.850 on Sunday.

The two-day total of 115.250 equated to an easy event victory and national championship for Smith, considered one of the nation’s top gymnasts.

“I’m just excited to be U.S. champion,” said Smith, reigning AT&T American Cup champion and an alternate for the gold-medal winning team at the 2016 Olympics said. “All my hard work is paying off.”

Smith also finished first in the balance beam and floor exercise with scores of 29.550 and 28.550 respectively, and third in balance beam with 28.400.

Her 15.050 on balance beam was the top mark for any single routine in the two-day competition.

“I just kind of started with a little energy and then I kept going with more,” Smith said. “What was going through my mind was just to stay confident. The crowd always helps and people cheering always helps.”

Jordan Chiles, 16, of Vancouver, WA/Naydenov Gymnastics was second in the all-around with a score of 111.850.

Rile McCusker, 16, of Brielle N.J./MG Elite took third with 111.650 and won the uneven bars with a 29.000 mark.

Trinity Thomas of York, PA/Prestige Gymnastics and Margzette Frazier of Erial, N.J./Parkettes Gymnastics finished fourth and fifth with scores of 111.350 and 110.900 respectively.

Maile O’Keefe of the Salcianu Elite Academy of Gymnastics won the junior session with a score of 114.450.

Before the competition Sunday, the six gymnasts who will compete for the U.S. in the men’s World Championships were announced.

Selections include 2016 Olympians Sam Mikulak of Newport Beach, a member of the U.S. Olympic Training Center, and the University of Oklahoma’s Yul Moldauer, the 2017 U.S. all-around champion, who captured the national championship in Anaheim on Saturday.

Mikulak, who competed in the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, finished second in the pommel horse and third in the high bar in Anaheim and was competing for the first time since injuring his left Achilles tendon at the Winter Cup in Las Vegas in February.

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The World Championships, which take place Oct. 2-8, in Montreal is an individual-event competition and the first competition the new Olympic cycle.