Two Future Tigers to Compete at U.S. Championships

For the first time since 1995, the U.S. Gymnastics Championships are in New Orleans, and two future Tigers have earned spots in this year’s competition. Hezly Rivera earned her spot by virtue of being a 2024 Olympian, and Annalisa Milton earned her spot after USAG decided to expand the criteria to qualify so they could have 24 gymnasts. The U.S. Gymnastics Championships are a four-day event, two for men and two for women, and I’m here to cover it all. The first session for senior women is tonight at 7:00 p.m. on Peacock in the U.S. and for free on USAG’s YouTube channel for those outside the U.S. If you want to go, plenty of tickets are still available.

Elite nationals, as they’re commonly known, are a two-day competition where the winners on each event and the all-around are determined by combining the total score from both days. On vault, the only people eligible for a title are those who do two different vaults on both days of competition. Their vault averages from each day are added together to determine the vault national champion. All-around totals only use the score from the first vault.

New for 2025 is the team competition on day 1. Each rotation group is a team, and the top three scores from each rotation count towards the squad’s, as they’re being called, score. The winning squad gets some sort of prize that has yet to be announced.

Annalisa Milton will be rotating with Squad A, headlined by Arkansas star Joscelyn Roberson. Of the four squads, it’s the one that has the lowest team scoring potential. She begins on vault on Day 1. Her strengths are bars and floor, but she’s unlikely to be a championship contender on any event due to the higher level of difficulty done by other competitors. However, if she can find some consistency, she could find herself on a podium Sunday. I was impressed by her bars work at podium training.

Speaking of people who do a very high level of difficulty, Hezly Rivera is here, too. She is the only Olympian competing on the women’s side, and she is a top contender for all five championships. She’s starting on beam and rotating with Squad C. That squad includes several big names including Florida gymnasts Skye Blakely and Leanne Wong and the perfectly named Nola Matthews. Hezly did not have a great meet at U.S. Classics, but that doesn’t matter here. If she can hit both days, she has a very good chance of winning the all-around title or at the very least medaling. She looked great on beam and bars in podium training, but she could go out and win any event if she’s locked in.

The senior women’s side of this event is the first look at the future of the national team. Leanne Wong and Skye Blakely are the only women competing who are at least 20, and Joscelyn Roberson and Hezly Rivera are the only ones competing who traveled to Paris. The rest are a smattering of future college and elite stars looking to prove themselves even more. This is the first chance to set the tone for this Olympic quad, and hopefully it’s fantastic.