Danell Leyva Wins First National Title
Danell Leyva of Homestead, Fla./Team Hilton HHonors, captured the senior men's all-around title tonight at the 2011 Visa Championships inside the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. Leyva wowed the crowd on the horizontal bar in the last rotation to claim the title with a two-day combined all-around total of 183.800. Tomorrow, Aug. 20, marks the final day of the 2011 Visa Championships with the crowning of both the junior and senior women's and rhythmic gymnastics champions.Leyva, who trains at Universal Gymnastics with stepfather and coach Yin Alvarez, led the entire evening but secured the title with a 16.250 on the high bar. After nearly sticking his double twisting double layout dismount, Leyva embraced Alvarez, lifting him off the ground in celebration.
"It feels great – amazing," Leyva said minutes after claiming his first U.S. national title. "To fulfill one of the goals you put on paper, to be able to scratch one of those off the list, it is an amazing feeling."
Two-time defending champion Jonathan Horton of Houston/Team Hilton HHonors, pushed Leyva the entire competition. However, a fall in the fifth rotation on his strongest event, the high bar, made it impossible to catch Leyva, who suffered no major mistakes during either night's competition.
"I made mistakes," Horton admitted. "It's hard to beat someone who didn't make mistakes. I think Danell and I make a great team on the international stage. We'll show people that we're ready to challenge the very best."
Live coverage of the final day of the senior women's competition will air on NBC Sports at 8pm August 20th.