SAN JOSE, Calif. - Going head-to-head with the best gymnastics in the nation,
Isaiah Drake (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif.) finished 19th overall at the 2023 U.S. Championships this past weekend in San Jose, California. Competing against 48 junior, senior, collegiate, professional and Olympic-level gymnasts at the SAP Center on Thursday and Saturday nights as part of a two-part event Drake placed 19th overall with a cumulative all-around score of 156.20. Hoping to earn one of the highly sought after spots on the United States Senior National Team, Drake just missed the cut as the top-13 all-arounders, plus six more specialists were named to the team for the 2023-24 international season.
On Thursday night before a national television audience on the Peacock Network, Drake ranked 23rd with an all-around score of 76.75. The highlight of his initial day of action was a 13.05 on the high bar that was 15th-best in the field and just 0.35 points shy of breaking into the top-10. Additionally, Drake posted a 12.75 on the floor exercise, a 12.15 on the pommel horse, a 12.25 on the rings, a 13.6 on the vault and a 12.95 on the parallel bars. On day two with the pressure ratcheted up, the California native made his move in the standings and jumped up to 19th in the final all-around results with a 79.45 effort. Drake improved on four of his six events with 1.0-plus point increases on the floor exercise up to a 14.0 and on the rings up to a 13.35, while his vault score went up 0.85 points to 14.45 and his parallel bars routine garnered a 13.75 score, up 0.80 points. With a two-day cumulative total of 28.05 points on the vault, Drake placed 13th amongst his competitors on the apparatus. His 26.7 combined points on the parallel bars ranked 21st overall with his 26.75 score on the floor exercise coming in one spot back in 22nd.
Asher Hong and Khoi Young went one-two in the overall standings of the all-around competition. Earlier this collegiate season both of those Stanford gymnasts competed in a collegiate tri-meet alongside Navy and Air Force at the Mids' Halsey Fieldhouse Gymnastics Facility on March 11.
