Five Huskers Set to Compete for Spots on U.S. National Teams

The Nebraska men’s gymnastics team will send five Huskers to the men’s portion of the P&G Championships on Aug. 17 and Aug. 19 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., for a chance to qualify for the U.S. National Teams.

Newcomer and member of the current men’s U.S. Junior National Team Griffin Kehler will compete in session one in the junior competition, as he looks to maintain his spot on the team, while Chris Stephenson, Kyle King, Antonio Castro and Austin Epperson will compete in session two for a chance to make the U.S. Senior National Team. The competition will serve as part of the selection process for the 2017 World Championships, Oct. 2-8, at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.

The Huskers will compete alongside 74 other gymnasts from across the country, including two-time Olympian and four-time defending U.S. all-around champion Sam Mikulak (Newport Coast, Calif./U.S. Olympic Training Center), 2016 Olympic pommel horse bronze-medalist Alex Naddour (Gilbert, Ariz./USA Youth Fitness Center) and 2016 Olympic replacement athletes Akash Modi (Morganville, N.J./Stanford University) and Donnell Whittenburg (Baltimore, Md./U.S. Olympic Training Center).

Each gymnast will compete on both days and their final score will be determined by combining the two scores. Competition on Aug. 17 begins at 3 p.m. (CT) for the juniors and 9 p.m. (CT) for the seniors. On Aug. 19, the juniors will begin at 2 p.m. (CT), while the seniors will start at 7 p.m. (CT).

The women’s part of the competition will take place on Aug. 18 and Aug. 20 and will include an appearance by the Final Five, the 2016 Olympic gold-medal winning women’s gymnastics team, who is among the group of U.S. gymnasts being honored during the competition.

Fans who cannot make it to the competition can enjoy coverage online, on television and on social media network, as well as find results, and event and ticket information at PGChamps.com.