Three Husker Gymnasts to Compete in USA Gymnastics Winter Cup

Taylor Christopulos, Caden Clinton and Alex Nitache are headed to the USA Gymnastics Winter Cup in Louisville, Ky., Friday, Feb. 21 and Sunday, Feb. 23. This event will be livestreamed on the USA Gymnastics YouTube channel with action beginning at 5 p.m. (CT) on Friday and 3:30 p.m. (CT) on Sunday.

Friday’s competition will be the preliminary round. On Sunday, based on the finalist's performance, gymnasts will be named for the 2025 national team. The Huskers will compete against Michigan’s Fred Richards, Stanford’s Riley Loos and Colt Walker, and Air Force’s Patrick Hoopes, all headlining the cup.  

Christopulos, a Layton, Utah native, will compete in his fifth Winter Cup. He was named a pre-qualifier for the Cup after his performance at the 2024 NCAA Championships, where he was a silver medalist on floor exercise and a bronze medalist on high bar. He also won four All-American honors at the meet placing in the top six on floor, vault, high bar and All-Around. The 2023 Big Ten Gymnasts of the Year also competed for Team USA at the 2023 Pan  American Championships, where he helped the United States to a first-place finish. Christopulos also competed at the 2023 University Games, where he placed eighth on the high bar and earned fourth place with Team USA. At the 2024 Winter Cup, he placed eighth in the All-Around division. 

Clinton qualified for the Winter Cup due to his performance at last year’s U.S. men’s development program national championships, where he placed first in the All-Around division, pommel horse and high bar, and second in the floor, still rings and parallel bars. Clinton also placed eighth on the high bar in last year’s Winter Cup. The Cypress, Texas native, is a three-time U.S. national all-around champion. He competed for the U.S. in the Pacific Rim Championships, placing third on pommel horse and first with the team. Clinton also was an alternate with the United States in the 2023 Junior World Championships. 

Nitache, a Knoxville, Tenn., native, qualified after earning second in All-Around at the Rocky Mountain Open. This is Nitache’s first national meet at the senior level.  His best performance at a junior Winter Cup was in 2022 when he was fourth in vaulting and fifth in parallel bars. Nitache competed for the U.S. at the 2023 DTB Pokal Team Challenge, earning fourth on the pommel horse and placing first as a team. He also competed at the 2022 Junior Pan American Championships, where Team USA placed first. 

Future Huskers Ty Roderiques and Ethan Cox are competing for the first time in the senior division.