Rio Olympics Roundup: Mikulak leads Team USA

Corona del Mar High alumnus Sam Mikulak and the U.S. men’s gymnastics team qualified second for Monday’s team final on Saturday at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Team USA won its sub-division and qualified second overall with 270.405 combined points. Two-time defending Olympic champion China qualified first with 270.461 points among the eight teams that made the final.

Mikulak, the four-time national all-around champion, also qualified for the individual all-around finals in seventh place with a score of 89.041. He had scores of 15.1 on the vault, 15.375 on the parallel bars, 15.135 on the horizontal bar, 15.8 on the floor exercise, 13.1 on the pommel horse and 14.533 on the rings. Mikulak’s score on the floor exercise was the highest among all qualifiers.

Mikulak also qualified for two individual event finals, the floor exercise and horizontal bar.

WOMEN’S BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Newport Harbor High alumna and Costa Mesa resident April Ross won her opening match Saturday with partner Kerri Walsh Jennings.

Ross and Walsh Jennings beat Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Nikki Laird, 21-14, 21-13, to begin play in Pool C.

Ross had 12 kills, 10 digs and one service ace in the win.

Ross was the silver medalist at the 2012 Olympics with then-partner Jennifer Kessy, while Walsh Jennings won the last three Olympic gold medals with now-retired Newport Harbor alumna Misty May-Treanor.

Ross and Walsh Jennings play Fan Wang and Yuan Yue of China in their next preliminary match Monday at 8 p.m. Pacific time.

MEN’S WATER POLO

Team USA, featuring former Corona del Mar High and Cal star John Mann and Newport Harbor alumnus Luca Cupido, lost its first group match to Croatia, 7-5, on Saturday.

Mann and Cupido were both in the starting lineup for Team USA, which was tied, 3-3, at halftime. Team captain Tony Azevedo led the United States with two goals. Cupido had an assist and a steal.

Croatia won the Olympic gold in 2012.

Team USA continues group play against Spain on Monday at 7:40 a.m. Pacific time. The match will air on delay on NBC at 10:40 a.m. Pacific time, and live streaming is available at NBCOlympics.com.

— From staff reports

— From staff reports