John Orozco takes early lead on Sam Mikulak at U.S. Championships

PITTSBURGH — Reserved off the floor and intensely focused on it, John Orozco can often get overlooked with so many big personalities on the U.S. men's team.

No matter. Orozco says all he needs to with his gymnastics.

Orozco stole the show from defending champion Sam Mikulak on Friday night. While Mikulak had to scramble after some early mistakes, Orozco's solid and steady effort has him halfway to a second U.S. title. The 2012 champion finished with 90.750 points, a half-point ahead of Jake Dalton and more than two points in front of Mikulak, who is fourth.

Olympic bronze medalist Danell Leyva was third with his best showing in two years. The finals are Sunday.

"It's always nice to hit my routines and be in the top three," Orozco said. "But I know I have a whole other day, and anything can happen."

Especially with such a stacked leaderboard, which looked like a flashback to 2012 with everyone in the top four a London Olympian. The only one missing was Jon Horton, whose 12th-place finish was still plenty impressive considering this was his first competition since London.

"It just feels good to be back," said Horton, who was sidelined first by a blown right shoulder and then by a torn pectoral muscle. "Today was a success for me. I went through a lot the last few years, and to get through six events ... I'm proud I was able to come back."

Unlike the women's event, where the number of gymnasts was so low they almost had to pull folks out of the crowd, the men's field was stacked. There were four guys with U.S. titles competing, and seven who have won medals at the world championships or Olympics.

Even with that depth, however, this was expected to be a one-man race. Mikulak has been unbeatable since London, winning his first U.S. title last year and his third NCAA crown this spring.

But Orozco has a pretty snazzy résumé of his own. He's the 2012 U.S. champion, and he won a bronze medal on parallel bars at last year's world championships. His routines are jam-packed with difficulty, but his polish and poise make it look as if he's just playing around in the gym.

His high bar routine would make a daredevil's palms sweat, yet he tossed off the big tricks as if they're no big deal. His strength poses on parallel bars were so steady that art classes could use him as a model.

His only real trouble came on vault, where he was low off the table and had to take a big step forward to steady himself. But it was his second event, giving him plenty of time to make up ground. By the time he raised his hand to start on pommel horse, he needed just a 14 to pass Dalton.

Pommel horse is a struggle for most of the U.S. men, who look as if they're losing a fight to tame a bucking bronco. But Orozco got through his routine without any trouble and moved into first place. He posted the highest score on parallel bars, where he's the world bronze medalist, and tied for first on high bar.

"The title is great, but it doesn't mean that much to me," Orozco said. "All I want to do is what I'm capable of, and that's do my best on every event. I know that sounds kind of generic."

But he'll need his best, what with the guys right behind him.

Dalton is the only one in the top four who hasn't won a national title, and he'd love to add his name to the list. Leyva is trying to revive his once-dazzling career, his struggles since London so great they have cost him his spot on the national team.

And then there's Mikulak. He got off to a rough start with errors on parallel bars and floor exercise, two of his first three events. Doing a simple swing on parallel bars, his right arm slipped off the rail and he had to fight to hang on. He then stalled as he tried to press into the handstand, leaving the audience holding his breath to see if he'd pull it off or not.

On floor exercise, he landed one of his tumbling passes on his backside.

But he finished strong, posting the highest score of the night on pommel horse, and isn't out of it by any means.

"It's going to be a battle," Dalton said. "There's a lot of good guys there."

Follow Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.