2001 Parallel Bars World Champion Townsend Scheduled to Compete

Indianapolis – The top male gymnasts in the United States will gather in Las Vegas for the 2002 Winter Cup Challenge, February 8-9, at The Sports Center in the All American Sports Park. Two spots on the national team, which present the opportunity to represent the United States internationally, are up for grabs in this year’s event.

Highlighting the competition is Sean Townsend (Houston, Texas), the current national champion and a member of the 2001 silver medal-winning World Championships team. In addition to the unprecedented success with the team at Worlds, Townsend won a gold medal on the parallel bars, the first individual medal won by a male since 1979, and placed eighth in the all-around competition.
Also expected to compete are 2001 World Championships team members Paul Hamm (Waukesha, Wis.), who finished seventh in the all-around at World Championships, Stephen McCain (Houston, Texas), Brett McClure (Mill Creek, Wash.), Raj Bhavsar (Houston, Texas) and Guard Young (Oklahoma City, Okla.). 2001 Junior National Champion D.J. Bucher (Cincinnati, Ohio) is also in the line-up.
The 2002 Winter Cup will feature collegiate stars from defending NCAA Champion Ohio State University, of which Bhavsar is a team member. Penn State University, Stanford University, University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Santa Barbara, University of Illinois, University of Iowa, University of Massachusetts, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Oklahoma and the University of Washington will also be represented. A complete roster of athletes can be found at Competition Numbers and Start-Lists.
The event is locally hosted by Dusty Ritter and the Las Vegas Flyers.
Tickets for the Winter Cup Challenge go on sale February 7, and are $17 for the finals. Tickets for the Winter Cup prelims and the Blackjack (junior competition) sessions are $17 for adults and $12 for children. All-event passes are available for $34 for adults and $25 for children. The all-event pass includes all sessions of the Blackjack and Winter Cup competitions. Please call (702) 458-0035 if interested in purchasing tickets.

Winter Cup Challenge Schedule

Feb. 8 – All-Around Finals and Individual Event Qualifications
    Session I – 3:30-6:00 p.m.
    Session II – 8:00-10:00 p.m.

Feb. 9 – Individual Event Finals: top 6 gymnasts per event from the qualifying round.
    Session III – 7:30-10:00 p.m.