INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – 2005 U.S. all-around champ Todd Thornton of Houston, 2006 Tyson American Cup champ Jonathan Horton of Houston, and 2006 Tyson American Cup bronze-medalist David Durante of Garfield, N.J., are among the 81 male gymnasts competing in the 2006 Visa Championships, Aug. 16-19, at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
The fields for women’s and rhythmic gymnastics already have been announced.
About Visa USA Visa is the only card accepted for the Visa Championships and the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials. For USA Gymnastics’ other events, Visa is the preferred method of payment. Visa USA is the nation’s leading payment brand and largest payment system, enabling banks to provide their consumers and business customers with a wide variety of payment alternatives tailored to meet their evolving needs. Visa USA is committed to increasing the choice, convenience, acceptance, and security of Visa payments for all stakeholders in the payment system – Members, cardholders and merchants. Through its 13,420 Member financial institutions, more than 488 million Visa-branded cards have been issued to cardholders in the United States. Last year, U.S.-based financial institutions relied on Visa’s processing system, VisaNet, to facilitate $1.3 trillion in transactions with unparalleled reliability. Worldwide, cardholders in over 150 countries carry more than 1 billion Visa-branded cards, accounting for more than $3 trillion in annual transaction volume. Visa offers a trusted, reliable and convenient way to access and mobilize financial resources – anytime, anywhere, anyway.
About Xcel Energy Center The five-year-old Xcel Energy Center and the Saint Paul RiverCentre Convention and Visitor’s Authority have been very successful in a short period of time at bringing high-profile events, such as the Visa Championships, to the Twin Cities community. Since opening in September 2000 with the first-ever Minnesota Wild NHL hockey game, the Xcel Energy Center has hosted the 2002 NCAA Frozen Four, 2001-06 WCHA Final Five Hockey Tournaments, 2003 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, 2003-04 TJ Maxx Tour of Gymnastics Champions, 2004-05 Campbell’s International Figure Skating Classic and 2004 NHL All-Star Weekend.
Men’s field for the 2006 Visa Championships
California
Tyler Block, Kensington, Calif./UC – Berkeley (Sr.)
Kyle Bunthuwong, El Cerrito, Calif./Golden Bear Gymnastics (14-15)
Kyson Bunthuwong, El Cerrito, Calif./UC – Berkeley (Sr.)
Bryan Del Castillo, Laguna Niguel, Calif./New Hope Academy (Sr.)
Josh Dixon, San Jose, Calif./Champions Academy (14-15)
Francisco Grey, Long Beach, Calif./SCATS HB (16-18)
Eric Haeussler, Redwood City, Calif./San Mateo Gymnastics (16-18)
Glen Ishino, Santa Ana, Calif./SCATS – HB (14-15)
Jason Laughton, Northridge, Calif./University of Oklahoma (Sr.)
Brian Lee, Freemont, Calif./Army Gymnastics (Sr.)
Sho Nakamori, Albany, Calif./Stanford University (Sr.)
Kyle Oi, Coto de Caza, Calif./New Hope Academy (16-18)
Andrew Stover, Fullerton, Calif./SCATS HB (16-18)
Kevin Tan, Fremont, Calif./Team Chevron (Sr.)
Neal Thompson, Woodside, Calif./San Mateo Gymnastics (14-15)
Colorado
Guillermo Alvarez, Denver, Colo./Team Chevron (Sr.)
Alexander Artemev, Morrison, Colo./Team Chevron (Sr.)
Geoffrey Corrigan, Colorado Springs, Colo./Team Chevron (Sr.)
Michael Jiang, Littleton, Colo./Chatfield Gymnastics (16-18)
Florida
Michael Almazan, Miami, Fla./Gattaca – Universal Gymnastics (16-18)
Ari Barrera, Miami, Fla./Gattaca – Universal Gymnastics (16-18)
Kinkuro Broden, Miami, Fla./Gattaca – Universal Gymnastics (16-18)
Chris Cameron, Winter Haven, Fla./Sun Country / Florida Flips (16-18)
Derek Helsby, Orlando, Fla./Penn State University (Sr.)
Danell Leyva, Miami, Fla./Gattaca – Universal Gymnastics (14-15)
Edward Mesa, Cooper City, Fla./Gattaca – Universal Gymnastics (14-15)
Michael Reavis, Tallahassee, Fla./HGA/GymMasters (Sr.)