RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, July 27, 2007—Chris Estrada of Lafayette, La., finished first in the preliminary round of men’s trampoline at the 2007 Pan American Games, while Ryan Weston of Chubbuck, Idaho, finished fifth. For the women, Brittany Dircks of Orland Park, Ill., and Alaina Williams of Amarillo, Texas, finished fourth and eighth, respectively, in the preliminary round. All four trampolinists advanced to tomorrow’s final round, which begins at 10 a.m., local Rio time.
 
Estrada’s first routine score of 29.90 placed him in second behind the 30.10 of Canada’s Jason Burnett with one routine remaining. With a second routine of 38.70, Estrada moved into first, while Burnett’s second routine of 34.40 dropped him to fourth. In second was Brazil’s Carlos Pala with a total score of 66.90 and in third was Bryan Milonja of Canada at 66.50. Burnett’s fourth-place finish in the preliminary round came after a total score of 64.50, followed by Weston at 62.20.
 
“I was confident and stayed focused,” said Estrada of his performance in the preliminary round. “Keeping my focus was the most important part for me here at this competition. My coach (Dmitri Poliaroush) has helped me a lot to stay focused and calm in this atmosphere. Having him around to keep things in perspective is a great asset.”
 
“I plan on going into tomorrow’s competition similar to today and hopefully I will have a solid final round,” Estrada said. “I am going to use the same routines I used today and do not plan on making any changes to them. Hopefully if I stay focused, I will succeed in the finals.”
 
Two-time Olympic medalist Karen Cockburn of Canada earned the highest score of the preliminary round for the women with a total of 67.40. Canadian teammate Rosannagh MacLennan finished second at 64.80, followed by Brazil’s Giovanna Matheus in third and Dircks in fourth with scores of 62.00 and 59.90, respectively. Williams finished eighth.
 
Tomorrow’s final round features eight men and eight women, and each athlete will perform one voluntary routine. Today’s preliminary round determined the starting order for the finals.
 
Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Its mission is to encourage participation and the pursuit of excellence in the sport. Its disciplines include men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling, and acrobatic gymnastics. For more information, log on to www.usa-gymnastics.org.
 
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2007 Pan American Games
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
July 27, 2007
Preliminary round
 
Men’s results
1. Chris Estrada, USA, 68.60
2. Carlos Pala, Brazil, 66.90
3. Bryan Milonja, Canada, 66.50
4. Jason Burnett, Canada, 64.50
5. Ryan Weston, USA, 62.20
6. Rafael Andrade, Brazil, 49.10
7. Ramses Zavala, Mexico, 35.70
8. Dario Arias, Argentina, 30.20
 
Women’s results
1. Karen Cockburn, Canada, 67.40
2. Rosannagh MacLennan, Canada, 64.80
3. Giovanna Matheus, Brazil, 62.00