Jennie Thompson of Cincinnati, Ohio also collected two medals—-a gold on bars and a bronze on beam. Newly-crowned 1999 National Champion Kristen Maloney of Pen Argyl, Pa., earned a silver on the beam.
Vault
Vanessa Atler of Charter Oak Gliders easily claimed the vault national title with a score of 9.675. Winning the silver medal was Marline Stephens (Houston, Texas) of Brown’s Gymnastics, scoring 9.425. Marie Fjordholm (Frisco, Texas) of World Olympic took the bronze medal with a 9.212.
Uneven Bars
There were two ties in the medal hunt for the national uneven bars title. Cincinnati Gymnastics’ Jennie Thompson and Charter Oak Gliders’ Jamie Dantzscher (Palmdale, Calif.) tied for first, scoring 9.675. Teammates Alyssa Beckerman (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Morgan White (Cincinnati, Ohio) of Cincinnati Gymnastics tied for third, scoring 9.550.
Beam
Atler was awarded gold for her beam routine, scoring 9.775. Maloney earned the silver medal, scoring 9.725. Thompson picked up the bronze medal with a score of 9.675.
Floor
Elise Ray (Columbia, Md.), from Hill’s Gymnastics, won the gold medal on floor with a score of 9.775. White claimed her second silver medal of the evening with a score of 9.65, and Monique Chang (Fairfax Station, Va.), of Capital Gymnastics, earned a 9.6 to claim the bronze medal.
POST-COMPETITION QUOTES
Vanessa Atler:
“Tonight made me feel a lot better about myself. I feel really good going into Worlds. It is very exciting.”
Jennie Thompson:
“I came away with two medals. I am very happy about how I did tonight. I didn’t put any pressure on myself, and it really worked out for me. I am ready to peak at Worlds, so I am going home to practice very hard.”
Jamie Dantzscher:
“I was excited, especially to win a gold on bars. I think it is my best event and my favorite, so that made me feel good.”
Kristen Maloney:
“I tried to go out tonight and do the best I could, but I was really nervous on bars. I thought my beam routine was one of the best I have ever done, so I am very proud of my performance.”
Elise Ray:
“I was really looking forward to doing floor, so it was great to win the gold. The pressure was off and I just had fun out there.”
Junior Competition
Kristal Uzelac, 13, (Whitehall, Pa.) of Parkette’s became the new junior national champion this afternoon with an all-around score of 76.050. Tabitha Yim (Irvine, Calif.), 13, of Charter Oak Gliders won the silver medal with a score of 73.737. Finishing in third was Ashley Postell (Mitchellville, Md.) of Hill’s Gymnastics with a score of 72.924.
1999-2000 Junior National Team
1. Kristal Uzelac, Parkettes
2. Tabitha Yim, Charter Oak Gliders
3. Ashley Postell, Hill’s Gymnastics
4. Glyn Sweets, Hill’s Gymnastics
5. Lindsey Vanden Eykel, World Olympic
6. Brittany Koncak, Harris Unlimited Gymnastics
7. Brittany Talbert, World Olympic
8. Courtney Kupets, Hill’s Gymnastics
9. Larissa Stewart, Bart Conner Gymnastics
10. Hollie Vise, World Olympic
11. Kaitlyn White, World Olympic
12. Ashley Miles, Harris Unlimited Gymnastics
13. Terin Humphrey, Great American Gym Express
14. Amanda Stroud, Great American Gym Express
15. Rachel Tidd, SCEGA
16. Ashlee Bradley, Dynamo Gymnastics
17. Janae Cox, Southern Indiana School of Gymnastics
18. Melanie Sinclair, Orlando Gymnastics
19. Whitney Ferguson, Parkette’s
20. Lisa Marzan, Exper-Tiess
POST-COMPETITION QUOTES
Kristal Uzelac:
“I feel great about today. My goal was to go out there and perform the same as Thursday, and I did a little bit better than that!”
“I didn’t really expect to be the Junior National Champion, and it feels great. This means a lot for everyone at Parkette’s. It is so neat that Kristen [Maloney] and I are both national champions. “
Tabitha Yim:
“On beam, I didn’t do as well as I wanted…the last event was good for me (uneven bars). I made a lot of progress in the all-around. I went back to the basics and fixed everything and built around that.”