WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Vanessa Atler (Canyon Country, Calif.) picked up gold medals in vault and floor exercise and the United States added three more medals in individual event finals as the 1998 Pacific Alliance Championships came to a conclusion at Winnipeg Arena Sunday evening. The competition was held as a test event for the 1999 Pan American Games, which will be held in Winnipeg next summer.

Atler was joined on the medal podium by teammates Elise Ray (Rockville, Md.), who took a silver in uneven bars, and Kristen Maloney (Pen Argyl, Pa.) tied for bronze on balance beam for the women. On the men’s side, Yewki Tomita (Tucson Ariz.) tied for the bronze medal in pommel horse.
“I felt I could place high on both events, but I wasn’t quite sure after the way I performed yesterday,” said Atler, the current USA national champion. “This is a good way to go into the Goodwill Games. I know the competition here isn’t as strong as what will be in New York, but this is a great confidence builder for me.”
The gymnastics competition at the 1998 Goodwill Games opens on July 19 with women’s all-around competition, concluding on July 26 with mixed pairs and a gala exhibition. Gymnastics will be held in the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island.
For more information about USA Gymnastics and its programs, visit USA Gymnastics Online at http://www.usa-gymnastics.org.

Individual Event Finals, 1998 Pacific Alliance Championships
Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, July 12, 1998

Men

Floor Exercise — 1, Xing Aowei, CHN, 9.400. 2, Andrei Kravtsov, AUS, 9.350. 3, Kris Burley, CAN, 9.000. 4 (tie), Tatsuya Yamada, JPN, and Bret Hudson, AUS, 8.800. 6, Sebastien Fortier, CAN, 8.500. 7, Chris Young, Winston-Salem, N.C., 8.400. 8, Zhao Zhe, CHN, 8.100.

Pommel Horse — 1, Xing Aowei, CHN, 9.675. 2, Andrei Kravtsov, AUS, 9.625. 3 (tie), Lu Bin, CHN, Amomthep Unchai, THA, and Yewki Tomita, Tucson, Ariz., 9.400. 6, Alexander Bangel, COL, 9.000. 7, Richard Ikeda, CAN, 8.600. 8, Sattra Suwansa, THA, 8.500.

Still Rings — 1 (tie), Zhao Shen, CHN, and Tatsuya Yamada, JPN, 9.625. 3, Amomthep Unchai, THA, 9.600. 4 (tie), Kuan-Hui Chen, TPE, and Shigeru Kurihara, JPN, 9.500. 6, Zhao Zhe, CHN, 9.450. 7, John Roethlisberger, Minneapolis, Minn., 9.250. 8, Yu-Jen Lu, TPE, 9.100.

Vault — 1, Zhao Zhe, CHN, 9.400. 2, Bret Hudson, AUS, 9.275. 3, Lu Bin, CHN, 9.262. 4, Nien-Kuang Tung, TPE, 9.237. 5, Julio Garcia Cantu, MEX, 9.137. 6, Sean Townsend, Houston, Texas, 9.025. 7, Sebastien Fortier, CAN, 8.775. 8, Chris Young, Winston-Salem, N.C., 4.450.

Parallel Bars — 1, Andrei Kravtsov, AUS, 9.625. 2 (tie), Xing Aowei, CHN, and Zhao Zhe, CHN, 9.375. 4, Sean Townsend, Houston, Texas, 9.350. 5, Sattra Suwansa, THA, 9.000. 6, Shigeru Kurihara, JPN, 8.875. 7, Leonardo Gonzalez, COL, 8.375. 8, Mutsumi Harada, JPN, 8.200.

High Bar — 1, Bret Hudson, AUS, 9.700. 2, Brennon Dowrick, AUS, 9.500. 3, Xing Aowei, CHN, 9.475. 4, Mutsumi Harada, JPN, 9.425. 5, Kris Burley, CAN, 9.275. 6, Lu Bin, CHN, 8.700. 7, Roshan Amendra, CAN, 8.600. 8, Tatsuya Yamada, JPN, 8.550.


Women

Vault — 1, Vanessa Atler, Canyon Country, Calif., 9.456. 2, Brenda Magana, MEX, 9.299. 3, Veronique Leclerc, CAN, 9.012. 4, Huang Mandan, CHN, 8.750. 5, Peng Sha, CHN, 8.625. 6, Zeena McLaughlin, AUS, 8.069. 7, Melinda Cleland, AUS, 7.868. 8, Katie McAvoy, CAN, 7.731.

Uneven Bars — 1, Huang Mandan, CHN, 9.788. 2, Elise Ray, Rockville, Md., 9.738. 3, Rao Meizhen, CHN, 9.600. 4, Kristen Maloney, Pen Argyl, Pa., 9.537. 5, Zeena McLaughlin, AUS, 9.513. 6, Brooke Walker, AUS, 9.438. 7, Risa Sugawara, JPN, 9.400. 8, Akiko Kawai, JPN, 9.088.

Balance Beam — 1, Zeena McLaughlin, AUS, 9.537. 2, Melinda Cleland, AUS, 9.500. 3 (tie), Kristen Maloney, Pen Argyl, Pa., and Peng Sha, CHN, 9.475. 5, Lise Leveille, CAN, 9.412. 6, Sierra Sapunar, Wyoming, Ohio, 9.400. 7, Kana Yamawaki, JPN, 8.750. 8, Huang Mandan, CHN, 8.600.

Floor Exercise — 1, Vanessa Atler, Canyon Country, Calif., 9.762. 2, Zeena McLaughlin, AUS, 9.600. 3, Katie Rowland, CAN, 9.562. 4, Ann Maree Vallence, AUS, 9.550. 5, Rao Meizhen, CHN, 9.512. 6, Risa Sugawara, JPN, 9.462. 7 (tie), Sierra Sapunar, Wyoming, Ohio, and Kana Yamawaki, JPN, 9.450.