The China Junior Men edged out the U.S. for the team title at the 1997 International Team Championships, a triangular gymnastics competition, in Cincinnati, Ohio, March 21, at the Riverfront Coliseum. The team from Romania took third.

Assistant Coach Wayne Kerr said, “I thought they did a great job as a team. We had some falls and, unfortunately, Freddie Umali was injured on the first event, rings, but the guys really pulled together and focused on what they had to do.”
Head Coach Greg Corsiglia said, “Because of Freddie’s injury, we had to put up guys on events that hadn’t even warmed up those events. They did their one touch and then competed. The guys did a great job.”
The China Junior Men’s Team includes: Lu Bin, Zhao Gu, Yang Tao, Yang Wei, Li Xiaopeng, and Li Yufeng.
The U.S. Junior Men’s Team includes: Aaron Floyd (Mt. Airy, Maryland), Brett McClure (Mill Creek, Wash.), Jamie Natalie (Wilmington, Del.), Yewki Tomita (Tucson, Ariz.), Freddie Umali (San Jose, Calif.), Kristopher Zimmerman (Hubbard Woods, Ill.). The Junior Men are coached by Greg Corsiglia and Wayne Kerr.
The Romanian Junior Men’s Team includes: Bogdan Boldojar, Danut Coseriu, Marian Dragulescu, Robert Ene, Levente Fekete, and Marian Malita.
The Senior Men’s Competition is tonight at 7:00 p.m. The Junior Women’s Competition is Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and the Senior Women’s Competition is 6:00 p.m. Saturday night.

International Team Championships Results

JUNIOR MEN

#, Country, FX, PH, SR, VT, PB, HB, Total
1., China, 33.500, 34.250, 35.550, 36.850, 35.950, 34.900, 211.0
2., USA, 33.300, 34.20, 33.150, 35.100, 32.650, 33.100, 201.60
3., Romania, 33.200, 33.300, 32.150, 35.350, 29.050, 30.500, 193.550

Key: FX=floor exercise, PH=pommel horse, SR=still rings, VT=vault, PB=parallel bars, HB=high bar.