St. Louis – Four event national champions were crowned today as the as the preliminary and event finals for junior women got underway at the Kiel Center.

Airborne’s Melissa Chan (Los Gatos, Calif.) won the gold on vault with a score of 9.312, World Olympic’s Lindsey Vanden Eykel (Plano, Texas) took first on bars with 9.70, Kristal Uzelac (Whitehall, Pa.) from Parkette’s won beam with 9.550 and Tabitha Yim (Irvine, Calif.) from Gliders took first on floor with a score of 9.650.
Uzelac leads the all-around after the preliminary round of competition with a score of 38.087, followed by Great American Gymnastics Express’ Terin Humphrey (Bates City, Kan.) with a 36.812 and Airborne’s Melissa Chan (Paradise, Calif.) in third with a 36.487.
“Everything was pretty solid today,” said Uzelac. “I wasn’t as nervous as I was last year. I just kept the focus on myself and didn’t worry about anything else. I just want to make small corrections and concentrate on Saturday.”
The all-around finals competition concludes Saturday afternoon when the top 20 junior gymnasts will be named to the U.S. Junior National Team.

EVENT FINALS RESULTS

Vault
1. Melissa Chan Airborne 9.312
2. Kristal Uzelac Parkettes 9.287
3. Asley Miles Harris 9.137
4. Maria Scaffidi LaFleur’s 9.012
5. Terin Humphrey Great Am. 8.937
6. Susan Jackson Brown’s 8.900
7. Ashley Postell Capital-VA 8.837
8. Chelsea Ploude Reno Flips 8.787
Bars
1. Lindsey Vanden Eykel World Olympic 9.700
2. Kristal Uzelac Parkettes 9.650
3. Hollie Vise World Olympic 9.500
4. Katie Heenan Capital-VA 9.425
4. Ashley Postell Captial-VA 9.425
6. Terin Humphrey Great American 9.400
7. Stephanie Gentry World Olympic 9.250
8. Nicole Child World Olympic 9.200
Beam
1.Kristal Uzelac Parkettes 9.550
2. Carly Patterson Brown’s 9.500
3. Hollie Vise World Olympic 9.125
4. Melissa Chan Airborne 9.050
4. Terin Humphrey Great American 9.050
6. Courtney Kupets Hills 8.875
7. Katie Heenan