Jeffrey Gluckstein
© Diane Bidermann

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., March 26, 2010 – Jeffrey Gluckstein of Atlantic Highlands, N.J., and K.J. Heger of Rockford, Ill., finished one-two in the junior men’s trampoline finals on the first day of competition at the 2010 Trampoline & Tumbling Pan American Championships at the Daytona Beach (Fla.) Ocean Center. The USA’s Angela Foster of Victoria, Texas, finished third in the junior women’s trampoline competition. Competition continues through March 27. The three-day championship has gymnasts competing in senior, junior and age-group level divisions.

Gluckstein won the title with his finals score of 38.30, followed by Heger at 36.50. Canada’s Curtis Gerein was third at 36.40. Gluckstein and Heger were also one-two in the preliminary round, but Gerein improved on his prelims fourth-place ranking.

For the women, Brazil’s Daienne Cardos DeLima earned a finals score of 36.60, barely edging out Canada’s Mariah Madigan’s 36.50, for the title. Foster rounded out the medal winners with a 32.90. In the prelims, Madigan claimed the top-ranking going into the finals, finishing ahead of Cardos DeLima.

In age-group competition, U.S. athletes won nine medals (three gold, two silver, four bronze). Samuel Chicchia of Colorado Springs, Colo./ArtSports, won the gold medal in men’s 13-14 tumbling and the silver in 13-14 double mini. The USA’s other gold medalists were Clare Johnson of Waxahachie, Texas/Trevino’s Gymnastics, women’s 13-14 double mini-trampoline, and Nicole Ahsinger of San Diego/Bounce California, women’s 11-12 trampoline. The other silver medalist was Casey Skinner of Livonia, Mich./AGT Flipcity, women’s 13-14 tumbling. The bronze medalists were: Mackenze Martin, Lubbock, Texas/Air Extreme, women’s 11-12 trampoline; John Langford, Montclair, Va./Novaks, men’s 15-16 trampoline; Hannah Nowak, Terre Haute, Ind./Tumbling Express, bronze, women’s 13-14 tumbling; and Kaylah Whaley, Premier Athletics Knoxville (Tenn.), women’s 17+ tumbling

The non-U.S. champions in the age-group competition are: Benjamin Blais, Team BC/Canada, men’s 11-12 trampoline; Camilla Gomes, NGO Tatiana Figueiredo/Brazil, women’s 15-16 trampoline; Trevor Stirling, Team BC/Canada, men’s 15-16 trampoline; Tamara O’Brien, Team BC/Canada, women’s 13-14 tumbling; Sydney Brown and David Findlay, Burlington BG/Canada, women’s and men’s 17+ tumbling, respectively; Cristian Sprague, Airborne T&T Club/Canada, men’s 13-14 double mini;

More than 260 gymnasts from six North and South American countries are vying for continental titles in the senior, junior and age group categories. In addition to the United States, the other countries participating in the Pan American Championships are Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Two men and two women will qualify their countries for the Youth Olympic Games.

Admission to the 2010 Trampoline and Tumbling Pan American Championships is free, and the remaining competition schedule is as follows.

March 26
9 a.m. – Trampoline (senior, 13-14 m/w) and double mini-trampoline (15-16, 11-12 m/w)
1 p.m. – Trampoline (17+ m/w) and tumbling (senior, 15-16, 11-12 m/w)
3:45 p.m. – Double mini-trampoline (senior m/w)
5 p.m. – Trampoline finals (13-14, 17+ m/w) and tumbling (11-12, 15-16 m/w)
5:45 p.m. – Double mini-trampoline finals (15-16, 11-12 m/w)

March 28
9 a.m. – Synchronized trampoline, prelims and finals (11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17+, senior m/w)
9 a.m. – Double mini-trampoline, prelims and finals (17+ m/w)
3:45 p.m. – Double mini-trampoline finals (senior m/w)
4:15 p.m. – Tumbling finals (senior m/w)
4:45 p.m. – Trampoline finals (senior m/w)
5:25 p.m. – Double mini-trampoline team finals (m/w)
5:55 p.m. – Tumbling team finals (m/w)
6:25 p.m. – Trampoline team finals (m/w)

NOTE: numbers indicate age-group competition divisions; m=men; w=women)