INDIANAPOLIS – Propelled by a strong start on her first event, uneven bars, Morgan White (Fairfield, Ohio) held on to win her first national all-around title in junior division competition at the 1998 John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships at Market Square Arena Saturday afternoon.
“My best performance was on bars” said White, who scored a 9.600 in the event. “I was happy with all of my performances, except I had a little trouble on vault. I’ve never competed in front of this many people (5,021). I don’t remember any nationals having this many people. I wasn’t expecting to see that many here.”
White finished with a score of 74.462, built from scores of 37.362 in Thursday’s preliminaries and a 37.100 Saturday. She was pursued through most throughout the competition by a pair of newcomers to the John Hancock Championships. Ashley Postell (Mitchellville, Md.), who turned 12 on June 9, entered the afternoon with the lead but slipped back into second with a fall on floor exercise, ending up with a 74.349. Kristal Uzelac (Whitehall, Pa.), who had her 12th birthday on June 27, took the bronze at her first nationals with a 73.337.
“I felt really proud of myself, even though I got second,” said Postell. “I feel very happy. I came in prepared to get whatever place I got. I just wanted to be on the national team. That was my goal and I got there, so I’m happy.” The top 20 finishers earned berths on the U.S. Junior National Team.
The 1998 John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships concludes with senior women’s all-around finals Saturday evening at Market Square Arena. For complete results and virtual rotation-by-rotation scoring updates, log on to USA Gymnastics Online at http://www.usa-gymnastics.org.

1998 John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships
August 22, 1998
Market Square Arena

Junior Division All-Around Finals (scores combined with Thursday’s preliminaries, top 20 named to U.S. Junior National Team)
1, Morgan White, Fairfield, Ohio, 74.462. 2, Ashley Postell, Mitchellville, Md., 74.349. 3, Kristal Uzelac, Whitehall, Pa., 73.337. 4, Monique Chang, Fairfax Station, Va., 72.699. 5, Angela Beam, Norman, Okla., 72.100. 6, Janaé Cox, Otisco, Ind., 72.062. 7, Michelle Emmons, Pearland, Texas, 71.687. 8, Brittany Thome, Sugar Land, Texas, 71.437. 9, Breasha Pruitt, Henderson, Ky., 70.687. 10, Katie Heenan, Burke, Va., 70.449. 11, Annabeth Eberle, Reno, Nev., 69.362. 12, Jennifer Orlando, Herndon, Va., 68.974. 13, Stephanie Carter, Bryn Athyn, Pa., 68.950. 14, Jackie Nguyen, Atherton, Calif., 68.462. 15, Tasha Schwikert, Las Vegas, Nev., 68.374. 16, Ashlee Bradley, Cincinnati, Ohio, 68.300. 17, Audra Fraim, Edmond, Okla., 68.162. , Marie Fjordholm, Fairfield, Ohio, 68.162. 19, Katie Hardman, Houston, Texas, 68.012. 20, Mylan Dodd, Seattle, Wash., 67.912. 21, Ashley Miles, San Antonio, Texas, 67.724. 22, Tabitha Yim, Irvine, Calif., 67.512. 23, Mandy Delgado, Cupertino, Calif., 67.149. 24, Chelsea Kroll, Wexford, Pa., 66.074. 25, Chelsea Otto, Tempe, Ariz., 66.062. 26, Whitney Ferguson, Cincinnati, Ohio, 65.912. 27, Kristen Riffanacht, Cheshire, Conn., 65.412. 28, Alison Cook, Double Oak, Texas, 64.175.