INDIANAPOLIS – Oklahoma’s Jamie Henderson leads the field of 18 athletes who qualified Saturday to complete the Men’s Senior field for the U.S. Championships, June 2-5 in Nashville, Tenn.


Henderson scored a 54.025 at the Men’s U.S. Championships Qualifier at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. to secure his place in Nashville. Henderson, who finished eighth in the NCAA Championships, finished fourth overall in the Qualifier behind Brett McClure, Alexander Artemev and Todd Thornton, who are pre-qualified based on their National Team appointments.

“I was delighted to see the heightened level of competition and intensity of this year’s Men’s Qualifier,” said Men’s Sr. Program Director Ron Galimore. “Based on what I’ve seen today, we can look forward to a very strong field for the U.S. Championships.”
Qualifying second was 18-year-old Jonathan Horton of Houston (Cypress Academy) at 53.475, in third was Illinois sophomore Justin Spring of Burke, Va. at 52.775, and fourth was Team Chevron-Ohio State’s Jason Furr of Woodbridge, Va. at 52.725.
The Men’s Qualifier is the only route for athletes not already on the Senior National Team to qualify for the 2004 U.S. Championships, June 2-5 in Nashville, the 2004 U.S. National Team program, and to qualify to compete in the 2004 Olympic Trials, June 24-27 in Anaheim, Calif.
The top three all-around athletes from the 2004 NCAA Championships will join the top 13 all-around athletes from the Men’s Qualifier, plus current members of the U.S. Senior National Team, to advance to the U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Individual event specialists placing first or second on their event at the Qualifier will advance to the Championships, along with the top two three-event, four-event, and five-event qualifiers who finish among the top 13 all-around athletes.
For more information on the Men’s Qualifier or U.S. Championships, log on to www.usa-gymnastics.org.

Men’s U.S. Championships Qualifiers (top 13 AA, not already qualified)
1. Jamie Henderson, Oklahoma, 54.025
2. Jonathan Horton, Cypress, 53.475
3. Justin Spring, Illinois, 52.775
4. Jason Furr, Chevron-Ohio State, 52.725
5. Michael Reavis, Iowa, 52.375
6. Joseph Hagerty, Gold Cup, 52.350
7t. Ron Ferris, Ohio State, 52.325
7t. Gerry Signorelli, Michigan, 52.325
9. Tony Pilyavsky, Colorado TC, 52.050
10. Kyson Bunthuwong, Golden Bear, 51.875
11. Wes Haagensen, St. Louis, 51.825
12t. Kevin Tan, Penn State, 51.800
12t. David Sender, Buffalo Grove, 51.800.
Additional Qualifiers: Geoffrey Corrigan, Michigan; Graham Ackerman, UC-Berkeley; Scott Vetere, Michigan; Brian Lee, Army; Nyika White, Temple; and Edward Umphrey, Michigan.