DENVER — Marline Stephens, Houston, Texas, claimed individual gold medals in floor exercise and vault in women’s junior competition at the 1997 John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships Thursday afternoon in McNichols Arena.

The two firsts helped Stephens offset a ninth in uneven bars and a 12th in balance beam to place second in the all-around standings. Elise Ray, Columbia, Md., used a balanced performance, highlighted by a gold medal performance in the bars and a tie for first on beam with Melinda Baimbridge, Webster, Texas, to hold the all-around lead at the halfway point. All-around finals will be held Saturday afternoon, with Thursday’s scores counting as half of the total.
The top 20 finishers in the all-around will be named to the U.S. Junior National Team.

Junior Women’s All-Around Preliminaries and Event Finals
McNichols Arena, Denver, Colo.

Preliminary All-Around Standings

1, Elise Ray, Columbia, Md., 35.987. 2, Marline Stephens, Houston, Texas, 35.825. 3, Sierra Sapunar, Sebastopol, Calif., 35.212. 4, Kristin Thome, Sugar Land, Texas, 35.137. 5 (tie), Melinda Baimbridge, Webster, Texas, and Brittany Thome, Sugar Land, Texas, 34.775. 7, Alexis Maday, Frederick, Md., 34.562. 8, Monique Chang, Fairfax Station, Va., 34.450. 9, Carri Nagle, Whitehall, Pa., 34.375. 10, Brittany Smith, Houston, Texas, 34.275. 11, Audra Fraim, Edmond, Okla., 34.250. 12, Erinn Dooley, Gaithersburg, Md., 34.150. 13, Julie Pigg, Edmond, Okla., 34.100. 14, Annabeth Eberle, Reno, Nev., 33.937. 15, Christy Ray, Germantown, Md., 33.812. 16, Breasha Pruitt, Henderson, Ky., 33.725. 17, Morgan White, Coconut Creek, Fla., 33.587. 18, Ashley Miles, San Antonio, Texas, 33.562. 19, Sheehan Lemley, DeSoto, Texas, 33.400. 20, Kara Kapernekas, Westchester, Ill., 33.300. 21, Angela Beam, Lewisville, Texas, 33.162. 22, Stephanie Carter, Bryn Athyn, Pa., 33.062. 23, Trisha Dixon, Sacramento, Calif., 32.812. 24, Rachel Glasmire, Center Valley, Pa., 32.787. 25, Jessica Pelz, Sacramento, Calif., 32.562. 26, Jessica Bartgis, Frederick, Md., 8.000.

Individual Event Finals

Vault
1, Stephens, 9.275. 2, Miles, 9.212. 3, Maday, 9.037. 4, Pruitt, 8.950. 5, Sapunar, 8.937. 6 (tie), Baimbridge and Chang, 8.925. 8, Dixon, 8.887. 9, Beam, 8.862. 10, Dooley, 8.800. 11, E. Ray, 8.762. 12, Nagle, 8.725. 13, Pelz, 8.712. 14, Eberle, 8.662. 15, Carter, 8.587. 16, B. Thome, 8.550. 17, C. Ray, 8.512. 18, Smith, 8.500. 19, Fraim, 8.425. 20, Lemley, 8.400. 21, Pigg, 8.350. 22 (tie), K. Thome and White, 8.312. 24, Kapernekas, 8.300. 25, Glasmire, 7.862.

Uneven Bars
1, E. Ray, 9.075. 2, Nagle, 8.925. 3, Thome, 8.925. 4, Pruitt, 8.900. 5 (tie) Lemley and Smith, 8.700. 7, Maday, 8.675. 8, White, 8.650. 9, Stephens, 8.625. 10, K. Thome, 8.600. 11, Fraim, 8.575. 12, Pigg, 8.550. 13, Sapunar, 8.525. 14, Dooley, 8.450. 15, Carter, 8.325. 16, C. Ray, 8.250. 17 (tie), Kapernekas and Miles, 8.175. 19, Glasmire, 8.125. 20, Chang, 8.100. 21 (tie), Bartgis and Eberle, 8.000. 23, Pelz, 7.925. 24, Baimbridge, 7.750. 25, Dixon, 7.450. 26, Beam, 7.200.

Balance Beam
1, Baimbridge and E. Ray, 9.050. 3, K. Thome, 8.950. 4 (tie), Chang, Smith, and Beam, 8.775. 7, Sapunar, 8.650. 8, Fraim, 8.625. 9 (tie), Eberle, Pigg and C. Ray, 8.600. 12, Stephens, 8.525. 13 (tie), Dooley, Glasmire and Kapernekas, 8.400. 16 (tie), Lemley and Pruitt, 8.325. 18, B. Thome, 8.300. 19, Dixon, 8.275. 20, Nagle, 8.250. 21, White, 8.100. 22, Pelz, 8.025. 23, Carter, 7.800. 24, Maday, 7.750. 25, Miles, 7.700.

Floor Exercise
1, Stephens, 9.400. 2, K. Thome, 9.275. 3 (tie), Maday, E. Ray and Sapunar, 9.100. 6, Baimbridge, 9.050. 7, B. Thome, 9.000. 8, Eberle, 8.675. 9, Chang, 8.650. 10, Fraim, 8.625. 11, Pigg, 8.600. 12, White, 8.525. 13, Dooley, 8.500. 14 (tie), Miles and Nagle, 8.475. 16, C. Ray, 8.450. 17, Kapernekas, 8.425. 18, Glasmire, 8.400. 19, Carter, 8.350. 20, Beam, 8.325. 21, Smith, 8.300. 22, Dixon, 8.200. 23, Lemley, 7.975. 24, Pelz, 7.900. 25, Pruitt, 7.550.