Philadelphia – Olympian Tasha Schwikert (Las Vegas, Nev.) leads the all-around of the 2001 U.S. Gymnastics Championships after the preliminary round of competition with a score of 37.450, followed by Tabitha Yim (Irvine, Calif.) with a 36.550 and Mohini Bhardwaj (Cincinnati, Ohio) in third with a 36.250.

Schwikert took home four individual event medals including one gold, two silvers and one bronze. She placed first on beam with a score of 9.525, second on floor exercise with a 9.500 and tied for second on vault with a 9.375. Schwikert placed third on uneven bars with 9.050.
“I did pretty well tonight except for some little things, but I’m pretty happy,” said Schwikert.
Yim, who led the competition after the first two rotations finished second in the all-around after a fall on her final event, balance beam. She placed second on uneven bars with a score of 9.100 and won gold on the floor exercise with a 9.575.
Winning the vault was Mohini Bhardwaj, a recent graduate of UCLA, who ended the competition in a close third behind Yim. She took gold on vault with a 9.525 and won silver on beam with a 9.125.

Katie Heenan (Burke, Va.) won gold on the uneven bars with a 9.125 and bronze on floor exercise with a score of 8.875. She heads into the all-around finals in sixth position after the tonight’s preliminary round of competition.

Junior Division

Two-time defending junior national champion Kristal Uzelac (Johnstown, Pa.) leads the all-around in the junior division after today’s preliminary round of competition. Uzelac is in first with a score of 37.100 followed by Kaitlin White (Allen, Texas) with a 36.175 and Jordan Schwikert (Las Vegas, Nev.) is in third with a 36.000.
Uzelac won three event medals including a gold on balance beam and silver on uneven bars and floor exercise.
“I was nervous for this meet so I’m relieved that I hit 4 for 4,” said Uzelac. “I want to do the same on Saturday and try to win again. It would mean so much for me to win a third title.”
 
White finished the competition with a silver medal on vault and tied with Uzelac for the silver on floor exercise.
Winning the vault was Sarah Curtis (Corvallis, Ore.) with a 9.475 and taking gold on the uneven bars was Hollie Vise (Dallas, Texas) with a score of 9.150. Tia Orlando (Souderton, Pa.) won gold on the floor exercise with a 9.350.
Women’s competition continues Saturday with the junior all-around finals competition at 1:00 p.m. and the senior women’s all-around finals at 7:00 p.m. at the Liacouras Center.