ORLANDO, Fla. – Kristin Thome (Sugar Land, Texas) used a strong overall performance, including silver-medal performances in vault and balance beam, to claim the all-around gold medal in the junior division at the 1998 American Classic, held at the Radisson Twin Towers Convention Center here Friday night.

Thome shot past Ashley Postel (Mitchellville, Md.) in the final rotation with a solid bars routine to claim the gold with a score of 35.525. She was followed by Kristal Uzelac (Whitehall, Pa.), who took the silver with a 35.437 in her first competition at the junior international elite level. Although she won the vault and balance beam, two falls on uneven bars dropped Postel to third in the all-around with a 35.325.
Uzelac won the floor exercise with a 9.500, the highest score awarded during the evening. Morgan White (Coconut Creek, Fla.) earned the gold in uneven bars with a 9.250, which helped her to a fifth-place all-around result.
Based on the all-around results, five athletes were added to the USA Gymnastics Junior National Team and are now eligible to represent the United States in international competition. The newcomers are Uzelac, Postel, Janaé Cox (Clarksville, Ind.), Katie Hardman (Houston, Texas) and Tasha Schwikert (Las Vegas, Nev.).
Competition at the American Classic continues Saturday, Feb. 21, from 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. EST with the National Elite testing, followed by senior International Elite competition from 7:30 -10 p.m. The Saturday evening competition will feature a pair of past Olympians, Dominique Dawes (Silver Spring, Md.) and Kim Zmeskal (Houston, Texas), as well as current national co-champion Kristy Powell (Cincinnati, Ohio) and 1997 World Championships Team members Kristin Maloney (Pen Argyl, Pa.), Jennie Thompson (Wichita Falls, Texas) and Jeanette Antolin (Huntington Beach, Calif.).
Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Its mission is to encourage participation and the pursuit of excellence in the sport. For more information about USA Gymastics and its programs, access USA Gymnastics Online on the Internet at www.usa-gymnastics.org.
Complete event results follow.

Junior International Elite Competition
1998 American Classic, Radisson Twin Towers Convention Center, Orlando, Fla.
Feb. 20, 1998

All-Around
1, Kristin Thome, Sugar Land, Texas, 35.525. 2, Kristal Uzelac, Whitehall, Pa., 35.437. 3, Ashley Postell, Mitchellville, Md., 35.325. 4, Janaé Cox, Clarksville, Ind., 35.150. 5, Morgan White, Coconut Creek, Fla., 34.750. 6, Monique Chang, Fairfax Station, Va., 34.625. 7, Katie Hardman, Houston, Texas, 34.500. 8, Tasha Schwikert, Las Vegas, Nev., 34.300. 9, Audra Fraim, Edmond, Okla., 34.000. 10, Ashley Kupets, McLean, Va., 33.987. 11, Marie Fjordholm, Cincinnati, Ohio, 33.875. 12, Angela Beam, Lewisville, Texas, 33.362. 13, Chelsea Otto, Scottsdale, Ariz., 33.212. 14, Kim Harris, Potomac, Md., 33.100. 15, Brittany Thome, Sugar Land, Texas, 32.962. 16, Jennifer Orlando, Herndon, Va., 32.825. 17, Ashley Miller, Brodheadsville, Pa., 32.400. 18, Amber Melvin, Cincinnati, Ohio, 32.175. 19, Dana Pierce, Indianapolis, Ind., 31.800. 20, Jamie Schell, Gaithersburg, Md., 31.462. 21, Kinsie Hughes, Norman, Okla., 31.350. 22, Whitney Ferguson, Cincinnati, Ohio, 30.912. 23, Breasha Pruitt, Henderson, Ky., 29.362. 24, Ashlee Bradley, Cincinnati, Ohio, 25.075.

Vault
1, Ashley Postell, Mitchellville, Md., 9.275. 2, Kristin Thome, Sugar Land, Texas, 9.175. 3, Monique Chang, Fairfax Station, Va., 9.150. 4, Janaé Cox, Clarksville, Ind., 9.125. 5, Marie Fjordholm, Cincinnati, Ohio, 9.050. 6, Ashley Kupets, McLean, Va., 8.987. 7, Whitney Ferguson, Cincinnati, Ohio, 8.987. 8, Tasha Schwikert, Las Vegas, Nev., 8.975. 9, Kristal Uzelac, Whitehall, Pa., 8.912. 10, Chelsea Otto, Scottsdale, Ariz., 8.912. 11, Angela Beam, Lewisville, Texas, 8.887. 12, Kim Harris, Potomac, Md., 8.800. 13, Ashley Miller, Brodheadsville, Pa., 8.800. 14, Kinsie Hughes, Norman, Okla., 8.800. 15, Morgan White, Coconut Creek, Fla., 8.775. 16, Audra Fraim, Edmond, Okla., 8.750. 17, Amber Melvin, Cincinnati, Ohio, 8.750. 18, Katie Hardman, Houston, Texas, 8.700. 19, Jamie Schell, Gaithersburg, Md., 8.587. 20, Jennifer Orlando, Herndon, Va., 8.575. 21, Dana Pierce, Indianapolis, Ind., 8.550. 22, Brittany Thome, Sugar Land, Texas, 8.087. 23, Breasha Pruitt, Henderson, Ky., 4.462

Uneven Bars
1, Morgan White, Coconut Creek, Fla., 9.250. 2, Breasha Pruitt, Henderson, Ky., 8.850. 3, Kristin Thome, Sugar Land, Texas, 8.750. 4, Tasha Schwikert, Las Vegas, Nev., 8.625. 5, Chelsea Otto, Scottsdale, Ariz., 8.575. 6, Katie Hardman, Houston, Texas, 8.575. 7, Ashlee Bradley, Cincinnati, Ohio, 8.500. 8, Audra Fraim, Edmond, Okla., 8.425. 9, Monique Chang, Fairfax Station, Va., 8.325. 10, Janaé Cox, Clarksville, Ind., 8.300. 11, Ashley Miller, Brodheadsville, Pa., 8.300. 12, Brittany Thome, Sugar Land, Texas, 8.225. 13, Jamie Schell, Gaithersburg, Md., 8.125. 14, Kristal Uzelac, Whitehall, Pa., 8.050. 15, Kinsie Hughes, Norman, Okla., 8.000. 16, Amber Melvin, Cincinnati, Ohio, 8.000. 17, Jennifer Orlando, Herndon, Va., 8.000. 18, Ashley Postell, Mitchellville, Md., 7.950. 19, Dana Pierce, Indianapolis, Ind., 7.775. 20, Angela Beam, Lewisville, Texas, 7.750. 21, Kim Harris, Potomac, Md., 7.700. 22, Ashley Kupets, McLean, Va., 7.625. 23, Marie Fjordholm, Cincinnati, Ohio, 7.425. 24, Whitney Ferguson, Cincinnati, Ohio, 7.425

Balance Beam
1, Ashley Postell, Mitchellville, Md., 9.125. 2, Kristin Thome, Sugar Land, Texas, 9.050. 3, Katie Hardman, Houston, Texas, 9.025. 4, Kristal Uzelac, Whitehall, Pa., 8.975. 5, Janaé Cox, Clarksville, Ind., 8.800. 6, Marie Fjordholm, Cincinnati, Ohio, 8.800. 7, Angela Beam, Lewisville, Texas, 8.700. 8, Audra Fraim, Edmond, Okla., 8.625. 9, Kim Harris, Potomac, Md., 8.600. 10, Morgan White, Coconut Creek, Fla., 8.350. 11, Ashley Kupets, McLean, Va., 8.300. 12, Brittany Thome, Sugar Land, Texas, 8.150. 13, Chelsea Otto, Scottsdale, Ariz., 8.125. 14, Ashlee Bradley, Cincinnati, Ohio, 8.000. 15, Breasha Pruitt, Henderson, Ky., 7.775. 16, Monique Chang, Fairfax Station, Va., 7.750. 17, Tasha Schwikert, Las Vegas, Nev., 7.725. 18, Dana Pierce, Indianapolis, Ind., 7.650. 19, Jamie Schell, Gaithersburg, Md., 7.550. 20, Amber Melvin, Cincinnati, Ohio, 7.475. 21, Kinsie Hughes, Norman, Okla., 7.325. 22, Jennifer Orlando, Herndon, Va., 7.250. 23, Ashley Miller, Brodheadsville, Pa., 7.250. 24, Whitney Ferguson, Cincinnati, Ohio, 6.900

Floor Exercise
1, Kristal Uzelac, Whitehall, Pa., 9.500. 2, Monique Chang, Fairfax Station, Va., 9.400. 3, Ashley Kupets, McLean, Va., 9.075. 4, Jennifer Orlando, Herndon, Va., 9.000. 5, Ashley Postell, Mitchellville, Md., 8.975. 6, Tasha Schwikert, Las Vegas, Nev., 8.975. 7, Janaé Cox, Clarksville, Ind., 8.925. 8, Marie Fjordholm, Cincinnati, Ohio, 8.600. 9, Ashlee Bradley, Cincinnati, Ohio, 8.575. 10, Kristin Thome, Sugar Land, Texas, 8.550. 11, Brittany Thome, Sugar Land, Texas, 8.500. 12, Morgan White, Coconut Creek, Fla., 8.375. 13, Breasha Pruitt, Henderson, Ky., 8.275. 14, Katie Hardman, Houston, Texas, 8.200. 15, Audra Fraim, Edmond, Okla., 8.200. 16, Ashley Miller, Brodheadsville, Pa., 8.050. 17, Angela Beam, Lewisville, Texas, 8.025. 18, Kim Harris, Potomac, Md., 8.000. 19, Amber Melvin, Cincinnati, Ohio, 7.950. 20, Dana Pierce, Indianapolis, Ind., 7.825. 21, Chelsea Otto, Scottsdale, Ariz., 7.600. 22, Whitney Ferguson, Cincinnati, Ohio, 7.600. 23, Kin