Team Golds Earned in Each Discipline
While Paul Hamm and Tasha Schwikert Win All-Around
Indianapolis – The U.S. team swept the medals at the 2002 Senior Pacific Alliance Championships, one of the most important international competitions on the gymnastics calendar. The U.S. took first place in the men’s, women’s and rhythmic team competitions while 2000 Olympians Paul Hamm (Waukesha, Wis.) and Tasha Schwikert (Las Vegas, Nev.) and national team members Hollie Vise (Dallas, Texas) and Lisa Wang (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) won the all-around in their respective divisions. The competition was May 3-5, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the Bill Copeland Sports Center.
“I am thrilled with our results at the 2002 Senior Pacific Alliance and am very proud of the U.S. team,” said Bob Colarossi, President of USA Gymnastics. “Defeating strong teams such as China, Japan, Canada and Australia proves that our athletes have been training very hard and we are right on track at this point in the Olympic cycle.”
U.S. Men’s Team
The U.S. men earned first place in the team competition while 2001 World Championships silver medalists Hamm and Brett McClure (Mill Creek, Wash.) took gold and silver respectively in the men’s all-around. 2001 National Champion Sean Townsend (Houston, Texas), placed fourth. In the junior competition, the U.S. men finished in first place while Sho Nakamori (Albany, Calif.) took second in the all-around.
The U.S. men also finished strongly in event finals competition. Hamm took first on vault and high bar (tie) and third on floor exercise. McClure finished second on pommel horse and Townsend was third on still rings. In juniors, D.J. Bucher (Cincinnati, Ohio) won three medals: a gold on parallel bars and silver medals on rings and vault. Nakamori was second on parallel bars while Jamie Henderson (Houston, Texas) placed third on pommel horse.
U.S. Women’s Team
Reigning senior national champion Schwikert lead the women’s team to gold and won the women’s all-around competition while Terin Humphrey (Bates City, Mo.) placed second and three-time junior national champion Kristal Uzelac (Whitehall, Pa.) placed third. In the junior division, the U.S. team placed first and 2001 Goodwill Games medalist Vise, Carly Patterson (Allen, Texas) and Melanie Sinclair (Orlando, Fla.) finished first, second and third, respectively.
In the women’s event finals, Schwikert added to her medal earnings with gold on balance beam and floor exercise and silver on uneven bars. Uzelac won the vault competition. Patterson earned four individual event medals in the junior competition including gold on vault, balance beam and floor exercise and silver on uneven bars. Vise was first on uneven bars and second on floor exercise while Sinclair took second on vault.
U.S. Rhythmic Team
Three-time senior national champion Jessica Howard (Jacksonville, Fla.), finished second in the rhythmic all-around and helped the senior team take first place. Wang and Kristin Kaye (Northbrook, Ill.) finished first and second in the junior all-around while the team took first place.
The following countries competed in the 2002 Senior Pacific Alliance: Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand and Philippines. The 2002 Senior Pacific Alliance team and all-around results are as follows:
Senior Men’s Team
| 1 | United States | 164.575 |
| 2 | Japan | 159.225 |
| 3 | Australia | 157.825 |
| 4 | Canada | 156.225 |
| 5 | Mexico | 147.950 |
| 6 | China | 137.050 |
| 7 | Philippines | 133.050 |
| 8 | New Zealand | 123.175 |
Senior Men’s All-Around (top 10)
| # | Name | Country | FX | PH | SR | VT | PB | HB | AA |
| 1 | Paul Hamm | USA |