SUCRE, Bolivia, September 19, 2016 – Team USA won four medals on the final day of competition at the 2016 Junior Pan American Championships at the Poligimnasio Complejo Deportivo Coliseo Max Toledo in Sucre, Chuquisaca, Bolivia. Vitaliy Guimaraes of Arvada, Colo./5280 Gymnastics, won the silver medal on horizontal bar and tied with Bennet Huang of Palo Alto, Calif./West Coast Olympic Gymnastics Academy, for bronze on the vault. Huang also claimed the horizontal bar bronze medal.
The U.S. won two medals in the horizontal bar final. Guimaraes stuck his dismount to clinch silver with a 13.625. Huang posted a 13.350 to claim the bronze medal. Brazil’s Barnardo Actos Mirando was the champion at 13.725.
USA’s Huang and Guimaraes tied for the bronze medal in the vault final with scores of 14.113. Columbia’s Jose Toro sealed the title with a 14.600. Joshua Valle of Mexico was second (14.288).
Huang and Andrew Bitner of Buford, Ga./Gymnastix Training Center, finished fifth and seventh, respectively, on parallel bars. Argentina’s Julian Jato was the champion with a 14.000, followed by Brazil’s Mirando (13.925). Mexico’s Isaac Nunez was third was a 13.850.
Earlier in the championships, the USA won the men’s team title and the all-around silver and bronze medals in addition to four medals on the first day of event finals. The U.S. hauled in 11 medals total (four gold, three silver, and four bronze), the most of any team in the competition.
WCOGA’s Vince Miller was the U.S. men’s coach, and Samuel Phillips of Woodland Hills, Calif./Gymnastics Olympica, was the replacement athlete.