EINDHOVEN, Netherlands – Alaina Hebert of Broussard, La., Yuliya Hall of Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Alexis Diaz of Ferndale, Mich., advanced to the final round of the 2005 World Trampoline and Tumbling Championships in Eindhoven, Netherlands. In addition, the USA’s women’s teams in trampoline, tumbling and double-mini also qualified for the finals. The three-day event, Sept. 15-17, includes competition in eight events.

Hebert became the first U.S. woman to make the trampoline finals at a World Championships since 1996 when she finished in eighth place in the qualifying round. The U.S. Women’s Trampoline Team of Jennifer Parilla of Newport Beach, Calif., Jenny Wescott of Lafayette, La., Amanda Bailey of Levelland, Texas, and Hebert finished fourth, behind China, Russia and Germany, respectively.
Hebert posted a total score of 65.80 to finish in eighth place. Parilla, who competed in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, finished in 11th place with 64.90, her best world championship finish since 1996; Wescott’s 60.90 landed her in 28th; and Bailey finished 43rd with 58.20. Russia’s Irina Karavaeva is leading the event going into the finals. The foursome of Hebert, Parilla, Wescott and Bailey posted a total score of 191.60, five points off the lead.
For team competitions, a country must have a maximum of four athletes (and no less than three) competing in a discipline. The top three scores from the first pass/routine and the top three scores from the second pass/routine in prelims are added together for the team score. The top five teams advance to the Team Final, where only three athletes compete for each country and scores from the qualifying round do not count.
In tumbling, Hall placed fourth and Diaz placed seventh in the preliminary round to advance to finals. Hall, who already has earned four medals in international competition this year, scored a 65.70 and Diaz had a 64.20. Other U.S. women’s tumblers are Amy McDonald of Crosby, Texas, who placed 25th, and Leanne Seitzinger of Stafford, Va., 26th. The Ukraine’s Olena Chabanenko has the lead going into the tumbling finals on Sept. 17.
Together as a team, the four U.S. tumblers posted a total score of 192.50 to place third going into the finals. Great Britain is leading the team tumbling rankings, with Russia in second place.
The U.S. Women’s Double-mini Team of Shelley Klochan of Whiting, Ind., Krista Mahoney of Heber City, Utah, Megan Dacy of Waxahachie, Texas, and Ashlynn Sundvold of Independence, Mo., enters the final round in first place, with a combined score of 203.50. The Americans finished approximately four points ahead of Portugal, which finished second. Although the women’s double-mini team is in good shape for the team finals, none of them qualified for the individual finals.
In men’s trampoline, Michael Devine of Winnebago, Ill., had the highest U.S. finish at 28th, with Kevin Strickland of Tinton Falls, N.J., taking 41st. Ryan Weston of Chubbuck, Idaho, and Chris Estrada of Lafayette, La., had costly errors that dropped them to 48th and 66th, respectively, in a field of 85. As a team, the U.S. men finished 11th. Japan is leading the men’s competition in both the team and the individual events. Japan’s Tetsuya Sotomura is in first, with his teammate Yasuhiro Ueyama in third. Russia’s Alexander Rusakov is in second place.
Competition on Sept. 16 includes preliminary rounds for men’s synchro trampoline, double-mini trampoline and tumbling and women’s synchro trampoline; and team finals for men’s and women’s trampoline, double-mini trampoline and tumbling. The final day of competition features the finals in men’s and women’s trampoline, double-mini trampoline, synchro trampoline and tumbling.