Kyla Ross
© John Cheng

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Aug. 30, 2010 – 2010 U.S. junior all-around champion Kyla Ross of Aliso Viejo, Calif., is one of six women who will represent the United States in the 2010 Pan American Championships, Sept. 2-5, in Guadalajara, Mexico. The Pan American Championships is the men’s and women’s gymnastics qualifying event for the 2011 Pan American Games, also set for Guadalajara. The U.S. Men’s Team was named earlier this month.

The U.S. women’s squad features:

  • Gabrielle Douglas of Virginia Beach, Va./Excalibur Gymnastics
  • Brenna Dowell of Odessa, Mo./GAGE
  • Sarah Finnegan of Lake Latawanna, Mo./GAGE
  • McKayla Maroney of Laguna Niguel, Calif./All Olympia
  • Kyla Ross of Aliso Viejo, Calif./Gym-Max
  • Sabrina Vega of Carmel, N.Y./Dynamic Gymnastics

Each of these gymnasts is coming off a successful 2010 Visa Championships: Ross won the all-around and balance beam titles, as well as placed third on vault and floor exercise; Maroney won the vault title and placed third in the all-around; Finnegan won the floor exercise title with Vega finishing second; Douglas finished second on beam and fourth in the all-around and vault; and Dowell tied for fifth on uneven bars.

The U.S. Men’s Team, which was named following the 2010 Visa Championships, includes Dylan Akers of Kingwood, Texas/Cypress Academy of Gymnastics; Alex Buscaglia of Cary, Ill./Stanford University; Jake Dalton of Sparks, Nev./University of Oklahoma; Bryan Del Castillo of Laguna Niguel, Calif./University of California, Berkeley; Wesley Haagensen of Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Olympic Training Center; and Glen Ishino of Santa Ana, Calif./University of California, Berkeley.

The Pan American Championships, held every two years, is the qualifier for the Pan American Games. This year’s event is expected to include teams from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.