Romania Finishes Second, China Finishes Third
Syracuse, NY – The United States team won the 2000 Pontiac International Team Championships this evening with a score of 151.737. Romania came in second with 151.249 and China finished third with 148.811.
“I was expecting to win this meet,” said Marie Fjordholm. “We’ve been having great workouts as a team. We are the new generation and to win the first meet after the Olympic Games is a great start.”
“This meet was really exciting,” said Hollie Vise. “I knew it was going to be really close so I was just hoping we would win. This was my first team competition and it was fun to win with this group of girls.”
“This is very promising for us,” said team coach Martha Karolyi. “We always want to win–that is the ultimate goal. There is a lot of young talent here.”
The U.S. team started the competition strong on beam. Lindsey Vanden Eykel scored a 9.7 and Hollie Vise a 9.6 to give the team a score of 37.725 after the first rotation. Romania took the lead after the second rotation with 75.950 and held it through the third with 114.275. The U.S. clinched the title after their final rotation on the uneven bars.
The U.S. won the vault with 37.837 and uneven bars with 38.125, Romania and China tied on beam with 38.250 and Romania won the floor exercise with 38.325.

Oana Petrovschi of Romania had the highest overall score of 38.350. Vise finished in second with 38.012 and Terin Humphrey was third with 37.800. Americans Ashley Kelly and Marie Fjordholm finished fourth and fifth with 37.537 and 37.375.
“I was excited and feel okay with tonight’s results,” said Petrovschi through a translator. “This gives us good practice at competing.”
The top vault score of the evening was awarded to Fjordholm with 9.625. Vise won the uneven bars with 9.725. Sabina Cojocar claimed the highest beam and floor exercise scores with 9.775 on both events.
Following was the women’s roster for the 2000 Pontiac International Team Championships:

United States Team
Terin Humphrey, 14/Blue Spring, Mo./Great American Gymnastics Express
Marie Fjordholm, 17/Plano, Texas/World Olympic Gymnastics
Ashley Kelly, 16/Tulsa, Okla./Krafft Academy
Ashley Miles, 15/San Antonio, Texas/Harris Unlimited Gymnastics
Lindsey VandenEykel, 14, Plano, Texas/World Olympic Gymnastics
Holly Vise, 12/Dallas, Texas/ World Olympic Gymnastics

Chinese Team
LIU Wei
SUN Xiajiao
PENG Sha
HUANG Mandan
QI Linzi

Romanian Team
Oana Ban
Alexandra Barac
Sabina Cojocar
Carmen Ionescu
Oana Petrovschi
Andreea Ulmeanu

Competition Format

Each team consisted of six athletes. Five athletes competed on each individual apparatus and the top four scores counted. The team with the highest point total is the overall team champion.