KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (March 28) – Ashley Postell (Mitchellville, Md.) posted an individual all-around score of 37.325 to lead Team USA to the silver medal behind Team China in the junior women’s competition at the International Team Championships, held Saturday afternoon here in Thompson-Boling Arena.

"We’re very happy with the results," said USA coach Mary Lee Tracy (Cincinnati, Ohio). "This is the most talented group of juniors I’ve seen in a while. Most of them are on target for 2004. Ashley’s a good team player: spunky, calm, fun and a good leader."
Team USA won the floor exercise with a score of 36.725, but China swept the remaining three events to lock down the gold medal with a score of 147.436 to the USA’s 146.112. The Chinese were led by the tandem of Peng Sha and Xu Jing, who tied for third in the individual all-around with a score of 36.462. Romania was a distant third with a 144.312 despite a strong performance from Andreea Raducan, who posted the highest scores in balance beam (9.500) and floor exercise (9.450).
Competition at the International Team Championships concludes Saturday evening with the senior women at 7:30 p.m. For complete coverage of the event online, log on to USA Gymnastics Online at http://www.usa-gymnastics.org.

International Team Championships
Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tenn.
March 28, 1998
Junior Women’s Competition

Team Final Standings
1, China (Fan Wen, Liang Yan, Peng Sha, Wei Jingjing, Xin Yingying, Xu Jing), 147.436. 2, United States (Monique Chang, Fairfax Station, Va., Janae Cox, Otisco, Ind., Katie Hardman, Houston, Texas, Ashley Postell, Mitchellville, Md., Kristal Uzelac, Whitehall, Pa., Morgan White, Fairfield, Ohio), 146.112. 3, Romania (Elena Oprea, Olimpia Popa, Andreea Raducan, Daniela Trandafir, Emanuela Ungurean), 144.312.


Team Event Results
Vault — 1, China, 36.236. 2, United States, 35.987. 3, Romania, 35.462.
Uneven Bars — 1, China, 37.650. 2, United States, 37.325. 3, Romania, 35.975.
Balance Beam — 1, China, 36.900. 2, Romania, 36.575. 3, United States, 36.075.
Floor Exercise — 1, United States, 36.725. 2, China, 36.650. 3, Romania, 36.300.

Individual All-Around Scores
1, Ashley Postell, Mitchellville, Md., 37.325. 2, Andreea Raducan, ROM, 36.737. 3 (tie), Peng Sha and Xu Jing, CHN, 36.462. 5, Kristal Uzelac, Whitehall, Pa., 36.362. 6, Emanuela Ungurean, ROM, 36.325. 7, Janae Cox, Otisco, Ind., 35.700. 8, Liang Yan, CHN, 35.650. 9, Morgan White, Fairfield, Ohio, 35.575. 10, Elena Oprea, ROM, 35.300. 11, Olimpia Popa, ROM, 35.100. 12, Xin Yingying, CHN, 28.050. 13, Fan Wen, CHN, 26.962. 14, Monique Chang, Fairfax Station, Va., 26.550. 15, Wei Jingjing, CHN, 18.562. 16, Daniela Trandafir, ROM, 17.775. 17, Katie Hardman, Houston, Texas, 8.900.