HOUSTON – The USA men won two out of three titles today at the Don Coleman Community Coliseum. Brett McClure (Mill Creek, Wash.) performed his best routine of the four-day event on horizontal bar where he scored a 9.575 and grabbed the gold medal in front of Colombia’s Jesus Romero and Diego Estrada.
“I put myself on autopilot because I knew I could do the routine,” said McClure. “I just focused on hitting my dismount.”
Zach Roberts (Encinitis, Calif.) topped off his first international competition with a gold medal on vault, scoring a 9.162 in front of Canada’s Martin Monderie and Puerto Rico’s Juan Junior Picorelli.
“It was an awesome event,” said Roberts. “It gave me a look at what to expect in the future. It’s also a really good practice for the John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships which is happening next month.”
Roberts also earned a silver medal on parallel bars with a score of 8.80. USA teammate Paul Hamm (Waukesha, Wis.) took the bronze with an 8.250. Colombia’s Diego Estrada won the event with a score of 8.80.
On the women’s side, Canada’s Kate Richardson won beam with a score of 9.562. Morgan White (Fairfield, Ohio) earned second with a 9.337 and Argentina’s Melina Siroli took third with a 9.287.
“Normally I hold back a little bit,” said White. “But I went all out on that beam routine. It was a much better routine than yesterday. I showed off my dance a lot more.”
Brazil’s Daniele Hypolito slightly edged out Monique Chang (Fairfax Station, Va.) for the gold medal on floor scoring a 9.587 to Chang’s 9.525. Brazil’s Daiane Dos Santos took third with a 9.412.
“It was one of my best routines,” said Chang. “I hurt my knee a little bit on vault so I just tried to focus on my routine and not think about my knee!”
Kristin Thome (Sugar Land, Texas) took fourth on floor with a 9.325. She said, “It was exciting to compete in my hometown with all my family watching.”

MEN

Vault

1. Zach Roberts, USA, 9.162
2. Martin Monderie, CAN, 9.100
3. Juan Junior Picorelli, PUR, 8.975
3. Brett McClure, USA, 8.975
5. Federico Espina, VEN, 8.850
6. Leandro Heredia, BRA, 8.812
7. Paulo Marcio Silva, BRA, 8.787
8. Manuel Aleman, MEX, 8.400

Parallel Bars
1. Diego Estrada, COL, 8.800
2. Zach Roberts, USA, 8.450
3. Paul Hamm, USA, 8.250
4. Wilfredo Ropero, COL, 8.125
5. Leandro Heredia, BRA, 8.050
6. Antonio Cesar, MEX, 7.950
7. Eric Kafka, CAN, 7.850
8. Juan Junior Picorelli, PUR, 7.500

Horizontal Bar
1. Brett McClure, USA, 9.575
2. Jesus Romero, COL, 8.875
3. Diego Estrada, COL, 8.800
4. Eric Kafka, CAN, 8.750
5. Antonio Cesar, MEX, 8.575
6. Diego Novello, ARG, 8.525
7. Matthieu Simard, CAN, 8.000
8. Jamey Houle, USA, 7.825

WOMEN

Balance Beam
1. Kate Richardson, CAN, 9.562
2. Morgan White, USA, 9.337
3. Melina Siroli, ARG, 9.287
4. Melissa Cesar, VEN, 9.262
5. Daniele Hypolito, BRA, 8.937
6. Jesica Neri Riera, ARG, 8.850
7. Michelle Hofstra, CAN, 8.787
8. Mariana Oliviera, BRA, 8.425

Floor Exercise
1. Daniele Hypolito, BRA, 9.587
2. Monique Chang, USA, 9.525
3. Daiane Dos Santos, BRA, 9.412
4. Kristin Thome, USA, 9.325
5. Mariana Pena, VEN, 9.237
6. Jesica Neri Riera, ARG, 9.025
7. Michelle Hofstra, CAN, 8.675
8. Melissa Cesar, VEN, 8.487