YOKOHAMA, Japan, Sept. 24, 2007–A men’s and women’s delegation competed in the All Japan Junior Gymnastics Competition, Sept. 21-23, in Yokohama, Japan. Rebecca Bross of Plano, Texas, the only U.S. woman to compete, won all four events and the all-around. For the men, Phillip Onorato of Plano, Texas, and Danell Leyva of Miami, Fla., earned a total of eight medals, including two gold, two silver, and four bronze.

 

Bross’ all-around score of 61.40 bested Russia’s Aliya Mustafina and Australia’s Emma Dennis, who finished second and third, respectively. Leyva earned the men’s all-around bronze medal with a score of 86.70. Japan’s Yuusuke Tanaka and Kazuaki Koizumi were first and second in the all-around.
 
Onorato won three medals in the event finals including two gold and one silver. Leyva took four medals including two silver and two bronze, plus the bronze from the first day in the all-around for a total of five medals.

The men’s event finals started on floor and Onorato and Leyva took gold and silver, respectively. Then Onorato took gold on rings. On vault, Onorato took silver and Leyva tied for bronze. Leyva then took bronze on parallel bars and silver on high bar.
 
Leyva’s coach Yin Alvarez said, “The guys showed that we have a strong program in the USA, very deep. Our senior team took fourth in the world, and now our juniors came and also showed a spectacular performance.”

 

Women’s results

All-around

1. Rebecca Bross, USA, 61.40

2. Aliya Mustafina, Russia, 59.80

3. Emma Dennis, Australia, 55.95

 

Men’s results

All-around

1. Yuusuke Tanaka, Japan, 88.95

2. Kazuaki Koizumi, Japan, 87.15

3. Danell Leyva, USA, 86.70

4. Philip Onorato, USA, 86.05