© John Cheng
SAN JOSE, Calif., March 29, 2008 – The USA won the team gold medal and claimed four all-around medals in the junior and senior rhythmic gymnastics divisions at the 2008 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships presented by Gillette Venus in San Jose, Calif. Marlee Shape of Buffalo Grove, Ill., won the junior all-around crown and Anastasia Torba of Orinda, Calif., won the bronze medal. In the senior all-around, Lisa Wang of Buffalo Grove, Ill., claimed the silver medal and Rachel Marmer of Los Angeles earned the bronze medal.
The U.S. Team’s score of 236.325 was 7.625 points better than Canada’s 228.700. Russia placed third with 218.300 points. Ava Gehringer of Buffalo Grove, Ill., and Tyler Rosemond of Fresh Meadows, N.Y., were members of the U.S. Team along with Marmer, Shape, Torba and Wang.
Shape posted an all-around score of 57.000 to best Canada’s Nerissa Mo, who placed second at 55.975, and Torba, who finished third at 55.400. Rosemond posted a score of 55.525 for sixth overall but is not in the final rankings because there is a maximum of two gymnasts per country in the final all-around rankings.
“I just tried my hardest, went out there and performed and had fun,” Shape said. “I wanted to show that I had confidence and I wanted to project how much fun I was having. I couldn’t have done it without my team because they really helped me throughout the whole thing.”
In the senior division, Wang posted a 62.325 and Marmer earned a 59.575 to finish behind Canada’s Alexandra Orlando, who won the gold medal with a score of 63.925. Gehringer’s 56.875 was the fifth-best all-around score but did not count in the final rankings due to the two athletes per country limit.
“I was very excited, but I feel like I could’ve done better,” Wang said. “I could’ve been more consistent, but I tried to go out there and show my expression and amplitude. I hope that I was able to convey my enjoyment of the sport to the audience.”
Rhythmic gymnastics competition concludes tomorrow with individual event finals at 3 p.m.
About the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships presented by Gillette Venus
The 2008 Pacific Rim Championships features competition in men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics; rhythmic gymnastics; and trampoline.
The remaining schedule for artistic gymnastics at the Pacific Rim Championships is: Sunday, March 30 — men’s and women’s individual event finals, juniors at 12 p.m. and seniors at 6 p.m. The competition is at the Events Center at San Jose State University.
The remaining schedule for rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline is: Sunday, March 30 — rhythmic and trampoline individual event finals, 3 p.m. Competition is at San Jose McEnery Conventions Center.
NBC Sports is broadcasting action from the Pacific Rim Championships on April 13 at 4:30 p.m. ET.
The Pacific Rim Championships, previously known as the Pacific Alliance Championships, were held in Honolulu in 2004 and 2006. World champions Nastia Liukin and Chellsie Memmel tied for the women’s all-around title in 2006. In 2004, Paul Hamm won the all-around gold medal before becoming the 2004 Olympic all-around champion. In 2007, the San Jose McEnery Convention Center hosted rhythmic and acrobatic gymnastics competition during the Visa Championships. The Pacific Rim Championships is the official championships of the Pacific Alliance Gymnastics Federations.
About San Jose State University
San Jose State — Silicon Valley’s largest institution of higher learning with 30,000 students and 4,000 employees — is part of the California State University system. SJSU’s 154-acre downtown campus anchors the nation’s 10th largest city. For more information, please visit www.sjsu.edu.
About the San Jose McEnery Convention Center
Considered the hub for meetings and conventions in San Jose, the San Jose McEnery Convention Center opened its doors in April 1989. The facility has 432,000 square feet of function space, including a 22,000 square-foot ballroom and 30 meeting rooms.
About the San Jose Sports Authority
The San Jose Sports Authority is a non-profit organization that serves as the sports marketing agency for the City of San Jose. Since their inception in 1991, they have worked with community partners to bring more than 150 premier events and programs to the San Jose area. For more information, visit www.sjsa.org.
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2008 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships presented by Gillette Venus
San Jose State University Events Center
March 29, 2008
Rhythmic team and all-around final results
Team (top three only)
1. USA, 236.325
2. Canada, 228.700
3. Russia, 218.300
Senior all-around
1. Alexandra Orlando, Canada, 63.925
2. Lisa Wang, USA/Buffalo Grove, Ill., 62.325
3. Rachel Marmer, USA/Los Angeles, Calif., 59.575
4. Lina Gnirovskaya, Russia, 58.100
* Ava Gehringer, USA/Buffalo Grove, Ill., 56.875
5. Demetra Mantcheva, Canada, 56.450
6. Naazmi Johnston, Australia, 56.325
7. Seow Ting Foong, Malaysia, 55.225
8. Senyue Deng, China, 54.375
* Alexandra Martincek, Canada, 54.250
9. Rut Castillo, Mexico, 52.900
10. Kristina Sizova, Russia, 52.70
11. Jamie Yoke Jeng Lee, Malaysia, 52.450
12. Janine Murray, Australia, 51.375
* Kimberly Mason, Australia, 50.750
13. Yi Chieh Wan