GUADALAJARA, Mexico, Sept. 2, 2010 – The U.S. Men’s Team won the team title at the 2010 Pan American Championships at the Lopez Mateos Sports Center in Guadalajara, Mexico. The USA’s Glen Ishino of Santa Ana, Calif., was second in the all-around. By winning the team title, the U.S. men qualified the United States for men’s gymnastics for the 2011 Pan American Games, also set in Guadalajara. The women’s team and all-around finals are scheduled for Friday, Sept. 3, with men’s and women’s individual event finals on Sept. 4-5.
With a team score of 352.150, the U.S. men won the gold medal, besting Brazil and Canada, which tied for second, by 8.200 points. The USA won Subdivision 2 and had to wait until the conclusion of the third and final subdivision before cementing the title. The U.S. men had the top team scores on floor exercise (59.000) and horizontal bar (59.350); second highest for still rings (58.000), vault (62.850) and parallel bars (57.600); and was third for team score on pommel horse (55.350).
The men’s team is comprised of Dylan Akers of Kingwood, Texas/Cypress Academy of Gymnastics; Alex Buscaglia of Cary, Ill./Stanford University; Jake Dalton of Sparks, Nev./University of Oklahoma; Bryan Del Castillo of Laguna Niguel, Calif./University of California, Berkeley; Wes Haagensen of Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Olympic Training Center; and Ishino.
Ishino, who trains at the University of California, Berkeley, posted a total of 88.150 to win the silver all-around medal. Mexico’s Daniel Corral Barron was first at 88.750, with Colombia’s Jorge Hugo Giraldo Lopez third at 87.450. Haagensen just missed the medals podium with his fourth place tie with Chile’s Enrique Gonzalez Sepulveda. Ishino’s apparatus scores were: floor exercise, 14.950; pommel horse, 14.700; still rings, 14.300; vault, 15.350; parallel bars, 14.250; and horizontal bar, 14.600. Haagensen’s total of 86.450 included 14.000, floor exercise; 13.500, pommel horse; 15.200, still rings; 14.300, vault; 14.350, parallel bars; and 15.100, horizontal bar.
The five U.S. men who will compete in the individual event finals are: floor exercise –Dalton, Ishino; pommel horse – Ishino, Del Castillo; still rings – Haagensen; vault – Dalton, Buscaglia; and horizontal bar – Buscaglia, Haagensen. Dalton is the second reserve athlete for parallel bars.
For the women’s team and all-around, the U.S. women’s squad will compete in Subdivision 3, beginning on vault, on Friday, Sept. 3, at approximately 3:30 p.m. MCT. The U.S. women’s team features: Gabrielle Douglas of Virginia Beach, Va./Excalibur Gymnastics; Brenna Dowell of Odessa, Mo./GAGE; Sarah Finnegan of Lake Latawanna, Mo./GAGE; McKayla Maroney of Laguna Niguel, Calif./All Olympia; Kyla Ross of Aliso Viejo, Calif./Gym-Max; and Sabrina Vega of Carmel, N.Y./Dynamic Gymnastics.
The individual event finals schedule is: Saturday, Sept. 4, at 4 p.m. (women’s vault, men’s floor exercise and pommel horse) and 6 p.m. (women’s uneven bars, men’s still rings); and Sunday, Sept. 5, at 4 p.m. (women’s balance beam, men’s vault) and 6 p.m. (women’s floor exercise, men’s parallel bars and horizontal bar).
The Pan American Championships, held every two years, includes teams from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.