HOUSTON, Texas – Defending national champion Blaine Wilson (Columbus, Ohio) dominated the preliminaries, sweeping all six events at the Winter Cup Challenge, held Saturday at the Texas Sports Ranch.

Wilson, a 1996 Olympian and the two-time defending national champion, blew away the field in the all-around with a score of 56.550, more than four points ahead of fellow Olympian John Roethlisberger (Minneapolis, Minn.), who scored a 52.000. The top 36 athletes in the field of 62 competitors advanced to the all-around finals, beginning at 6 p.m. CST Saturday.
With his six first-place finishes, each worth $500, Wilson picked up $3,000 Friday night, and could earn another $3,000 by taking the overall title, giving him nearly half of the $13,800 prize purse.
The competition also will determine the two athletes who will join Wilson and Roethlisberger as the USA representatives in the Visa American Cup, to be held in Fort Worth, Texas, March 5-8. It also will round out the USA roster for the International Team Championships, a team competition against China and Romania slated for March 27-28 in Knoxville, Tenn.
Tickets for the Winter Cup Challenge are $5 for adults, $3 for children 12 and under; advance tickets are $3 each. For ticket information, contact the Texas Sports Ranch at (713) 728-2348.
Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. Its mission is to encourage participation and the pursuit of excellence in the sport. For more information about USA Gymnastics and its programs, access USA Gymnastics Online on the Internet at www.usa-gymnastics.org.

1998 Winter Cup Challenge
Texas Sports Ranch, Houston, Texas
February 13, 1998
Preliminary Results (top 36 advance to Saturday finals)

1, Blaine Wilson, Columbus, Ohio, 56.550. 2, John Roethlisberger, Minneapolis, Minn., 52.000. 3 (tie), Guard Young, Oklahoma City, Okla., and Jay Thornton, Augusta, Ga., 51.750. 5, Yewki Tomita, Tucson, Ariz., 51.150. 6 (tie), Todd Strada, Alpharetta, Ga., and Chris Camiscioli, Haddonfield, N.J., 50.550. 8, Michael Moran, Windsor, Conn., 50.150. 9 (tie), Garry Denk, Northbrook, Ill., and Raj Bhavsar, Houston, Texas, 49.800. 11, Walter Jaramillo, Albuquerque, N.M., 49.750. 12, Chris Young, Colorado Springs, Colo., 49.700. 13, Kevin Agnew, Winnetka, Ill., 49.650. 14, Izy Mlay, Fremont, Calif., 49.650. 15, Daniel Diaz-Luong, Harrisburg, Pa., 49.550. 16, Sanjuan Jones, Tallahassee, Fla., 49.500. 17, Sean Townsend, Houston, Texas, 49.250. 18 (tie), Gabriel Hansen, Albuquerque, N.M., and Jason Krane, Marlboro, N.J., 49.200. 20, Brent Klaus, Stroudsburg, Pa., 49.100. 21, Ron Roeder, Montrose, Pa., 48.800. 22, Joshua Landau, Raleigh, N.C., 48.750. 23, Alex Chansky, Lexington, Mass., 48.700. 24, Michael Ashe, Stone Mountain, Ga., 48.650. 25, Aaron Vexler, Amherst, Mass., 48.550. 26, Shannon Carrion, Tallahassee, Fla., 48.250. 27, Freddie Umali, San Jose, Calif., 48.250. 28, Nathanial Hammond, Provo, Utah, 48.200. 29, Brett McClure, Mill Creek, Wash., 48.200. 30, Michael Evans, Houston, Texas, 47.700. 31 (tie), Brandon Berkenbile, Albuquerque, N.M., Ken Schiess, Sandy, Utah, and Jonathan Plante, Easton, Pa., 47.350. 34, Randy Sooter, Tempe, Ariz., 47.200. 35, Andrew Hampy, Berkeley, Calif., 47.050. 36, Edward Burch Jr., Albuquerque, N.M., 46.700.
            37, Danny Beigel, University Park, Pa., 46.500. 38, Matt Abboud, Dayton, Maine, 46.450. 39, Adam Benas, Latham, N.Y., 46.200. 40, Isaiah Vest, Fremont, Calif., 45.950. 41, Jorge Garcia, Houston, Texas, 45.850. 42, Aaron Floyd, Mount Airy, N.C., 45.700. 43, Clayton Baimbridge, Houston, Texas, 45.400. 44, Kenneth Sykes, Memphis, Tenn., 45.350. 45, Joshua Levin, Glen Ellyn, Ill., 45.300. 46, Randy Monahan, Elizabethtown, Pa., 45.250. 47, Andrew Thornton, Augusta, Ga., 44.750. 48, Jon Portillo, Tempe, Ariz., 42.900. 49, Jason Moresi, Tallahassee, Fla., 41.950. 50, Michael Peña, Humble, Texas, 41.700. 51, Kevin Tan, Fremont, Calif., 41.050. 52, Trent Wells, Keizer, Ore., 34.400. 53, J.G. Ketchen, Knoxville, Tenn., 31.350. 54, David Kruse, Lompoc, Calif., 25.900. 55, Dustin Hill, Sandy, Utah, 17.600. 56, Chainey Umphrey, Los Angeles, Calif., 16.700. 57, Jason Bertram, Berkeley, Calif., 9.400. 58, Ryan Welborn, Seattle, Wash., 9.000. 59, Jeff Johnson, Seattle, Wash., 8.950. 60, Cortney Bramwell, Provo, Utah, 8.550. 61, Sergio Luna, Redmond, Wash., 7.050. 62, Hector Tanco, Jackson, Miss., 4.250.

Individual Event Finals (top eight only)

Floor Exercise
1, Wilson, 9.300. 2, Jay Thornton, 9.200. 3, Wells, 9.000. 4 (tie), Hill and Tomita, 8.950. 6, Kruse, 8.850. 7, Strada, 8.750. 8 (tie), Roethlisberger, Klaus and Chris Young, 8.700.

Pommel Horse
1, Wilson, 9.550. 2, Roethlisberger, 9.450. 3, Bertram, 9.400. 4 (tie), Jay Thornton and Plante, 9.150. 6 (tie), Kruse and Guard Young, 9.050. 8 (tie), Tomita and Chris Young, 8.850.

Still Rings
1, Wilson, 9.400. 2 (tie) Roethlisberger and Johnson, 8.950. 4, Camiscioli, 8.850. 5, Moran, 8.700. 6, Bramwell, 8.550. 7, Roeder, 8.450. 8, Beigel, 8.400.

Vault
1, Wilson, 9.550. 2, Diaz-Luong, 9.200. 3, Moran, 9.150. 4, Hansen, 9.100. 5 (tie), Roethlisberger, Jay Thornton, Hampy, Krane, Townsend and Chris Young, 9.050.

Parallel Bars
1, Wilson, 9.500. 2, Wells, 9.050. 3, Guard Young, 8.900. 4, Denk, 8.850. 5, Jay Thornton, 8.800. 6, Umali, 8.600. 7, Bhavsar, 8.550. 8, Chansky, 8.500.

High Bar
1, Wilson, 9.250. 2, McClure, 9.050. 3, Jaramillo, 8.950. 4 (tie), Diaz-Luong and Moran, 8.750. 6 (tie), Mlay, Tomita and Guard Young, 8.700.