The United States was represented by a team of 24 athletes, some with previous international experience and other up-and-coming athletes making their international debuts. The Winterthur Cup is a friendship competition traditionally held every two years in Winterthur, Switzerland. The organization of the competition makes it a fun, exciting, and special event for the participants. International participation in the sports acrobatics competition included clubs and national teams from Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Lithuania, Netherlands, Switzerland, and United States.

The United States delegation was comprised of athletes who competed at the International Age Group competition (IAG) in Lievin, France in May as well as Level 8, 9, 10, and Elite National Champions from the 2004 U.S. Sports Acrobatics National Championships held in July. The delegation was lead by Ronda Francis, Head of Delegation, Raisa Galper, Head Coach, and Mindi Blankenship, Assistant Coach, as well as a great team of personal coaches, judges, and chaperones.

In the Senior competition division, Women’s Pair U.S. National Champions, Kelli Wilson and Eugenie Borchardt, hit both of their exercises to claim the silver medal. They finished just .33 behind the German Women’s Pair.

In the Junior competition division, Mixed Pair Andre Solodar and Xiau-Ling Wee, seventh place finishers at IAG and U.S. National Champions, grabbed the gold medal. Solodar and Wee dominated the competition finishing over 3.0 points ahead of the silver medalists from Belgium. The United States also won a second gold medal in the Junior division. Women’s Trio, Cassidy Dolstra, Carleen daSilva, and Allysha Kidd, showed why they are U.S. National Champions and earned a gold medal at this international event.

The United States had entries in Women’s Pair and Women’s trio events in the International Youth competition division. This division used the SAWAGG 11-16 rules for competition. The U.S. Women’s Pairs swept the medals with Harley Augustine and Brittany Klein winning gold, Lori Oberst and Kelly Philips winning silver, and Sarah Longi and Taylor Mosher winning bronze. All three women’s pair were U.S. National Champions in their respective levels and age groups this season. Rochelle Belloir and Megan Clemons, IAG competitors for the USA, also had a strong competition in Switzerland to finish in fifth place. The USA also went 1-2 in the Women’s Trio division. Jordan Coughlin, Rebecca Hudson and Samantha Werner, U.S. National Champions, claimed the gold medal. Teammates Jordan Seto, Jamie Gobright and Heather Vachon who finished sixth at IAG, followed very closely to win the silver medal. Ekaterina Randazzo, Roksana Slavinsky and Becky Herzfeld also had a solid performance and finished the competition in sixth place.

Official results are available on the Winterthur Cup web page at: 2004 Winti Cup

Senior Women’s Pair, silver medalists, Kelli Wilson & Eugenie Borchardt (left), with gold medalists from Germany Junior Mixed Pair, Xiau-Ling Wee & Andre Solodar, gold medalists Junior Women’s Trio, Cassidy Dolstra, Carleen daSilva & Allysha Kidd, gold medalists
The USA Delegation sightseeing on Säntis Mountain