© John Cheng
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., March 21, 2008 – 2007 team and balance beam world champion Nastia Liukin of Parker, Texas, and 2006 all-around world silver-medalist Jana Bieger of Coconut Creek, Fla., headline the U.S. Women’s Team for the 2008 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships presented by Gillette Venus, March 28-30, in San Jose, Calif.
In keeping with the event format, the U.S. Women’s Team has three senior and three junior level gymnasts. In addition to Liukin and Bieger, the squad features: Rebecca Bross of Plano, Texas/WOGA (junior); Rebecca Clark of Blue Springs, Mo./GAGE; Darlene Hill of Mount Laurel, N.J./Will-Moor School of Gymnastics (senior); and Samantha Shapiro of Los Angeles/All-Olympia (junior). Olivia Courtney of Fairfax, Va./Orlando Metro, and Chelsea Davis of Austin, Texas/Texas Dreams, are the alternates. Valeri Liukin of WOGA and Andrea Bieger of Bieger International Gymnastics are the team coaches. Clark replaces Jordyn Wieber of Dewitt, Mich./Twistars USA, who withdrew due to injury.
Tickets for the event are currently on sale, and single ticket prices begin at $15 for afternoon sessions and $30 for the evening sessions for artistic gymnastics, with the tickets for rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline beginning at $15. Tickets may be purchased charge by phone at 408.998.TIXS; online at www.ticketmaster.com; at all Ticketmaster outlets; or at the Event Center Arena Box Office. Visa is the preferred method of payment
Artistic and rhythmic gymnastics will have team, all-around and individual event competitions. Each team will have six athletes with a maximum of three seniors each. The all-around and individual events will have competition for both juniors and seniors. Artistic gymnastics competition is at the Event Center Arena at San Jose State University.
Seniors
Bieger, who trains at Bieger International Gymnastics, won three silver medals at the 2006 World Championships: team, all-around and floor exercise. Just a week later, she went on to win the uneven bars and floor exercise titles at the World Cup event in Stuttgart, Germany. Earlier this year, she was a member of the team that won the title at the Italy-Spain-Poland-USA friendly competition. At the 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships, she won the team, vault and floor exercise and placed third in the all-around.
Hill, who was named to her first senior national team in 2007, finished sixth on the uneven bars and floor exercise and ninth in the all-around at the 2007 Visa Championships. She finished fourth in the uneven bars at the 2007 Grand Prix in Glasgow, Scotland.
Earlier this year, Liukin won her second Tyson American Cup crown. Along with her team title, she won the balance beam gold medal and finished second on the uneven bars at the 2007 World Championships. Liukin, who trains at WOGA, now has nine world medals (four gold and five silver), tying the mark of nine world medals held by Shannon Miller, who has earned more world and Olympic medals than any other U.S. gymnast (16 total). From 2003-06, Liukin won four straight U.S. all-around titles (junior in 2003-04 and senior in 2005-06), and 10 national individual event crowns (six junior and four senior). She added another U.S. title on the uneven bars in 2007. At the 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships, Liukin tied for first in the all-around and won the uneven bars title, as well as was a member of the gold-medal team and finished second on the balance beam.
Courtney helped the U.S. Women win the team title at the 2008 Italy-Spain-Poland-USA friendly competition, and earned the team gold medal and placed fifth in the all-around at the 2007 Junior Pan American Championships. She placed fourth on uneven bars and tied for fourth on vault in the junior division at the 2007 Visa Championships.
Davis won gold medals in the team competition and all-around, and a silver medal on the uneven bars at the 2008 Gymnix International. At the 2008 Italy-Spain-Poland-USA competition, she won the team gold medal and placed sixth in the all-around. Davis was a member of the U.S. Team that won the team title at the 2007 Junior Pan American Championships, and she also placed second on balance beam and third in the all-around. In the junior division at the 2007 Visa Championships, Davis placed fourth in the all-around and fifth on the floor exercise.
Juniors
Earlier this month, Bross, Clark and Shapiro were members of the U.S. Team that won the team title at the Italy-Spain-Romania-USA friendly competition, held in Jesolo, Italy.
Bross finished second in the all-around in the junior division at the Italy-Spain-Romania-USA competition. In international competition in 2007, she won gold medals in the team competition and floor exercise and placed second in the all-around at the Pan American Games, as well as swept the all-around and individual events at the International Jr. Japan competition. Bross won U.S. junior titles in the all-around, vault, uneven bars and floor exercise at the 2007 Visa Championships, where she was second on balance beam. At the 2006 Pacific Alliance Championships, she was a member of the gold-medal-winning team and placed fourth in the all-around in the junior division.
In addition to her team title at the Italy-Spain-Poland-USA competition, Clark placed fourth in the junior all-around. She placed fourth on the floor exercise and fifth in the all-around in the junior division at the 2007 Visa Championships.
Shapiro claimed four gold medals (team, all-around, uneven bars and balance beam) and a bronze (vault) at the 2008 Gymnix International. She tied for fifth in the all-around at the Italy-Spain-Poland-USA competition. Shapiro won the balance beam and was second in the all-around, uneven bars and floor exercise in the junior division at the 2007 Visa Championships.
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 competitors for men’s gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline were announced earlier and may be found here.
The schedule for artistic gymnastics at the Pacific Rim Championships is: Friday, March 28 — men’s team and all-around finals, 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Saturday, March 29 — women’s team and all-around finals, 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.; and 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 schedule for rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline is: Fri