Wieber wins junior all-around title at 2008 Visa Championships
06/07/2008
 Jordyn Wieber - Jr. All-Around Champion © Steve Lange
BOSTON, Mass., June 7, 2008 – Jordyn Wieber of Dewitt, Mich./Geddert’s, won the junior all-around title at the 2008 Visa Championships at Agganis Arena at Boston University. Samantha Shapiro of Los Angeles/All Olympia finished second, with Cassie Whitcomb of Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy, in third. The final day of senior women’s competition is today at 3:30 p.m., and NBC Sports is carrying the event live from 4-6 p.m. ET. “My goal was to hit eight for eight and that's what I needed to do,” Wieber said. “It feels awesome to win the junior title. I go in the gym everyday and it's finally paying off.” Wieber finished with a two-day total of 120.600, with Shapiro and Whitcomb earning scores of 119.050 and 114.600, respectively. Wieber and Shapiro split the individual event titles: Wieber won vault with a score of 29.650 and floor exercise with a 30.300; and Shapiro finished first on uneven bars and balance beam with scores of 30.750 and 31.300, respectively. “I'm very happy to finish second all-around,” Shapiro said. “My goal was to hit four for four and do the best I could.” “It feels great to finish third all-around,” Whitcomb said. “I had surgery on my heel in December so this is a really big accomplishment for me.” The individual event medalists are: vault – Wieber (gold), Asi Peko of Henderson, Nev./Browns-Las Vegas (silver) and Annette Meile of Easton, Pa./Parkettes (bronze); uneven bars – Shapiro (gold), Whitcomb (silver) and Wieber (bronze); balance beam – Shapiro (gold), Wieber (silver) and Kamerin Moore of Bloomfield, Mich./Geddert’s (bronze); and floor exercise – Wieber (gold), Peko (silver) and Amanda Jetter of Milford, Ohio/Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy (bronze). Wieber maintained her first-day lead throughout the final day of competition. She started the day on floor exercise with a score of 15.250. She then moved to vault, where she did a Yurchenko double full and scored a 14.950. In the third rotation, she hit a nice bar routine complete with a full twisting double layout to score a 15.000. Wieber finished on balance beam and scored a 15.450 on her routine that included a standing full to back tuck and a double pike dismount. On uneven bars, Shapiro scored a 15.900, the highest score of the day on any event. She has a 6.6 start value on uneven bars and her routine featured clean lines, nice stalder work, a high Yaeger release and a full twisting, double back dismount. She also hit her balance beam routine that includes a front aerial to flip flop layout series and a double pike dismount to score a 15.550, the highest of the day on that event. The 2008-09 women’s junior national team is comprised of: Briley Casanova of Dallas, Texas/WOGA; Rebecca Clark of Blue Springs, Mo./GAGE; Randi Lau of Honolulu/What’s Up; Hallie Mossett of Los Angeles/All Olympia; Sabrina Vega of Carmel, N.Y./Dynamic; Jetter; Miele; Moore; Peko; Shapiro; Whitcomb; and Wieber. Scores from both days of competition were combined to determine the U.S. junior champions, and the top 12 gymnasts in the all-around were named to the U.S. Junior National Team. About Agganis Arena at Boston University About the Massachusetts Sports Partnership About USA Gymnastics 2008 Visa Championships All-around
|
