THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 6, 1994 TAG: 9407020200
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, BEACON SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Long : 113 lines
IT WASN'T TOO LONG AGO that Virginia Beach gymnasts and coaches would travel to big-time meets and watch in amazement as the country's best went through their paces.
Things have changed.
Others are doing the watching.
Beach gymnasts are now getting much of the national attention.
In the recent United States Association of Independent Gymnastics Clubs national team championships, four Gymstrada Gymnastics School competitors took fourth in the eight-team field - giving the team an automatic bye into next year's championships.
The competition will be shown on Home Team Sports at 4 p.m. July 16 and at noon July 19.
And in three weeks, four Beach gymnasts will draw big attention in the national gymnastics championships taking place as part of the National Sports Festival at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
There, they will battle for the chance to attend the United States Classic in Palm Springs, where rankings and international assignments will be given.
By the end of the summer, any of these four could be competing against the best in the world.
Alexis Brion, Katie McFarland, Cory Fritzinger and Tami Harris all qualified for the event at the Elite Zone regional event two weekends ago at Gymstrada. Brion, McFarland and Fritzinger were competing on their home floor. Harris is a gymnast at Ocean Tumblers in Chesapeake.
To advance, a combined optional and compulsory score of 68.00 had to be earned.
In the field of 16 junior elite gymnasts under 13, McFarland and Brion blew away the competition. In fact, their scores were even considerably higher than the senior competitors.
McFarland won the all-around competition with a 74.616. She won the vault, uneven bars and beam portions of the competition and was second in floor exercises.
Brion was second in the all-around with a 73.545 - winning floor and finishing second to McFarland in the other three events.
Harris finished with a 69.808, and Fritzinger had 68.67.
``The nearest competitor to them was 1 1/2 points behind Alexis, and she had three falls in the meet,'' said coach Dena Baker. ``And Katie just destroyed everybody. She zoned in and just had a great weekend.''
According to Baker, McFarland and Brion will both stand excellent chances in the national meet that will feature 35-40 of the top gymnasts in the country.
Brion won floor and made the junior national team in last year's American Classic meet by finishing eighth all-around.
``The difficulty of their routines is the highest in the country. There are others who have routines just as hard, but none any harder,'' Baker said. ``Alexis and Katie seem to be taking turns beating each other, and they both seem to be doing very well.
``But this was Katie's meet. She was just really on.''
Here's a look at the four gymnasts who will compete July 22-24 in the national championships:
McFarland, 12: The Lynnhaven Middle School student has only been in gymnastics four years. Her favorite event is balance beam because it helps her relax and concentrate. She said she has the most trouble with uneven bars.
But at the zone meet, she didn't have trouble with anything.
``I had a good meet,'' she said. ``I'm satisfied with it, but I still have to work very hard. I want to do good and get to go to Palm Springs.''
Brion, 11: The Salem Middle School student is one of the hottest young gymnasts in the country and is constantly being pushed by her hard-working teammate McFarland. She has the most big-meet experience, competing in her third national meet. Her floor routine is international caliber and is her favorite. She had falls on balance beam and uneven bars.
``On bars, I was having a really good routine and I just fell,'' she said. ``Sometimes I try too hard and I loose concentration. I need to relax more.''
Harris, 12: Harris is a home-schooler who has been in gymnastics for six years. Last year, she finished second in the nation in the USAIGC open optional division in the 9-11 age class. She is happy to be joining her Gymstrada counterparts at the national meet.
``I just want to do the best I can,'' she said. ``I like bars, because it is fun, but I have the most trouble on vault. I'm working hard to have more difficult routines and I'm doing pretty good.''
Fritzinger, 12: The Independence Middle School student had possibly her worst meet in several outings but managed to advance largely on the difficulty of her routines. She is looking forward to competing against the country's best.
Her favorite routine is floor because she likes to dance. She said she fell twice on the beam and needs to work harder on bars, also.
``I like the big meets because you get to go up against people who you don't know and others that are big names,'' she said. ``I tried to push through my routines too hard this weekend and some things don't always come as you please.
``I'm just very happy to be going to Colorado.''
What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Gymstrada male gymnasts also are doing well in their regional and national competitions.
In his first trip to the United States Gymnastics Federation men's junior nationals, Jon Uransky, 16, finished third all-around in the Level 2, 16-18 division. He also was sixth on parallel bars.
After compulsories, he was in 14th place, moving up 11 places in the optional part of the contest.
In only his first year in the sport, Josh Huffman captured the seven-state regional competition's all-around title in the Level 6, 10-11 division. Huffman, 11, won four other individual events. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Junior gymnasts Cory Fritzinger, left, Alexis Brion, Tami Harris and
Katie McFarland advanced from a regional meet to next month's
national meet, where rankings and international assignments will be
determined.
by CNB