THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502260222
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
With a little cash incentive from her mother, Atlee High's Rachael Rounds captured the all-around title Saturday in the individual portion of the Group AAA state gymastics meet at Ocean Lakes.
Rounds, with a four-event score of 37.85 points, edged Kellam's Michelle Alexander, who finished with 37.7.
Rounds also tied for first in the vault with Davinia Roberts of Virginia Beach's Salem High. Both had 9.4 scores.
Alexander took first on balance beam with a 9.65, and tied with Roberts for first on floor with 9.6.
With help from mom's wallet, Rounds came up with the best effort of her career.
``My mom bribes me all the time to go out and improve my score,'' said Rounds, who competes as a level-9 gymnast at Richmond Olympiad. ``She told me she'd give me $50 if I improved my scores. This was the best score I've had in my whole life, so she owes me $50.''
Heading into the final rotation of the competition, Rounds held a three-tenths of a point lead over Alexander, Herndon's Merritt Noble and Stonewall Jackson's Chevonne Davis. She was four-tenths ahead of Lake Braddock's Brandee Gound.
Gound was the first to finish, netting only an 8.7 on bars to finish with a 36.7 that dropped her out of contention.
Rounds finished on vault next and nailed a 9.4 to go with her other scores of 9.4, 9.5 and 9.55 - all but finishing off the event.
But Noble had a shot and was the next contender to finish. She banged out a fantastic bars routines to earn a 9.5 to round out her total at 37.6.
Minutes later, Davis botched her chance - finishing her day on beam with only an 8.9 to total 37.0.
That left Alexander as the only gymnast with a chance at catching Rounds.
But the Knights sophomore needed to tie the state floor record of 9.75 set last year by Bayside's Liane Williams just to tie Rounds.
Alexander missed a part of her second tumbling pass and figured she was out of the running.
``I could just kick myself,'' said Alexander, who also set a personal best all-around score. ``I did a back tuck instead of my Arabian and I couldn't tumble out of it.
``I was just hoping the judges thought I did it on purpose or something.''
And they must have, awarding Alexander a 9.6, good enough to edge Noble for second place.
``I think that floor score's giving me a little bit,'' Alexander said after she was swamped by her Kellam teammates when the score was flashed. ``I can't believe I got such a good score.
``I'm very heppy with my performance today.''
Roberts, also a sophomore, was equally excited with her two first-place ties. An 8.85 on beam and an 8.8 on uneven bars kept her out of the all-around competition.
``I wasn't too worried about placements,'' Roberts said. ``I just wanted to do my best and hit my routines. This was the best meet I've had and it was a good time to have it.''
Lana Pinera of Cox was the next-best local finisher, capturing sixth all-around with a 36.9. Kempsville's Kristen Grabb and Laura Snelling tied with Gound for eighth with 36.7 points. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
RALPH FITZGERALD
Michelle Alexander gets a hug after her uneven bars routine.
The Kellam gymnast took second in the state all-around with a
37.70.
by CNB