The U.S. women’s senior and junior teams had a stellar showing at the Pacific Alliance Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii April 13-15, earning top honors in almost every category.

The team and all-around winners were determined Thursday, April 13. World Champions Chellsie Memmel and Nastia Liukin lead the U.S team to the senior team title and also tied for the all-around crown.

Jana Bieger and Shayla Worley finished third and fifth, respectively, but were not eligible for all-around awards due to an FIG rule stating only two athletes per country can earn all-around awards.

Australia’s rising star Hollie Dykes led the Aussies to a second place finish and an all-around bronze for herself. Her 16.000 on beam was the highest score of the competition.

Elyse Hofner-Hibbs was impressive on beam (aerial cartwheel to two layout stepouts) and bars to finish fourth all-around. Her Canadian team placed third.

In the junior competition, Iowa native Shawn Johnson earned the highest scores on vault and floor exercise on her way to the team and all-around title. Bianca Flohr earned the highest score on uneven bars and second place all-around.

China’s Xiao Sha was third all-around with a meet-high 16.150 on balance beam. Canada was able to edge past China for the silver medal in the team competition, however.

Senior Team
1. United States 183.150
2. Australia 177.050
3. Canada 172.050
4. Japan 166.450
5. Hong Kong 134.650
6. Mexico 123.800

Junior Team
1. United States 181.450
2. Canada 171.300
3. China 171.050
4. Japan 167.800
5. Australia 143.850
6. Chinese Taipei 130.100
7. Hong Kong 125.550

Senior All-Around
1. Nastia Liukin USA 61.050
1. Chellsie Memmel USA 61.050
--- Jana Bieger USA 61.000
3. Hollie Dykes AUS 60.550
--- Shayla Worley USA 60.350
4. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs CAN 58.950
5. Daria Joura AUS 57.900
6. Alyssa Brown CAN 57.700
7. Mayu Kuroda JPN 56.750
8. Ayaka Sahara JPN 56.700
--- Aisha Gerber CAN 55.450
--- Sakiko Okabe JPN 55.250
9. Yeny Ibarra MEX 54.600
10. Maricela Cantu MEX 54.550

Junior All-Around
1. Shawn Johnson USA 61.000
2. Bianca Flohr USA 60.150
--- Tessa Pama USA 59.700
--- Rebecca Bross USA 58.800
3. Xiao Sha CHN 58.100
4. Nansy Damianova CAN 57.600
5. Kristina Vaculik CAN 57.450
6. Momoko Ozawa JPN 56.750
7. Jasmine Webb AUS 56.650
8. Koko Tsurumi JPN 56.350
9. He Ying Hui CHN 56.250
10. Alyona Pronina RUS 55.750

The U.S. women swept the senior event finals. 2005 World team member Jana Bieger won vault and floor, while Liukin notched a win on uneven bars. Memmel won balance beam.

Junior all-around champ Johnson notched wins on vault and floor, and teammate Shantessa Pama won uneven bars. The lone foreign victory came from China’s Xiao Sha with a 16.275 on balance beam.

Senior Women's Vault
1. Jana Bieger USA 14.912
2. Yeny Ibarra MEX 14.350
3. Alyssa Brown CAN 14.212
4. Miki Uemura JPN 13.937
5. Angel Wong Hiu Ying HKG 13.362

Senior Uneven Bars
1. Nastia Liukin USA 15.975
2. Shayla Worley USA 15.400
3. Mayu Kuroda JPN 15.375
4. Monette Russo AUS 15.225
5. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs CAN 15.125
6. Maricela Cantu MEX 13.975
7. Belinda Castles NZL 12.625
8. Lin Chia-Ying TPE 10.775

Senior Balance Beam
1. Chellsie Memmel USA 15.700
2. Nastia Liukin USA 15.625
3. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs CAN 15.250
4. Hollie Dykes AUS 14.975
5. Monette Russo AUS 14.550
6. Ayaka Sahara JPN 14.250
7. Maricela Cantu MEX 14.025
8. Olivia Jobsis NZL 13.800

Senior Women's Floor Exercise
1. Jana Bieger USA 15.500
2. Chellsie Memmel USA 15.400
3. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs CAN 14.875
4. Ayaka Sahara JPN 14.375
5. Hollie Dykes AUS 14.275
6. Olivia Jobsis NZL 13.925
7. Maricela Cantu MEX 13.500
8. Angel Wong Hiu Ying HKG 11.950

Junior Women's Vault
1. Shawn Johnson USA 15.175
2. Shantessa Pama USA 14.925
3. Nansy Damianova CAN 14.900
4. Liao Huifan CHN 14.625
5. Margarita Stepchenko RUS 14.575
6. Momoko Ozawa JPN 14.125
7. Jasmine Webb AUS 14.100
8. He Ying Hui CHN 14.075

Junior Uneven Bars
1. Shantessa Pama USA 15.550
2. Bianca Flohr USA 15.450
3. Kristina Vaculik CAN 14.500
4. Alyona Pronina RUS 14.275
5. Momoko Ozawa JPN 14.150
6. Yessenia Estrada MEX 13.600
7. Li Shanshan CHN 13.475
8. Ashleigh Brennan AUS 12.850

Junior Balance Beam
1. Xiao Sha CHN 16.275
2. Shawn Johnson USA 15.675
3. Li Shanshan CHN 15.300
4. Alyona Pronina RUS 14.625
5. Rebecca Bross USA 14.350
6. Jasmine Webb AUS 14.200
7. Kristina Vaculik CAN 14.050
8. Momoko Ozawa JPN 13.525

Junior Women's Floor Exercise
1. Shawn Johnson USA 15.375
2. Shantessa Pama USA 15.225
3. Xiao Sha CHN 15.025
4. Alyona Pronina RUS 14.725
5. Jasmine Webb AUS 14.625
6. Kristina Vaculik CAN 14.550
7. Koko Tsurumi JPN 14.475
8. Yessenia Estrada MEX 13.950

Splitleap’s commentary: Liukin looked tired during competition, and I thought she could have benefited from a competitive break. Liukin had a few small errors on her bars and beam routines in the team/all-around competition, and stumbled on floor. Despite the errors, Liukin still tied for first all-around. I hope she is not peaking too early before the 2008 Olympics.

Memmel looked great. This was her first competition since a recent ankle surgery, and she proved that she is ready for this new scoring system.

Bieger is really starting to earn a name for herself, with a recent win at the Cottbus Cup and now victory on vault and floor at Pacific Alliance. She competed at the 2005 World Championships on uneven bars only, and is making herself known as a solid competitor.

Shayla Worley has the whole package—personality, elegance and difficult tricks. Pacific Alliance was her second major international meet, and she handled the pressure with poise.

Austrlalia’s Hollie Dykes established herself as One to Watch on the road to Beijing. Her routines are difficult and graceful. Dykes’ style reminds me of 1996 Olympic all-around champion Lilia Podkopayeva. I was impressed with the Aussie team overall. They’ve really been on a charge on the international scene, but had a disappointing Olympic competition in 2004. With Russia’s and Romania’s programs falling apart, Australia could be on the podium in 2008.

Canada performed admirably, but the gymnasts lack polish. Hofner-Hibbs was the only Canadian to execute her skills with good form. Aisha Gerber was ill and consequently not up to par.

China did not send a senior team, but the juniors gave a sneak peek into the future of Chinese gymnastics. Xiao Sha’s 16.275 is one of the highest scores thus far in the season. Perhaps with the new scoring system, the Chinese gymnasts will get their just deserts on events like bars and beam. I’ve still not gotten over Kui YuanYuan being ripped off during the 1997 world championship beam final. Kui performed the most difficult and most beautifully-executed routine that night, but was rewarded with a dismal third place finish.