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| Monday, August 21, 2006 |  |
Liukin defends title
By splitleap @ 3:42 PM :: 2754 Views ::
0 Comments :: Gymnastics News, Splitleap Article |  |
Under the old scoring system, Nastia Liukin’s 1.55 lead over Natasha Kelley heading into finals would have been considered a comfortable lead. Now, however, a misstep could cost Liukin the national title—and it almost did.
Liukin got off to a bad start on floor, where she made a mistake on her first tumbling pass, doing a single twist instead of a double after her 1 ½, and then stepping out of bounds. She had another error on an attempted double turn, only making a 1 ½. Considering Liukin scored a 15.0 for a much cleaner exercise in prelims, the 14.70 she was awarded in finals seemed pretty high despite her mistakes.
Meanwhile, Natasha Kelley performed a solid bar routine (Tkatchev; Hindorff to Pak; double front) for a 15.70, narrowing Liukin’s lead to just 0.55.
Liukin answered back with a Yurchenko 1 ½ (hop forward, but very nice in the air) in the second rotation that scored 15.0. Kelley performed a highly difficult beam routine (7.0 difficulty score), but lost a lot of execution points. Her 15.75 was enough to overtake Liukin at the rotation’s end.
Liukin went to bars, where she scored a 16.40 in preliminaries. She was off balance after an Ono-half and swung an extra giant into a Geinger. Liukin scored a 15.85. Kelley improved her form on her double layout (piked on second flip in preliminaries), but the dance was rather uninspired. Kelley held just a 0.2 lead over Liukin heading into the final rotation.
Kelley upgraded her vault from preliminaries to a double-twisting Yurchenko. She took a small step and scored a 14.85. Liukin, ending on one of her strongest events, needed only to get through her beam routine with no major mistakes to defend her national title. However, Liukin made a costly error on her tumbling series of back handspring, layout step out, two-foot layout, losing her balance after the layout. She grabbed the beam and did an impromptu handstand to stay on. Liukin seemed to recover until the dismount, but was slightly off center upon landing her triple twist. Liukin was awarded a 15.55 (with a seemingly impossible execution score of 9.15) and won the national title over Kelley by 0.5.
Event emcee John Macready interviewed Liukin after the event. “It feels great to come out and compete my best and put on a show for you,” she told the crowd. “Tonight wasn't as good as the first day but everyone makes mistakes and I still came out on top, so I'm happy!”
Jana Bieger retained her third place position from last year with a steady all-around performance during both days of competition. She began the final on vault, opening with a Yurchenko 1 ½. She also vaulted a handspring laid out front full (McIntosh) to average a 15.10.
Bieger improved her bar score from prelims with a 15.80 in the final. She swung an Endo half; Stalder full; Ricna to Pak; Stalder full to Tkatchev; and dismounted with a stuck full-in. Her form on bars has improved since last year.
She then went to balance beam, where she completed a jam-packed routine that included a barani; front aerial, back pike; punch front, ff, layout; double front dismount with a small hop. She was originally awarded a 15.50, but the score was later raised to 15.70. Bieger ended the competition on floor, opening with a straight-body double layout. She had a small hop back on her double pike dismount, but otherwise the routine was clean. She received a 15.35 and clinched the bronze medal.
Chellsie Memmel had a few scary moments on her first event, beam. She wobbled after her barani and front tuck, ff, layout series, and then had a big break on her illusion. She took a hop on her double pike dismount, knocking her score down to a 15.20 from the 15.80 she scored in prelims.
Memmel’s troubles continued on floor, where she took a large hop out of her opening double Arabian. She had some form errors (low back leg on switch ring) and landed low on her front full side pass. Third after prelims, Memmel dropped to fifth after floor. She vaulted a safe Yurchenko full (slightly bent legs, hop) and hit her bar routine for fourth place.
Alicia Sacramone began the finals on floor exercise. She opened with a Dos Santos, but landed stiff-legged. She completed her next pass, a triple twist, with ease and scored a 15.35. Sacramone then vaulted a high Rudi, but completed the flip with her head very close to the table. She followed up with a powerful Yurchenko double, averaging 15.80 and taking the event title.
Sacramone readied for the ever-precarious uneven bars. She had problems hitting handstands, but she made it through her giant-full to Geinger and double layout dismount for a 14.45, which was better than her score from prelims. Sacramone was on fire on beam, mounting with a piked front. She completed a tour jete half and a full turn with leg at horizontal. She showed signs of nervousness when she wobbled on a piked front, then came off the beam on a switch leap, switch side. The crowd groaned with disappointment, and Sacramone scored a 14.70 to claim fifth place.
Ashley Priess had some stumbles in her debut senior final, but was able to place sixth. She landed low on her double pike dismount from beam, and stepped out of bounds on her 2 ½ layout front on floor. She vaulted a Yurchenko 1 ½ for a 15.0 and had to add an extra swing before her Tkatchev to Pak salto on bars.
Seventh-place finisher Kassi Price began on vault with a Yurchenko 1 ½ and a Podkopayeva. She was solid on bars for a 15.50 and the bronze medal on that event. Price had an unusual moment on beam when she fell on a front aerial, bhs, back tuck and ripped her beam shoe. She remounted with the shoe on, but kicked it off right before her double pike dismount. The audience appreciated her tenacity and gave her a big round of applause.
Parkette Amber Trani improved on her performance from prelims to place eighth. Christine Nguyen struggled on bars to place ninth, while Randi Stageberg tied for first place on floor with Alicia Sacramone, but was tenth all-around.
Complete results:
1. Nastia Liukin 123.700
2. Natasha Kelley 123.200
3. Jana Bieger 123.000
4. Chellsie Memmel 121.400
5. Alicia Sacramone 121.000
6. Ashley Priess 120.900
7. Kassi Price 116.900
8. Amber Trani 115.200
9. Christine Nguyen 115.050
10. Randi Stageberg 114.200
11. Jacquelyn Johnson 113.850
11. Kayla Hoffman 113.850
13. Britney Ranzy 112.800
13. Morgan Evans 112.800
15. Cortni Beers 111.700
16. Hillary Mauro 111.050
17. Geralen Stack-Eaton 110.750
18. Alaina Johnson 109.850
Event Finals
Vault:
1. Alicia Sacramone 31.275
2. Jana Bieger 30.300
3. Kassi Price 29.175
Uneven Bars:
1. Nastia Liukin 32.250
2. Natasha Kelley 31.500
3. Kassi Price 31.350
Balance Beam:
1. Nastia Liukin 31.850
2. Natasha Kelley 31.600
3. Jana Bieger 31.200
Floor Exercise:
1. Alicia Sacramone 30.650
1. Randi Stageberg 30.650
3. Chellsie Memmel 30.600
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