Gymnasts Staying Home To Train For Spring Meets
The Columbus Dispatch
Feb 18, 1994
p. 1F
With regional elite qualifying meets scheduled Feb. 26-27, many top teams did not enter the 11th annual Buckeye Classic, which begins today and runs through Sunday in the Celeste Center at the Ohio State Fairgrounds. It caused last-minute defections of the Desert Devils of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Cincinnati Gymnastics.
They deemed it more important to stay home and train for a spring schedule that also includes the McDonald's American Cup in Orlando, Fla., March 4-5; the American Classic Nationals in Orlando on March 25-27; and the World Championships, April 19-24 in Brisbane, Australia.
But the Floridians held their elite qualifying Feb. 5. So such top teams as American Twisters of Pompano Beach and Brown's Gymnastics of Altamonte Springs will use the Buckeye Classic as a tuneup. American Twisters return to defend the team title they captured in 1993, edging the Desert Devils 152.25 to 152.15.
Twenty-two teams will compete in the open division, with more than 2,000 gymnasts in the meet. American Twisters will bring about 70 girls, Brown's about 60.
"We're using this as a warm-up to get ready for the American Classic," Twisters coach Tim Rand said. "We're trying a lot of new things, getting ready for the elite season."
Heading Rand's group are Kellee Davis, a member of the 1993 senior national team, and Marissa Medal, last year's level 9 national AA champion, who turned 12 in December and entered the elite division.
"We're expecting her to burst onto the national scene this year," Rand said of Medal. If she succeeds as he expects, she could be one to watch in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Davis is ranked seventh in the United States and was selected for her first international competition in Spain in December.
Rounding out Rand's elite group will be Giselle Boniforti, Susie Krug and Jaime Graziano. Another Twisters trainee, Susie Kinkaid, whose father grew up in Marion, Ohio, will not compete this weekend because of problems with a cyst in her ankle.
Although Rand feels confident, he expects tough competition from Brown's, which recently added several Russians. Brown's took second in the team race last weekend at an Atlanta meet behind Dynamo Gymnastics, with Olympian Shannon Miller. Russian Marina Vidas was third in the all-around despite a fall on uneven bars, and should be a top contender in the Buckeye Classic.
"They came earlier this year and stayed with us, then went back to Russia," coach Rita Brown said. "Now they're back in Florida to live and to try to go to school. We're in the process of getting student visas."
Two or three Russians will compete this weekend, either in level 10 or elite.
Brown said her team is eight deep, led by Jenni Beathard. She was eighth at the 1993 U.S. Championships and recently won the Sunshine Cup in Nassau, beating 25 national team members, including Cincinnati's Amanda Borden. Brown said Beathard's goal is to make the world championship team in just her second elite season.