USGF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Las Vegas by Don Norton
By the end of compulsories on Thursday. it 's beginning to look lik e th e J apanese a re in charge. Are these the U.S. cham pi ons hips? Yes , Steve Hug is in the lead with 53.5 points, but everyone agrees hi s extra points owe in part to hi s work on basics in J apa n - hi s swi ng and timing are es pecia ll y impro ved . 1'vI. Sakamoto - an d he has also bee n in J apa n - is a close secon d. at 53.3 . afte r a di sappo intin g 7.6 o n the side horse. 1'vI. Watanabe , assistant coach at Cal. . has scored mostl y in th e high 8s, but those who've seen him before agree that on optionals he ' ll make up for the 52 .65 he has scored o n compulsories. I ndeed . the influence of the Japanese is ev ident, and it is a sa lutory influence. The bulk of the " best" gymnasts are clustered around 50 points in compulsories: G. Greenfield , 50.9 (hi s sty le loo ks very su re and mature) : T. Linder, 50 .8 (everyone has a n eye on Linder, who is just a sophomore thi s yea r): D . Butzman. 50.75: K. Allen , 50.6 : F. Turoff. 50.5: F. Dennis. 50.35: P. Ti cke noff, 50.3 : J . Amerine , 49.7: J . Litow, 49.25. The National Coaching C ommittee (all present a nd accounted for) a re concerned about these score s. " In internationa l competition , it 's all over for the Americans after the compulof the coaches rema rks . " Do we hm'e to se nd a ll our gym nasts to train in J apan ry The Ja panese rea ll y don 't know anymore th a n we do ," says a nother. But back to realities: " Who looks most promi sing for international competition in the short and long run ry .. - that 's what the coaches a re trying to figure out. And so they sit - eagle-eyed , concent rating. jotting do wn names and notes. The challenge is obvious: ho w can they get American gymnast s to score in the mid-50s on compulsories? America ' s reputat ion in international' gymnastics may well depend on th ei r ability to predict and tra in the best men now co mpeting. Someone co mpl ai ns that the wo men 's and men 's meets should be held separately. With two men 's and two wo men 's events go ing s imul taneou sly. il nd then two squ ads of each sex to keep track of, a nd then the I p.m. a nd th e 4 p.m. grou ps - well , even seasoned spectators are in a s ma ll da ze , and newcomers are overwhelmed. Thank goodnes s for Saturday when the four-ring circus becomes a one-ring circus. One of the officials observes th at soon there wi ll have to be qua lifyi ng meet s. This meet can still handle 34 men on a single afternoon but not the 54 women who show up. The wo men 's compulsories drag into the evening hours. (Contin ued on page 3 I)
10
AA Cha mpionship, I ) So komoto, 1) Wotonobe, 2) Hu g, 3) Allen, 4) Greenfield, 5) Butzio n 6) Tickenoif.
Kothy Rigby, f~st AA, w amo n.