MaylJune 1985
The New Wave Hits USA Gymnasts Begin Regeneration Process By Stu Stuller
he United States gymnastics pyramid gets a good shaking out every year follo w ing the Olympics and it's up to the Championships of the USA to put everything in order. Following the excitement of the Games, thousand s of youngsters join the bottom of the pyramid and a handful of the best gymnasts retire from the top, leaving everyone wondering where the next wave of international competitors will come from .
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Exactly who has retired and who hasn ' t won't be known for certain until the Championships the first week in June becau se la st yea r's Olympians automatically qualified for the meet. However, if the American Classic, the first-round of qualif yi ng for both the Senior and Childrens /J unior Cham pionshi ps (the latter to be held during the USGF Congress in September), is any indication, the next wave of international competitors will come from the last wave. The girls who were denied the Olympic experience are still hungry to prove themselves internationally:
Marie Roethlisberger, the alternate on last year's Olympic Team, Diane Durham, the 1983 national champion w ho was injured at the Trials last year, Lisa Wittwer, who was injured before the Trials and Yolanda Mavity, who limped through the Trials with a hamstring tear. All four are back and operating at full strength, placing in the top four spots at the Classic in Colorado Springs. Leading the next true generation of gymnasts through the Classic was Missy Marlowe, at 14 probably the outstanding Junior gymnast in the country. Despite broken optional routines on floor and bars, Marlowe managed to outscore Jennifer Barton of the Scats, Alyssa Solomon of the Bridgettes and Parkette Hope Spivey. After racking up a six-tenth lead in the compulsories, winning every event except vault, Marlowe hung on to win the Classics Junior title coming off a hand injury just eight weeks before the meet. "I've had people tell me it's too bad she's not a senior/' says her coach Mark Lee of Rocky Mountain Gymnastics , " because she'd certainly make the (national) team." No idle boast. Missy competes with senior level polish and difficulty; a full-in mount on floor, a double back dismount off beam and two big releases on bars including a cast double roll to eagle grip immediate Jaeger front. The Classic also served to sift out the top gymnasts in the country in the children's division . Rather than run the youngsters through the compulsory routines, the girls went through a se ries of tests based on compul sory elements. G y mnasts were awarded up to .2 per event for well-executed skills. Phoebe Mills, a hard-e ye d little proton from Karolyi's, earned .2 on three of the four events to carry a slight lead over
Tracee ealore (left) showed col1sistel1CJ) by wil1l1il1g vault, placil1g third 011 beam al1d takil1g fifth alTaroul1d. (USGF photo Š 1985 by DmJP Black).
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USA Gymnastics
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