JUNIOR
ELITE
NATIONAL
CHAMPIONSHIPS
RLYNCH lfDlHEWAY air Lynch led the pack of junior gymnasts that strived for one of the six spots on the U.S. Junior Elite National Team. The Junior Championships took place in Denver, Colo., June 7-10.
fall, won the all-around title by a wide margin over his nearest competitor, Robby Kieffer. Their final scores were 108.10 and 105.02. "Jair has exceptional talent but he lacks strength,"
Jair Lynch won the all-around by a wide margin. Lynch, 18, is from Washington, D.C. but attends Stanford University where he trains and competes under his coaches Sadao Hamada and Tong Fei. Lynch, who will be a sophomore in the
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said Hamada. "This summer he'll work half strength and half gymnastics." Lynch not only won the all-around competition, he also won floor, pommel horse, parallel bars and
placed second on high bar. "I was a little conservative because Conrad Voorsanger and I just got back from Italy for the Grand Prix of Rome competition three days ago," said Lynch. "Our bodies were not in sync yet. I'm real happy with the outcome." Jair recently tied for 13th in the all-around at the NCAA Championships and looks to have a bright future in gymnastics. Next year he plans to compete in the senior division and compete at Winter Nationals. Kieffer, 17, also has a bright future. The Crenshaw Athletic Club gymnast pulled himself from fifth allaround after compulsories to earn the silver medal overall. In addition, he won the gold medal on vault, the silver medal on floor, and the bronze on rings and high bar. Kieffer's optionals were much stronger than compulsories-54.25 to 51.35. Kieffer is coached by Lance King and will be a senior in high school in Austin, Texas this fall. Sumner Darling from International Gymnastics Center in Stroudsburg, Pa. earned the bronze medal in the all-around, the gold medal on high bar and the bronze medal on pommel horse. Coached by Gene Watson, he competed in the senior division last year at
Championships and qualified for the U.S. Elite Senior Development Team. This year, due to the new Junior Elite Division, he elected to compete at the Junior Elite Championships. "I got off to a rough start on pommel horse, then I had a break on rings," said Darling. "After that, I calmed down and was happy with my comeback." Darling will attend the University of Nebraska in the fall as a freshman. Josh Stein from Gymnastics Factory placed fourth allaround-with very consistent compulsory and optional routines. He scored 51.80 in compulsories and 51.70 in optionals. Stein was in fourth place after the compulsories and maintained his placement throughout the optional round of competition. He trains in Houston, Texas with his coach Kevin Mazeika. Jason Whitfield from Genesee Valley in Flint, Mich. placed fifth all-around and first on rings with a combined score of 18.060. His top score was a 9.35 on compulsory vault. Whitfield, from Westland, Mich., is coached by Kurt Golder. And, the last spot on the junior elite national team went to Jeff Bender from Stanford University coached by Sadao Hamada and Tong Fei. Bender was in third place after the compulsory round of competition, however, had a difficult time on rings and high bar and dropped to sixth. Bender is from Lancaster, Calif. and will be a sophomore in the fall.
Results on page 31
USA GYMNASTICS September/October 1990
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