MILWAUKEE - Courtney Kupets knew a slip on the balance beam might end her
chances of winning the national all-around title.
The 16-year-old gymnast from Gaithersburg never flinched, scoring a 9.650 on her final event to claim her first gold medal in a tense battle with two-time defending champion Tasha Schwikert and 15-year-old phenom Hollie Vise last night at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships.
Schwikert and Vise tied for second place, joining Kupets as the first three members of the U.S. team that will compete in the World Championships later this summer in Anaheim, Calif.
Last night's finals had all drama of a down-to-the-wire finish for the 7,133 fans at the U.S. Cellular Arena. Vise, the surprise contender, scored 9.50 on the uneven bars and 9.70 on the balance beam and still held the all-around lead going into the final rotation.
But vault is a weaker event for Vise, and when she scored 9.150, Kupets and Schwikert had a chance.
Kupets, who said she wasn't aware of the exact score entering the final event, posted a solid score on the beam, even though her coach had reduced its difficulty for this meet.
"I told her to do her normal set, stay with the program," said Kupets' coach, Kelli Hill. "It's a relief, a monkey off our back."
The national champion again belongs to Hill's Gymnastics of Maryland, which also produced national champions Dominique Dawes (Silver Spring) in 1994 and Elise Ray (Columbia) in 2000.
Kupets also had scores of 9.5 on uneven bars, 9.4 on floor exercise and 9.175 on vault in the finals to post a winning score of 74.950.
"I'm so excited right now," Kupets said. "I just won the nationals, and that's kind of crazy."
The race for the all-around title was thrown wide-open when first-day leader Annia Hatch suffered falls on both the uneven bars and beam. She rebounded with a 9.425 on the floor exercise and a 9.625 on the vault, her specialty, to place fifth in the all-around.
Schwikert, who was sixth entering the final half of the all-around, steadily moved up. She scored a 9.45 on her final event, the floor, to tie Vise for second place.
Vise gained confidence with her start on bars and beam and was able to stay in the top three, holding off Ashley Postell, who is from Cheverly, Md., Hatch and Terin Humphrey.
The blond-haired gymnast from Dallas topped Postell, the fourth-place finisher, by 0.425.
A slip on bars cost Postell a spot in the top three, as she scored a subpar 8.475 on that event. Postell rallied to claim fourth with a 9.80 on the bars, the same event she won at the individual world championships last year.
The 16-year-old gymnast from Gaithersburg never flinched, scoring a 9.650 on her final event to claim her first gold medal in a tense battle with two-time defending champion Tasha Schwikert and 15-year-old phenom Hollie Vise last night at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships.
Schwikert and Vise tied for second place, joining Kupets as the first three members of the U.S. team that will compete in the World Championships later this summer in Anaheim, Calif.
Last night's finals had all drama of a down-to-the-wire finish for the 7,133 fans at the U.S. Cellular Arena. Vise, the surprise contender, scored 9.50 on the uneven bars and 9.70 on the balance beam and still held the all-around lead going into the final rotation.
But vault is a weaker event for Vise, and when she scored 9.150, Kupets and Schwikert had a chance.
Kupets, who said she wasn't aware of the exact score entering the final event, posted a solid score on the beam, even though her coach had reduced its difficulty for this meet.
"I told her to do her normal set, stay with the program," said Kupets' coach, Kelli Hill. "It's a relief, a monkey off our back."
The national champion again belongs to Hill's Gymnastics of Maryland, which also produced national champions Dominique Dawes (Silver Spring) in 1994 and Elise Ray (Columbia) in 2000.
Kupets also had scores of 9.5 on uneven bars, 9.4 on floor exercise and 9.175 on vault in the finals to post a winning score of 74.950.
"I'm so excited right now," Kupets said. "I just won the nationals, and that's kind of crazy."
The race for the all-around title was thrown wide-open when first-day leader Annia Hatch suffered falls on both the uneven bars and beam. She rebounded with a 9.425 on the floor exercise and a 9.625 on the vault, her specialty, to place fifth in the all-around.
Schwikert, who was sixth entering the final half of the all-around, steadily moved up. She scored a 9.45 on her final event, the floor, to tie Vise for second place.
Vise gained confidence with her start on bars and beam and was able to stay in the top three, holding off Ashley Postell, who is from Cheverly, Md., Hatch and Terin Humphrey.
The blond-haired gymnast from Dallas topped Postell, the fourth-place finisher, by 0.425.
A slip on bars cost Postell a spot in the top three, as she scored a subpar 8.475 on that event. Postell rallied to claim fourth with a 9.80 on the bars, the same event she won at the individual world championships last year.
