|
© June 2003 by Charles F. Gardner, Milwaukee Sentinel
Hollie Vise might not settle for a berth on the Pan American Games team, judging by her lights-out performance in the women's all-around preliminaries at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships on Thursday night.
The 15-year-old from Dallas will try to duplicate that effort in the all-around finals tonight at the U.S. Cellular Arena. If she is able to hold her current third-place position, she would clinch a berth on the U.S. team for the World Championships in mid-August in Anaheim, Calif.
"Hollie is my baby," said Evgeny Marchenko, coach of the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy team based in Plano, Texas.
"I've coached her from the time she was 4 or 5, and this girl has always
been very cool in competition."
Vise has a beam-bars combination that is tough to beat. She scored an impressive 9.725 points on the balance beam to win the national title in that event on Thursday, and her 9.50 on the uneven bars tied her for second place with Courtney Kupets, just 0.05 behind winner Katie Heenan.
"We've put all our focus on improving the two events where she's strong," Marchenko said. "She has very unique flexibility and manners on the beam."
Even if Vise does not finish in the top three in the all-around, she should have a chance to make the World Championships team at the upcoming selection camp at the Karolyi ranch in Texas. The camp will be held during the first week of July, and three team members and two alternates will be chosen.
"She wants to fight for it," Marchenko said. "Not the all-around (for Worlds), we're not counting on that. But on those two events where she can help the team succeed, that's going to be important."
|
