THE 1987 PAN AMERICAN GAMES : Women’s Gymnastics : Despite Falls, U.S. Team Wins Gold in Record Performance

The little gymnasts, who won the Pan American team gold medal for the United States before a capacity crowd at the Hoosier Dome, have a long way to go before even thinking about the Olympic Games in 1988.

In fact, these girls have a way to go before competing at the World Championships in Rotterdam, Holland, six weeks from now.

But even on a night when Kristie Phillips fell off the balance beam and Rhonda Faehn did a petite pratfall during her floor exercise routine, the Americans were good enough to build on the lead they gained in compulsory routines and beat everyone in the hemisphere.

The U.S. team won the gold medal with 385.950 while Cuba took the silver with 376.375 and Canada took the bronze with 368.725.

Canada didn’t even send its top team to these Pan Am Games. The B team came here while the A team stayed home to continue training for the World Championships.

Not an issue with the home crowd, which thrilled to the gold-medal performance.

And not an issue with U.S. Coach Greg Marsden, who reasoned, “When you win a gold medal and set a Pan Am record, how can you not be pleased?”

The team topped the Pan Am record of 384.21, set in 1963 by the American team in Sao Paul, Brazil.

But there were flaws along the way.

On this night, Phillips didn’t lead her team in a single event.

Faehn scored a 9.95 on her vault, Melissa Marlowe scored a 9.8 on the uneven bars, Sabrina Mar had a 9.7 on her balance beam routine followed by a 9.85 on her floor exercise routine.

Mar, a 17-year-old who will be a senior at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, was the top scorer for the U.S. with a total of 77.550 points. A product of the SCATS club, Mar had the kind of consistency some of the others were lacking, with scores of 9.825 on the vault and 9.65 on the uneven bars.

Marsden noted the mistakes during the floor exercise and the balance beam (Faehn fell there, too, for the second night in a row) and said that when they get to international competition, more consistency will be a must.

“This is a young and exciting group of athletes,” he said. “Certainly we saw a lot we need to work on . . . It’s been a long time since we’ve had so many strong athletes. We have seven or eight kids that on a given night can win a competition. They are all excellent, superb athletes.”

The seven or eight Marsden referred to includes Phoebe Mills, who works with Coach Bela Karolyi, along with Phillips, and Jennifer Sey of Allentown, Pa.

Mills came to the Pan Am Games but was unable to compete because of a heel injury and Sey chose to stay home to rehabilitate an ankle injury.

All eight are expected to make the trip to the World Championships.

Marsden said, “We have a lot of young athletes who are just beginning to tap the potential of what they can do.”

No one seemed too concerned with Phillips’ less-than-sparkling performance. If not for the fall and the 9.3 on the balance beam, she would have led the team.

Phillips had just completed her dramatic planche on the beam and was attempting a full turn when she lost her balance and had to hop to the floor.

“It was a stupid mistake on my part,” Phillips said. “I wasn’t concentrating enough on a simple move. That wasn’t a major move . . .

“But beam is the most nerve-wracking thing that we do and the hardest to keep concentration on.

“I should have done it, but I might as well forget about it now because I can’t go back and change it.”

She forgot about it quickly enough to be able to move on to the floor exercise and delight the crowd with a 9.7 performance.

Mar commended Phillips’ ability to recover and regain concentration.

And she said that concentration and confidence accounted for her success, too. “After all these years and three international championships, I know what to expect,” Mar said. “I know how I perform under pressure. All the experience has helped me.

“I used to tense up and begin to doubt myself if I had a bad warmup, but now, I always know what I can do. I used to get cautious and not go all out.

“That was the difference tonight. I was able to be aggressive. That’s what some of the younger girls need to do, and that will come with time.”

Mar said that her first concern Thursday night was helping the team win the gold medal. “This team is learning to work together,” she said. “This team has unified so much since the World Championships in 1985. That’s going to help us in the future.”

Individual competition begins here Saturday.