U.S. Gymnastics Trials Begin Tonight

The gymnastics trials, part II, begin tonight and will run the next four days to determine the U.S. men’s and women’s Olympic teams.

The contenders already went through the so-called national championships at Houston in July, but those scores count for only 40%. This week’s make up the remainder.

There are several people to watch in the women’s competition, among them Olympic Coach Don Peters and Olympic Coach wanna-be Bela Karolyi. Karolyi, who has five of the top nine girls here, has made no bones about his wanting the top job.

He had a lesser title and held it, it seemed, until he could resign it with maximum publicity value, right after the national meet. His status remains unclear, although tension between the two seems only to grow.

Marta Karolyi, Bela’s wife, meanwhile serves as Peters’ assistant coach.

Whatever happens in the back rooms, it should not eclipse the struggle on the mats inside the Salt Palace here.

Phoebe Mills, of Karolyi’s gym, will be defending her top score while teammate Kristie Phillips attempts not only to regain her former glory but to make the team, no safe bet. Having switched from Karolyi to Peters and back to Karolyi again, she has nearly dropped through the floor of the sport. She managed a ninth-place finish in Houston and has lots of ground to make up here.

The men’s team, as well as the women’s, could very well end up without any holdovers from the gold-medal winning 1984 Olympic team. Scott Johnson was held out of the national meet with an injury, so his entire score will come from this week’s competition.

That will also be the case for Tim Daggett, who competed in some disciplines at Houston. He had a grisly accident in the World Championships in 1987, splintering his leg on a vault dismount. Although his comeback has been spectacular, he has yet to perform any vault in competition. No one knows for sure what he will do.

Dan Hayden, traditionally the stronger of the Hayden twins, leads after the national championships, followed closely by Kevin Davis and Charles Lakes. But a competitor to watch may be Lance Ringnald, who was sixth after the Houston scoring. He is a recent high school graduate.