GYMNASTICS: U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS : UCLA’s Waller Wins Close Fight; Zmeskal Defends Title

Chris Waller studied the final scores of the open senior men’s competition he had just won at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships.

“That’s far too close,” the UCLA gymnast said after seeing his 2.0-point compulsory lead dwindle to a winning margin of .14.

Waller outlasted teammate Chainey Umphrey and Nebraska’s Patrick Kirkscy, who tied for second. UCLA’s Tom Schlesinger finished fourth, .20 behind Waller.

In the women’s open senior competition, Houston’s Kim Zmeskal became the first to defend her title in 19 years.

Waller began Saturday’s competition by scoring 9.70 on the pommel horse, his highest mark of the day.

“I started out real well,” Waller said, “and thought I was going to nail my routine the best I could ever do. My head was going along, but my body was being just a little conservative.”

Waller scored 9.35 on the parallel bars and 9.65 on the high bar.

Gold Cup’s Lance Ringnald and Oklahoma’s Jarrod Hanks finished fifth and sixth. The top six finishers earn a spot on the U.S. international team competing in the world championships at Indianapolis Sept. 6-15.

Defending champion John Roethlisberger of Minnesota finished eighth.

Kurt Thomas, 35, attempting a comeback after 11 years, finished 22nd.

Trent Dimas, representing Gold Cup, narrowly missed serious injury when he was blinded by a spectator’s camera flash. Dimas missed his mark on the vault and landed off the safety mat. After judges permitted the gymnast another attempt, Dimas scored the day’s high mark of 9.8 to finish 11th.

The seventh through 12th place finishers earned a spot on the U.S. national team.

Zmeskal led from start to finish to win the women’s competition with a score of 78.420, becoming the first repeat champion since Tracee Talavera in 1982.

Despite stepping out of bounds during the floor exercise for a .10-point penalty, Zmeskal defeated Arizona State sophomore Sandy Woolsey by .340 points.

Kerri Strug, a teammate of Zmeskal who is coached by Bela Karolyi, finished third at 78.050.

A third member of Karolyi’s team, Hilary Grivich, finished sixth.