Atler Takes Floor Exercise Title

Vanessa Atler received the highest single score of the night, Dominique Moceanu won two individual events and Kristen Maloney became the overall leader Thursday after the women’s event finals and all-around preliminaries in the U.S. Gymnastics Championships.

Atler, the defending U.S. all-around champion from Canyon Country, earned a national title in floor exercise with her high mark of 9.850 but was sixth in the all-around race with 36.975 points after the preliminaries.

Her downfall came on the uneven bars, where Atler fell twice during her routine and posted a disappointing 8.225.

Moceanu gained national titles in the vault and the balance beam, and Elise Ray won the other individual national title in the uneven bars with a 9.825.

Moceanu, 16, scored 9.800 points on the balance beam in the final rotation of the night, topping Maloney’s previous high of 9.725.

A gold-medal winner on the U.S. Olympic team, Moceanu also took first place in the vault with a 9.537, although she acknowledged she was nervous in that event.

Moceanu had entered the competition after missing two weeks of training because of a strained left knee.

“I accomplished a lot of things out there,” Moceanu said. “This helps build my confidence. I was nervous in the vault.”

Moceanu’s strong finish in the balance beam gave her 37.137 points, good enough for second heading into Saturday’s all-around finals.

Maloney is the leader with 38.162 points. Although she did not win any of the individual event finals, she was consistent. In the last rotation, the floor exercise, she posted a 9.400 after stepping out of bounds.

“I didn’t pay too close attention to the scores,” Maloney said. “I’m ahead right now, but so what?”

The results Thursday count 50% toward the all-around championship. Jennie Thompson is third in the overall standings with 37.337 points, and Ray is fourth with 37.137.