It’s Atler All Around as She Steals Show

Vanessa Atler put on a display of the skills, strength and flair that might take her to the 2000 Olympic Games on Sunday, easily winning the all-around title at the Pan-American Games gymnastics trials at Cal Poly Pomona by finishing first in three of the four events and second in the other.

Atler, who lives in Canyon Country and turns 17 on Wednesday, was near the top of her game in a rare chance to perform in front of an almost hometown crowd, scoring a total of 39.287 points with no score lower than a 9.725.

“I wasn’t really nervous coming into this, after some of the international competitions I’ve just been to with very great gymnasts like Simona Amanar,” Atler said. “This was a meet where I needed to work on being consistent and get things down better.” She was one of three Southern Californians to make the Pan-Am team.

Jeanette Antolin, who trains at SCATS Gymnastics near her home in Huntington Beach, finished fourth, buoyed by a 9.6 on bars and a 9.525 on her floor routine.

Jamie Dantzscher of San Dimas, Atler’s teammate with the Charter Oak Gliders in Covina, was fifth, finishing second on vault with a 9.537 and third on bars with a 9.650 as she continues a comeback after a wrist injury.

Jennie Thompson of Cincinnati, who finished second, Alyssa Beckerman of Middletown, N.J., who was third, and Erinn Dooley of Gaithersburg, Md, who was sixth, also made the team for the Pan-Am Games in Winnipeg in July.

Atler was the star Sunday.

She finished first on vault with a score of 9.887, first in the floor exercise with a sophisticated routine performed to a tango that earned a 9.850, and won the balance beam--not usually her strength--with a 9.825.

She was second on bars with a 9.725 in an event that until recently had given her enough trouble to create something of a mental block.

At the U.S. championships in August, Atler--the defending national champion--fell from the bar twice during preliminaries, but staged a comeback the next day, including a good performance on bars, to finish a close second to Kristen Maloney.