Pommel Horse

ATLANTA -- The opportunity was there yesterday for the U.S. men's gymnastics team. Halfway through the optional finals in the 1996 Olympics at the Georgia Dome, the upstart Americans still were hanging around, still in the hunt for a bronze medal and a measure of respect.When it was over last evening, the U.S. team gained respect but missed out on a medal.The Americans were thrown by the pommel horse.The team's two best -- four-time national champion John Roethlisberger and Mihai Bagiu -- fell off, and the United States fell out of medal contention.

ATHENS - Paul Hamm did not medal in two individual events yesterday. It didn't matter that much, though. He still has his all-around gold medal. And no one will take that victory from him. Rejecting controversy, Hamm again proclaimed himself the all-around champion. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) responded to a South Korean protest Saturday, reviewed the competition and suspended three judges after determining bronze medalist Yang Tae Young was robbed of a tenth of a point last week on the parallel bars.

Jesse WhyteSeverna ParkGymnastics The junior won the Anne Arundel County and state all-around gymnastics championships with 40.9 points. He took first in the parallel bars and floor exercise and second in the rings, pommel horse and high bar.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - It's good to be the king. Paul Hamm, the best all-around male gymnast in the world, put another jewel in his crown last night when he won the all-around title at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Although it was Hamm's third consecutive national all-around title, he did not take it for granted. Starting the evening with a eight-tenths of a point lead after Wednesday night's preliminary competition, he briefly lost his grip on the opening routine and then blasted back into first and stayed there through the final five events.

* In a dual meet victory over Arundel, Long placed first in si events, establishing school records in vaulting (8.8), parallel bars (7.8) and floor (8.5). His other two firsts were in rings (5.9) and pommel horse (5.4), giving him the school mark and the all-around title (42.2).

GymnasticsThe Harford Gymnastics boys team began its season last week in Columbia with gymnasts competing in Classes II through VI.Kevin Jans, competing in Class VI in the 7-9 age group, won the floor exercise with a 9.2, rings with 9.6 and parallel bars with 8.6. He also placed third on horizontal bar (8.0), fourth on vault (8.9), fifth on pommel horse (9.2) and second all-around (53.5).First-year competitors Andrew Burgard and Eric Schmitz finished fifth and sixth, respectively, on floor.

Perna Gymnastics Club's Sean Ruth and Nick Willet ranke among the leaders in almost every event in this weekend's USA Gymnastics-sponsored boys state championships at the Fairland Athletic Club in Prince George's County to qualify for April's regionals at West Point.Competing at Level 6, Ruth (7-8 age bracket) scored 5.20 on floor exercises (fourth place), 5.40 on pommel horse (eighth), 4.50 on rings, 5.10 on vault (third), 5.30 on parallel bars (fifth), 5.10 on horizontal bars (sixth) and 30.60 all-around (fourth)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - It's good to be the king. Paul Hamm, the best all-around male gymnast in the world, put another jewel in his crown last night when he won the all-around title at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Although it was Hamm's third consecutive national all-around title, he did not take it for granted. Starting the evening with a eight-tenths of a point lead after Wednesday night's preliminary competition, he briefly lost his grip on the opening routine and then blasted back into first and stayed there through the final five events.

BaseballThe 13-14 Harford Sox put in a strong performance yesterday with a split in a Metro League doubleheader against Putty Hill at C. Milton Wright High School.In the first game, Danny Green went the distance on the mound while going 2-for-4 at the plate in a 11-5 victory.Adam Rafalski was 3-for-4 with five RBIs to lead the Sox, and teammate Brad Glascock almost hit for the cycle with a 3-for-4 performance (single, double, triple). Eric Shank was 2-for-4 with one RBI.In the second game, Putty Hill sent two strong pitchers to the mound and held off the Sox to take home a 9-5 victory.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - All Blaine Wilson wanted last night was to make people say "holy cow" in head-shaking wonderment when he walked on the floor for the U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Thirteen weeks after surgery to repair a torn left biceps tendon, the old man of the men's gymnastics squad wanted to let people know not to scratch him off the roster of the Olympics team yet. His divine bovine moment will have to wait. After saying he might try two of the six events, Wilson, 29, withdrew from the competition when a team official asked him if he was going to try to compete and then submit an injury petition to be included in the Olympic Trials at the end of the month.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - All Blaine Wilson wanted last night was to make people say "holy cow" in head-shaking wonderment when he walked on the floor for the U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Thirteen weeks after surgery to repair a torn left biceps tendon, the old man of the men's gymnastics squad wanted to let people know not to scratch him off the roster of the Olympics team yet. His divine bovine moment will have to wait. After saying he might try two of the six events, Wilson, 29, withdrew from the competition when a team official asked him if he was going to try to compete and then submit an injury petition to be included in the Olympic Trials at the end of the month.

ATLANTA -- The opportunity was there yesterday for the U.S. men's gymnastics team. Halfway through the optional finals in the 1996 Olympics at the Georgia Dome, the upstart Americans still were hanging around, still in the hunt for a bronze medal and a measure of respect.When it was over last evening, the U.S. team gained respect but missed out on a medal.The Americans were thrown by the pommel horse.The team's two best -- four-time national champion John Roethlisberger and Mihai Bagiu -- fell off, and the United States fell out of medal contention.

NEW ORLEANS -- There was something anticlimactic about the event finals at the 1995 National Championships, especially for women's all-around champion Dominique Moceanu.Moceanu, who became the youngest female to win the national title in the 33-year history of the event, did not give a solid-gold performance last night at the Louisiana Superdome.In fact, she was shut out of a gold. And shaken.The 13-year-old took a frightening spill off the uneven bars, when she slipped on dismount, catapulted away from the high bar and skidded to her knees.

BaseballThe 13-14 Harford Sox put in a strong performance yesterday with a split in a Metro League doubleheader against Putty Hill at C. Milton Wright High School.In the first game, Danny Green went the distance on the mound while going 2-for-4 at the plate in a 11-5 victory.Adam Rafalski was 3-for-4 with five RBIs to lead the Sox, and teammate Brad Glascock almost hit for the cycle with a 3-for-4 performance (single, double, triple). Eric Shank was 2-for-4 with one RBI.In the second game, Putty Hill sent two strong pitchers to the mound and held off the Sox to take home a 9-5 victory.

GymnasticsFor Wes Cress of the Gymnastics Plus boys team, bronze was still a golden color at the 1994 United States Gymnastics Federation Junior Olympic National Championships over the weekend at Augusta (Ga.) College.Cress, in the Class II, age 16-18 competition, brought home the Columbia team's only medal with a third-place finish in the floor exercise. He also took eighth in the pommel horse and vault and was 13th out of 38 gymnasts in the all-around.Teammate Tim Bulleri, in Class II, 14-15, came up just short in his bid for a medal, coming within two-tenths of a point of making the medal-round finals.

GymnasticsThe Harford Gymnastics boys team began its season last week in Columbia with gymnasts competing in Classes II through VI.Kevin Jans, competing in Class VI in the 7-9 age group, won the floor exercise with a 9.2, rings with 9.6 and parallel bars with 8.6. He also placed third on horizontal bar (8.0), fourth on vault (8.9), fifth on pommel horse (9.2) and second all-around (53.5).First-year competitors Andrew Burgard and Eric Schmitz finished fifth and sixth, respectively, on floor.

`TC BARCELONA, Spain -- There is a rock 'n' roll gymnast from Minsk who likes fast cars, loud music and dancing in discos.And since a pocketful of rubles can't pay for a tankful of gas, he's even willing to take his high-flying act on the road for the dollar or the deutsche mark.Meet Vitaly Scherbo, the men's all-around gymnastics champion at the 1992 Summer Olympics.Last night, Scherbo got his gold with an aerial display that was as spectacular as it was historic. He scored 59.025 points and led a medal sweep by gymnasts of the soon-to-vanish Unified Team.

Neill Russell remembers the advice his father once offered about notcounting your chickens before they hatch.Not exactly the philosophy of Confucius, but close enough for a coach whose team is the prohibitive favorite entering today's boys gymnastics county meet at Annapolis.Still, while the third-year Annapolis coach expects a hotly contested chase, he admits that when healthy, his Panthers must be given the edge.And the Panthers are healthy again with the return of junior Jason Hill, who recently was sidelined with a leg injury, but will see limited duty this afternoon.

Jesse WhyteSeverna ParkGymnastics The junior won the Anne Arundel County and state all-around gymnastics championships with 40.9 points. He took first in the parallel bars and floor exercise and second in the rings, pommel horse and high bar.

For several years, Severna Park coach Bonnie Habicht has been surrounded by gymnasts who have honed their skills on club teams, with the Falcons as the primary benefactor."