Antolin Struggles on First Day of Championships

ST. LOUIS —  Jeanette Antolin had her face set in a solemn stare as she marched onto the floor of the Kiel Center Thursday night. The parade of athletes that starts gymnastics contests is supposed to be festive, but Antolin, an 18-year-old from Huntington Beach, was not ready to be festive.

Not now, not after 10 years of training for this, the start of the 2000 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, where the process for choosing the Olympic team began.

And when she marched off the floor, Antolin was even more solemn.

After the first night of competition, Antolin was in 14th place. Only the top 12 after Saturday night’s all-around finals will advance to the Olympic trials in Boston next month.

Antolin hasn’t been able to practice her full routines for two weeks because of a sore ankle.

During her floor exercise, Antolin took a bad fall . Afterward, though, Antolin, a graduate of Marina High who trains at SCATS in Huntington Beach, seemed determined to perform better Saturday.

Antolin has the option of withdrawing from Saturday’s final and asking for an injury petition into the Olympic trials.

“But I don’t want to do things that way,” Antolin said. “I want to earn my way into the trials.”

Antolin’s coach, Don Peters, wasn’t so certain, saying he wanted to see how Antolin was able to practice today. “She hurt the ankle again on the fall,” Peters said. “She’s running on adrenaline now. Let’s see how things go in a day.”

Antolin began her evening on the uneven parallel bars, where her routine was completed safely with a small step out on her landing. She scored 9.300 and after the first of her four rotations, Antolin was in seventh place.

Second for Antolin was the balance beam, an apparatus where her sore ankle has been bothersome. Antolin didn’t have one big fall, but several small bobbles. Her score was 8.900 and Peters rubbed Antolin’s shoulders. He also was unhappy with the judges, who he felt didn’t give Antolin’s routine a high enough start value, which is the base score from which the routine is judged.

After two rotations Antolin had dropped to 11th place.

Next up was the floor exercise.

For three quarters of her routine, Antolin was on. Her first tumbling pass was dramatic and difficult. Bela Karolyi, the U.S. team coordinator and the man who will have the final say on the makeup of the U.S. team, nodded his approval and scribbled some notes.

But on her final tumbling pass, as her music built to a crescendo, Antolin stumbled and fell. Peters’ head dropped and Antolin walked off the mat nearly in tears. Her score of 8.700 dropped Antolin to 15th place after three rotations and left her with the vault to complete.

Even though she was limping, Antolin did her two vaults and scored a 9.262.

“She just hasn’t had the consistency in practice,” Peters said. “Jeanette was doing great on the floor but I think she got tired at the end and that’s from not being able to train enough.”

Still, Antolin is sure she can clean up mistakes and make up ground. “I’m just looking to pull up to 12th and get to Boston,” she said. “Then I’ll have the time to practice and get things together again.”