Gymnastics: Day 1 Recap

By Mark Moschetti

July 3, 2018

Jennifer Rhein from Kentucky, Krysta Perez from Florida, Juliana Quintero from Florida, and Saneatha Trice from Illinois had the top scores for their respective levels in the gymnastics all-around competition at the Special Olympics USA Games on Tuesday.

Rhein, completing in the 22-plus age group at Level 1, totaled 75.70 points inside Seattle Pacific University’s Royal Brougham Pavilion. With a maximum of 20 points available per event, she was in the 19s on the balance beam (19.50), vault (19.30) and floor exercise (19.10).

Perez had 73.70 points in the 12-15 age group of Level 2. Her top performance was 19.00 on the floor exercise, and she was in the 18s on the uneven parallel bars (18.50) and vault (18.40).

Quintero was in the 16-21 age group for Level 3, finishing her day with 69.35 points. She had a 19.00 total on the floor.

Trice was the only Level 4 competitor and totaled 66.50 points. Her top mark was 18.60 on the floor.

Other Level 1 gold medalists were Sabine Collins of Texas in age 8-15 (67.00 points), Emily Montgomery of Washington in age 8-21 (53.10), and Sarah Kramer of Minnesota in age 16-21 (72.20).

Joining Perez as gold medalists in Level 2 were Lexi Myers of South Carolina in age 12-21 (63.40), Virginia Wade of Washington in age 16-21 (68.90), and Tonya Cornett of Kentucky in age 22-plus (73.10).

At Level 3, Rhea Alathur of New Jersey in age 12-15 (67.15), Michelle Melton of South Carolina in age 16-plus (59.75) and Lee Dockins of Kentucky in age 22-plus (66.25) earned gold along with Quintero.

Competition resumes on Wednesday with the vault and balance beam finals. Levels 1 and 2 compete at 9:30 a.m.; Levels 3 and 4 begin at 11:25, with awards to follow at 12:15 p.m.