Le Mans, France - The U.S. vaulters are off to a solid start at the FEI World Vaulting Championship. The U.S. representatives in the Individual Male and Female divisions started off the competition performing the first round of Compulsories on Thursday.
In the Individual Male Championship division, Gabe Aniello (Redwood City, CA) currently sits in 11th place, leading the U.S. male vaulters. Vaulting on Forrest Cump and lunged by Agnes Forst, Aniello scored a 6.928 in his first round Compulsories. Kristian Roberts (Moss Beach, CA), also paired with Forrest Cump and lunger Forst, is close behind in 12th place with a score of 6.899. Patrick Stevens (Martinez, CA) currently sits in 14th place with a score of 6.705, vaulting on Maxwell and lunged by Anouk Dory.
Alicen Divita (Redwood City, CA) leads the U.S. in the Individual Female Championship. She scored a 7.837 vaulting on Pino del Rio lunged by Elke Schlep-Lansing putting her in tenth place. Scoring a 7.698 after vaulting on Anyway 54 and lunged by Lasse Kristensen, Mary McCormick (Woodside, CA) is in 12th place. Katharine Wick (Hillsborough, CA) sits in 19th place after the first round of Compulsories, scoring a 7.354 with Luk and lunger Rita Bileske.
The U.S. team feels good about their performances after the first day of competition. "The World Vaulting Championship is a highly competitive event. The first round of Compulsories for the men and women are complete and the U.S. athletes have made a good start," said Chef d'Equipe Suzanne Detol.
Competition continues tomorrow with the Team first round Compulsories starting at 10:00am local time. The Individual divisions will follow performing their first round Free Tests with the Individual Females beginning at 1:00pm local time and the Individual Males at 4:30pm local time.
FEI TV will be providing a live broadcast of the FEI World Vaulting Championship on their website. To see the broadcast schedule and watch, click here: http://www.feitv.org/page/Live
For start lists and results, click here.
Follow the 2012 U.S. Vaulting Team here: http://www.usefnetwork.com/featured/2012Vaulting/