NEW YORK, March 2, 2012 – Charity Jones of Miami, Okla./Dynamo Gymnastics, posted a 38.075 score to win the all-around title at the third annual Nastia Liukin Cup inside Madison Square Garden Friday night. Alex McMurtry of Midlothian, Va./Richmond Olympiad Gymnastics, and Polina Shchennikova of Colorado Springs, Colo./T.I.G.A.R, tied for second, scoring 37.875. Defending champion Grace Williams of Linden, Mich./Gedderts’ Twistars USA, finished third with a 37.750. Proceeds from the event go to the Nastia Liukin Fund, a charitable fund within the National Gymnastics Foundation.
Jones began her night on the vault, performing a big Yurchenko double full for a 9.775. In rotation two, Jones scored 9.375 on the uneven bars with a Tkatchev release move and double layout dismount. On the balance beam, her routine, which included a back handspring to layout stepout and double tuck dismount, gave her a 9.625. In the final rotation, Jones took to the floor leading the competition. Mounting with a tuck full in and dismounting with a double pike, she scored a 9.300 to win the all-around title.
"It feels amazing to win the Nastia Liukin Cup," Jones said. "It’s just so surreal because there are so many good athletes here. I tried my best, and to come out on top feels good."
McMurtry began on the floor, earning a 9.350 with a tucked full-in that seemed to hang in the rafters. On the vault, she posted the night’s highest score, a 9.900, for a powerful double twisting Yurchenko, giving her the vault title. McMurtry, then, moved to the uneven bars where she earned a 9.050. In the final rotation, McMurtry was solid on the balance beam, executing a switch leap to back tuck and nearly stuck two-and-a-half twisting dismount for a 9.575 and a share of second place.
Shchennikova, who tied McMurtry for second in the all-around, started on the floor exercise with a 9.450, after mounting with a double pike. On the vault, she performed a Yurchenko full for a 9.425. Shchennikova soared on the uneven bars with a piked stalder to Tkatchev to Pak salto connection for a 9.550 and the event title. In the final rotation, Shchennikova used her grace and long lines on the balance beam to post a 9.450.
Williams, who won the Nastia Liukin Cup title in 2011, earned her highest score of the night on the vault with a 9.600 for her Yurchenko full. She also earned a 9.375 on the uneven bars, a 9.475 on the beam and a 9.300 on floor to finish third in the all-around.
Wynter Childers of Spearfish, S.D./Spearfish Gymnastics, posted the highest score on the balance beam, a 9.700, to win the event title, while Alicia Boren of Franklin Hills, N.J./North Stars Gymnastics Academy, won the floor exercise title with a 9.550, dismounting with an impressive full-twisting double back.
Each of the 34 gymnasts in the field qualified through one of the designated invitationals that comprised the Nastia Liukin Cup Series. A selected number of gymnasts from each invitational advanced to the Nastia Liukin Cup.
The Nastia Liukin Cup participants received a Nastia Liukin-designed leotard and a warm-up from GK Elite; two tickets to the AT&T American Cup; and both met and had their photo taken with Liukin. For more information, go to nastialiukincup.com.
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