Anchorage Daily News

Anchorage's Amy Winczura capped her gymnastics season with a strong showing at the Level 9 Senior C division at Western Nationals in St. Louis on Sunday. Level 9 gymnasts are two steps below Elite level or Olympic-caliber competitors.

The East High junior, who competes for both the Thunderbirds and Arctic Gymnastics, battled against 48 other gymnasts her age in the western U.S. and emerged with a silver and two bronze medals.

"This gives me a lot of confidence in my goals and things I can accomplish in the future," Winczura said via cell phone.

Winczura was at her best on the vault, where her score of 9.325 was good enough for second place. That mark was just five-hundredths off the top spot.

"Her first vault was nice and her second vault she went at it to win and really attacked it," coach Dan Alch said via cell phone. "She was off a little, landed short, the mat slid and she took a step. That was one-tenth off right there. If she'd have stuck it, she'd have won the vault."

She found the podium again on the floor with a 9.575 that earned her a bronze. She also took tenth on the bars (9.225) and did not place on the beam with a score of 9.15.

Those scores were good enough to place the 16-year-old Winczura third in the race for the all-around title with a mark of 37.275. Alch said the top two finishers came from teams that produce top gymnasts including Olympians.

"She lost by three-tenths, which is like a knee-dip or a step on a landing," Alch said, emphasizing how close his pupil came to winning. "She did a great job. She's got three or four colleges looking at giving her a full ride, and this just adds to her resume."

Alch, Winczura and her mother will now head to Orlando, Fla., for the College Bound Meet, a recruiting event, before returning to Anchorage on Friday.

Winczura, who practices 30 hours a week, will get back into town just in time for finals at East. After a week of tests, she will return to the gym to start working on new skills for next season.

"She's trying to move to the next level now," Alch said.

ADVERTISEMENT