MacLennan and Smith advance to semifinals at world trampoline and tumbling championships DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- Reigning Olympic champion Rosie MacLennan of Toronto and teammate Samantha Smith, also of Toronto, both advanced to the semifinals in the women’s individual event on the first day of competition Friday at the world trampoline and tumbling championships. MacLennan, the defending world champion, was a little shaky in her compulsory routine but bounced back with a cleanly executed optional routine to finish second in a field of 59 competitors with a score of 103.600 points. Li Dan of China placed first with 103.925 points. The top 24 in the prelims qualified for Saturday’s semifinal to determine eight finalists. Smith placed 15th with a score of 97.540 to earn a second spot for Canada in the semifinal. MacLennan, who came to Daytona leading the strongest women’s team Canada has sent to a world championship, found herself, along with Smith, carrying the torch for injured teammates Karen Cockburn of Toronto and Samantha Sendel of Aurora, Ont. Cockburn, a three-time Olympic medal winner in the midst of a successful comeback broke an ankle in training two days before the competition while Sendel withdrew after experiencing dizziness while training earlier in the week. “It’s definitely been a bit of a mental challenge,” MacLennan. “We were very excited to have a full team and we’re all very close and support each other a lot so we were very upset about Karen’s fall in training. But we’re trying to stay focused on what we are here to do.” MacLennan said she is more concerned with her long-term plan to get ready for the 2016 Olympics than defending the world title she won last year in Sofia, Bulgaria. “We come here and we want to do well obviously, but I’m definitely looking ahead and working on some new routines that I’m hoping to pull out in the finals.” If she makes it to the final MacLennan plans to unveil a difficult routine that includes three triple somersaults, something she’s never tried before in competition but if successful will boost her already impressive degree of difficulty to new heights. In the men’s qualification, brothers Keegan and Kyle Soehn of Red Deer, Alta, finished 31st and 33rd respectively and did not advance. In other events, Jon Schwaiger of Burlington, Ont., qualified eighth for the men’s double mini trampoline final. Douglas Armstrong of Surrey, B.C., placed 13th, Keegan Soehn, 15th, and Ryan Sheehan of Grand Prairie, Alta., 19th. In women’s tumbling, Emily Smith of Burlington, Ont., placed 10th, Erin Templeton of Regina, 19th, and Jordan Sugrim of Mississauga, Ont., 20th. youtu.be/a5BoeHIFeOI
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 02:46:42 +0000
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