McNeill 2nd in all-around after first session at Worlds

• Session 1 Results
• Live Commentary
• 2009 World Championships information

 

LONDON, Great Britain, Oct. 13, 2009 - Tim McNeill of Falls Church, Va./University of California - Berkeley, is in second place in the all-around after the first qualifying session for the 2009 World Championships at The O2 Arena in London, Great Britain. The final preliminary standings will not be determined until the conclusion of the third qualifying session this evening.

McNeill posted the second highest all-around score in the first prelim session. His 88.775 is just 0.575 behind current leader Maxim Devyatovskiy of Russia. The men advancing to the finals will be determined after the conclusion of the third subdivision. The top 24 men will compete in the all-around finals on Oct. 15. For individual events, the top eight on each apparatus from the qualification rounds advance to the finals (Oct. 17-18).

He started on the horizontal bar and had a solid routine with a step on his landing for a 14.175. On floor, McNeill earned a 13.800. He executed a clean routine on pommel horse, earning a 15.350, which was the session's highest score. A step on his still rings dismount resulted in a 14.825 for fifth in the current standings, and a four-apparatus score of 58.150. He was in fourth place in the all-around after the third and fourth rotations. After five events, he moved into third in the all-around with his 15.525 on vault. He finished on parallel bars, where he scored a 15.100 to move into second.

2008 Olympic silver-medalist Jonathan Horton of Houston/Cypress Gymnastics competes in the second preliminary session in the all-around. The final preliminary session has Steven Legendre of Flower Mound, Texas/University of Oklahoma, floor exercise; Wesley Haagensen of Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Olympic Training Center, pommel horse and still rings; Jake Dalton of Sparks, Nev./University of Oklahoma, vault; and Danell Leyva of Miami/Universal Gymnastics, parallel bars and horizontal bars.

This year's World Championships feature competition in the all-around and individual events. Qualification rounds determine advancement to the all-around and apparatus finals.

Women's qualification round is Wednesday, Oct. 13. The women compete in three of the five subdivisions: session 2 - Ivana Hong of Allen, Texas/WOGA, uneven bars and balance beam, and Kayla Williams of Nitro, W.Va./Gym Nest Inc., vault and floor; session 3 -- 2008 Olympic team silver-medalist and 2009 U.S. all-around champion Bridget Sloan of Pittsboro, Ind./Sharp's Gymnastics, all-around; and session 5 -- Rebecca Bross of Plano, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics, all-around. The women's all-around is Oct. 16, with individual event finals on Oct. 17-18.