Alicia Sacramone lands vault title:  Winchester girl bound for Olympic gymnast trials

(BOSTON HERALD)  

Alicia Sacramone of Winchester needed only one tune-up meet in 2008 to find her groove.

Competing in her first major event in nine months, Sacramone averaged more than 15.50 in her three disciplines - the balance beam, vault and floor exercise - before 7,804 at yesterday’s U.S. championships at Agganis Arena.

Sacramone, who won the overall vault title, was one of seven specialists (gymnasts not competing in all four events) invited to compete in the U.S. Olympic trials in Philadelphia from June 19-22.

“I feel like I’m in the right place right now,” said Sacramone. “I haven’t peaked yet and I’m hoping my peak will happen right before the Olympics.”

Sacramone hadn’t faced live competition since the world championships in Stuttgart, Germany, last September. She completed her preliminary round on Thursday with 47.15 points. She improved significantly on the beam and the floor, but lost ground on the vault and finished with 47.30 points.

“I’m pretty much going to stay with the same training and try to stay healthy and keep up with conditioning,” said Sacramone. “I’m looking for clean and consistent routines; there’s no need for sloppy ones now.”

She opened on the beam and received a generous score of 15.95 despite two missteps. Sacramone needed an extra wiggle to maintain her balance completing a required maneuver, but salvaged the routine with a magnificent piked, double-back somersault on the dismount.

Sacramone made up ground by playing to her audience in the floor exercise. She compacted her routine and showed greater restraint after being deducted 2.0 points on Thursday for landing out of bounds. She completed all her tumbles inside the white lines and came out with a respectable score of 15.85.

“I just went out there and had fun today and held nothing back because it was all for (the crowd),” said Sacramone. “But I did shorten my running a little bit.”

Sacramone wrapped up her afternoon on the third rotation in the vault. On her first approach, which featured a volatile 6.30 degree of difficulty, Sacramone came up short on the landing. She elected to make a second run with a safer maneuver and made a flawless landing. But her score of 15.50 on the first attempt stood up in the judges’ eyes and was the second highest of the competition.

Awards time

Without a hint of suspense, two-time national champion Shawn Johnson was named Athlete of the Year during the closing ceremony.

Runner-up Nastia Liukin was named Sportswoman of the Year. Johnson’s chief instructor, Liang Chow, was named Coach of the Year. . . .